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Nihil Obstat :

Fr. Augustinus M. Waldron, O. P., S. T. M.

Fr. Carolus O’Neil, O. P., S. T. L.

Imprimi Potest :

Fr. Matthaeus Leo Heagen, O. P., S. T. L.,

Prior-Provincialis.

Imprimatur :

F Jacobus J. Hartley,

Episcopus Columbensis.



CONTENTS

Foreword 5

Introduction to the Annual Retreat Jr

Jesus Christ According to the First Chapter of St. John 15

Examination of Conscience 21

Repentance 28

Love of Christ Inspired the Institution of Blessed Sacrament. 35

The End of the Blessed Sacrament 42

The Effects of the Blessed Sacrament. Part 1 49

TEe Effects of the Blessed Sacrament. Part II 56

The Effects of the Blessed Sacrament. Part III 62

The Sacrifice of the Mass 68

Charity 74

A Picture of the Catholic Church 79

Pastoral Duties of a Priest 85

Mary Magdalen at the Feet of Jesus 91

The Holy Ghost 98

The Priest’s Rosary 104

Pioneer Priests of America 112



THE ROSARY PRESS

SOMERSET, OHIO

Deaddle&i



FOREWORD

pfE take it that “A Retreat for Priests” cannot be more fittinglyintroduced than by the presentation of a train of reflec-
tions upon the nature and scope of the office of the

priesthood of the New Law. A cue to such reflections is given
by St. Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews, chapter the fifth, verses

first to third, wherein he says : “For every high priest taken from

among men is ordained for men in the things that pertain to God,

that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins : Who can have
compassion on them that are ignorant and that err : because he

himself is compassed with infirmity
;
and therefore he ought, as

for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.”

Sacrifice is the central thought of all religion. Wherever

there have been men, there, too, has there been religion, for man

is by nature a religious being, and wherever there has been relig-

ion, there, too, has there been sacrifice. Our first parents, created

in the state of perfect nature, and surrounded by all that could

minister to their comfort and happiness, brought to the Author

of their being a continual oblation of themselves
;

they offered

themselves in adoration, in praise, in thanksgiving to God, the

Giver of all good. Mindful of their indebtedness to Him, of their

absolute dependence upon Him, and of the splendid perfection

with whiclPHtey shone
;
as with the borrowed light of His divinity,

this oblation of self was a joy unspeakable. The one restriction

laid upon them, that they must not eat of the forbidden tree, was

accepted as an occasion of further sacrifice, and for a time all

went well. But the evil hour came, and yielding to the wiles of

the tempter and deluded by the glamour of the promised gain,

they broke the commandment, and the great sin was committed.

Down went the scales, and only an act of infinite atonement could
restore them to perfect adjustment. The great sin had been

committed and man, the crowning glory of creation, stood be-

fore the insulted God, trembling, defiled, broken. And the bars
of heaven flew out and the transgressors were set adrift “to earn

their bread in the sweat of their brow.” And they went forth and
bore children, and these children in their turn bore children, and

so the earth became peopled
;
but every child that was born came

into the world with a stain upon its soul, and with the conviction

written upon its heart that a great wrong had been done and a

great sacrifice must atone for it. That this is so the history of

humankind abundantly proves. It matters not to what depth of

darkness or savagery men may have sunk, or to what heights of

culture and civilization they may have soared, there was always



6 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

present among them some form of religious worship; and the
central thought of that worship was sacrifice. To the adoration,
the praise and thanksgiving of their first parents before the fall,

were added the plaintive cry for mercy and the earnest desire for

atonement. And this cry arose in the trackless jungles of Africa,
in the wilds of the American forest

;
it was found, though dis-

torted, in the pagan mythology of Greece and Rome, and formed

the very essence of the religion of the Jews—the people of God’s
election.

Along with the conception of the necessity of sacrifice, came

the conviction that certain ones should stand between the people

and the offended God as mediators. All men were bound by the
load of guilt and all must needs be freed from it. All were beset

with the weaknesses of humankind, with the frailties that came

in the train of sin, and all were charged with a combat against

them. But it should be the office of a few to lead in this warfare,

to consecrate themselves to this special task
;

to put by all other

concerns, that they might be undisturbed in their efforts to rid

themselves more and more of the inherited dross, to purify them-

selves, so that they might come with clean hands to lift to heaven

in praise, in prayer, in thanksgiving, in atonement— that they
might offer sacrifice for the sins of the people and their own

—

and these were the priests. We find them among the Phoenicians,
the Egyptians, the Druids

;
we find them in India, in Greece, in

Rome, and above all among the Jews; for we read in the book

of Leviticus, that God commanded Moses to consecrate Aaron

and his sons to His service, and how, obedient to the divine com-

mandment, Moses took Aaron and his sons and clothed them in

white garments and bound their loins with girdles and anointed

their heads with oil. And he said to Aaron : “Approach the altar

and offer sacrifice for thy sins; offer the holocaust and pray for

thyself and for the people” (Leviticus ix, 7). And even before

the time of Moses there was Melchisedech, who was King of

Salem and priest of the most high God, who met Abraham return-

ing from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him (Heb. vii, 1).

All this, however, was but a preamble. In the case of the

pagans this idea of sacrifice was like the speech of one who wan-

ders far from his kind and forgets their phrases and inflections,

but still retains something that betrays the origin whence he came

and fixes the class to which he belongs. In the case of the Jews,

it was a foreshadowing of the great and true sacrifice of the real

priesthood that was to endure forever
;

for, like everything else

in the Old Law, it was the shadow which the coming events of

the New Law cast before. The offense that needed atonement
was an infinite one, inasmuch as it had been committed against

the infinite God. How, then, could the blood of oxen and of rams

suffice, for, flawless though they were and singled out from among



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 7

many by reason of their very freedom from blemish, they were

still mere creatures of the Omnipotence of Him Who had been

offended? The victim must be one of infinite worth, hence only

God could atone for the sins that had been committed against Him.

But man was the offender, and so it would seem at least fit-

ting that man should make reparation. How, then, was the gap

between the infinite and the finite to be bridged over? It was

done by the justice, the wisdom and the power of God. His justice

demanded a reparation of infinite value
;
His wisdom saw that in

the union of God and man the satisfaction would be complete,

and the proprieties be observed
;

and by His boundless power

it was . accomplished when the Word became flesh and suffered

and died for us. And so in Christ Jesus, the God-man Who offered
Himself for our sins, we have at once the perfect sacrifice and

the true High Priest of all time.

But the sacrifice was to endure for all time, and in every

corner of the world, “from the rising of the sun even to the going

down thereof,” this clean oblation was to be offered. “Do this

in commemoration of Me,” was the injunction of Christ to His

Apostles and through them to their successors
;
and thus in the

words of St. Jerome, a new hierarchy of angels was established,

that He Who was wont to be worshipped by angels in heaven,
should be ministered to by angels on earth. And these angelic

ministers are the priests of the New Law, who surround the
Divine Victim, and are suffused with the light of His splendor

until they become transformed into His own likeness. For every

priest is another Christ by virtue of the office he holds, and of the

sacred character which is imprinted upon his soul when he

receives Holy Orders. For even as Christ stood between His

heavenly Father and the people and offered to His Father the

prayers and the good works of the people, and in turn dispensed

to them the fulness of grace and blessing which came from that

same Father, so does the priest stand in mediation between God

and the people. He is the bridge that leads from the mass of
sin-ridden humanity to the whiteness and purity of God. But in

other things than in the functions of his office is the priest like

his great prototype, Christ Jesus. In traits of character he must

at least try to conform himself to his model, so that one seeking

for a resemblance may not seek vainly. And the great and strik-
ing thing in the life and character of Christ was His sacrificial

spirit. And fitting indeed it is that it should be so, for since the
central thought of all religion is sacrifice, it is seemly that the

same trait should dominate in the Author and ministers of true

religion. Note with what prominence this trait of sacrifice comes

to the front in the life and character' of Christ. The very idea

of the Incarnation is eloquent of it. There He was in the splen-
dor of His heavenly home united with the Father and the Spirit,



8 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

and out of sheer pity for fallen man, the ungrateful creature of

His power, He offers Himself in atonement so that divine justice
may be appeased. In His omnipotence, He might, by a single

thought, have wiped out the guilt and left no vestige of the stain,

but He preferred to do it all in a manner that would observe the
proprieties

;
and since man had offended it seemed fitting that

man should atone. And so He came down from His high estate
and took on Himself the form and the nature of man, and suffered

and died for us.

And what a life was His ! From the first breath which He
drew in that rude stable in the cold, bleak winds of that Decem-

ber night, when He was born, even to the last that was sent up
from the Cross amid gloom that enshrouded His closing hour on

Calvary, it was one unbroken sacrifice. Think of the humiliation

that was endured when the King of kings, the Most High, the

Lord God of all clothed Himself with humanity, taking upon Him-

self the form of a servant. Think of the viol^fice that was done

to His sensitive nature by all the insults, the scoffs and the jeers

that at every turn met His exquisite gentleness, mercy and love

;

think of the harrowing tortures to which He was subjected dur-
ing the merciless season of His passion and death. Was there
ever such abnegation of self, such complete subjection and utter

immolation on the altar of sacrifice? At once Priest and Victim,

He stands the exemplar of every one that comes after Him in
the sacred office. And He remains the Victim daily offered,
though in an unbloody manner, by the priests of the New Law.
And herein they cannot in fulness emulate His example, for the
infinite value that makes this sacrifice adequate and acceptable, is

found in Him alone. The priest is indeed the sacrificer, but he
cannot, in the strict sense of the word, be the victim. But he

supplies this as far as he is able in the immolation of self, when

he assumes the priestly office. He surrenders himself, all the
faculties of body and mind, all his affections, his desires, to .thl|

keeping of his Divine Archetype in the spirit of sacrifice, and in

the earnest hope that in some wise, though a long way after, he

may follow Him, Who is the Way, the Light and the Truth. He
hears the word which God spoke to Abraham, “Go forth out of

thy country and from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s home,

and come into the land which I shall show thee” (Gen. xii, i).-

He is possessed of deep and strong affections, and the domestic

ties bind him close, but he snaps them all at the divine call. He
stifles within himself the yearnings of his natural love, foreswears

all the sweet joys that are epitomized in the one word Home, and

lifting his face to heaven and laying his hand upon his heart he

cries out: “Here am I. for Thou didst call me. Speak Lord, for

Thy servant heareth” (I Kings iii, 9). Father and mother, brother

and sister he must leave, for he has become the child of all human-



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
9

kind, the father of all. He must strip himself of all particular
attachment, for to each and all he is alike friend, brother and

guide. No one so lowly that dare not claim his offices, none so
exalted that dare spurn them. The babe just born into the world

with its inherited stain is washed clean by the regenerating waters

that are poured by his anointed hands : the poor broken sinner,

.kneeling at his feet, feels the load lifted from his soul, as the

mighty words of absolution are spoken, and the shadows rise and

once again the sunlight and cheer of innocence flood his soul. To

those hungering for bread he breaks the bread of angels. He
unites the young hearts that beat in unison with each other

and calls down the blessings of heaven upon them and sends them

on their noble mission, confident, courageous and strong. Into

the sick chamber his presence comes like a benediction, and

when the great, shadowy angel of Death throws all in gloom,

he, the priest of God, carries the only balm that can heal the

breaking hearts and speaks the only words that can speed the

parting soul on its flight homeward.

Sublime, Christlike are his offices, and in recompense he

tastes the joys of sacrifice, the hundredfold which is promised to

him who leaves father, mother and brother and sister to follow

the call of the Lord.

The ways of a priest are bound in lowliness and humility. His

goal must be one of purely spiritual excellence. To strive for

temporal gain lies outside of his province. He must covet no
preferment that is not in line with the salvation of souls. With

a special zeal must he covet all that goes to make up the inner

man, so that his example may be a light to guide the footsteps

of those who are treading the tortuous ways of the world. How
much of self-denial, of watchfulness there is required for the

development, it is not difficult to guess. But to this all is he

pledged, for God has chosen him for Himself, has singled him

out and has said to him : “Thou art Mine,” and hence he must

be free from worldly pursuits to labor unceasingly for Christ the

Crucified.
x ^

But the greatest of all the sacrifices that come with the

priesthood is the sacrifice of his will. This is so great that St.

Thomas assures us that, wteYe* it not done for the greater honor

and glory of God, it would be ignoble, and would be the equivalent

of the sacrifice of manhood. But therein especially lies the strik-

ing resemblance with his great Prototype, Jesus Christ. For as St.

Paul tells us, Christ was made obedient even unto death. In all

things the will of His heavenly Father was what was uppermost

in His mind. In that awful hour of agony in the Garden of

Olives, wS^h'ithe load of man’s iniquity weighed so heavily upon

Him thatfrorrr the anguished heart came the cry: “Father, if it

'be possible let this chalice pass from Me,” it was immediately



10 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

supplemented by the request, “But not My will but Thine be
done.” And so the priest surrenders all things to those who stand
over him in God’s stead. He is willing to go wherever he may
be sent, and to do whatever he may be bidden, for the conviction

is strong with him that they who command him express God’s
will, which always and ever he is eager to fulfill. And oh,, how

often he finds himself deserted and alone, with the chosen ones

sleeping within earshot of his groans. And so great is the load

and so keen the suffering, that he cries out even in spite of

himself, “Oh, if it be possible let this chalice pass from me,” but

immediately comes the evidence of submission, “but not my will

but Thine be done.” And he drains the cup to the very dregs and

follows his Master to the Crucifixion on Calvary.

But he loves the way which was trodden by the bleeding feet

of his Master and for every sigh which his sacrificed nature

wrests from him, there is a deep, strong spiritual joy instilled into

his very soul. It is the Tabor that comes after Calvary; the

transfiguration is renewed for his crucifixion. And out of the

mellowing of his soul, wrought by his trial, there is born a great

pity for those commended to his care. Being confirmed

infirmity he has compassion with those that err. He looks ab3m
him and he sees his maimed and bruised sheep wandering about

fainting beneath their woes.

He borrows the words of Christ, and with melting tenderfifss ,
cries out to them all : “Oh all ye that are weary and heavy laden/

come to me and I will refresh you.”

In his open arms there is an asylum for every grief
;

and

in the unction of his words, a solace for every wound. Oh, how

barren and cheerless would be this vale of tears without the

mighty power of the priesthood ! God be praised and glorified for

every priest that He has raised to His altars

!

Albert Reinhart, O. P.



INTRODUCTION TO THE ANNUAL RETREAT

It
ight Reverend Bishop and Reverend Fathers :

The retreat which we begin this evening we shall con-

secrate, in a special way, to the Real Presence—the Holy
Eucharist— the Blessed Sacrament— Emmanuel, God with ms.
This doctrine of our Holy Catholic Church is dearest to every

priestly heart. It is Christ in the Blessed Sacrament Who has
led us from the world into the sanctuary. It is Christ in the

Blessed Sacrament Who has kept us in the sanctuary and filled
our souls with happiness these many years. Christ in the Blessed

Sacrament is the fundamental reason and the very essence of the

eternal priesthood. This devotion, always universal, and of great-

est importance, has become the favorite devotion of our Holy

Father, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, Pope Pius X, and through

him, through his constant efforts and exhortations, it has become

the favorite devotion of the Church in the twentieth century.

I know therefore that I express your own desires, the wish

of the Holy Father, and the wish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

when I consecrate to the Holy Eucharist these days to be spent

here in seclusion, in meditation and prayer
;

to be spent with

Christ even as the disciples were with Him at the Last Supper.
May Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament be our inspiration. May He
enlighten our minds and inflame our hearts with His light and

with His fove.

For our first meditation and preparation for the work, we

shall take a few thoughts from the preparation the disciples made

for the Last Supper. We read in the Holy Gospels that the
Apostles came to their Master and said: “Where wilt Thou that

we prepare for Thee to eat the pasch?” The work of the retreat

may well be compared to the festival of the pasch of the Jews.
As the pasch of the Jews was the greatest annual religious event,

thus the retreat is the one great holy week for the clergy of the

diocese. As the pasch of the Jews brought together the members

of the family, and the various families to Sion, the holy city, thus

the retreat brings us together in this holy place. As the pasch

of the Jews was a festivity lasting a few days, thus we shall try

to spend a few days together with God. As the pasch of the

Jews reminded all the members of the nation of the many and

manifold blessings Jehovah had bestowed upon His chosen peo-

ple, thus the retreat is to remind us of the exceptional graces

the good God has bestowed upon us in the past. As the paschal

lamb reminded the Jews of the great promises to be fulfilled in



12 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

the future, thus during this retreat we shall look into the future,

remembering the promises God made to us, to spend it well until

we can say consummatum est.

We notice in this text that the disciples were anxious to cele-
brate the pasch. They could not wait until they were invited to

go. Of their own accord they came to Jesus and asked the

question: “Master, where shall we prepare it for you to eat?”

This is an important lesson for us. We must make this retreat
willingly and cheerfully not because it is a duty, not because we

are called and commanded by our superiors, but because our own

hearts long and crave for it. None of the Apostles thought of

going away or staying away to celebrate the feast alone, or with

the members of his family. All desired to celebrate it with

Jesus. Judas may have been cold and indifferent, following the

rest because of human respect
;

the festival had no blessings for

him. No one here will imitate a Judas. All will imitate a faithful
Peter, and a loving John, and prepare themselves for this religious

feast with generous hearts.

Notice also that this pasch was “The Last Supper.” It was

the last opportunity for the disciples to eat the Easter lamb

with their Master. Thus this retreat may be the last for one or

many among us. I make this remark with all the more emphasis

since I hear that some of the good priests who made the last

retreat have died since, and can never again spend such days

of preparation for life everlasting in this world. May they rest
in peace, and may their spirit be with us to make this retreat

with such great earnestness and sincerity that if it prove the last

retreat it may be a worthy preparation for life everlasting

!

Christ, no doubt pleased with the happy disposition of His

dear disciples, answered their question, saying: “Go you into the

city to a certain man and say to him, the Master sayeth My time
is near at hand. With thee I make the pasch with My disciples.”
* * * Or, according to another Gospel : “There shall meet you

a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him, and whitherso-

ever he shall go in, say to the master of the house : Where is My
refectory, where I may eat the pasch with My disciples? And he
will show you a large dining-room furnished, and there prepare

ye for us. * * * The disciples did as Jesus appointed unto

them.” Here we learn what we must do to make this retreat a

holy retreat— a spiritual retreat. Christ demanded from His
disciples absolute, even blind obedience. He tells them to go to

a certain man, not even mentioning the name of the man ; to a

certain house, without specifying the house
;

to demand of a

certain master the dining-hall. The Apostles no doubt felt this

command hard, but we read they did as Jesus appointed unto

them. They obeyed their Master promptly, and in every detail.

Let us imitate their obedience. To make this retreat well



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 13

observe the order of exercises, and every rule laid down by your

superiors. The time may not suit you
;
the place may not please

you. Sacrifice your own likes and dislikes. Keep well the rule of

silence. Say well the prayers in common and in private. Spend

well the free time in reflecting on the meditations, in preparing

your conscience for a good confession, in visiting the Blessed

Sacrament, in reading good books. Thus you will do what Jesus

appointed unto you, and if you obey Him, you will merit and

receive His blessing.

Jesus says : “It is with you that I wish to eat this pasch.” It

is with every one of you personally. It is in the heart of every

one of you that Jesus wants to celebrate this feast. How blessed
was the master in the Gospel whose dining-hall the Master chose,

whose dining-hall the Master sanctified with His presence, whose

dining-hall the Master made immortal by the institution of the

Holy Eucharist ! How blessed was the Master in the Gospel who
so nobly and generously, at the request of the disciples, offered

the dining-hall to Jesus! Thus let us open our hearts unto Jesus,

standing before us and demanding them. Let us welcome Him
into our hearts. Let us open our whole hearts unto Him, that

our whole hearts all these days may be His own, at His disposal,

to be blessed by His light, and to be blessed by His love

!

When the disciples had prepared that dining-hall— that
coenaculum— when they had removed all that which was profane

and worldly, and had brought in the Easter lamb, and all that

which was necessary, according to their laws, for the pasch, Jesus

Himself came and entered the hall. We can imagine Him taking
the place of the Father of the family, at the head of the table.

When all were seated, He opened the feast with the sublime
words : “Desiderio desideravi hoc pascha vobiscum manducare.”

“With a great desire, a great longing, have I desired to eat this

pasch with you.” How full of consolation were these opening
words for the attentive disciples. The desire of their own hearts

to eat the pasch was a small and insignificant thing in comparison

with the deep longing and great desire of the Sacred Heart to

eat the pasch with them. Why did Christ’s heart desire so
ardently

—
“desiderio desideravi”—to eat that pasch? His heart

was goodness. Goodness longs to give, and on this occasion His

goodness had much to give. Reading the account St. John gives

of the Last Supper, we see He gave the three exceptionally great
gifts. In the first place He purified them. As He washed their
feet with the water in the basin. He washed clean their souls with
His grace divine. Secondly, He enlightened them. Often had
He spoken to them from His heart, as a father to children, as a
friend to a friend, but never before and never since did the Son

of God (made-man) speak to men in such terms of love as on this

occasion. He gave to them in the third place Himself. He longed



14 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

to eat that Supper because He had for them a food divine—His
flesh and blood. He longed to eat that Supper because His heart
could bestow upon them a dignity unknown to man— the
sacerdotal character. He longed to eat that Supper with such a
great longing because He would give to them, and through them
to the whole world, Himself, as a Victim for humanity.

Reverend Fathers, I have the privilege to speak here to-night

in the name of my Master, Jesus Christ—to personify the Son of
God—and I know that I express the sentiments of His own heart
—of His priestly heart—when I say: “desiderio desideravi hoc
pascha vobiscu'm manducare.” “Fathers, I long with a great long-

ing to make this retreat with you. Some of you, all of you, may

have looked forward to these days with a great desire. My desire
to see you here is greater than yours could be.” Why is it
Christ’s desire to make with us this retreat? His goodness

has something to give to us priests. He wants to give to us
substantially what He gave to His own at the Last Supper. He
wants to purify our souls from every stain of sin, from every

wound we have received on the battlefield, from every sickness

that may afflict and defile the soul. He longs to make this
retreat with you. He is happy to see you' surrounding Him

because He wants to enlighten you. You are His priests—you
are His ambassadors. Every one of you is an “alter Christus.”

He longs to make this retreat with you because He wants to give
Himself to you once more, and if possible with a greater love and

a greater fullness than ever before, that possessing Him you may

leave this coenaculum—this retreat—purified, refreshed, strength-
ened, consoled, for the great battles that are awaiting you, for

the great work that remains to be done, for the rest of the jour-

ney to life everlasting.

Let us thank Him, therefore, for the opportunity to make

this retreat. Let us ask Him and His Blessed Mother to be with
us, to remain with us, to help us unto the end, that the retreat

may be for the salvation of our own souls and for the salvation
of the many immortal souls depending upon our priestly ministra-

tions. O Salutaris Hostia, da robur, fer auxilium ! O Thou, our
Victim of salvation, dwelling here in the tabernacle, give us

strength ! Bring us help, Mother of God ! Blessed Mother of

the holy priesthood, pray for us priests now, during these days

;

pray for us always; pray for us in the hour of death

!



JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE FIRST

CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN

‘‘This is eternal : That they may know Thee, the only true God,

and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.”

T. LUKE in his account of the Last Supper tells us that
Q? even at that scene of love and peace there was a strife

among the disciples. Some theologians give this strife a mild

interpretation and a good explanation, saying that the cause of it

was the burning desire in the hearts of all to be near Jesus. They

knew their Master. They had heard His word. They had seen

His miracles. They had felt His love. Some of them had been

on Mt. Tabor, had seen His transfiguration, His garments white

as snow, His face shining as the sun. All of them had noticed

at all times a reflection of that hidden glory in the adorable coun-

tenance of Him, the most beautiful of the sons of men. At the

Last Supper a certain sacred sadness in Jesus charmed their

hearts with an exceptional attraction and drew them to Himself.

We can readily understand that every one of them was anxious
to be nearest to Jesus. It was a noble ambition, a holy desire,

which pleased the Saviour. A similar desire should fill our souls.
During this spiritual retreat we want to approach Jesus spirit-

ually, be with Him, remain with Him
;
see Him and speak to Him

;

be enlightened by Him and inflamed by Him
;
be purified by Him

and sanctified by Him, as the twelve were at the Last Supper.

For our guide to Jesus we choose the beloved disciple, St.

John; John, who. saw Jesus on Mt. Tabor and in the Garden of

Olives, who stood with Jesus under the Cross, and took His

Blessed Mother unto his own, who, inspired by the Holy Ghost,

ascended like an eagle to see the mysteries of God; John, who

at the Last Supper sat next to Jesus and rested his head on His

sacred bosom. May John lead us to Jesus and introduce and
interpret Jesus to us! We find this introduction and interpreta-
tion of Jesus by John in the sublime beginning of his Holy Gospel.

“In principio”
—

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God”—sacred words which the
Church commands us to recite practically every morning in the

Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, reciting which, the faithful bend their

knees three times a day
;
words which the Church advises us to

read over the sick, and which many carry with them constantly to

be kept from harm and temptation. Well does the Church place

these words upon the altar before the tabernacle, because they best

of all unveil Him Who dwells in the tabernacle.
Reflecting on these words,we notice that John takes us at once

beyond the realms of time and space and lifts our minds up to

God and eternity. Jesus, he tells us, was in the beginning. Before



i6 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

this world, before all creatures, before time existed, Jesus was.

His origin and abode from all eternity was God, and He is God.
God, Son of God, is the first title and the true dignity of Jesus.
This Christ Himself in His truthfulness and humility declared fre-

quently and emphatically. This we must believe firmly and

constantly.

The meaning of the word God, Jesus is God, is so deep and

profound, so holy and terrible, that we poor priests, even as the

Apostles, have only a faint conception of it. The Church describes

it somewhat when she makes us sing, “Tu solus sanctus, tu solus

Dominus, tu sblus altissimus.”

Of all the titles given to men, there is none so great and

comprehensive as that of saint, sanctus. All that we find beautiful

in the human soul—innocence, charity, justice, fortitude—is ex-
pressed in the word, sanctus. Men and women have received,
acquired and possessed these virtues in an eminent degree, and

have thereby become the kings and queens of nations and genera-

tions. All the sanctity, the spiritual beauty of the saints, even

that of Our Blessed Lady, is nothing compared with that of Jesus.

Tu solus sanctus. His very name—nomen sanctum ejus—that
is, His very essence, is sanctity and holiness.

Tu solus Dominus. The world respects power. Those who

have power are respected and flattered, feared and served. The

kings of wisdom and wealth, the princes of nations and empires,

do not really own and possess what they claim. Nothing is more

our own than our life, and even that is taken by death. Jesus is

God, and as God holds all this in His almighty hand. He is the
Lord. In comparison with Him, the lords of the world are slaves

—Tu solus Dominus. Master of life and death, heaven and earth.
Tu solus altissimus. Man seeks to rise above fellow men by

acquiring honors and distinctions. No matter how high they

seem to be in their own opinions, and in the estimation of others,

the end is the low grave of darkness and decay. Truly Jesus

Christ, Thou alone art high, the highest in the glory of the Father,

in union with the Holy Ghost.

Jesus being God, Holiness, Power and Glory, we must adore

Him. As a sign of adoration, we humbly bow our heads, bend

our knees and prostrate ourselves before Him. This adoration

of Jesus, the Son of God, with the body is good and holy, but has

a meaning only in so far as it expresses the invisible soul adoring

Him with reverence and devotion. The intellect must adore Jesus
Ty believing all He teaches. The will must adore Jesus by obey-
ing all His commandments. All the powers of the soul must adore

Tlim as the angels
—

“Let all the angels adore Him,” Who
“maketh His angels spirits, and His minister a flame of fire.”

Jesus being thus always God, holy, powerful and most high, our

souls, and bodies must adore Him constantly without ceasing.

“To adore Him is our salvation ; to adore Him is our dignity

;



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 17

to adore Him is our heaven. The world, in our times more than
ever, refuses to adore Him, because to adore Him means to ac-
knowledge Him to be our Master and King, means to submit our-
selves to Him and to obey. Therefore it says as of old, “We do
not want Him to rule over us.” The more the world rejects Him,
the more must we in private and in public profess Him.

John calls his Master Jesus, “the Word of God.” That ex-
pression has its profound significance. The word that falls from

my lips is the manifestation and communication of my hidden
thoughts. By speaking words, I reveal myself to my friends.
Thus Jesus is essentially the manifestation and revelation of God.

“God of God, Light of Light.” “The brightness of His glory and

the figure of His substance.”

Let us in spirit prostrate ourselves before our Master to

adore Him humbly and always. While prostrate in spirit, let us
implore Him to manifest Himself, God, God in heaven, God in
the tabernacle, God in our hearts—but everywhere a hidden God

—

unto us, especially now, during the days of the retreat.

“All things were made by Him
;
and without Him was made

nothing that was made.” These words of St. John present Christ

to us in quite a new light. Jesus is not only the eternal God, He
is our Creator. The first word of St. John gives us the origin of

Christ and His divinity; the second word shows us our origin

and our dignity. We come from God, through Jesus Christ. This
one word confirms the first sublime chapters of Genesis. The

Word of God manifested, revealed God in the work of creation,
especially in man, the king of creatures.

Poor fallen man instinctively loves honor, and seeks it. He
tries to make himself great, but hardly dares to imagine himself

as great as God really made him. Being blinded, worldly-minded,

materialistic, he restlessy seeks his origin in the animal world. He
wants to be free, self-made, independent. The words of the

Psalmist, “Man whenlhe was in honor did not understand
;
he hath

been compared to senseless beasts and made like unto them,” were

never more true than in our times of infidelity. Fearing God, man

rejects God. With God he rejects his own honor. Being sensual,

he compares himself to the senseless beasts and, alas ! is made,

but too often in his way of thinking and living, like unto them.

“They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways.

There is none that doeth good, no not one.” Moral corruption

is the cause of their blasphemous and degrading doctrine. Being

corrupted, they are abominable in the sight of God and man. They

pretend to do good, but as the Psalmist says, “not one of them

does good.” They spread corruption. “Shall not my soul be sub-
ject to God? For from Him is my salvation. For He is my
God and my Saviour : He is my Protector.”

An innocent, humble, believing soul will always feel a deep
inner joy when it hears the word “all things were made by Jesus



i8 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

Christ; and without Jesus Christ was made nothing that was

made,” realizing all I am and all I have comes from Jesus, and
was made by Jesus.

Jesus is not only the Creator of my being, He is my Pattern.
I am His image. Many denounce the body because of its animal

tendencies, its low passions, its corruption and frailty. They de-

spise it. The fact that my body of clay resembles the sacred, per-

fect Divine body of Jesus gives it an inestimable dignity and makes

it a body of glory. “Know you not that your bodies are members

of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid.”

If I mortify my body and subject it to the laws of reason and
God, it is not because I despise the work of God, but because I

wish to make it more like unto the body of Christ. Christ made

it in His image. I must impress upon it more clearly and dis-

tinctly His image, “to carry about also in my body the mortifica-
tion of Christ Jesus.”

That Jesus in shaping my body impressed His image upon
it, as He impressed the image of His countenance upon the towel
of Veronica, is easily understood, because both are material and

visible. That Jesus stamped upon my soul the sublime image of
His divinity we shall not fully grasp until we see our own souls

and Jesus face to face in the kingdom of glory. Here on earth

we behold only a faint reflection of the resemblance through the

veil of the bodies. Jesus is essentially light. My soul, great in
the light of reason, is exalted by the light of faith up to the very

throne of God. Jesus is Love. In my soul is a boundless desire

to love
;

all creation cannot satisfy the craving. Strengthened by

the gift of charity, childlike, I turn away from creatures and seek

my God, and find peace in His love. Christ is eternity. The
natural longing of my soul for immortality is inspired by the vir-
tue of hope, and I fearlessly look forward to a happiness as endless

as that of Christ. Endowed with these faculties and ennobled by

these virtues, I rise above all creatures to such a degree that in

comparison with them I can apply to myself the words applied to

Jesus—Tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus.
These words of St. John, “All things were made by Him

;
and

without Him was made nothing that was made,” teach the most
intimate and most holy relationship between me and Jesus. He
is nearer to me than mother and father. Love induced Him to
make me. Great love moved Him to make me so perfect. He is
dearer to me than parent or friend. Well does St. John say that
when He came to us, “He came unto His own.” We are His
own in the truest and fullest sense of the word.

“The world knew Him not.” “His own received Him not.”
These statements are full of sadness. It was sad to see the light

and love of the Saviour ignored, it was sad to see the sinners

reject salvation. It is still sadder to see that the world, after nine-



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 19

teen hundred years of teaching and preaching, still continues not

to know Him, still persists in not receiving Him.

Let us, like the Apostles and the holy women, receive Him as
our Master and Father, our Light and our Love, and let us serve

Him. What is there more becoming than to serve Him to Whom
we owe all, swayed by love to serve Him Who gives all prompted
by love? What is there more honorable than to consecrate all

our faculties to serve the King of kings, in union with angels and

the saints? What is there more salutary than to serve Him Who
is Goodness and Love, and Who manifests His goodness by mak-
ing His servants happy? All who have served God have felt that

it is good to serve a good God. “Shall not my soul be subject
to God? For from Him is my salvation.” We shall try to serve
Him like that man “sent from God, whose name was John/’ who

was a witness unto Him until he had given his life for Him.

“The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” The eter-
nal Word of God, through Whom all things were made to man-
ifest the infinite goodness, love and mercy of God, came to us

assuming our own fallen nature. Well do we bend our knees

when we recite these words to adore that incomprehensible mys-

tery of Divine Love. The love of God was not satisfied to make

us in the image of God. The Son of God, moved by that infinite

love, was made in the image of man. He Who alone is holy
;
He

Who alone is Lord; He, Jesus Christ, Who alone with the Holy
Ghost is most high in the glory of God the Father becomes an

Infant resting in a manger, sits at the table with His disciples and

eats with them.

We shall not dwell on this great mystery, the mystery of the
Incarnation, but consider briefly some of its effects. Jesus as man

is truly the Word of God. His sacred humanity manifests God
to us as all the inspired prophets of the Old Testament could not

see Him or picture Him to us. Jesus in the stable is the Word
of God, manifesting the love and mercy of God. Jesus in Nazareth

is the Word of God, manifesting the love and mercy of God. Jesus
in the temple is the Word of God, manifesting the love and mercy
of God. Jesus in the desert is the Word of God, manifesting the
love and mercy of God. Jesus going about doing good is the

Word of God, manifesting the love and mercy of God. Jesus in
the Garden of Olives is the Word of God, manifesting the love and
mercy of God. Jesus on the Cross is the Word of God, mani-
festing the love and mercy of God. The Church, which knows well

flow to sum up and express the meaning of these mysteries in a

few words, sings Christmas morning, “quia per Incarnati verbi

mysterium nova mentis nostrae oculis lux claritatis infulsit.”

Through the mystery of the Incarnate Word, a new ray of God’s

own light enlightened the eyes of the minds of men. “That was
a true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this
world.”



20 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

The first fruit of that new, bright, heavenly light must be a

new pure love, “Ut dum Deum visibiliter cognoscimus per hunc
in invisibilium amorem rapiamur,” that seeing God with the eyes

of our body, our hearts may be lifted up by force to the love of

things invisible. Therefore Jesus, the light, gave us the command-

ment of love
;

love your God with your whole mind, with your

whole heart, with all your strength.

This light of God which Jesus spreads, the love of God which

Jesus inflames in the heart of men, is the power which makes us

nothing less tfian sons of God. “But as many as received Him,

He gave them power to be made sons of God.” To be sons,
children of God, is the end of man, to make us children of God

is the end of the coming of Jesus. All things proceeded from the

Father through Jesus, all things return to the Father through

Jesus. Jesus is our way, and Jesus is our end. Jesus is our all.

To be sons of God implies a dignity and a destiny so great

and so glorious that it is a mystery unto us. It makes us

brethren of Christ
;

it makes us Christians, Christ’s lot our lot,

Christ’s glory our own glory, Christ’s heaven our own heaven.

“If sons, heirs also
;

heirs indeed of God and joint-heirs with

Christ
;

yet so, if we suffer with Him, that we may be also glori-

fied with Him.”

Worldly people seek the fruit of Christ’s redemption in

worldly things—in health, wealth and general prosperity. They
are too small, too narrow-minded. Jesus is great, He is a God,
Jesus made us great children of a God. The result of His sacrifice

must be great, Godlike, eternal. See, Reverend Fathers, how these

inspired words of St. John unveil Christ Who dwelt among us,"
how they unveil Christ Who dwells among us in the tabernacle.

As God, we adore Him with body and soul. As our Creator,
we serve Him with grateful, loving hearts. Seeing Him becoming
the Son of Man to make us the sons of God, we love Him, and
say with St. Paul : “Who shall separate me from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or naked-

ness, or danger, or persecution, or the sword? But in alt

these things we overcome because of Him that hath loved us..

For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princi-

palities, hor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor

might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able-

to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus-

our Lord.”

We kneel down and implore Him to increase His light and’
love in our souls. He is “full of grace and truth,” says St. John.
May He fill us with that grace and truth, that we also may see
“His glory, the glory as it were of the. only begotten of the

Father,” in the Blessed Sacrament here in the light of faith, and

in Heaven face to face.



EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

“Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough.” * * * *

“Amen, amen, I say to you, that one of you shall betray Me.” * *

“Amen, I say to thee, the cock shall not crow until thou deny Me
thrice.”

HE above quoted words and similar expressions, which we
find in the discourse of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper,

reported by St. John, show us clearly that Christ was sad

—was, as St. John expresses it, troubled in spirit. He stood in
the midst of the twelve as a God. With His eye divine, He pene-

trated their hearts like a double-edged sword. He saw their pres-

ent, and He foresaw clearly their whole future. That sight sad-

dened His heart. He saw the soul of Judas defiled with the sin

of black treason. He foresaw that even Peter, the Prince of the

Apostles, His chosen disciple, would deny Him soon ; that all

the other disciples, so fervent and loving at the present moment,

would be scattered as sheep without a shepherd. This revelation

of the wisdom of Christ, of His knowledge of the human heart,

is a great cause of fear to us all. He is here this morning, here
in our midst, even as He was among His own. At this very mo-
ment, He reads the very secrets of our minds and our hearts, and
foresees the dark uncertain future. What, may I ask, does our

Divine Master find in us? Exteriorly indeed, we have persevered

in our holy priesthood. That alone proves little. Judas also had

persevered exteriorly, and no doubt the disciples and the people

who saw him enter the coenaculum, who heard him speak, thought

to themselves—he is a true, loyal, faithful follower of the great
Nazarene. Outwardly Judas persevered, but inwardly he had be-

come derelict. Could it be possible that any one among us should

resemble Judas? Could it be possible that the all-seeing eye of

our dear Lord in the tabernacle should find among us one person

who would deny Him publicly and repeatedly in the future?
One thing consoles us much. Christ at the Last Supper, al-

though sorrowful and sad because of the wickedness and infidelity

of those who sat with Him at the table, was willing, anxious, to
help them to see their faults, and to repent. May His goodness and
He, Whose love never grows less, show unto us that same helping
hand, and assist us to know the defects, shortcomings, sins and

crimes that defile our souls this morning. May He help us with
His divine light to penetrate the future, that we may foresee the
dangers and temptations that await us, and that foreseeing them

we may avoid them, and not fall, as Peter did.



22 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

This leads us to the great important spiritual exercise called

examination of conscience. It is to be performed not only now
at the time of the retreat, but every day. To perform it well, we
must not only consider the sins we may have committed, but re-
flect first, above all, upon the many gifts that the Almighty God

has bestowed upon us. This examination of conscience, well per-

formed and daily performed, will lead us to the knowledge of God,

and to the knowledge of self. To each of us this double knowl-

edge is and should be supreme and exhaustive.

“Show us the Father,” said Philip, at the Last Supper, “and

it will be enough.” To see that Father, and in the Father, Christ

—for the Father and Christ are one—we must open four great
books, read them and study them carefully. The first great book,

that reveals to us the Heavenly Father in all His goodness and

greatness, is the book of nature, which the light of the sun opens

unto the eyes of our bodies. The man of money sees in all the

treasures of the world only himself. He tries to acquire them,
to possess them, and then to enjoy them. The goods of God in

the order of nature are his mammon, his god. The man of the
flesh, the man of pleasure, the man of lust, seeks the goods of this
world to satisfy his manifold appetites. “This his god,” according

to the strong expression of St. Paul, “is his belly.” “For many

walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping,
that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ, whose end is

destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is their

shame, who mind earthly things.” The man of God, the religious

man, the priest, sees all the great and beautiful things in nature,

sees them coming from the hand of the Almighty Father, and

sees in them the reflection of a Father. He takes these goods and
offers them up to the Father, in a priestly way. David of old

went forth on a bright, beautiful morning. Seeing the sun in the

sky, he was inspired and cried out: “Domine, Domine nosier

quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra.” In the eve-

ning he walks under the bright sky, glittering .with beautiful fiery

stars, sees in them his God, and sings with a joyful heart: “Caeli

enarrant glo riam Dei.” St. Francis of Asissi, the patriarch of the

poor, loved nature, because in the splendor of creation he saw the

splendor, wisdom and love of his Creator. His love of nature

made him the king of creation. Thus we priests, men of God,

must love nature, study nature, and in nature learn to know the

wisdom, the greatness, the love of the Father. The book of nature

will show us the Father, and it is enough.

The second great book, which a God gave us to manifest

Himself unto us, His children, in this valley of darkness and tears,

is the Holy Bible. Priests love to have a great library, filled with

the masterpieces of the greatest of writers, the deepest of think-

ers, and the most learned of theologians. The first book in the



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 23

library of a priest must be the word of God, the Holy Scriptures.

It must be nearest and dearest to the heart of the priest and must

remain always near his consecrated hands. We read parts of the
Holy Bible in our Office Divine, at the altar when sacrificing, from

the pulpit when preaching, but that is not enough for our craving

minds and our thirsting hearts. Let us open the holy book every

day, and read therein the words inspired by the Holy Ghost? bring-

ing us messages from the Father in heaven. Let us meditate upon

them, let us recite them in a prayerful way, and they will show

unto us the Father, and it is enough. We must study dogma,
and for that end have the books of dogma. The one great book

of dogma, Reverend Fathers, is the Bible, especially the four holy

Gospels, for they show God in the form of man, and seeing God

in man, our hearts may be lifted up to the invisible God. Priests

must study moral theology, because they need the knowledge of

it daily in the guidance of souls in the tribunal of penance. The

greatest of all books teaching moral theology is the Holy Bible,

especially the New Testament, for it gives us, not merely princi-
ples and theories, virtues and vices in the abstract, but shows to

us the one great ideal and perfect moral Man, Who said to the
whole world: “Who can accuse Me of sin?” As pastors and
assistant pastors you must study your pastoral theology. Have

for that end and purpose the best of books written by experienced

and learned ‘authors. Let me tell you, Reverend Fathers, the

one great book that teaches every pastor how to lead and how to

feed the flock is the Holy Bible, the New Testament, for there is
pictured unto our eyes the one Good Shepherd, the heavenly

Pastor, the model Pastor for every pastor of every country and

of every century. Read that book, meditate upon that book, and

it will show you God, and in your God you will learn to know

your own self.

The third book to which I must call your attention to acquit e
the greatest of all knowledge—the knowledge of God—is the his-
tory of the Church. We studied that history in our youthful days,
perhaps more to see, and perhaps saw more, the weakness of the

Church of Christ, its human side, to defend it against its many
enemies, than to see in it the power and the wisdom of God.

Study that history of nineteen hundred years, and see there how
at all times this vineyard of the Lord has produced the greatest

heroes and heroines. Realize that every one of these saints is a

masterpiece of the love and mercy of God. “Mirabilis Deus in

sanctis suis.” Then and only then will you say with St. John

:

“We saw His glory, the glory as it were, of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

These three books, although so instructive, giving light, are

not sufficient. The fourth book is the most important, and that

is your own heart. The God of heaven has revealed Himself unto



24 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

you in your own souls, and in the history of your spiritual life.

Know ye not that the kingdom of a God is in you? Open that
book, open that heart, and behold therein yourself, and with you,

the kingdom of the heavenly Father. Learn to reflect. Say with

the prophet : “Recogitabo tibi annos meos.” “I will go over my
past years in your sight, O my God.” The people of the world
know not how to reflect. They are constantly distracted, they

live in the outer world, and never enter that secret cell of the

heart. Men in youthful years are filled with hope, and inspired
by ambition. They look to the future, and plan the way to great

glory and distinction. They do not reflect upon what they have

seen, and upon what they have experienced in their own souls.

Some there are who reflect indeed, but in the wrong way. Day

by day they think of the difficulties they have had, of the mis-

fortunes they have experienced, the injuries they have received,

and the sins they have committed. They see nothing but the

dark side of things. They store up in the memory—that wonder-
ful house which the Lord has given us to make the whole past a

living present—only that which is disagreeable and unpleasant.
On that poor food, corrupted food, they feed their minds, and as
a result, they become discouraged, often pessimistic. They find

not in their hearts their God, but only their own weakness and

misery. This indeed is a sad abuse of memory. Learn, Reverend

Fathers, to cast from your minds all the things less than good

and less than pleasant, and keep alive in your memories all the

golden gifts a God has given unto you, all the golden hours God

has spent with you, and you will know your God, and you will

know that your God is a good God. “Deus meus, bonus est

Deus.” Thus examine your conscience, the works of a God in

your own soul, every day. Do it especially these days, the days
of the retreat. Think back and see how good your Christian

parents were, how they prayed and worked for you, how your

mother instructed you and taught you to say the Our Father, the

Hail Mary, to bless yourself with the sign of redemption. Think

of the many teachers and priests that came to you, sent by God

to develop in you a knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. At the

time when they taught us we did not appreciate them. The older

we grow, the more clearly do we note their goodness, and the

more are our hearts filled with gratitude. Think of the days of

your first Holy Communion, of your vocation, of your ordination.

Then you felt God, God made you happy. You know your God

from personal experience. This knowledge of God, thus found in

the heart and felt therein, makes us love God, makes us confide

in God, makes us serve God with a happy, cheerful soul. “In te

Domine speravi, non confundar in aeternum.”

In the second part of the' examination of conscience, we study

and try to see what we have done for that God Who has done so



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 25

much for us, and there we discover soon that we have sinned

often, through our own fault, that we have sinned, as we say, every

day in thought, in word, and in deed
—

“peccavi nimis.” We all
know how to examine that conscience according to the Ten Com-

mandments, according to our holy vows, according to our priestly

state of life. The characters of Judas and Peter may help perhaps

to reveal the misery and the infirmity of the soul unto us. Study

Judas, for he is the revelation of human blindness and human

weakness. What caused that great, deep fall of that privileged

disciple called by Christ to be a prince of His kingdom in this

world, and to be a prince of the kingdom of His glory? The first

cause of his wreck and ruin seems to have been his inordinate love

for money. Judas showed this passion a few days before the Last

Supper, when the grateful penitent, Mary Magdalen, gave the

banquet in honor of Jesus. We learn there that when Mary
Magdalen knelt at the feet of her Divine Benefactor, opened the

box of precious ointment and offered it humbly unto her Re-

deemer, as a token of thankfulness and love, Judas criticised her,

and said she might have given that money to the poor. See his

narrow heart, his hardened heart, his blinded heart, his hypo-

critical heart. When he said she might have given it to the poor,

he meant, “She might have given it to me.” It was this love of

money, no doubt, which made him sell the Saviour for thirty pieces

of silver. That money he took not for the poor, but for himself.

The love of “filthy lucre,” as St. Paul calls it, thus blinded Judas,

and changed him also into a traitor. This vice is a universal vice,

for, as the prophet of old wrote : “Beatus vir, * * * qui post

aurum non abiit. nec speravit in pecunia et thesauris. Quis est

hie et laudabimus eum?” “The desire of money is the root of ail

evils, which some coveting, have erred from the faith, and have

entangled themselves in many sorrows. But thou, O man of God,
flv these things.” Open the history of the Catholic priesthood,

so long, so great, so glorious. You will indeed find that many
did not run after gold and silver, that many left all things, and

gave what they had to the poor, and thus made themselves worthy

of praise in this life and in eternity; but you will find also, alas,

that many of the greatest of scandals in the history of the Church,

and the private history of priests and prelates has been caused

by the sin of Judas, this love of money, this avarice. Put your

hand upon your own heart and sound it, and see whether in this
respect they are free and stainless. Study here also the first con-

sequence, or the first evil effect of avarice. It blinds the eye to

everything beautiful and supernatural, so that it sees nothing but

the dust of the earth. Judas saw no longer in Jesus his Master,

his God, and his Saviour, but only something to be bought and

sold, to make money out of, to get rich by. What a perfidy, what
a crime ! Being thus blinded by avarice, he became a living hypo-



26 A RETREAT TOR PRIESTS

crite. His following was hypocrisy. His conversation at the Last

Supper, saying : “Is it I ?” was hypocrisy. His eating the Easter

lamb of the Saviour was hypocrisy. Pause, Reverend Fathers,

and apply this to yourselves. If you find here a priest, a soul

adorned with the sacerdotal character, that has been dragged

down from its high dignity and its great destiny into the very mire

of money, and the money-making business, you will find a blinded

priest, a priest who sees in his priestly functions no longer his

God, no longer his Christ, no longer the saving of souls, but only

the few pennies, the few dollars he may make with his anointed

hands performing the sacred duties, administering the holy sacra-

ments, and offering up the sacrifice of the Mass. That priest

becomes a living hypocrisy. He says the penitential psalms, but
his heart is not like the heart of the penitent David. He stands
at the altar and says “Confiteor,” “Gloria in Excelsis 060/’

“"Credo,” “Gratias agamus,” but his heart feels not what his lips

pronounce. He takes into his hands that are soiled with the filthy
lucre, the white Host, he pronounces the words of consecration,

he offers that Host
—
“Hostiam puram, Hostiam sanctam, Hos-

tiam immaculatam”—to the Blessed Trinity, but his heart is not
like that Host. It is the heart of a traitor. He may receive that
sacred Host into his heart. He feels that his heart is cold as the
money he loves, and not like the heart of the Saviour that should

dwell in him. Like a Judas, he sits at the Last Supper, but feels

—

“I am a hypocrite.”
That hidden hypocrisy finally led Judas to open treason. In

the darkness of the night he sought the enemies of Christ and

agreed to betray Him. Notice here a second mistake of Judas.

He associated with bad company in the dark hours. Examine
your consciences. What company have you kept, and what words

have you spoken when you thought you were alone, behind closed

doors, or in the darkness of the night, not with the friends, but

with the open or concealed enemies of Jesus? “By thy words thou

shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

Your confidential conversations, more than anything else, will

reveal your heart and show you whether it is the heart of a John

or the heart of a Judas.

Then, Reverend Fathers, study Peter—a beautiful, open char-
acter, a man loyal and faithful to Christ, a man who professed his

fidelity, saying: “Why cannot I follow Thee now? I will lay down
my life for Thee.” This great Peter fell the same night and swore
that he knew not the Christ, Whose very name he was ashamed

to mention, calling Him “that- man.” Peter ignored the warning

word of Jesus, “Watch and pray.” He would not pray and he did

not watch. He fell asleep in the garden while the Master was

praying, and because he slept at the time of prayer, he fell in the

hour of temptation. His will was good but his spirit was weak.



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 27

Pause and reflect. A priest is a man of prayer. The Church com-
mands him under pain of sin to spend hours in prayer every day.

A devout priest will add prayers of his own choice to these official
prayers. Answer your God—Have you prayed like Christ, or
have you slept like Peter? ‘•'Watch,” said Christ. Praying alone

will not help us if we have not the prudence of a serpent to foresee

danger and to avoid the occasions of sin. Peter, according to the

Gospel, had neither the prudence of the other disciples, who ran

away from the enemies of Christ, nor the bravery of a John, who

entered with Christ into the court of the judge. “But Peter fol-

lowed afar off,” and being thus at a distance from Christ, he

remained with the servants at the hour of night. It was the wrong

company, it was the wrong place for a follower of Jesus. And
being there alone at a distance from Christ, with the enemies of

Christ, it was a woman—-vulgar, unbelieving—who caused his
final fall. Oh, what subjects for reflection are these! Have you

followed Christ like a John, or have you, like Peter, followed Him
at a distance, conversing with His enemies at forbidden times and

in forbidden places? Peter and Judas were providential men.

They revealed the hearts of many a man. The study of their char-

acters, and the study of their falls, will help us to know our char-
acters, and to avoid the sins of which they were guilty.

Having thus examined our consciences in the light of God,

with the assistance of Jesus Christ, then we repent. Judas under-

stood the greatness of his crime. He even confessed it publicly
to the high priests and threw away that money. It was not the

leaving of Christ that opened his eyes, but the condemnation of

Christ, the flowing of the innocent blood, that made him repent

and say : “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.” His re-

pentance saved him not, because in his heart there was neither

hope nor love. He saw not Jesus, the Saviour of his soul. He
despaired, he hanged himself, and we have all reasons to believe

that he is in hell to-day, for Christ Himself pronounced upon him

the words of woe : “Woe to the man by whom I shall be betrayed.”

Peter, having sinned, saw the bleeding Jesus, saw His ador-

able countenance, saw His divine eyes, and in those eyes reflected

the mercy and love of the heart of his Master. It touched him, it

filled him with repentance, contrition, with hope of forgiveness.

Peter went out and wept bitterly. That Peter is a great saint

in Heaven to-day.

Therefore, Reverend Fathers, if we find that we have sinned

often, through our own fault, in thought, in word and in action,

let us not imitate the despairing Judas, but let us imitate the

humble, repentant Peter. May the Lord Christ, Who helped His
disciples so kindly, so mercifully, give us the tears of repentance

that flowed from the eyes of Peter, the Prince of Apostles.



REPENTANCE

“I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so

you do also.”

01\ NE of the most extraordinary and touching scenes of the
Last Supper, which impressed the disciples most profoundly,

which has gone down in history and found an important

place in the liturgy of the Church, was the washing of the feet

of the disciples by the Divine Master, Jesus Christ. St. John

records it completely and minutely : “After that, He putteth water
into a basin, and began to wash the feet of His disciples, and to

wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. He cometh
therefore to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him : Lord, dost
Thou wash my feet? Jesus answered, and said to him: What I
do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter

said to Him: Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered
him : If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with Me. Simon

Peter saith to Him : Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands

and my head. Jesus saith to him : He that is washed, needeth
not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And you are clean,

but not all. For He knew who he was that would betray Him;

therefore He said: You are not all ciean. Then after He had

washed their feet, and taken His garments, being sat down again,

He said to them: Know you what I have done to you?”

The washing of the feet at a feast was a menial service, never

performed by the master of the house or the father of the family,

but by the servants or slaves. How surprised and profoundly
touched must the twelve have been when they saw Jesus, “Who

only- is Lord, Who cnlv is highest in the glory of the Father,”
rise, gird Himself, and kneel down at their feet

;
when they saw

Jesus, “Who only is holy,” wash the feet of sinners, even the feet
of Judas? The hearts of all, no doubt, were filled with the feel-

ings Peter expressed when he exclaimed : “Lord, dost Thou

wash my feet?”
The action being so very exceptional and humiliating, the

Saviour must have had some very special reasons for performing

it. Reading the account John gives attentively, we find two rea-

sons clearly expressed. Jesus wished to purify His disciples

before He gave them His flesh to eat and His blood to drink
;
and

secondly, Jesus wished to teach them humility before He gave
them the divine power and mission of the priesthood. In the mind

of Jesus, the Last Supper represented the whole New Testament,



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 29

the Apostles the whole priesthood, down to the day of doom. To

make the lessons universally and eternally understood He inspired

John to record them
;
and to make the lessons impressive, He

explained them in word and deed.

Purity is a virtue natural and supernatural, loved by God and

loved by man. God is purity in its perfection, purity itself. All

that which proceeds from the immaculate hands of God is immac-

ulately pure. Pure is the snow that falls from heaven, pure is the

lily that blossoms in the fields, pure are the rays of the sun that

spread the purest light, pure is the air on the mountain tops

before it descends in the valley. If thus the material creatures

reflect the purity of God, how much more must the living spirit-

ual images of God, the angels and the soul of man, enjoy this gift.

Man being the creature and image of purity, loves purity in

all things. How the people of the world prepare themselves for
a festival or banquet! The hall must be cleaned, the linen must

be washed, the silver must be polished. The guests must appear

dressed spotlessly, richly and nicely. The smallest stain is a great

offence. All that is good and just. But alas ! how superficial and

hypocritical they are ! The faultlessly dressed guest may be shock-
ingly immodest in appearance, have wanton eyes, false lips, a

heart filled with hatred, treason and adultery that they notice not.

They see not beyond the reach of the animal eye, and even that is

neither clear nor clean.

No wonder that Jesus, Who saw the inner abominations of
this great, proud, artificial and superficial class of people,

denounced them plainly and vehemently, saying: “Woe to you,
Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the
outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine
and uncleanness. Ye blind Pharisees, first make clean the inside
of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may become clean/’
He described the hearts of such when he said: “From the heart
come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false testimonies, blasphemies.” All silk and satin, gems and
jewels, flowers and ornaments cannot cover up and hide such moral
filth from the eyes of the all-seeing God.

The Church, being nearer to God, loves purity more than the
world does. The Easter l-amb had to be spotless. The priest’s alb
and the linen on the altar must be white as snow. Dust in the

.
church is offensive everywhere, especially so in or near the taber-
nacle. All this to symbolize the purity of a Christian, of a priestly
heart. Hypocrisy is always detestable, but the most detestable
of all hypocrisies is religious hypocrisy—to appear before Jesus
with a black heart under a white alb.

At the Last Supper, Jesus saw such a hypocritical heart in
Judas; Judas reminded Him of many in the course of time



30 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

approaching Him unworthily. The wedding garment of the other

guests Jesus saw defiled with the stains of smaller sins and imper-

fections. To teach Peter, to teach Judas, to teach us, to teach

all, that no one can enjoy with Him the wedding feast
;

that no

one can have part with Him, participate in the gifts of the Last

Supper, participate in the fruit of His prayer and His death on thfe

Cross, participate in the glory of His kingdom, without a soul

free from at least mortal sin, Jesus Himself kneels down to wash

the feet of His disciples.

The disciples did not fully understand the meaning of that

humiliation at the moment, therefore they said : “Thou shalt never

wash my feet.” The answer of Jesus: “What I do thou knowest
not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. If I wash thee not,

thou shalt have no part with Me,” indicated clearly that what He
did had a great moral meaning, and that it was necessary for the

end of His mission. A vague idea of it was sufficient to make
them cry : “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and

my head.”

We to-day realize the full meaning of the lesson Jesus taught
in that unforgetable manner by washing the feet of His disciples

at the Last Supper, before He instituted the Holy Eucharist, and
the eternal priesthood. We all have sinned. “If we say that we
have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Our imperfections are so numerous that we can truly say every

morning and every evening, “peccavi nimis, cogitatione, verbo, et

opere. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” Jesus alone

can wash us clean from the stains of sins defiling or destroying

the image of a God in us. Instead of water, He takes His own
blood, to take away our sins. How anxious ought we to be to
have the whole soul cleaned entirely, to have a full part with Him
in the great mysteries we celebrate daily. How sad are the words :
“You are not all clean.” For Judas, the coming of Jesus, the

washing by Jesus, was all in vain. Judas had no part with Him.

Let us imitate a Peter, go to confession regularly, go to confession

frequently, go to confession religiously, and let us not repeat the

mistake of Judas.

“You also ought to wash one another’s feet.” As priests, we

have the angelic mission of leading souls to the Last Supper, to

the wedding feast. Before presenting them to Jesus, we must

prepare them, purify them, adorn them with the wedding garment.

We exhort the people to go to Communion frequently. That is
good and pleasing to God, in perfect harmony with the teachings

of the Church, and the admonishings of our Holy Father. Let

us admonish them to go devoutly, well prepared, just as emphat-

ically as we ask them to go often. As we quote the words of

Jesus: “Eat My flesh. * * * drink My blood,” thus let us



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 31

quote the words of St. Paul : “Therefore whosoever shall eat this

bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty

of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove

himself
;
and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice.

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh

judgment to himself, riot discerning the body of the Lord. There-

fore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep.”

Some are infirm, weak and asleep because they do not receive

the holy sacraments. Others are infirm, weak and asleep because

they'do not receive the sacraments with due preparation. Even

if the sins committed are not as black as the treason of Judas, but

resemble more the shortcomings of the other Apostles, let us con-

fess them and let us hear the confessions of others. Communion

both frequently and devoutly received gives us “a part” with Jesus.

A second lesson which Jesus teaches at the Last Supper, pros-
trated at the feet of His disciples, washing them, is humility. His

whole being in that humble attitude seems to cry out : “Oh, learn

of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart !” When He rose again
and sat down among them, He said: “You call Me Master and
Lord : and you say well, for so I am. If then I, being your Lord

and Master, have washed your feet
;
you also ought to wash one

another's feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have

done to you, so you do also. Amen, amen, I say to you : The

servant is not greater than his lord : neither is the apostle greater

than he that sent him. If you know these things, you shall be
blessed if you do them.”

Humility is a fundamental Christian virtue, and very difficult

to practice. Pride is a universal cause of sin. It caused the fall

of Lucifer, and of our first parents in Paradise. Pride having

taken us away from God, humility must take us back to God.

Humility does not consist in sanctimonious talk, in empty

phrases. Jesus does not deny His greatness. “You call Me Mas-
ter and Lord

;
and you say well, for so I am.” But professing His

greatness, and then making Himself the servant of servants illus-

trates humility. If God has given us special talents and graces,
it is not humility to deny them. To acknowledge them as Mary
did, singing : “Because He that is mighty hath done great things
to me" : to thank God for them, to make good use of them for the
glory of God and the salvation of souls is humility. Our proper
place is at the feet of Jesus, as Jesus, teaching humility, was at
the feet of His disciples. He is our Master and Lord, we are His
servants. Our duty is to listen to Jesus and do His holy will
always, everywhere, in all things. The servant is not greater than
the Lord. Humility means, essentially, to serve. The priest
who lives and acts, walks and speaks in the presence of Jesus will
be humble, seeing his littleness in the greatness of the Master.



32 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

Our very greatness consists in being thus spiritually con-

stantly at the feet of the Master, serving Him in serving others.
This virtue brings us in close union with Jesus, and places us most

directly under the influence of His divine grace. This inspires the

noblest thoughts, and confers the greatest strength. This humil-

ity made a Peter walk across the waves of the stormy sea, made

him cast his net and catch an abundance of fish. Pride means

walking away from Christ as the prodigal son walked away from

home, and makes a man small, timid, carnal. Humility means

remaining home with Jesus, living and reigning with Him
;
“Ser-

vire Deo est regnare.” The works of the proud are “enmities,

contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects,

envies.” The works of the humble are “joy, peace, patience,

benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness.”

Humility being the foundation of our salvation, the gate to

heaven, Jesus taught it on many occasions. His daily life was an

illustration of the word : “Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble

of heart.” He gave us a beautiful picture of humility lying like

a helpless infant in the manger. He gave us a still more beautiful

picture of humility when, standing like a sinner among sinners on

the banks of the Jordan, He asked to receive the sign of penance,
baptism. That pleased the Heavenly Father so much that He
appeared in the clouds and said : “This is My beloved Son, in
Whom I am well pleased.” Jesus gave the consummation of that
virtue on Calvary, humbling Himself even unto the death of

the Cross.

In clear, simple words Jesus often admonished His disciples

to be humble. He told them not to imitate the Pharisees, whose
prayers and fasts were poisoned with the poison of pride

;
not to

choose the first place at table
;
He placed a little child among

them and told them to be as simple and humble as a child.

At the Last Supper Jesus felt the special need for an admoni-

tion and illustration of humility. He was about to ordain His
first priests

;
to confer upon them the greatest powers and the

greatest dignity
;
He was about to make them the princes of His

Kingdom. He foresaw that these new honors would be the occa-

sion of new temptations. He foresaw that there was danger that

His ministers would use that God-given power—the effect of
divine grace, the merits of His precious blood—Tor their own
glory and for their own destruction. Therefore before He exalted
them, ordained them,- He first showed them how to use that power
by kneeling down and washing the feet of sinners. He then laid

down the general law : “I have given you an example, that as I

have done to you, so you do also.” Next He explained to them

the difference between the princes of the world and the princes

of His Kingdom : “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them

;



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
33

'

and they that have power over them are called beneficent. But

you not so
;
but he that is the greater among you, let him become-

as the younger : and he that is the leader, as he that serveth. For

which is greater, he that sitteth at table or he that serveth? Is

not he that sitteth at table? But I am in the midst of you as he~

that serveth.”

Princes of the world are always selfish and being selfish, they

seek themselves in all things. They make use of their power and1

influence; they use even their subjects for their own glory. They

are tyrants. The service of them is slavery. The princes of the

Church, Christ and those who are Christlike, stand between God

and the children of God. They see not themselves but

God in every Child. They love the child for the love of

God. They communicate to that child the riches of God’s mercy

to bring that child nearer to God. They spend themselves- in

serving God by serving His children. That is princely dignity and

the greatest happiness on earth.

The example, admonition and prayer of Jesus have helped

much to make the priests and princes understand their position.

The Apostles learned the lesson. As true princes they served the

people and sacrificed themselves for them. Their example has

been imitated by thousands of the ministers of the Church in a

heroic degree. But alas, not all have minded the words of Jesus,,

not all have withstood the temptation of Satan. Worldly ambi-

tions fill the hearts of too many. Jealousy poisons their spirit.

Contentions and strifes disturb their peace. Like the kings of

the Gentiles, they do lord it over their inferiors with iron hands.

Pride has caused the greatest wrecks, like that of Martin Luther;

pride is the origin of the various religious sects and denomina-

tions
;

pride is responsible for the greatest ruin in the Church

of Christ
;

pride makes many a peaceful heart peaceless
;

pride-

makes many an able priest useless
;

pride destroys many a good’
work

;
pride seems to be a great vice in America. There is dan-

ger for all. As we are always conscious of our priestly dignity,

power and mission, thus let us always bear in mind the picture of

Jesus washing the feet of His subjects and saying: “I have given

you an example. * * * The servant is not greater than his lord.”'

The virtue of humility we need in private and in public life to

serve Jesus. We need it perhaps most of all in confessing our
sins. Pride blinds the eye. Peter saw in Jesus the Son of the

living God. Mary Magdalen saw in Jesus the Saviour of her soul.
The little children saw in Jesus their dearest, greatest friend.
The proud Judas saw in Jesus his own profit, something he could’
sell for silver. The humble saints see in their souls the sins which
make them cry for mercy. The proud sinners see in themselves
nothing but the little good they have done moved by a selfish*



34 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

spirit. Pride hardens the human heart. Peter is moved by the

-humility of Jesus; “Thou shalt never wash my feet,” he exclaims.

The criminal heart of the robber on the cross was softened and

opened by the humility of Jesus. Judas sees the humble Jesus at

His feet, and his cold, proud heart is not touched as the gentle

hands of the Master touch him.

Pride seals the lips. From the lips of a humble heart comes

spontaneously the open confession, the self-accusation, the self-

condemnation of a St. Augustine, the penitent psalm of David

—

“Miserere mei Deus.” The proud, like Judas, are silent. If they

speak, they excuse themselves, instead of accusing themselves.

Pride makes the soul most deceitful. “Lord, is it I ?” asks

Judas, instead of falling upon his knees and confessing, “Lord,

it is I.” Such proud, hardened, deceitful souls the just Master

must cast from their thrones
;

but the humble, open, straight-

forward souls, like those of Peter and Mary Magdalen, He

will exalt.

These considerations lead our souls naturally and directly to

the conclusion to imitate the humility of Jesus, to shun the pride

-of Judas
;
to keep the hands and hearts, that touch and carry the

Holiest of Holies, pure, purifying them in the blood of the Lamb

;

to serve others, as many as possible, in all things possible, with

the sublime humility of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples.



LOVE OF CHRIST INSPIRED THE INSTITUTION:

OE THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

“Having loved His own who were in the World, He loved them

unto the end.”

HE Last Supper being the one important event in the history
of Christ and the Church, the evangelists recorded faith-

fully and minutely all Jesus said and did at that feast of.

religious love. St. John, who felt the mysteries of the Heart of

Jesus, gives us the very soul and spirit of the Last Supper, the

deep secret motive of the wonderful things Jesus said and did in

the words: “He loved His own unto the end.” The institution*

of the Blessed Sacrament is the work of love divine : it is the-

Sacrament of love. That love endures and burns for us now. To

understand it better we may well analyze these inspired words of

the beloved disciple expressing the Heart of the loving Master.

John gives the twelve disciples the familiar, significant name,.

“Christ’s own.” All things, as we have seen, are Christ’s own.

He owns the whole creation, He only is Lord, and He is the

supreme Lord. The Psalmist, seeing the mysteries of God, and

clearly foreseeing the future, heard the voice of the Father saying'

to the Son : “Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thy

inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for Thy possession.”

Hanging on the Cross, Jesus, with His bleeding, outstretched

arms, asked for the world, and the Father heard His petition and

gave it to Him, “Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by
Whom also He made the word.”

Jesus claimed the Apostles and called them His own in a

most special and complete way. He had called them, selected
them from among millions. “You have not chosen Me, but I

have chosen you.” That vocation was a great and free gift. The-

high priests and doctors in the Temple of Jerusalem were ignored,

and the simple fishermen from the banks of the Jordan were called..

That call came in the most gentle way, yet with an almost irre-

sistible force. John tells us in his own charming way how he

learned to know the Master, and how he came to follow the Mas-
ter; how he was made “Christ’s own.” John the Baptist, being
with Andrew and John, “beholding Jesus walking, said : Behold
the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and’
they followed Jesus. And Jesus turning, and seeing them follow-
ing Him, said to them: What seek you? Who said to Him:



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS36

Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest

Thou ? He saith to them : Come and see. They came, and saw'

where He abode, and they stayed with Him that day.” As soon

as John saw Jesus he felt the goodness of Jesus. He felt his

heart drawn to Him. His first question expressing his deepest

desire was : “Where dwellest Thou ?” His eyes had been opened

by the light of Jesus; his heart had been touched by the love of

Jesus. He came to see Jesus, he came to see where Jesus dwelt.

The sanctity of Jesus, and the simplicity of His abode charmed

him. “He stayed with Him that day” and not only that day; he

stayed with Him until Jesus died on the Cross. Thus John was

called, thus all were called, to be “Christ’s own.”

Since Jesus had called them to be His own, they, following the

call, made Jesus their own. Jesus was practically unknown to

them. Jesus was alone, had nothing and promised them nothing.

He tells them plainly : “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the
air have nests

;
but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.”

These hard words of the strange Nazarene do not frighten them.

They hear the call, “Come after Me, and I will make you to be-

come the fishers of men
;
and, immediately leaving their nets, they

followed Him.” To follow Him meant to give up home; meant
to tear asunder the most tender ties of kinship and friendship

;

meant to sacrifice all the world holds dear. The Apostles promptly

and heroically gave up all they owned to . own Jesus, to make

Jesus their own. Such a call, and such an unhesitating following

of a call is clearly the work of the grace of God.

Following Jesus the twelve gave themselves entirely and

unreservedly to Jesus. They gave their time to Him, they gave

their talents to Him, they gave their minds to Him, they gave

their hearts to Him. They went where Jesus went, they suffered

what Jesus suffered. His lot was their lot, and their lot was His

lot. They were clerics.

Christ, the Master, accepted them with the generosity with

which they gave themselves. He took a fatherly care of His own,
even in temporal things. After an experience of three years, at

the Last Supper, He asked the question : “When I sent you with-
out purse and scrip and shoes, did you want anything?” They

were forced to answer “Nothing.” This is a marvelous statement.

Their blind, absolute confidence in Christ was richly rewarded.

The picture of the Last Supper indicates clearly the close

relationship between the Master and the disciple. When the
greatest religious feast of Joy, the true family feast was at hand,

not one of them returned to those dear and near, whom they had
left for Jesus. All remained with their own Master. At the table

Jesus presided and took the place of the father of a family. It was

.a new, perfect, spiritual family.



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
37

The influence of Jesus over the hearts of men has not been

lessened in the Blessed Sacrament. He continues to call in His
mysterious way His chosen children to the sanctuary and to the

monastery. The happy privileged ones cannot, like St. John, hear

the clear, audible, plain, consoling words, ‘‘Come and see.” They

cannot come and see His adorable face. In the Holy Eucharist

He is silent and He is veiled. But from Him radiates light and
love. They believe in Him, they perceive His presence, they

seek His abode, and they abide with Him. They confide in Him,

and He rewards their confidence. They make Him their own
and He is their own.

“Having loved His own,” says St. John. The bond of union

between Christ and His own was the noblest and the purest, the

strongest and the holiest, it was the bond of love. Jesus Christ

Himself confessed plainly and openly that He loved His disciples :

“I have loved you.” Loving them, He created them
;

loving

them, He called them, and loving them He kept them. “Electus
ct dilectus,” says a saintly writer. They were chosen and loved.

His love for them He declares to be a model for all His followers.

"“Love one another as I have loved you.”

This love which Jesus professed in words at the end of His

life, He had manifested in deeds daily during His public life.

According to St. Paul, one of the attributes of true charity

is patience. “Charity is patient, is kind—is not provoked to anger,
endureth all things.” The patience of Jesus with His fishermen

was wonderfully great, was divine. He came from the heavenly
home where the choirs of angels served Him with perfect order
and love. He came from the little home in Nazareth, where the
Blessed Mother sang her eternal Magnificat, to live among igno-

rant, rude men. They understood not His doctrine, they imitated

little His example. They dreamed of an earthly kingdom, and

quarreled to possess the first place in that kingdom. Love made

Jesus see, not their defects, but the good there was in their souls.

Love made Him bear their selfishness and ingratitude, and to
continue to sacrifice Himself for them. He foresaw and foretold
that they would abandon Him, deny Him, and betray Him. Such

treatment discourages love that is selfish. The love of Jesus was
true and great. It triumphed always and over all. He remained
-calm and patient even with Judas. The last word spoken to the
traitor was “friend,” the word of love.

True love, according to St. Paul, “is not ambitious, seeketh

not her own.” Jesus made the twelve His own not to receive
trom them, not to profit by them, but to give to them, to communi-

cate to them, to make them great and happy. His omnipotent
Land was always at the service of His loving Heart, to defend and

protect them against the waves of the stormy sea, the attacks

of jealous Pharisees, and the insidious snares of the devil:



38 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

“Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he

may sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith

fail not.” Jesus was not a hireling who left his sheep when

the wolf came
;

Jesus was the Good Shepherd Who knew His
own, Who loved His own, and Who was always ready to give
His life for His own.

A friend communicates freely to a friend his own thoughts,
his own mind, his own ideas, his own plans. Jesus gave His

twelve this sign of love and friendship : “I will not call you ser-

vants, for the , servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I

have called you friends : because all things whatsoever I have

heard of My Father I have made known to you.” Jesus, the Son
of God, called His fishermen friends, and treated them as such.

He lived among them not as a master among slaves, not as a
reformer among sinners, not as a teacher among pupils, but as a
friend among friends. Love unites and makes one. In His love

Jesus forgets His own superiority; in His love He sees in His
own only their dignity and destiny as children of God. Loving
them, He sits among them and tells them in a familiar and con-
fidential way all about His heavenly Father, His heavenly home,

and His own kingdom. What heavenly happy hours those hours
of spiritual conversation and revelation must have been

!

Love opens the mind and communicates to the person loved

its treasures. Finally love opens the heart and reveals its secrets,

itself, in such a way that the two friends have but “one heart and

one soul.” The joyful mysteries of the heart are revealed most

easily. Deep down in the heart are the sorrowful mysteries. We
consider them so personal and so sacred that, as a general rule,

we speak about them only to our God and to ourselves. The

friendship between Jesus and His own was so intimate that He
did not hesitate to show them His bleeding Heart: “And Jesus,

going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart, and said

to them : Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they

shall condemn Him to death. And shall deliver Him to the Gen-
tiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and the third day

He shall rise again.” He is not ashamed of tears. Entering the
Garden of Olives, He said plainly : “My soul is sorrowful unto

death.”

That which is innermost and deepest in the heart is life itself.

Love gives and seeks to give all. Jesus loved His own and in

His love He gave His life for His own. Well could Jesus sav:

“I loved you.” Well could John confirm the statement and an-

swer: “Jesus having loved His own.”

Love awakens, stimulates, creates love. “Diligentes me

diligo,” we read in Scripture, and we experience the truth of that

statement in the history of the heart. “I love those who love me.”



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 39

“‘The human heart begins to love when it feels that it is loved.”

The Apostles felt that universal law and confirmed it. That con-

stant, tender love of Jesus touched and moved their hearts. It

conquered the selfishness, coldness and vain ambitions. Love

transforms the heart and shapes it according to the object it loves.

The twelve, loving Jesus, acquired something of His strength, gen-

erosity and nobility. All could say with Peter : “Behold, we have

left all things and have followed Thee.” Love is as strong as

death. The danger of death cannot separate the heart that loves

from the object of its true love. When they saw Jesus returning

to Jerusalem to face His deadly enemies, they said : “Let us go

with Him and let us die with Him.” When at the Last Supper

Jesus said: “One of you will betray Me,” they were all most pro-

foundly stirred and appalled. “Peter saith to Him : Yea, though

I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee. And in like manner

said all the disciples.” “Lord, I am ready to go with Thee, both

into prison and to death. Why cannot I follow Thee now? I
will lay down my life for Thee. And in like manner also said they
all.” Such words have the ring of sound, sincere, great love. We
remember too much the denial of Peter, the betrayal of Judas,

the doubt of Thomas. The world remembers that which is evil,

and forgets that which is good. Jesus loved His own and His

own loved Him.

Sentimental, superficial love depends much upon what the

eyes see, the ears hear, and the lips say. The deep love of Jesus

triumphs over the senses, over time and space. He remains with
us under the

#
appearance of bread and wine, He continues to love

us, He continues to reveal Himself to all those who keep His
commandments. “I will love him and will manifest myself to him

—we will come and make our abode with him.” His presence
in the human heart, His manifestation to the human heart, His

love of the human heart, produce everywhere and always the

same effects, demand the same sacrifices, the same victims. The

glorious procession of the young who leave all because they love

Him, who promise and vow to follow Him even into the desert,
the prison, the camps of

.

the enemy, unto death, because they love

Him, is marching onward without interruption, always growing.

Jesus, as John tells us, loved His own “unto the end.” The

words “unto the end” have a profound meaning. They may ex-

press the duration of His love. His love lasts as long as His life,

for His life is love. His life is eternal, and His love just as ever-

lasting, endless, as His life.

John uses the words “unto the end” to give us some idea

of the greatness of the love of his Master. Jesus at the Last

Supper went to the very end of love, went as far as love can go.

There and then Divine Love gave its masterpiece. Infinite wisdom

could conceive nothing more beautiful, boundless goodness could



i

40 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

inspire nothing more precious, omnipotence could give nothing

greater than that which Jesus gave when He gave His flesh for a
food and His blood for a drink.

Love seeks union. The love of Jesus “unto the end” sought

a perfect, intimate, lasting union with His own. That desire He
expressed that very evening in His great sacerdotal prayer : “That

they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee. That

they also may be one in Us.” That mysterious union of the
Blessed Trinity, three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost in

one God, Jesus chooses for His model. According to that

blessed eternal Prototype, His loving Heart longs to establish a

union between Himself and His own. To accomplish that, it was

not sufficient that the Word should be made flesh and dwell among
us

;
it was not sufficient that the heart should be opened and its

blood taken to wash awray sin—all that was much, but not the end.
His love was not satisfied until He had said, “eat and drink.”
“I in you and you in Me.” “As the Father hath loved Me, I also

have loved you. Abide in My love.” This is love unto the end,
the great sacrament of love, the great mystery of love. A saint
reflecting upon it exclaims : “Jesus became foolish for love of us”

;

His love is so extremely generous and self-sacrificing that it seems

folly to our narrow selfishness.

The Apostles seeing this example of love unto the end with

their own eyes, being the end and object of that love, and feeding

upon that divine food of love, began to love Jesus unto the end.

Human love generally weakens and often ends with the departure
or failure of the master, or leader. Because of that Sacrament of

Love, the death of Jesus and His ascension into Heaven did not

diminish the love of the twelve. Their love became more spiritual

and more ardent. Their hearts were inflamed with the fire of

true divine love. Peter, who, at and before the Last Supper, pro-

tested so vehemently and promised so boastingly, now humbly

kneels down and *says weepingly : “I love Thee.” “I love Thee,

Master. Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love

Thee.”

They loved not with the tongue only, but in deed. Forced

by the fire of love, they divided the world among themselves, and

went forth to preach Christ crucified. Practically every step they

took was an heroic test of love. They were constantly “in perils

of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils

in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils

from false brethren
;

in labor and painfulness, in much watchings,

in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”'

“Even unto this hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked,

and are buffeted, and have no fixed abode. And we labor, work-

ing with our hands
;
we are reviled, and we bless

;
we are perse-

cuted, and we suffer it. We are blasphemed, and we entreat ; we



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 41

are made as the refuse of this world, the offscouring of all even

until now.” They were not discouraged. They loved unto the

end. The charity of Christ pressed them onward. In that charity

they fought their fight, ran their course and kept their faith, and

won their crown of glory.

The perfect love of the disciples changed their hearts com-

pletely, and made them Christlike. They resembled Christ in

their zeal
;
they resembled Christ in their sufferings

;
they resem-

bled Christ in their death. For them to live was Christ, and to

die was gain. “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or

whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Therefore, whether we

live, or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” To sacrifice their

lives on the Cross like Jesus and for Jesus, they considered a priv-

ilege and an honor. “O thou blessed Cross,” exclaimed St. An-

drew, when led to the place of martyrdom, “made sacred by the

body of the Lord, long have I longed for thee, ardently have I

loved thee, always have I sought thee
;

thou being now pre-

pared for my languishing soul, take me away from the men of
the world, and give me back to my Master, that through thee He
may receive me, Who through thee redeemed me.” “Love unto
the end,” brought the Apostles to their end—Jesus Christ; and
according to the degree of love which their souls possessed on

earth is the greatness of their endless beatitude in heaven.

Jesus, this fire of love, Who sent the fire into the hearts of
men, and willed that it should burn, remained in the Blessed Sac-

rament. His Sacred Heart, still inflamed, continues to inflame

the hearts 'of men. His altar of love is surrounded by the pure

of heart, who, drawn by love, take the holy vows, make their pro-
fession, and consecrate to Him all they have and all they are until
death, unto the end.

To-day the hearts of men are cold in religion. There is little
faith and less fervor. There is great indifference and neglect of

sacred duties. It is our privilege to unfold to the world this

burning Heart of love, and to give to the world the food of love.

Let us be filled with it
;

let us fill the world with it. Let us love

Him unto the end, and let us love Him until the end. His love
is our life, here and hereafter.



THE END OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

“I am the Light of the world.” “I am the Life of the world.”

HINGS divine, frequently, are most simple. The Nativity
of Jesus was in the plan of Divine Providence the great

event in the history of creation. It was foretold immedi-

ately after the fall of our first parents and the loss of Paradise.

The prophets kt various times were sent to remind the people of

it. The Jewish nation prayed centuries for its consummation.

John was born and miraculously sanctified to prepare the way

for it. What a long and elaborate preparation ! How simple the
event. Jesus is born in the stable in the sacred stillness of the

night. The nation is asleep. Not even the precursor is present.

Similar to the nativity in its simplicity is the institution of the

Blessed Sacrament, the perpetual renewal of the Nativity. The

event was of the greatest importance in the divine economy of

man’s salvation. Accordingly, it was foresadowed by the manna

in the desert, by the bread the angel brought to the starving and

discouraged Elias, by the miraculous multiplication of bread to

feed the five thousand followers of Jesus in the desert. Christ

foretold it plainly and emphatically to the enthusiastic Galileans

and His disciples, although He knew that they would murmur at

it and abandon Him on account of it. For the realization of that

old, often-repeated promise, Christ chooses a most solemn occasion

in the great city of Jerusalem. It was the great, joyful feast of the

pasch. The Jews came from near and far. The Easter lambs

were bought by the thousands, brought to the temple to be sacri-

ficed by the priests. Friends and relatives met, assembled, sang

their psalms, and celebrated the festival according to their ritual.

While this was going on, Jesus, in His own quiet way, ignoring

the multitudes, without any public demonstration or proclamation,

in the presence of the twelve, abolished the festival, the Easter

lamb, the whole Old Testament, by taking bread and saying:
‘ r
Take ye and eat : this is my body,” and taking the chalice and

saying: “This is the blood of the New Testament, which shall be
shed for many unto the remission of sins. Do this for a com-
memoration of Me.” These few creative, living words establish

the whole new Church. The blood for the sins of men is there.

The bread of eternal life is there. The eternal priesthood is there.

The eternal Victim is there. What a sublimity in this simplicity f
The Apostles listen in silence, offer no objections and ask no

questions. They believe in Christ, the Son of the living God, Who
has the words of eternal life. They accept with gratitude, they



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
43

receive the consecrated bread and chalice with reverence and devo-

tion. A new union, a complete union with Christ is established.
They live, and Christ lives in them. Their silence and faith is a

lesson for us, a lesson for all who believe. Those who believe in

the nativity of Jesus Christ must also believe in the Real Presence

of Jesus Christ. Both mysteries rest on the same solid divine

foundation.

The few words the Master used to establish the priesthood

express clearly one of the great ends He had in view in bringing
the great sacrifice of remaining with us in that humble, hidden,

obscure manner
;
entrusting Himself to the rude hands of His sin-

ful subjects and obeying their words of consecration
—
“Do this for

a commemoration of Me.” He gives all and asks in turn to be
remembered.

The Holy Eucharist is essentially a memorial. “He hath made

a memorial of His wonderful works, the merciful and loving Lord

He hath given food to them that fear Him.” St. Paul thus under-
stood the Blessed Sacrament

;

quoting those holiest words of the

Last Supper, he adds : “For as often as you shall eat this bread

and drink this chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until

He comes.” St. Thomas of Aquin, the angelic exposer of the
Blessed Sacrament, and the angelic composer of that most beauti-

ful office, gives us the very same interpretation. In the first lesson

of the second nocturn, we find the expression of his deep thoughts

well worthy of our special attention. God in His goodness, he

teaches us, bestowed upon His Christian people boundless gifts

which confer upon us an inestimable dignity. The great nations

of old made themselves gods according to their own heart, but
no nation could even imagine a deity so closely united with itself

as our true great God is united with us. For the only begotten

Son of God assumed our human nature to make us participate in

His divine nature. He became the Son of man to make us sons
of men and sons of God..

The second indescribable gift, says St. Thomas, which elevated

us to a new dignity, is the Crucifixion. The Son of God having

taken our nature, and having made it divine and precious in the

sight of heaven, He gave it back to us. He gave His body for
our reconciliation, and His blood to wash away our sins. To make

all future generations remember and understand these gifts, which

make us children of God, Jesus left as a memorial His body and

blood, under the appearance of bread and wine, to be received by

the faithful. “Deus, qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili passionis

tuae memoriam reliquisti,” we sing as often as we give benediction

with the Blessed Sacrament.

It took the wisdom of a God to devise a memorial so simple

and effective
;

it took the omnipotence of a God to erect a

memorial so great and lasting as the Blessed Sacrament. The



44 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

memorials erected in the memory of human heroes, the pyramids
in Egypt, the palaces of kings, the statues and monuments in
parks and public places, are local, obscure, cold and dead. The

memorial of Jesus is universal, understood by all, life-giving and

loved. It is like the sun in the distant sky, sending his rays

millions of miles in all directions, unfolding the beauties of nature

to the human eye. The sun is Jesus in the tabernacle, and the

rays of that sun are the members of the priesthood.

The Apostles, and the priests ordained by them, renewed the

mysteries every morning. After consecration the sacred Host

whispers, as it were : “Do this in memory of Me.” They remem-

bered Him during the day, and being filled with that knowledge
of Christ, they showed Him to others by example and doctrine.

The heart of man is naturally religious, being by its origin

the image of Christ. Hearing Christ and His religion, it finds in

it something pleasing, something familiar. The gift of faith helps

to grasp it more fully. The neophytes believed firmly. They

received Jesus not only by faith, but in reality. This confirmed

their faith. They are enlightened and become a light. Through

them the light spreads. The home is reformed. It is made a

Christian home. Young men and maidens are led by it away

from home, as the wise men were led by the miraculous star. It

leads them to a poor convent. They are happy and praise God

because the light is there. For all, young and old, married and

single, Jesus is the one great, only ideal. All study Him, all

meditate on Him, all try to imitate Him, all try to live as Jesus

lived, to die as Jesus died, to triumph as Jesus triumphed. That

light of Christ conquered the darkness of paganism, that light of

Christ changed the face of the earth. It passed from generation

to generation with undiminished brightness.

When Jesus lived He said: “I am the Light of the world.”
It was a remarkable saying, well worthy of the Son of God. No
Plato or Aristotle, founding schools and surrounded by scholars,

dared to call himself the light of the world. The unknown Naz-

arene, followed by twelve fishermen and persecuted by the learned

scribes, made the declaration, and we see its realization.

Jesus Christ is the Light of the world through the Blesed Sac-

rament. Those who have lost sight of this memorial, as practically

all the members of other religious denominations have done, have

also lost the true idea of Christ’s character and Christ’s doctrine.

Their ministers stand not in close union with Christ, the source

of light. They cannot give Christ present in the Sacrament of

love to the people, and therefore the light does not penetrate

their souls.

What an encouragement and what an admonition is the long
history of the many battles and victories of the Prince of light

over the prince of darkness for us priests. Jesus says : “I am the



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 45

Light of the world,” and Jesus says: ‘‘You are the light of the

world.” Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the Light of the world

through us. “Do this in commemoration of Me.” We obey, and
renew the mysteries of the Last Supper daily. We obey and com-
municate Him to the faithful, as He gave Himself to the Apostles.

We must obey, and do it in memory of Him, sacrificing Him,
receiving Him and giving Him to others, not in absolute silence

and spiritual darkness, but in the light of the living word.

To-day more than ever “our wrestling is not against flesh

and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the

rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirit of wicked-

ness in high places.” The name of Jesus is known to all, but for

many that name has lost its sacred meaning. It is no longer

Christ, the Son of God, but merely Christ, the Son of man. The

prince of darkness, through a hundred human agencies, the press,

the universities, the secret societies, is working restlessly to rob

the Saviour of all His dignity. He does it under the cover of
progress, science, broadmindedness. The true reason is the old

reason given by Christ. They love darkness and hate the light.

They hate the light because their works are bad. If Christ is not

the Son of God, then His moral precepts, especially those against

injustice and impurity, are not divine, binding in conscience. With

such reflections they try to pacify their conscience, and make their

scandalous conduct honorable in the sight of men.

Against these works of darkness, the Catholic priest must

rise with all the power at his command, to preach Jesus, Who
is to-day the same as yesterday, the same forever; to preach the

old moral precepts, which are to-day the same as yesterday, the

same forever. As the light of the sun does not change with the

vicissitudes of time and the progress of nations, thus Jesus, the

Light of the world, never changes.

The second great end Jesus had in view at the Last Supper

when instituting the Blessed Sacrament was to give strength, to

be the spiritual food of the human soul, to sustain and develop

the supernatural life of faith in His children and lead it to the

eternal life of glory. This we find clearly expressed in His words

recorded by St. John in the sixth chapter: “I am the bread of
life. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If
any man eat of this bread he shall live forever

;
and the bread

that I will give is My flesh, for the Life of the world.” “Except
you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you shall
not have life in you.” “My flesh is meat indeed

;
and my blood

is drink indeed. * * * He that eateth My flesh and drinketh
My blood abideth in Me and I in him. * * * The same also
shall live by Me.”

The human soul needs Christ, the bread of life, even more

than Christ, the Light of the world. The light is a preparation



46 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

for the life. As a light He gives us the perfect ideal to aim at;
as life He makes it possible for us to attain that ideal. The
.great men of the world may excel in natural virtues and give an
heroic example to their followers. Parting, and passing away into

the obscure eternity, they can say to their friends “imitate me,”

but they cannot extend to their friends a helping hand.
#

The

saints lead a supernatural life, draw nations to themselves, and to

their way of living. Parting, they are calm, they feel the nearness

of Heaven, and they speak the consoling words, I go to God;

when with God I shall pray for you, and continue to help you.

Jesus. Christ gave the example absolutely faultless and absolutely

perfect, and when about to part He said : “Eat My flesh, drink
.My blood. Abide in Me and I in you. As I live by the Father,
so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me.” The influ-

ence of man over fellow man is small, and of short duration. The
influence of Jesus over the soul of man is deep, enters life itself,
and is eternal.

The irreligious learned men of to-day try to reform evils by

the education of the mind only. Their principle seems to be : If

-man understands what is right, he will do that which is right.

This principle is false, and their work is fruitless. The Romans

•of old were highly cultured and educated. They had their great

warriors, poets, philosophers and historians, but the city of culture

and refinement was seated in wickedness, in cruelty, immorality

and injustice. A glance at the present world illustrates the fallacy
of their principle. No one knows the laws of justice better than
the lawyers, and yet, as a class, they are perhaps the most unjust.

No one knows the sad effects of social evils better than the
.students of medicine and the doctors. No one will say that the
medical students are the most moral students, and that the

doctors, as a class, are the safest teachers of morality. Society

people boast of culture and refinement, and scandalize those who

have the good fortune to be less fashionable by wantonness of

every description. The root of evil is in the heart of man
;
by

nature we are children of wrath. To reform that heart we need

new strength, new life, and a new food for that life. Jesus gives

"that new life in baptism, and feeds that supernatural life with a

.supernatural food. Jesus alone reformed the world, and His

standard of reformation must be kept up in Him.

John exclaimed rejoicing: “The word was made flesh and

-ffwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as it were, of

the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” We
almost envy John the privilege of seeing Christ, and seeing in

Christ the glory of the Father. We need not envy him. We have
the history of nineteen hundred years, and in it we see more of

the glory of Christ, although in a more imperfect manner than

John beheld at the Last Supper. John saw the promise and the



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 47
-

prophesy
;
we see the glorious realization of all; John saw only-

the corner-stone of the Church
;
we see the great magnificent

temple; John saw the mustard-seed; we see the beautiful tree

spreading its branches over the whole world, giving an abundance

of sweet food to all the starving children on their homeward,

journey. Glancing at the history of the Blessed Sacrament, we

see the glory of Christ reflected in the daily lives of the millions

of the faithful.

In the strength of the Living Bread, the Apostles went to-

the whole world to preach, suffer and die for Christ
;

in the

strength of the Living Bread thousands of the early Christians-

gave their blood cheerfully for Christ, praying for their perse-

cutors
;

in the strength of this Living Bread, young men, like a.

St. Thomas and St. Aloysius, conquered the passions of the flesh

and led the life of angels. In the strength of this Living Bread

frail young women became heroines, administering the works of

mercy and charity; in the strength of this Living Bread married

life was purified and sanctified, and homes were transformed into

happy, Christians homes
;

in the strength of this Living Bread

convents and monasteries have sprung up and have been kept up

for centuries, the schools of scholars and saints
;

in the strength

of this Living Bread the suffering and dying have found hope and

consolation, and have made with Jesus the long journey into

eternity. In the strength of this Living Bread, the great Catholic

priesthood, notwithstanding its privations and sacrifices, has at

all times drawn the best of the young men into the sanctuary, has
made them happy, and kept them in the sanctuary until death.

Indeed Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the life of the Church,,

and through the Church Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the

Life of the world. “We saw His glory, the glory as it were of
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth.”

The priests need not review the history of the world to see

the glory of Jesus. All we have to do is to search our own

hearts. We find Jesus there. From the day of our first Holy-
Communion to the present hour He has been our Light and our
Life. Jesus, in His mysterious, almost irresistible way, drew us

away from the world and to Himself. He inspired our vocation,
and gave us the grace to follow our calling. He was the object
of our long studies and the object of our love. He led us to the
tabernacle, as the star led the wise men to the tabernacle, and
impressed His sacerdotal character upon our immortal souls. We
saw His glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the-

Father. He has been for us a food and a drink. We have lived
by Him, and by Him we hope to live forever.

We,, enjoying and having enjoyed the effects of the Blessed

Sacrament, must be grateful and manifest our gratitude by being

devout in receiving Him, and by being zealous in administering



48 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

Him unto others. This is the life of the priesthood, the dignity
of the priesthood, and the sublime mission of the Catholic

priesthood.

^Reverend Fathers, speaking to you in the name of Jesus

Christ, and in the name of His Vicar, Pius X, I implore you,

understand your dignity, understand your privilege, understand

well your duty. You hold in your consecrated hands the keys of

the Tabernacle, the House of Bread. Do not lock the door and
let the people starve. They are walking through a terrible desert

on their journey to heaven. They will die by the wayside unless

you, like an “alter Christus,” have a tender compassion upon the

multitudes, and make them kneel down at the table of angels, and

place upon their tongues the sacred Host, that it may preserve

them, body and soul, for life everlasting
—

“Corpus Domini Jesu

-Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam.” The rich in

the world, and the various charity organizations make great

efforts and sacrifice much to give the poor in the cities a little

feast on a Thanksgiving or a Christmas day. What is all that

in comparison with the “Daily Bread” at your disposal for the

-multitudes? Are you making an equal effort to feed the little

children, the struggling young men, the sick and the dying with

the Bread of eternal life? The people are thirsting for Christ,

Christ is thirsting for them. You stand between Him and the
people, you are the mediators, you must bring them together.

Through you Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament must be

the light of America. Through you Jesus Christ must be the life

-of America. For that end He in His love instituted the Holy
Eucharist, for that end He called you to the priesthood, for that
end He sent you as the Father had sent Him. Jesus Christ
brought a great sacrifice to remain as the light of the world and

'the life of the world—He sacrificed Himself. Let us sacrifice
much, let us sacrifice ourselves, that His sacrifice may not

Ibe in vain.



THE EFFECTS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

PART I

“Recedant vetera, nova sint omnia. Corda, voces et opera.”

these words, St. Thomas, the angelic doctor and the angelic

saint, describes the effects Holy Communion must have on

those who receive it worthily. It is a divine food, and that

divine food must preserve and develop the divine virtues in the

soul of man. We often speak of the vast difference there is
between the Catholic Church and all non-Catholic denominations

;

we love to think how the Real Presence makes the Catholic

Church so far superior to all other churches. This difference and

superiority must show itself not in words, but in the daily life of

Catholics, especially in the representatives of the Church, the

priests who receive the Food of Angels every morning.

“Recedant vetera, nova sint omnia.” “Things old must de-

part
;

all must be new,” says the Dominican poet. Of all the

things that must be new in and after Communion, the first is the

heart. The worldly-minded are superficial, and always regard the

outside. They improve, polish and refine the exterior. God is

spiritual. His spirit penetrates all. It touches and influences

that which is innermost—the heart, life itself.
To the heart after Communion we may well apply the words

of St. Paul : “Know you not that you are the temples of God, * * *

that your bodies are the members of Christ.” Holy Communion

makes the heart the living temple, the tabernacle of Jesus Christ,

and such a heart must be among the hearts of men what the

material temple is among the buildings of the city.

Everything in the temple is sacred, receiving its sanctity from

God, and pointing back to God. It is decorated with the altars,

the images of the saints, and the Stations of the Cross. Worldly

ornaments and decorations, no matter how precious and artistic,

are there out of place. They may please the eye in the palace

of a king, but they offend and hurt the feelings of a Christian

in the church. The temple is sacred, and the things in the temple

must be sacred. The Pantheon of pagan Rome remained stand-
ing in the days of Christianity, but Christianity reformed and

transformed its interior. The idols of the gods were banished,

to make room on the throne for the One True God, and the great
God was surrounded by the saints, His greatest and most wonder-
ful works. The Pantheon became the Church of All Saints.

This gives us a perfect illustration of the “recedant vetera,

et nova sint omnia” in the heart of the faithful communicant. The
heart of man is naturally a pantheon. It is filled with idols and



50 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

it worships them. Inordinate self-love and passionate love of

creatures profane and defile it. When Christ enters the heart,
He enters as a King. The heart must be His own, and in it He
must rule supreme. He tolerates no false gods, no idols. They
all must vanish before His face, even as the snow melts before

the warm rays of the April sun. Even desires and affections which
would quite become the hearts of the members of the laity would

disgrace the priestly heart, for his heart is the living temple of

the living Jesus.

One of the striking characteristics of a true temple is its
sacred stillness and heavenly peacefulness. In the streets we meet

the rushing, running, money-seeking and pleasure-seeking crowds.

We enter the church facing the busy street, and we notice and
feel a change, sudden and great. The Prince of Peace dwells

there.

That Prince of Peace comes to the human heart to bring

peace. When He has entered that heart and dwells in that heart,
that heart must be a temple of peace. “Recedant vetera”—the
old troubles must go. The many fears and endless anxieties that

worry and wear out the souls of men must be kept out of that

sanctuary. No man in the whole world can be so peaceful as a
good priest. His holy vows of celibacy and obedience lead to

peace. He has no family to provide for, and if he truly seeks

the kingdom of God, God will always provide for him. We never
hear of a good priest starving. His cares are of a spiritual nature—

“the solicitude for all the churches. Who is weak and I am not
weak? Who is scandalized and I am not on fire?” These cares
may set the soul on fire, but must not disturb his peace. “Fear

not, I am with you,” says the voice of Jesus in his heart. In the
name of Jesus He calms the stormy sea; with Jesus he walks
safely on the dangerous waves.

A peaceful priest is always a great peacemaker, and “blessed
are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”

In the morning he stands at the altar and devoutly prays for

peace
—

“pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.” “Dona nobis pacem.”

During the day he meets his troubled, struggling children, and

his dignified, calm appearance, and his gentle but firm voice

spreads peace. In the confessional, above all, his children open

their bleeding hearts to him, and his words, accompanied by the

sacramental grace, heal the wounds. He repeats the words of

Jesus spoken to the wreeping Mary Magdalen: “Go in peace,”

and like Mary, his penitents leave him feeling the blessings of

a new peace.

At the Last Supper Jesus pacified His sad and troubled dis-

ciples : “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you
may have peace. * * * Peace I leave with you, My peace I
give unto you

;
not as the world giveth do I give unto you. Let



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 51

not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.” Indeed such

a peaceful Easter must make every heart in which He dwells a
peaceful sanctuary.

Jesus spoke of His own sacred body as a temple. Speaking,

as John tells us, of the temple of His body, He said: “Destroy
this temple, and in three days I shall raise it up.” The divinity

of Jesus dwelling in that body, being united with that body, made

it a temple divine. Jesus dwelling in the heart of man makes

that heart a sacred temple. In a Catholic temple the devout eye

seeks and loves to find the little bright sanctuary lamp. It means

so much to a devout heart. The red flame says Jesus is present

and Jesus is love. In His parable of the ten virgins Jesus Him-

self gave the burning lamps in the hands of the prudent virgins

that signification of charity, of love.

In the living temple—the heart of a Christian—the sanctuary
lamp, the flame of love, must be kept burning at all hours of the

day and night. To love God is the first great commandment.

That commandment of God expresses the deepest longing God

has planted in the heart. God made us because He loved us.
God made us in the image of perfect eternal love. God made

us to love eternally. The pure oil in the clean lamp represents the

good works. The flame itself must be Jesus in the Blessed

Sacrament.

To love God the heart must feel that it is loved by God.

God manifested His love in all His works. His masterpiece of

love is the Blessed Eucharist. At the Last Supper He loved unto
the end. In the Blessed Sacrament He continues to love unto
the end. Meditating and seeing that love, the heart begins to

love. Receiving that love, the heart is inflamed with love. That

fire of love is the force that makes it beat, that gives it activity

and endurance. That divine fire of love must burn out the old

self-love and love of creatures. “Recedant vetera, nova sitit

omnia”—that love divine must lift the heart up to God and make

it resemble God.

Receiving Holy Communion, we touch with our tongue the

pure, white, Sacred Host. That is a great privilege. The golden

chalice must be consecrated with holy oil before it is permitted

to touch these sacred species. The fingers of a priest must be

anointed before they are allowed to hold that Bread of life. The

sacred vessels being consecrated, solemnly dedicated to the

service of God, remain sacred. What a profanation and blas-
phemy it would be to take a chalice from the tabernacle to a

banquet table. Recedant vetera, nova sint omnia, corda, voces et

opera. Thus St. Thomas tells us Holy Communion must sanctify

the lips and the tongue. The abuse of them must cease, and the

proper use of them must begin.



52 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

“Who is there that hath not offended with his tongue ? * * *

If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man.”

“Many have fallen by the edge of the sword
;
but not so many

as have perished by their own tongue.” A great spiritual writer
says that more than half of the sins We commit are committed

by the abuse of the tongue. The books of Scripture, of saintly

writers, and of the learned of the world, all tell us that the tongue

is “a restless evil, full of poison.”

The many sins of the tongue we need not enumerate. We
know them from personal experience. The most wicked among

them are those directly against God—cursing, swearing, blasphem-
ing. Shocking it is to hear such language from the lips of infidels,

and unbelievers. That crime grows in malice when the words

proceed from the lips that have been reddened by the precious

Blood and sanctified by the Sacred Host. “You cannot be par-

takers of the table of the Lord and of the table of devils.” We
cannot kneel down and whisper with folded hands “hallowed be

Thy name,” * * * “Blessed be Jesus, the fruit of thy womb,”'

and then curse that God and abuse that sacred name. Recedant

vetera. Those abuses must stop.

Great are the sins of calumny and detraction. They violate

the law of charity given by Jesus at the Last Supper. They des-

troy the peace of homes and wound the hearts of many. “Out

of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren,
these things ought not to be.” The Sacred Heart is charity, and

must make of the tongue the blessed instrument of charity.

Obscene language is like the odor that comes from the grave..

It is a sign of a corrupted heart. “Out of the abundance of the

heart the mouth speaketh.” The Sacred Host is pure, immaculate.

It must purify the lips and make them clean. “Fornication and

all uncleaness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be namecf

among you, as becometh saints, * * * nor obscenity, nor foolish

talking, nor scurrility which is to no purpose
;
but rather giving-

thanks.”

One of the first steps necessary to tame that tongue and
5

check it, is to practise silence; to imitate Jesus perpetually silent

in the tabernacle. Silence; is holy, and when inspired by the

right motives, it leads to holiness, peace and happiness. Silence

has well been called the mother of prayer, the mother of wisdom.

A silent heart is a recollected heart. A silent heart is a deep
heart. A silent heart is a peaceful heart. In silence we hear the-
words of God

;
in silence they take root

;
in silence they grow and

bear fruit. “He that refraineth his lips is most wise.” All the
saints of the Church were men that loved silence. All the foun-

ders of religious Orders, convents and monasteries recommended

silence in their holy rule. The religion of the man who does not



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
53

learn to control his tongue is vain. By keeping silence we learn

how to think and how to speak.

Jesus having given the example of silence in the desert, began

to teach and preach. Speech is a great gift of God. The abuse

of it spreads death
;

the use of it gives life. From the lips of a

true Christian after Communion must come words that manifest

the kindness and mildness, the purity and piety, of Jesus Christ.

Nova sint omnia. The first good and proper use of the tongue

is that of prayer. God gave us speech, and speech must be used

to praise God in hymns and songs and spiritual canticles. From

a religiously joyful heart will naturally come such joyful praise

of God. When Zachary saw his child and called it John, “imme-
diately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed and he spoke,

blessing God.” Blessing God, he sang one of the most beautiful

canticles that ever came from a human heart. Such cheerful,

joyful praise of God adds much to the joy of the heart. “Cor

meum et caro mea exultaverunt in Deum vivum.”

Love of God always manifests itself in love of neighbor.

The tongue that praises God will incessantly try to communicate

the good God to others. Jesus cured a man deaf and dumb, and

requested him to tell no man about it. The good man could not

keep that command. The heart was too full of joy and love.

It had to communicate itself to others. He went and told all he
met what Jesus had done. “And they bring to Him one deaf and
dumb

;
and they besought Him that He would lay His hands upon

him. And taking him from the multitude apart, He put His
fingers into his ears, and spitting He touched his tongue

;
and

looking up to heaven He groaned, and said to him, Ephpheta,
which is, Be thou opened. And immediately his ears were opened

;

and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right.

And He charged them that they should tell no man. But the more
He charged them, so much the more a great deal did they pub-
lish it.” The Blessed Lady loved solitude, but could remain in

solitude no more when she had the happy news of the redemp-

tion, and the Redeemer Himself. Thus no Christian heart can

be truly fervent without letting the flame of love burn high and

spread far.

Our conversations cannot always be as strictly religious as

that of the great saints, whose motto was “Aut de Deo aut cum

Deo,” but it must be always honest and noble
;
always coming

from a charitable heart, and always directed to spread happiness

and goodness
;

to make others better and happier. It must

always manifest in us Jesus, Whose mission it is to spread sal-
vation. “A good man out of a good treasure bringeth forth
good things.” Only good things can come from a heart that is a

living temple of Jesus Christ. “Os justi meditabitur sapientiam

et lingua ejus loquetur judicium.”



54 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

New is the heart of the communicant, new are the words
that come from the sanctified lips, new must be his work. Nova

sint omnia. Everything must be new. The effect of Holy Com-
munion must be “like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in
three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.”

The parable of the vine and the branches, which Jesus spoke

immediately after the institution of the Blessed Sacrament, illus-

trates admirably the newness and perfection of the works which

Jesus expects from those who receive Him.

In this parable Christ makes it clear to all that He expects
fruit, great fruit, great activity, great results, from those to whom
He gives much, to whom He gives Himself. “Every branch in
Me that beareth not fruit, He, the Father, will take away.” * * *

“In this is My Father glorified
;

that you bring forth very much

fruit.” “I have chosen you
;
and have appointed you, that you

should go, and should bring forth fruit
;
and that your fruit should

remain.” The only fruit which is truly great and the only fruit

which remains is spiritual fruit, the work done for the perfection

and salvation of the immortal soul.

The worldly minded work and often work very hard, but their

activity is for temporal things, things that concern the mortal

body
—

“what shall we eat, what shall we drink,, wherewith shall

we clothe ourselves.” They gather the treasures of this world,

fleeting as the wind, and attach their hearts to them. Like the

Pharisees, they labor for vain glory—to be seen, to be praised
and to be applauded. All these are like the fig-tree without fruit.

When Jesus saw this beautiful tree, tall and shady, rich in foliage,
but without fruit, He was angry

;
and for the first and only time

He lifted His omnipotent hand to punish. He cursed the tree
and the tree was dead. “Recedant vetera.” “Every tree that

bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and shall be cast

into the fire.” Christ, coming from heaven, dwelling in the heart,

must direct all activity to heaven. “Lay up to yourselves treas-

ures in heaven
;
where neither the rust nor moth doth consume,

and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where

thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.”

To make our short life not showy, but fruitful, for life ever-

lasting, Christ, in His parable, teaches us that our union with

Him must be intimate and lasting. The effects of His real pres-
ence in Holy Communion, received in the morning, must continue

spiritually during the hours of the day. “As the branch cannot

bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you,

unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches:
he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit

:

for without Me you can do nothing.” This illustration Jesus uses
is touching and consoling. The vine is the life of the branch.

The branch is in the vine and remains in the vine. The vine con-



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
55

stantly forces the principle of life into the utmost extremities of

the branch, and this makes the branch grow, blossom and bear

fruit. Because of this life-giving and life-sustaining union, the

life of the branch is the same as the life of the vine, and the fruit

of the branch is the same as the fruit of the vine.

Jesus is the vine, firmly and eternally rooted in the bosom of

the eternal Father, descending into this world, uniting to Him-

self the children of men as branches, to communicate to them

constantly His life, to make them beautiful with the flowers of

His virtues, and to make them bear fruit abundantly for life ever-

lasting. It may have been the vision of this vineyard that inspired

the Prophet Isaias to sing: “I will sing to my beloved the can-
ticle of my cousin concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a
vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place. And he fenced it in, and

picked the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest vines.”

At the Last Supper Jesus changed the wine into His precious

blood. Thus the daily actions of men must be changed, trans-
formed by the precious blood which they receive in the morning.

“By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes
of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth

forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” A
Catholic, a frequent communicant, a daily communicant, a priest

must be known not by the fact that he enters the church and

approaches the Holy Table, but by the gradual, constant change

of his heart, his speech and his daily work. If he advances he

will advance fast. “Every one that beareth fruit, he will purge it,

that it may bring forth more fruit.” If he does not advance, if
he receives like a Judas, or does not abide in Christ, his fall will

be great. “He shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither,
and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he

burneth.”

“Sumunt boni, sumunt mali

:

Sorte tamen inaequali

Vitae vel interitus.

Mors est malis, vita bonis,

Vide paris sumptionis

Quam sit dispar exitus.

“The gift is shared by all, yet tends,

In bad and good, to differing ends

Of blessing or of woe

;

What death to some, salvation brings
To others

;
lo ! from common springs

What various issues flow!”

That is one of the great promises of Jesus. He will bless our
work if we work in His name. Peter cured the sick and caught

the fishes.



THE EFFECTS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

PART II

“He that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me.”

jlflE priests are inclined to give our whole mind, early in the
morning to the consideration of the sublime duty of offer-

ing up the holy sacrifice of the Mass. We try to enter the
church in the spirit of Simeon, the prophet, that man just and de-

vout, who came into the temple by the Spirit. We are somewhat in
danger of forgetting that we have the privilege, not only of offering

up that Child to the Heavenly Father, as the prophet Simeon did,

not only of holding Him in our trembling arms as he did, but of
receiving Him, even as the Apostles received Him at the Last
Supper. Mother Church, always thoughtful and helpful, assists

us by placing before us the beautiful prayers to be said in the

sacristy before Mass. In these prayers, composed by the great

doctors and saints, like St. Ambrose and St. Thomas, we notice

that Holy Communion is spoken of more than the sacrifice of

Mass. Daily we receive Holy Communion, daily Christ gives

Himself to us, and giving such a great gift every day, making

Himself our daily bread, He expects great supernatural results.

He says : “He that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me.”
“Qui manducat vivet propter me.” We priests, above all, must ful-
fill this prophecy and request of the Master. We must learn to live
“propter Jesum Christum.” The word “propter” may have a
twofold meaning. In the English translation, we find the word

“by”
—

“lives by Me.” Christ is the source of life for such a one.

In St. Augustine we find the word “propter” translated “for”

—

such a one lives for Me—that is, directs all his thoughts and all
his sentiments to Me. Such a one loves Me with his whole mind,
his whole heart and his whole soul. Both meanings are correct,

and both suggest beautiful thoughts.

The priest lives “propter Christum,” by keeping the twofold

vows he makes when receiving the Holy Orders—the vows of
chastity and obedience until death. We all have taken these holy
vows publicly, in the face of the whole world and the face of

heaven. We all certainly mean to keep them conscientiously and
faithfully, as long as we live. “Vota mea Domino reddam coram

omni populo ejus.” For the observation of the vow of chastity,

we shall take for our model the Apostle St. John—the Apostle
whom the Master loved. The Master loved him and the Master
privileged him, no doubt, because he was the virgin disciple. The

whole world loves him, and the whole world venerates him; and

the fundamental reason for this universal lasting veneration is

because he stands before the world holding in his hand the lily

of purity.



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
57

When Christ ascended Mt. Tabor, to be transfigured and

transformed, John, the virgin disciple, was present. When Christ

entered the Garden of Olives, there to weep and to bleed and to

pray, He took John with Him. When Christ was sitting at the

Last Supper, the beloved disciple sat next to Him, and was per-

mitted to rest his head on the Master’s sacred bosom. When

Christ ascended Calvary and was hanging on the Cross, John

stood near Him, and to John, dying, He gave His Blessed Mother
—

'‘Son, behold your Mother.” John was the first of the disciples

to come to the tomb and to witness the resurrection. John, in-

spired by the Holy Ghost, saw more clearly the mysteries of

heaven—the secrets of God—than any other human being. Well,
do we read of him

—
“electus,” and “dilectus.” He was chosen

by Christ, and Christ loved him. The beauty of this virtue of

chastity John undoubtedly learned from his conversations with the

Master, and his conversations with His Blessed Mother, the Vir-

gin of virgins. We all feel the truth of the words—“Oh, quam
pulchra est casta generatio cum claritate.” How clearly must
John have seen the angelic beauty, the divine beauty, that chaste

generation in the souls of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin

Mary.

This virtue, the supernatural beauty of which Christ brought

from Heaven, has become the distinctive flower in the garden of

the Church. There, at all times, in all countries, we find men and

women, like St. Agnes, St. Thomas of Aquin, St. Aloysius. We
priests, ministers of this Church, the Church of virgin saints, the

Spouse of Christ, must be the leaders of this chaste generation

;

to lead them on to the Spouse of virgin saints. Every one of us

must be able to say with St. Paul : “I would that all men were

even as myself.” We all must be able to preach from our whole
hearts the counsel of virginity. We must lead such lives that the
Lord Himself can recommend unto us and confide to our care

and guidance His most privileged souls, even as He confided the
Immaculate Lady unto St. John and St. Joseph.

Christ Himself, standing on the mountain top, and speaking

to the whole world, gives a fundamental reason for the keeping

of this vow, and the faithful practise of this angelic virtue. “He
opened His mouth and said, Blessed are the pure of heart, for they

shall see God.” At the Last Supper He somewhat explained the
meaning of the words “They shall see God,” when He said : “I
will love him and will manifest Myself to him. * * * My
Father will love him, and we will come to him and will make our

abode with him.” The priest, who has a pure heart, like St. John,
will not only see the mysteries more clearly, but will feel them.

Christ will manifest Himself unto such a heart, as He manifested
Himself unto the angelic saint, and transformed him, in His light,

into the angelic doctor. The priest who has a pure heart, and



58 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

excels in this virtue, will see his God in his daily prayers, in his
meditations, in the sacrifice of Mass, in the daily events which

the world calls accidental, but which he sees to be providential.

Hence, the importance for every priest to imitate St. John, and to

thus become the beloved disciple of Christ. Christ desired to

work a miracle of grace, to have an Immaculate Mother with

whom to live, and unto whom to communicate Himself. Thus
Christ to-day desires to have, in as far as it is possible for human
nature, an immaculate priesthood, with whom to dwell, and unto
whom to manifest Himself. In regard to the purity, the exquisite
chastity befitting a priest, St. Jerome says: In Heaven the Son,

the second person of the Blessed Trinity, was accustomed to be

adored by choirs of angels, so that when the Word became flesh,
He established a new hierarchy of angels to worship Him on
earth, namely the priests of the New Law.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, gives us another

important reason why we must try to keep the holy vow we have
taken, and to excel in the virtue of purity of heart. “I would

have you,” he says, “to be without solicitude. He that is without
a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how

he may please God, but he that is with a wife is solicitous for

the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is

divided.” Purity of heart is a source of supernatural strength.

“Immortalis est enim memoria illius
:
quoniam apud Deum nota

est et apud homines.” The miraculous strength of Samson of old

was connected with his long hair. Thus the spiritual strength of

the priest's soul is intimately -connected with the purity of that

soul. When Samson’s hair was cut short, his strength was gone,
and the giant was defeated. Should a priest lose that lily, he is

like a plucked flower, whose strength is doomed to wither away,

to be cast into dust, and to be trampled under the feet of man.

John, having that pure soul, that heart undivided, that heart en-

tirely given to his Master, had the strength to follow Him, carry-

ing the Cross to the very top of Calvary, and to stand there,

bravely and loyally unto the end. We need not go back to the
early centuries to see the superhuman courage of men and women

whose hearts were undivided, entirely given to God. Read the

history of America, study the pioneer priests
;

see how they

crossed the ocean, traveled across the prairies, penetrated the

forests, lived there for years and years the life of hardship and

sacrifice. We ask, how could they do it? They had pure hearts,
hearts without solicitude and worldly care and worldly attach-

ment, and, therefore, their hearts were so strong.

To keep this vow which we have made
—

“juravi et statui,” we

need help divine. Christ stands before us, gives us His flesh to

eat, His blood to drink, and says : “He that eateth Me, the same

also shall live by Me.” To live for Christ we must live by Christ.

In Him and through Him in Holy Communion, we must conquer



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
59

and crush the demon of the flesh, that the spirit may be trium-
phant. “Watch and pray,” said Christ, I send you like lambs

among wolves, not to be devoured by the wolves, but to change

the wolves into lambs. In order that we priests, living in the

midst of a corrupt world, and seeing corruption of the heart daily,

more plainly than men following worldly professions, may keep

our hearts pure and make them Christlike, we must, in the first

place, watch, avoid the occasion of sin, “sint lumbi vestri

praecinti.” If your right hand scandalize you, cut that off. If your

right eye scandalize you, pluck that out. All the praying will do

us no good; we cannot expect God to assist us unless we show

a good will, and do all in our power. Watch—remain always
in broad daylight. Avoid everything that is done in secret, in a

sly, hidden way. Such regions of darkness are the regions of the

demon, and if, without cause, you enter these regions, you will

meet the demon and be defeated by him. Things that are done

aboveboard, openly, are in Gojd’s regions, and there God is near-

est and God is with us. Christ Himself met sinful men and

sinful women on various occasions, yet the vilest of men did not

dare to suspect Him of the slightest transgression against this

virtue. The reason, no doubt, is because Christ could say, “I

have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in the

synagogue and in the temple, whither all the Jews resorted, and

in secret I have spoken nothing.”

Keeping thus the advice of Christ, and watching, let us heed

the second word—pray. To live like angels in the flesh, we need
the food of angels, which is, first of all, Holy Communion, after

that daily Holy Communion, your daily Divine Office. Daily Mass

and daily Communion are for every priest the two wings, using

which he must lift himself above the corruption of the world,

above the corruption of the flesh, and sail onward, higher and

higher, to the very regions of the choirs of angels. “He that

eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me.”

To live for Christ, we take a second vow, the most important
and sublime vow a man can take. It is the vow of obedience.
“Foflow Me,” said Christ to the young man. We follow Him by
giving up our own will to live according to His will, that H'is
will may be done by us on earth, even as it is done by the
angeis in Heaven. For our model of obedience let us choose a

second disciple, a beloved disciple, a privileged disciple, St. Peter.

At the Last Supper, inspired by the Holy Ghost, he made his vow
of obedience, saying: “Why can not I follow Thee now? I will
lay down my life for Thee. Lord, I am ready to go with Thee,
both into prison and to death.”

St. Peter, on former occasions, had been a model of an obedi-

ent disciple, an obedient priest. When on the deep water, after
fruitless work during the silent hours of the night, the Master
said, “Cast down thy net,” Peter promptly obeyed, saying, “At



6o A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

Thy word, Master.” When, on another occasion, the Master in
the distance beckoned Peter to cross the stormy waves and come

to Him, Peter, forgetting his weakness and the laws of nature,

jumped into the water and walked across the waves to meet his

Lord. Before the Last Supper, when Christ sent him to the

city to make the necessary preparations, giving orders vague and

difficult to observe, Peter did as it was appointed unto him. He
obeyed Christ.

• After the death of Christ, obedience to the unseen, invisible

Master became by far more difficult. Christ answered his vow
of obedience, as it were. “Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou

wast younger, thou didst walk where thou wouldst, but when thou

shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and another shall

gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.” Read the

Acts of the Apostles, and you will find that this prophecy of Christ

was fulfilled to the letter. Peter’s hands were stretched forth.

They were girded with iron chains, and he was led into the dark

prison, there to spend hours all alone. When the material hands
of the obedient Peter were thus tied and fettered, we read an

angel, striking Peter on the side, raised him up, saying, “Arise

quickly,” and the chains fell off from his hands. And the angel

said to him, “Gird thyself, and put on thy sandals,” and he did

so, and he said to him, “Cast thy garment about thee and follow

me,” and going out he followed him, and he knew not that it was

true which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision.

The angel, who threw the iron chains from the hands of Peter,

chained his will, and led Peter from prison to prison, from battle

to battle, from victory to victory, from triumph to triumph. It

was because Peter sought not his own will, but said “We ought
to obey God more than man,” and sought to obey that God and

follow the unseen angel, that he was led to his glorious death,

and from that death to the final great triumph in Heaven. Indeed

St. Peter is a model of obedience for every priest.

Reverend Fathers, let me ask you, living in this country and
in this century, where the spirit of disobedience and disrespect

for authority is so universal and damaging, to imitate St. Peter,

to follow Christ, seen or unseen. Were Christ with us, visibly,

as he was among the disciples, it would be easier for us, like

St. Peter, to walk across the waves, or to cast out our nets in

His name. Since we do not see our God we are tempted to

disobey our God. Remember here, that authority is divine, and

therefore whenever a person having authority speaks, command-

ing things over which he has authority, let us obey that person,

even as St. Peter obeyed the angel, stretched forth his hands, had

them girdled, and allowed himself to be led to places so high

and so difficult that they seemed to be visions and not realities.

Christ said : “Peter, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird

thyself and didst walk where thou wouldst, but when thou shalt



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 6l

be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird

thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.” The truth of

these words we see daily in the lives of priests. Priests, when

they are young, coming from the seminary, the school of obedi-

ence, the holy oil still fresh upon their hands, find it easy to obey.

The will of their superiors seems to be their own will, and in

doing this will they seem to go where they want to go. The

sacrifice of obedience frequently comes in later years, when the

. first fervor of the priesthood has diminished, when individual

character has grown strong, when the sacrifices demanded are

of the greatest. It may happen then that we receive a word

from authority to go where we do not want to go, to do what

we do not want to do. Let us then remember the words of

Christ. Let us allow our hands to be tied. Let us submit our

will and allow God, through His representative, to lead us. We
shall always find, Reverend Fathers, that when God leads He
leads us from battle to battle, but also from victory to victory.

No one in the history of mankind found obedience more
difficult than Our Lord Himself. Trembling and bleeding, He lies
in the Garden of Olives, and cries, “Father, take away the chalice,”

but notice He adds, “Father, not My will, Thy will be done.”
Although His whole nature rebelled, His will remained submissive

to the will of the Father, and, obeying the Father, speaking to

the unjust and cowardly through Pontius Pilate—a man sinful,
but a man having authority—the greatest victory over the devil
and the world was accomplished.

When obedience seems hard, when our hands are girded, and
when we are led to go where our hearts do not want to go, let
us not blame superiors, but let us, like St. Peter, submit cheer-

fully and promptly. No master, no bishop, ever demanded so
much from his priests, young or old, as the greatest of Masters,
Jesus Christ, demanded from His disciples. He sent them into
the world to preach, to suffer, and to die

;
that, no bishop would

dare to do.

To have the courage and the strength to follow the command
given, leading us against our will to things greater than we can
will, we need heavenly food. The weaker our will is, the greater
the sacrifices demanded, the more fervently let us receive Holy
Communion every morning, and sacrifice on the altar. If we see
Christ in our superiors, commanding and directing, and if we
receive Christ in our hearts, refreshing and strengthening, then,
Reverend Fathers, like St. Peter, we shall cast out our nets in
the name of Jesus Christ, and be successful in catching sinners.
Then, Reverend Fathers, like St. Peter, we shall walk across the
great and dangerous waves, the temptations and trials of this
world, onward through the dark night, and meet Jesus standing
at the eternal shore with open arms to welcome us, to crown us
with a crown of eternal glory.



THE EFFECTS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

PART III

“Learn of Me because I am meek and humble of heart, and you
shall find rest for your souls.”

jfJK HE devotion of the Sacred Heart, the great universal devo-
tion of our times, is closely, intrinsically, and historically

related to the Holy Eucharist, the center of all the devo-

tions of the Catholic Church at all times. The Sacred Heart is

the organ and symbol of love divine. The Holy Eucharist is the

Sacrament of love—love itself. Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist,
to express more clearly and touchingly His love for humanity,

appeared again and again to St. Mary Margaret, showing His

Heart inflamed with love, surrounded by a crown of thorns, sur-

mounted by a cross, and asked her to practice a devotion to His

Heart in the Blessed Sacrament, to receive devoutly Holy Com-

munion as an atonement, and to spread that devotion throughout

the world. To practice that devotion to the Sacred Heart, it is

good to have pictures and statues, and to adorn them with candles

and flowers. It is better to visit Our Lord personally, and to re-

ceive Him frequently; but the essential feature of this devotion
seems to be to imitate Christ.

Christ says : “Learn of Me, learn of My Heart.” The great-
est present we can bring to His Heart is our own heart, shaped

and modelled according to His Divine Heart. Every Christian,

and especially every priest, must look upon Christ as the perfect

model, the one ideal. He came from Heaven, “The Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us,” just to show us in a visible,

tangible way God’s ideal of a man. He, and only He, in the

history of six thousand years, could challenge all His enemies and

say, “Who can accuse Me of sin?” Of Him and of Him alone,
could the Heavenly Father say “In Him I am well pleased.”

Whereas Christ is the mirror of every virtue—“Learn of Me.

Follow Me. I am the way”—He singles out two especially for
our imitation, meekness and humility, because these two gems

are so very precious in the sight of God. They adorn the soul

and make it especially beautiful. They are of the greatest im-

portance for our daily life, and they are most ignored by the men

of the world, and even little practiced by the children of the

heavenly kingdom.

In the first place, let us consider the meekness of the Sacred

Heart of Jesus. Meekness expresses His way of dealing with

fellow men. John the Baptist, who was a prophet, who enjoyed

the special light of God, saw and foresaw the character and the

history of the Saviour clearly and distinctly, and he gives that



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 63

character in one word when He says “Agnus Dei/’ “Behold the
Lamb of God.” The meekness of Christ is symbolized in the
meekness of the little lamb. To see that meekness of the Sacred

Heart, His lamblike, gentle way of dealing with the children of

men, we must open the Holy Gospels, and read them in a pious,

prayerful way. There we see, in the first place, how Christ was

lamblike, meek, in all His dealings with His disciples. They were

ignorant fishermen, and slow to understand His doctrine of a

spiritual kingdom. They had small, selfish hearts, and therefore

could not appreciate the greatness of the heart of their Master,

but quarreled among themselves. They were reluctant to take

His admonitions. St. Peter, in the Garden of Olives, fell asleep

again and again. All of them were, humanly speaking, unfit com-

panions for the Saviour. Yet we never find that Christ dealt with

them in a harsh, impatient way. He was always kind, always
gentle, always forgiving. To the unbelieving Thomas He said

:

“'Put thy hand in My side,” as though He meant to say, “Put
your hand upon My heart. You know I love you. My heart was
wounded for you. Believe now, and be no longer unbelieving.”

To all the Apostles who had abandoned Him and forsaken Him
most shamefully, notwithstanding His repeated admonitions and

warnings, He appears again and again, and has for them all a
friendly greeting : “Peace be with you.” He praises their good-
ness, He forgets their failings. To Peter who had denied Him

three times, He says three times : “Dost thou' love Me ?” and
when Peter affirmed three times, with tears in his eyes, “Master,

Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest my heart. Thou know-
est that I love Thee,” Christ seems to forget his denial, and

entrusts to him all His lambs and all His sheep.

Such meekness, Reverend Fathers, is consoling, is divine.

Let us adore that meek Heart. Adoration means imitation. If

the meekness of that Heart is worthy of adoration, it is worthy

of imitation. How many opportunities have we not to practice
this meekness in dealing with fellow men, especially with fellow

priests. At times we find it difficult thus to control ourselves.

We need help. Ascend, therefore, the altar in the morning, take
the -Sacred Host in your hands, and then cry out, “Agnus Dei

—

miserere nobis,” “Lamb of God, have mercy on my weakness.
Teach me and help me to be meek and lamblike.”

The meekness of Christ toward the people seems to be the

very essence of all his dealings with them. Meditate on the

parables He uses to manifest that consoling trait of His character.
“I am,” He says, “the Good Shepherd.” Again He pictures Him-
self as the Good Samaritan, the kind forgiving Father. He applies
to Himself the words of the ProphetTsaiah, “Tell ye the daughter

of Sion : Behold thy King cometh to thee meek.” He is a
King, but not like the kings of old. He is a meek King. He
fulfilled the prophecy according to His own words, “He shall not



64
A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

contend nor cry out, neither shall any man hear His voice in the
streets. The bruised reed He shall not break, and the smoking
flax He shall not extinguish.” We love to read how He called
the children, how He blessed them, how He said to the poor
woman taken in sin, “Go and sin no more. I shall not accuse
thee.” He foresaw that most of the people would some day cry
out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Still He goes to meet them,
and meekly accepts their greetings, singing “Hosanna to the Son

of David.”

Read all the Gospels, the inspired word of Christ, and you

will find that He never spoke a word to defend Himself. “Blessed
are the meek, for they shall possess the land.” Jesus was meek,

and therefore He possessed the hearts of the people. It is this
meekness which wins the love of all the land. Adore that meek-

ness, and imitate that meekness, Reverend Fathers, when you

come home and work among the people of your parish. We
know that there is trouble in many a parish, and that trouble

causes scandal, and that scandal is the cause of the loss of souls.

Many of these troubles are caused, alas, because we forget our-

selves when provoked to anger. We ascend the pulpit, and in-
stead of defending Christ and His Church we defend our little-

ness. Instead of preaching to make the people happy, we send

them home unhappy and provoked to anger. If we are guilty

of any of these faults let us repent. Let us conquer our anger in

future, and since that is difficult to do, let us ascend the altar every

morning, take the Sacred Host into our hands, see the meekness

of Christ’s heart in that Host, and then cry a second time, “Agnus

Dei, miserere nobis,” “Lamb of God, have mercy on me and help

me to deal with the people in Thy own gentle way. Send me as

a lamb among wolves, and help me not to become like the wolves,
but to change the wolves into lambs.”

Christ says : “Learn of Me, for I am meek.” Meekness, Rev-
erend Fathers, is one of those virtues that the world does not

know. It is one of those passive virtues that the so-called “Amer-

icanism” seems to ignore. We need this meekness, especially
we pastors representing the Good Shepherd. Open the Holy Gos-

pels frequently, study the heart of your Model and Master, and

see how He was lamblike and meek toward those who wronged
Him, insulted Him and crucified Him. You will find Him in
Nazareth, His own home, and He is not well received. Christ
leaves them, and says mournfully, “A prophet is not without

honor but in his own country, and in his own house, among his

kindred.” He came to the land of the Gerrasens, and because
the people, through His miraculous power, lost a few of their

swine, “the whole city went out to meet Jesus, and when they

saw Him, they besought Him that He would depart from their

coast.” How Jesus must have pitied the avarice and ignorance
of those blinded children ! Still, He speaks no word, but leaves



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 6*

them calmly. He passes through Samaria, “and the Samarians-
received Him not, because His face was of one going to Jerusa-
lem. And when the disciples, James and John, had seen this, they

said : Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from

Heaven and consume them? And turning, Jesus rebuked them,,

saying : You know not of what spirit you are. The Son of Man*

came not to destroy souls but to save.”

The character of a man shows itself best of all in times of.

trouble, persecution and suffering. If you want to see the meek-

ness of the Sacred Heart shine in all its beauty, read the Passion-

of Our Lord. “When Peter drew his sword, Jesus said to Peter:

Put up thy sword into the scabbard. The chalice which My Father
has given Me, shall I not drink it?” When the servants struck
Him in the face, Jesus answered meekly: “If I have spoken evil,,
give testimony of the evil, but if well, why strikest thou Me?”

When the soldiers, scribes and Pharisees blasphemed Him, dying
on the Cross, He immediately answered their injurious and insult-
ing words by sayyig : “Father, forgive them, they know not what

they do.”

Let us kneel down and adore that meek Heart, for its meek-

ness is superhuman, is divine. Adoration means imitation. We
may have our enemies, that is, men who deal with us as enemies,

but no matter whether they refuse to receive us, or whether they

rise up against us, let us always repeat the word of Jesus,

“Friend, why earnest thou?” That, I know, is a virtue beyond'

the powers of nature, a virtue which only grace can give. To

have that grace, Reverend Fathers, ascend the altar in the

morning, call that Lamb of God from His heavenly throne upon

the altar throne, look upon it and meditate upon 'it, and cry the

third time, “Agnus Dei, miserere nobis,” and Christ will help us

to conquer during the day as He conquered
;

and blessed will

we be if thus we are meek, for we shall possess the land, the

hearts of the people, the best thing in the land.

“Learn of Me,” says the Divine Model, standing on the moun-

tain, “for I am humble.” Is it not wonderful, Reverend Fathers,
that the King of kings, and the Lord of the world, should teach us-

not so much how to preach and how to rule, but how to practice
humility? If the word “lamb” expresses so well the meekness of

the Sacred Heart, if the word “child” expresses His humility, Jesus

was humble, as humble as a child. Again, to see that humility,,

a virtue of which we all stand sorely in need, read the Holy Gos-
pels, those inspired books, not in a critical, but in a devout way,

and see there the humility of the Son of God made man unfolded’
on every page. Read the touching story which St. Luke gives-

us of His nativity. Find Him there with the shepherds, in a
stable, lying in a manger, wrapped up in swaddling clothes. What
does that little Infant, apparently speechless and helpless, preach

to your hearts ? Does He not say : “Learn of Me. I am humble/”



66 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

Oh, let us learn, and having learned the lesson, let us practice it

—let us imitate Him.
Many a good priest finds it hard to leave the city and to go

to a country place, there to dwell in a little home, among people

of little culture and refinement, there to be all the days of the

week practically isolated, without the comforts of life. Such a

priest, seeing his classmates, or even inferiors, promoted, ad-

vancing, is tormented and devoured by the demon of jealousy

and envy, Reverend Fathers, when you feel this feeling rising

in your hearts, disturbing your peace, destroying your happiness,

enter the sanctuary, kneel down in faith, see your Master in the

poor tabernacle—silent and veiled—and say : “He is humble, He
is satisfied. Why should I be proud? It is indeed my greatest
glory to resemble my Master in His loneliness.” Ask Him to
help you, and He will help you, and change your Nazareth or
your Bethlehem into a Paradise on earth—into a House of Bread.

Let me give you another striking illustration of the humility

of the Heart we adore. See how Christ began His public life.

His mission was a great and beautiful one—the conversion of the
whole world. All power had been given unto Him—He could
preach as no man ever preached. The demons in hell feared

Him
;
the waves and the winds obeyed Him, and the angels came

at His call. How, with all this power in His hand, does He begin

to run His Godly career? We find Him on the banks of the
Jordan, standing like a sinner among sinners, and listening to

the Baptist preaching penance. No doubt some of those who saw
Him said : “That man must be a great sinner. His penance
seems to be so sincere.” More than that, when His turn comes,

He steps into the water, and humbly asks John for the sign of
penance, and insists upon receiving that penitential baptism for

the good of the people. Ah, my friends, this picture of Christ
thus humbling Himself publicly was so sublime that the Father

in Heaven Himself appeared in the clouds, and said as it were

:

“You think that man is a sinner. Let Me tell you He is My only
begotten Son. In Him, in His humility, I, a God, am well
pleased.”

Hearing the voice of God expressing, as it were, admiration,
Fathers, let us in spirit kneel down and adore Christ humbly.

Adoration means imitation. In your daily priestly work, you will

find many an opportunity to follow the footsteps of your Master.
The spirit of pride will tempt you to make a great show and dem-

onstration—to have your names and pictures appear in the daily
journals, together with the names and pictures of actors and

sportsmen and criminals, and sometimes ministers unworthy of

the name. This is not Christlike. Christ began in that quiet,

silent, solid, humble way. Imitate Him, learn of Him. You want

to lead the people to perfection. You owe them the word of God
and the sacraments of the Church. You owe them more than



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 67

that—you owe them an example. Lead your people by your
example along the roads of penance, mortification and self-denial.

You must be the leaders, and in your own way you must be able
to say, “Learn of me, for I am humble.” Since that is difficulty
pride being, as it were, an inborn vice, go to the sanctuary, visit

the humble Master in His humble abode, and ask Him to help
you to conquer the demon of pride, and to imitate the King of

humility.

The greatest book, written by a God with blood, and not with

ink, illustrating every virtue, is the crucifix. Meditating on that

we may learn there obedience until death— charity arising
supreme, untouched, unconquered

;
but learn also the very con-

summation of humility, “Jesus humbled Himself, becoming obedi-

ent, even to the death on the Cross.” Reflecting on that picture

so sad, and yet so full of inspiration, you will notice everything

seems to rise up to humiliate that King of Heaven. His doctrine

is misunderstood, His work seems to be a failure, the triumph

of His enemies Seems to be complete. From His lips you hear

not a word of complaint, discouragement or anger. His heart

was humble, and humility conquered all. Kneel down and adore.

He is divine. Adoration means imitation. How often does it
happen that our instructions and sermons are misinterpreted,,

misunderstood. They are not fully appreciated, and receive no

praise or applause. The young priest is discouraged, he discon-

tinues bis preparations and ceases to make serious efforts. Oh,,

such thoughts are manifest signs of pride. They show you that

you are not like the humble Jesus. How often does it happen
that our works, begun with the noblest intention and carried on

with heroic effort, prove to be failures ! The man of the world

and the priest who is worldly, is thereby discouraged, conquered

and defeated. You men of God, imitate not the worldly, proud—

imitate the humble Jesus and learn that when defeat has seemed

greatest the hour of victory often has come.

The sacrifice of the Mass, as you know, is but the memorial

—

the living, actual memorial of this triumph of humility. Let the

memorial every morning remind you of the victory of the Cross,

and having your hearts uplifted by that sign, and by the Victim

on the Cross, continue your work—carry your cross unto the end.
If failure threatens you, thank the Lord for it. If success crowns

your work, humbly say with Peter : “Depart, Good Master, I am

a sinful man. All the success I have I owe to You. You are-
great. I am small. The only title I am entitled to by nature is
‘sinful man.’ By nature I am a sinner. It is by the grace of God

that I am what I am.” Meekness and humility thus practiced in

Christ and with Christ, lead the soul to peace— peace in this
world and peace in Heaven, and this peace, which the world does

not know, which the world cannot give, I wish you all in the

Heart of Jesus Christ.



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

‘“See that thou make all things according to the pattern which was

shown thee on the Mount.”

attft HEN Christ and the disciples were assembled in the coenac-
ulum to celebrate the Last Supper, there was placed

before them on the table the Easter lamb. It had been

sacrificed by the priests in the temple, and it was to be consumed

according to a religious rite. The sight of that lamb must have

filled the hearts of the faithful Apostles with joy, for it reminded

them of the great promises God had made. The sight of that

lamb must have filled the soul of the Saviour with sadness, for

He saw in that Easter lamb Himself, the true Lamb of God, about

to be sacrificed to take away the sins of the world. He spoke

the words, “Do this for a commemoration of Me.” He had given

-Himself as an eternal Easter lamb, and now He instituted the

eternal priesthood to offer up that Easter Lamb in all places, from

The rising of the sun to the setting of the same, according to the

prophecy of Malachi. We notice here that the words of Christ
creating the priesthood commanded the priest to offer up the

sacrifice. To sacrifice is the first, the greatest, the most essential

-duty of every Catholic priest. He is a priest in order to sacrifice.

In order to sacrifice well, to say Mass devoutly and religiously,

we must first meditate on the sacrifice of Calvary. There God has

shown ns the pattern, and according to that one pattern, sublime

and divine, we must do all things.

When God from all eternity foresaw that His only begotten

Son would be condemned to death, because of the envy of the

Jews, He planned the manner in which He was to die. We read
in the Passion of Christ : “All things were done that the Scrip-

tures might be fulfilled.” In other words, all things were done

that the plan of eternal wisdom might be executed. Let us study

this plan of God, so beautiful and instructive.

In the first place, we must thank Divine Providence that He

•did not permit the fury of the enemy to take the Lord and crush

Him with stones, even as St. Stephen was stoned to death. We
must thank Divine Providence that He did not permit Our Lord

To be beheaded, as St. Paul was beheaded in Rome. We must
thank Divine Providence that He did not permit the sacred body

of our Master to be torn to piecees by lions and tigers, as so

:manv of the Christians were killed and mutilated in the Roman



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 69

amphitheatre. God did not permit a bone of His sacred

body to be broken. He was crucified on the mountain.

He always loved the mountain. On a mountain top He

prayed. On a mountain top He preached. On the moun-

tain He was transfigured and transformed. Being on Gol-

gotha, He allowed His body to be stretched on the wood of the

Cross, and to be nailed to the wood of the Cross with iron nails.

The Cross was thus exalted, presenting its Victim to the whole

world. All the victims of old were adorned and decorated, but

no victim ever was adorned and decorated as this Victim Divine.

His whole body was covered with red, precious blood of love.

His head was adorned with a crown of thorns. His arms were

expanded to embrace the world. His heart was open to mani-

fest love for all. His back was turned to Jerusalem, His face

toward all humanity. To make the picture still more perfect, God

willed that the crosses of the robbers, bearing their victims, should

be placed on either side
;

that the foot of the Cross should be

surrounded by representatives of the whole world of all classes

—

by saints and sinners, by soldier and high priest, by Jews and

Gentiles, by the living and the dying. Christ thus hanging on

the Cross gave His blood • for humanity. “Almost all things,

according to the law, are cleansed with blood, and without shed-

ding of blood there is no remission.”

Reflect for a moment on that precious blood, you priests who

must renew that mystery every day. The blood, according to

Scripture, was given in the first place as a price of redemption

—

“redemit nos in sanguine suo.” His divine hands, lifted so often

to bless the children, are now lifted on high, pierced and filled

with blood. He stretches them forth to the Heavenly Father to
wash away the decree that stood against us, to open with them

the gates of Heaven, and to satisfy with them justice, terrible and

eternal. He cries out, “O God, O God, why hast Thou forsaken
Me?” Because of that blood He is no longer forsaken, and man-
kind is no longer forsaken. Behold that precious blood flowing

from His sacred feet ! The blood was given to wash clean the souls

of all from the stains of sins. “Lavit nos in sanguine suo. Vul-

neratus est propter iniquitates nostras.” Well did Mary Mag-

dalen, having received pardon, kneel down and kiss those sacred

feet, and anoint them with precious ointment. Weir did the rob-

ber on the cross, seeing that all-cleansing blood, turn with a con-

trite heart to the Saviour and cry for mercy. In the strength of

that blood his criminal soul was made so white that it was fit for
the company of angels.

In the third place, that precious blood is described to us in

Holy Scripture as a drink. “My blood is a drink,” says Jesus.
Behold it flowing from the wound of His Sacred Heart, given to



70 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

strengthen the souls redeemed and purified. As the blood flows,
He cries “Sitio”—“I thirst.” He thirsts for souls, even as souls
thirst for that all-strengthening drink. Thus, bleeding and -pray-

ing, Jesus Christ inclines His head and says, “Consummatum est.”
The great work of redemption is accomplished. Peacefully He
adds, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” He gives
up His ghost and returns to the Father. The sacrifice for which

the world has been longing ever since the day of the first sin had

been wrought. Well did they place over the corpse on the Cross

the word “Jesus.” There was its full meaning—Redeemer. Fie

has redeemed many from their sins, and, seeing it there, we under-

stand its value. The bleeding, cold corpse shows the price He
paid for that name. The governor representing the Roman Em-
pire, the greatest worldly authority, placed over that corpse the

word “Rex”—King. That certainly was providential. The great-
est king of the world officially called Jesus the King, and with His

death His triumph begins. The demon who had conquered in

Paradise, and had conquered for four thousand years, is conquered.

“He who had overcome in the tree should in the tree also be over-

come by Christ Our Lord.” He had conquered the world. The
Roman Emperor, who assumed divine dignity and divine power,
was soon conquered, and Christ, in His vicar, sat upon His throne

and ruled the world. As a King He had conquered Heaven. The
very dead arose from their graves, and later ascended with Him
into Heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father.
“Christ our passover is sacrificed, for He is the true Lamb that

took away the sins of the world
;
Who dying, destroyed our death,

and rising again restored us unto life.” Well do we sing every

. day, “Tu rex gloriae, Christe.” “Christ, You are the king of

glory.” “You are the highest, with the Holy Ghost, in the glory

of the Father.” Behold, Fathers, the sacrifice of Calvary. Be-

hold the Victim, and see the fruit of that sacrifice. Behold the

first Mass.

Now we as priests are commanded to do what He did. “Do
this for a commemoration of Me.” Do you realize what a ter-
rible responsibility that implies? Well does the doctor of the

Church cry out and say, “Oh, formidabile sacerdotium.” Well

did even a doctor of the Church refuse to be ordained because

he feared to sacrifice. If some great actor, no matter how good

personally, or how perfect in his art, were to reproduce this scene

on some stage, our people, the wicked and unbelieving, would cry,

“Stop—that is too sacred; that is blasphemous.” When some
pious people, as the good inhabitants of little Oberammergau,

bound by a vow, represent this scene in a pious, religious way,

thousands attend and for hours sit in silence, and many of the

faithful shake their heads and say : “It is all beautiful, it is all



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 71

touching, but, after all, no one can represent Christ.” We priests
must not only represent Christ, we must personify Christ, identify

ourselves with Christ
;
not only speak what Christ spoke, do what

Christ did, but we must actually reproduce the Christ and His

sacrifice, with all its fruit. To do that, and to do that well, mind

the words of your God when He says : “See that thou make all

things according to the pattern which was shown thee on the

Mount.”

The Catholic Church, to help us in this respect, asks us to

come well prepared, in the state of recollection and the state of

grace, to the sacristy. There she asks us to wash our fingers.

This washing, as the prayer we speak indicates, is symbolical.

She means to say: “Priest, first wash clean your soul.” We put
on the amice. That amice represents the cloth which the Jews

tied around the head of Christ to blind Him and to mock Him,

to strike Him in the face and to spit upon Him. We put on the
white alb, the garment Herod gave to Christ to mock Him as

the king or a prince. We take the girdle, the maniple and the
stole, to picture to ourselves Christ, His sacred hands tied,

dragged through the streets. We put on the chasuble with the
picture of the crucifixion—all that to represent to the eye Christ
crucified. Thus we leave the sacristy and enter the' sanctuary.

There stands the altar. That altar represents Golgotha. Upon

the altar you will always see the crucifix, to remind you and the

people that Mass is but a memorial of the Crucifixion, an actual,

living memorial. Mother Church prescribes many ceremonies.

She has worked hard and long to perfect its liturgy—all that to
represent what Jesus did when Jesus sacrificed Himself. How
often does the priest not make the sign of the Cross, blessing

himself, blessing the offering, to remind himself, and to remind

the people of the great event—the Crucifixion.
Here I ask you, Reverend Fathers, in the first place, follow

closely, exactly, all the rubrics
;

observe the whole ceremonial

;

and observing all, every step and every inclination, do it with a

certain gravity. Show reverence and respect; show that you are
mindful of the fact that you are following the footsteps of the

bleeding Jesus; that you represent Him and personify Him, not
only with your head and your hands, but with your whole heart

and your whole soul.

The Church obliges us to say many prayers. All these
prayers come either from the inspired books of the Scripture, or
from the saintly hearts, enlightened by the great minds, of the

Doctors and the Fathers of the Church. Let us say those prayers

well, pronouncing every word distinctly with the lips, and let
every word pronounced by the lips come from your priestly heart.

To say those prayers well have as a mental picture the Crucifixion.



72 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

Picture yourself hanging on the Cross as Christ did and, thus

hanging on the Cross with Christ, as a second Christ extend your

hands, as His bleeding hands were extended
;

lift your eyes up

to God the Father and say: “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” Thus, say

“gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.” Thus pray: “Pater

noster * * * sanctificetur nomen tuum.”

Christ, hanging on the Cross, bleeding and praying, not only

saw the Father above Him and addressed Him, He saw all man-
kind, all nations and all generations at His bleeding feet. He
looked down upon them with a pitiful heart. He had a good
word for all of them. He consoled the robber. He prayed for
the blasphemers. He had a kind parting word for His Blessed

Mother and for His beloved disciple. When saying Mass, Fathers,
you personify that dying Saviour, and thus in spirit, hanging on

the Cross with Him, stretch forth your hands and say: “Our

Father * * * Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done. Give

us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses. Lead

us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. Amen.” Having

thus entered into the very spirit of the Crucifixion, observing the

ceremonies and saying the prayers, imitate Christ at the Last

Supper, and whisper slowly the creative, life-giving words : “Hoc

est corpus Meum. Hie est calix sanguinis mei,” and seeing the

Lamb descending from the throne of heaven upon your altar

throne, and seeing the blood separated from the body, bend your

knees in profound silence, adoring. Then extend your arms fully,

to represent more perfectly the crucifix, and offer up your Vic-

tim, that pure Victim, that holy Victim, that immaculate Victim,

to the Blessed Trinity. Thus, Fathers, do all things according

to the pattern which was shown you on the Mount.

If we thus sacrifice, the fruit of the sacrifice we bring, repre-

senting Christ, will have the fruit of the first sacrifice. Every

sacrifice will give glory to God, every sacrifice will help the souls

in Purgatory to rise and to ascend into Heaven. Every sacrifice

will help to comfort the sinners. Every sacrifice will help to make

the dying die in the name of the Lord. Every sacrifice will bring

the consolations of the crucifix to the hearts of the good and the

saintly. Every sacrifice will thus verify the words that were

placed over the crucifix
—

“Jesus, Rex.” “Jesus Nazarenus, Rex

Judaeorum.”

According to the custom of the Jews, when the Easter lamb

was sacrificed, the members of the family assembled and partook

of the sacrifice in the spirit of religion. This pious custom was

only a shadow of the reality we enjoy. After every sacrifice of

Mass the priest is permitted and commanded to partake of that

flesh and blood, of that holy Lamb
;

to invite the faithful to the

table of angels, and to give to them that angelic food. Receive



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 73

Communion devoutly, and bring your
children, the members of

your family, to that table of
the Lord, and give them that food

frequently, if possible, daily.
You see here, Fathers, that Com-

munion, if possible, should be given
at Mass. That is the proper

time. That will help the faithful
to sacrifice with the priest,

and

to communicate with the priest
in things divine.

A priest who has thus sacrificed, and has
done all things ac-

cording to the Pattern on the Mount,
will not leave the sacristy at

once. When he has taken off the vestments
he will kneel down and

make his thanksgiving. Words will come
from his heart to his lips,

words that resemble those of the
Blessed Lady when she cried

out “Magnificat”; words that
resemble those of Zachary when

he cried out “Benedictus
Dominus Deus Israel”; words of joy

that resemble the cheerful canticle
coming from the lips of the

three young men saved from the fire in
the oven, when they said

:

“Benedicite omnia opera Domini Domino.”
A priest who as

thus sacrificed in spirit will
remember a few of the lessons the

Saviour taught on the Cross. Seeing
the Master so obedient to

h'is voice, he will be obedient to
all laws during the day. Seeing

the Master so self-sacrificing, he
will sacrifice himself generously

and nobly during all the hours
of the day. Seeing his Master

loving sinners and pleading for sinners,
he will work to save souls,

as many as possible, and sacrifice
himself to save those souls. A

Mass well said in the morning will
make the whole day a priestly

day—a day fruitful for the glory of God
and the salvation of

immortal souls.



CHARITY

“A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another,

as I have loved you
;
that you also love one another.”

£5^ HE Holy Eucharist is well called the Sacrament of Love.
Love inspired Our Lord to give Himself to us. St. John

says well: “Jesus loved His own unto the end.” The mas-

terpiece of this divine love for man unto the end is the Real Pres-

ence. The Holy Eucharist, being the Sacrament of Love, received

by us and dwelling in us, must inflame the heart of man with love.

Therefore, Christ, having poured His own love, His own heart,

into the hearts of His own, renewed emphatically the two great

commandments of charity—love of God and love of neighbor.
“Abide in Me,” He said, “even as the branch in the vine.” And

love one another,” He said, “as I have loved you.” This com-
mandment He repeated three times. “This is My commandment,
that you love one another, as I have loved you.” “These things

I command you, that you love one another.” He gave this
mutual, fraternal love as a sign of His spirit. “By this shall all

men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for
another.” Since, then, this commandment was given in the first

place for the newly ordained priest, for us members of the holy

priesthood, well may we study it, to know it and to keep it.

Why does Christ say “I give you a new commandment?”
Charity is as old as mankind. God is charity itself. God is love,

and the soul of man being the image of God is the very image
of love—made of love, made by love, made to love, and therefore
from the very beginning up to the present day every human heart

that is not totally degenerate feels that inborn law, that law of

love. In the Old Testament Jehovah gave to His chosen people

the commandment of charity. All the laws of love put together

form a perfect code. Christ, notwithstanding His natural law and

His old revealed law, says : “I give you a new commandment.”

That commandment is new because it demands by far more. He

says : “I command you to love one another, as I, a God, love.”

In this one word, “Love one another as I love you,” we see the

great dignity and superiority and sublimity of this beautiful law

of charity.

If we study the history of Christ, as revealed to us in the

inspired books, we notice in the first place that His law was uni-

versal. He stands before mankind with outstretched arms, and
says : “Come to Me, all ye that suffer, and I will refresh you.”

He hangs on the Cross, embraces as it were with outstretched,
bleeding arms all nations and all generations, and His wounded!



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
75

heart excludes no one, embraces every one. He consoles His

Blessed Mother and His beloved friend. He pardons the penitent

sinner and promises him His own kingdom. He prays for the

men that nailed Him to the Cross and reviled Him while hanging

on the Cross, and from that Cross on Calvary Christ seems to say

to us all : “I give you another commandment. You must love

one another as I love you/’

Whereas the heart of every priest must be as universal, Cath-

olic, all-embracing as the heart of the High Priest, yet there is

a certain order to be observed. Let me specify a few whom we,
receiving daily the Sacrament of Love and administering daily

this Sacrament of Love—solis presbyteris, quibus sic congruit, ut
sumant, et sicut caeteris—love with a special love. In the first
place. Reverend Fathers, let our charity go forth to our Sovereign

Pontiff, the Holy Father, the Vicar
f

of Jesus Christ. The priest-

hood is a bond that unites us to him, even as the Apostles were

united to Christ, and every priest must show his love and respect

for the Holy Father by praying for Him, even as the early

Christians prayed without ceasing for Peter, when Peter was in

prison. Show your love for the Sovereign Pontiff by speaking

about him always with due respect and reverence, and by asking

the faithful to assist him both morally and materially.

Let your hearts go forth, Reverend Fathers, to your immedi-

ate superiors—the Right Reverend Bishops:—and show your love
for them by obeying them religiously. Obedience to superiors

is the very sign of love. Christ said : “If you love Me, keep My
commandments.” * * * “He that hath My commandments and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me.” * * * “As the Father

hath loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love. If you
keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, as I also
have kept My Father’s commandments, and do abide in His love.”
Let there be great mutual charity among you, Reverend Fathers.

Love your fellow priests, that the golden bond of love make you

one, to fight the great battle against your personal enemies and

the enemies of the Holy Church. A diocese that enjoys this spirit
of love is indeed a happy and a strong diocese, and without this

union and harmony among the priesthood the enemy will find it

easy to fight and defeat the work of Christ.

True charity among priests must be founded on justice.

Where there is no justice there can be no charity. As Christian

gentlemen, therefore, and as Catholic clergymen, be always honest

and honorable, and respect your neighbor’s rights and your

neighbor’s good name. Observe well the diocesan laws marking

the parish limits and the pastor’s rights. Do not speak ill of your
fellow priests, least of all when speaking to the laity.

In your charity, Reverend Fathers, take good care of the

Sisters. Remember that they are the chosen sheep of the flock

j



76 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

of Christ, confided to our care. Some fifty or sixty years ago the
non-Catholic world attacked frequently and most unjustly the nuns

and nunneries. Thank God things have changed ! These good
nuns, by their patience and silence and self-sacrificing work, by

their purity of heart and purity of intention, have fought their

battles and conquered completely. To-day there is hardly a gentle-

man in this great country of ours who does not lift his hat and
bow his head with great respect to a Catholic Sister. We mem-
bers of the clergy must be the first to realize the supernatural

beauty of their vocation and the importance of their manifold

missions. Can you imagine what the Church would be a few years

hence, were the Church deprived of the assistance of this powerful

army of fifty thousand nuns in America? The schools would

be closed, the sick would be without help, and the orphans left

without their motherly attention. The best way to help these

Sisters is to provide generously for all their spiritual wants. You
understand, friends, they have not the consolations of this world.

All they have, practically, is a little convent cell, the class-room

or sick-room, and Our Lord in the tabernacle. Since, therefore,

they live entirely on this spiritual food, give these angelic souls

the food of angels. Say Mass for them regularly. Give them

Holy Communion daily. Never speak to them a harsh word, but

often speak to them the encouraging words of a good pastor

and a good shepherd. Love your own flock—the people confided
to your care. A priest’s success in parish work can be measured
by his love for his spiritual children. What a beautiful example

in this respect does the great St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles,

give us! Reading his epistles, we see how he loved Christ; how

he knew nothing but Christ, and' Christ crucified. “If any man

love not Our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, mar-

anathema.” But although he loved Christ with his whole heart

and could say “For me to live is Christ, and death is my gain,”
for the love of his Romans he was willing to be separated from

Christ. “For I wish myself to be anathema from Christ for my
brethren.” He practiced what he preached when he said : “I made
myself the servant of all, that I might gain the more.” * * *

“To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak. I

became all things to all men, that I might save all.”

Read the lives of the saints, and you will find that they knew

not the word enemy. You will never find a saintly pastor com-
plaining about his flock. If at times the members of his flock

wound his fatherly heart, his complaints are sent up to Heaven,

but not expressed to the people. You will never find that a saintly

priest has a pessimistic heart. Like Christ, he always sees that

which is good in people, and pardons that which is less than good.

A good pastor will have no enemies in his parish. Even if at
times there should be one like Judas, the pastor remains Christ-

like and says to him “Friend.”



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 7T

This, then, is the first sign that the charity of Christ dwells^

in us—that we love all and exclude none. Every morning, Fath-
ers, when you say your Mass, and rest your eyes upon the cruci-

fix, and lift the chalice up to the Heavenly Father, remember the-

example of universal ch'arity which Christ gave on the Cross, and

which Christ gives in the Blessed Sacrament and then, Fathers,,

with great devotion, eat that Bread and drink that Blood, and in

the strength of that food divine go forth and love one another

as Christ loved you. The sacrifice of Mass gives you the example..

Holy Communion must give you the strength, and Christ in you

and Christ in your people must form between you a bond of uniom

which the world does not know.

Christ said: “Love as I love.” Read the Holy Gospels and.

study the heart of Christ, and see how he loved us, that you may

know how to keep the great commandment and love one another

accordingly. St. Thomas tells us that the intensity of love is

measured by the sacrifices we bring, moved by love. “We know
that the more intensely a man loves one object, the more easily

wid he, for its sake, despise other things. Hence the perfection

of his love for his neighbor may be gauged by what he sacrifices-

for his neighbor’s gain.” He goes on and says : “Some sacrifice
their earthly possessions. They give to neighbors material help.”

This is charity. This is the great charity of which our millionaires^

boast so much to-day. This charity, while it is great, is the

lowest degree. You may notice that Christ, in as far as we know,,

never gave a dollar to a human being and never made a human

being a dollar richer. He made happy His Blessed Mother, the
poor shepherds and the poor to whom He preached, by teaching;
them, “Blessed are the poor”

—
“Woe to riches

!”

“The second great sacrifice a man may bring for charity’s -

sake,” says St. Thomas, “is to expose himself to bodily hard-

ships.” Here many a pastor has golden opportunities to practice-

charity. He may be sent to a small country place, deprived of the
comforts of life, of the company of the cultured and refined, con-

demned to isolation and many hardships by night and day. He
feels it keenly. In his loneliness let him remember it is for the-

good of his neighbor, and let the fire of charity consume the sac-

rifice upon the altar of love, and be pleasing unto God.

The greatest sacrifice we can bring for our neighbor is to>

offer up for him life itself. “Greater charity no man can have,”
says Jesus Christ, “than to lay down his life for his friend.” Oh,

how many a priest in the history of the Church and the history

of America has thus sacrificed himself for the pure love of souls,

immortal! Spend yourselves as St. Paul for this noble object,

and if at times the comforts of the rich, and the seeming pleasures

of the worldly tempt you to a life of ease and indolence, sacrifice-

well, or offer up devoutly that sacrifice of Mass. Let your eyes.



78 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

rest upon the crucifix in the morning. See the blood in the

chalice and leave the altar, saying to yourself : “He loved us,

He sacrificed Himself for us. Having Him in my heart to-day,
I will go forth and love my neighbor, my people, and my neigh-
boring priests, even as He, my Master, loved me.”

“The perfection of fraternal charity must next be considered,”

said St. Thomas, “as manifested by the value of what we do for

others. For our love for our neighbor is proved by the value of

the gifts that we bestow upon him. Now there are three degrees
in this charity. The first degree consists in ministering to the

bodily wants of our brethren—by clothing the naked, feeding the
hungry, tending the sick, and the like. Our Lord promises to

consider as done to Himself everything of this nature that we do

for others. The second degree of charity consists in bestowing

upon our neighbor such spiritual benefits as do not exceed the

capability of human nature. Among such benefits, we may men-
tion the instruction of the ignorant, advice given to those in

doubt, and the conversion of such as have gone astray. The

third degree of charity consists in enriching our neighbor with

•such spiritual benefits as are supernatural and exceed human

reason. Such benefits are instruction in divine truth, direction

to God, and the spiritual communication of the sacraments.”

Christ as you know possessed this third degree of charity in its

perfection. He brought us from Heaven the doctrine of life ever-
lasting, and the gospel of peace, and He gave to us in charity
the blood of redemption and the food of eternal life. Rich we

are, indeed, and thrice blessed that we have the same wealth, the

•same heavenly treasure
—

“the unsearchable riches of Christ”—to
give to the poor and the needy.

Therefore, as Christ loved us by giving to us things of

heavenly value, love your neighbors, Fathers, by giving them

these means of grace. Preach to them in season and out of sea-

son the heart of Christ. Administer to them the life-giving and

life-preserving sacraments. If at times your soul begins to feel

languid, approach the altar, offer the sacrifice of Mass, reflect

there and then how Christ loves you, how Christ gave everything

to you, how Christ in His love comes to your own hearts, and

then remember the commandments, as you leave that altar and the

sanctuary : “Love one another, as I have loved you,” and go forth

that day, sacrificing your time and your personal interests, ex-

posing yourselves to dangers and hardships, to give unto all within

your influence the gifts of a God. If thus we keep the command-

ment—the last great commandment the High Priest gave to all
His priests—on the Day of Judgment we shall stand to the right
of Christ in glory, and hear the words: “Well done, faithful

servant. You had charity. Therefore, blessed are ye. Come

with Me and possess the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of

God. the Kingdom of Love, perfect and eternal.”



A PICTURE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

“My Kingdom is not of this world.” * * * I am a King. For

this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I

should give testimony to the truth.”

jfJjvHE coenaculum, the birthplace of the Holy Eucharist, and the

birthplace of the eternal priesthood, is dear to every priestly

heart. That coenaculum gives us a perfect picture of our

Holy Catholic Church. It shows clearly its fundamental truths,

its very essence, whether we look upon the Church in a general

way, defined by theologians as “a body of men united together

by the profession of the same Christian faith, and by participation

in the same sacraments, under governance of lawful pastors, more

especially of the Roman Pontiff, the sole Vicar of Christ on earth,”

or whether we look upon the Church as a little portion of that

universal militant flock called a parish, of which you are pastors,,

or that edifice consecrated to the worship of God in which you

preside and officiate.

The word “church” is very much misunderstood and misused

in our days. Centuries ago it designated the true Bride of Christ,,

that one society founded by Jesus Christ, and then that name was

sacred and holy. To-day we find many, different religious de-

nominations, some of them denying the most sacred truths of

revelation, even the divinity of Jesus Christ, some of them teach-

ing doctrines positively ridiculous, even immoral, and yet all of

them assume that holy name of the Bride of Christ, and call,

themselves churches. This is a reason why the Church is often

blasphemed by those whose faith is weak, and whose knowledge-

is superficial.

Others misunderstand the meaning of that name, Church.

They look upon things accidental, things that are seen and heard,,

instead of penetrating the very essence, and studying the heart

of that kingdom of Christ. Our question boxes are often filled

with questions concerning the ceremonies of the Church. These

ceremonies, these rites, the whole liturgy, as we know, are beauti-

ful. They are an expression of the hearts of the faithful, and

they lead the hearts of the faithful to greater devotion and piety.

Others are troubled and concerned about the devotions of the

Church to the Blessed Lady, to the great saints in heaven, or for

the suffering souls in Purgatory. The saints and the holy souls are

the glorious fruits of that vineyard of Christ. We love them, we
honor them, venerate them, but they do not constitute the essence

of the Church. The Church existed before it had produced her



:8o A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

immortal fruit. The sacramentals of the Catholic Church make

many doubt its divinity, and make many fear and hesitate to

join it. The sacramentals are venerable and old. They define

the sacraments, help us to administer them with greater dignity

and reverence. They confer upon the members great blessings

and graces
;

yet we all know we can dispense with all the sacra-

mentals without touching the heart of Mother Church. How
many ask, “Why do not Catholics eat meat on Fridays?” “Why
do not priests marry?” “Why convents and monasteries?” All
such things pertain to disciplinary laws of the Church. They do

mot touch the essence, the corner-stone of the Church.

Study the Last Supper. You will see there the essential
doctrines, and the heavenly gems and jewels of the Church as

Christ founded her. You may notice, reading the Holy Bible, that
Christ called His Church almost always the Kingdom of Heaven,

•or the Kingdom of God. Already, St. John the Precursor said:

“Do penance, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Christ came

and preached, “The time is accomplished, and the Kingdom of

God is at hand.” For three years He went about to explain to
the people of Palestine the humble beginning, the constant

growth, the final triumph, and the immortal glory of that Kingdom

•of God. When standing before Pontius Pilate, the representative
•of the great Roman empire, with tied hands, a prisoner con-

demned, Christ asserted clearly and firmly, “I am a King. I have

a kingdom.”

The Church as we see it in the coenaculum is the Kingdom

of Heaven, the Kingdom of God, because Christ, the King of the

Heavenly Kingdom—God made man—was present, presided and
officiated. He gathered about Himself the good fishermen to
make them members of His spiritual kingdom. He united them to
Himself with a double golden chain of faith and grace. He was
a light, and He enlightened every one of them, and in His light
they all saw in Him the Christ, the Son of God. All could say
with Peter: “We have believed and have known that Thou art
'the Christ, the Son of God.” Or with St. Thomas, they could all

place their hands upon His heart and exclaim : “My Lord and
-my God.” Seeing in Christ not only their Lord, but their God,

they believed all the words that Christ spoke unto them. They

said, “Thou hast the words of eternal life.”

Christ united them still more intimately and firmly to Himself

by giving unto them His flesh as a food and His blood as a drink.

Communion was a bond of union. Having thus communicated

'Himself to them. He prayed, saying : “That they may be one, as

w'e also are one, I in thee, and thou in Me; that they may be

perfect in one.”

Being thus united to Christ, the King of Heaven, a God Him-

self, they were united among themselves. St. Paul describes



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 8

1

them well when he says: “For we being many,
are one bread,

one body, all that partake of one bread.”
Or again, “As the

body is one, and hath many members, and all the
members of the

body whereas they are many, yet are one body,
so also is Christ.

Christ, therefore, is a King, He has a kingdom, and
being the

King of Heaven, His little kingdom is the Kingdom
of Heaven.

Being a Heavenly King, He completely transforms the
mem-

bers that enter His kingdom. He lifts them up to a
supernatural,

spiritual dignity. He makes them truly children of God.
bor

the spirit Himself giveth testimony to our
spirit that we are sons

of God and if sons, heirs also, heirs indeed of
God, and joint

heirs with Christ.” Christ expresses
this transformation, so

great and complete, in the beautiful parable
of the leaven. n

again He said : “Whereunto shall I esteem the kingdom
of God

to be like? It is like to leaven which a
woman took ^ and hid m

three measures of meal, until the whole was
leavened.” Even as

the leaven penetrates calmly but steadily
the dough, and changes

it, thus the spirit of the Heavenly King
penetrated the hearts and

minds of His mystical body, and made them
like unto Himself.

The simple fishermen were transformed into
true Apostles, mar-

tyrs and princes of the Kingdom of God.

As thus at the Last Supper we see the fishermen
elevated to

that high dignity, the Church of Christ has
continued to leaven

His spiritual kingdom. Behold Mary Magdalen.
She was a

sinner, became a saint. See Saul, the persecutor
of the Christians,

becomes an Apostle of the Gentiles, and
Augustine, the pagan

sinner, becomes St. Augustine, a father and doctor .
of die Church.

Thus we see that the Kingdom of Heaven indeed
is like a leaven

hidden in measures of meal until the whole
is leavened.

The Church thus seen in the coenaculum is
only the mustard-

seed. Christ wished it to grow, to become a
mighty tree that

Spreads its branches over the whole world, and
gives rest to the

very birds of the air. Interesting it is to
reflect how that mustard-

seed, the coenaculum, did spread. Christ,
the heavenly King, did

what no earthly king can do, He multiplied Himself to
be every

where, not only in spirit, but in reality,
and having thus worked

a miracle, which only a God can work, we
find that kingdom

to-day spread over the whole world. We see to-day in every

country, thousands, and hundreds of thousands
of chapels and

churches, cathedrals and basilicas, and in every
one of them we

find present that King of Heaven, that God eternal,
even as He

was present at the Last Supper. In every one
of them throughout

the whole world we see surrounding Him men and women,
chil-

dren and old men, all participating in the
great privileges in

which the Apostles participated at the Last
Supper. lo all ol

them Christ gives that light of faith. All believe
in Him and m

His doctrine, all receive His flesh to eat and
His blood to drink,



82 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

all become thus members of His body, members of His kingdom.

Here we see indeed how that Last Supper has grown, spread

over the whole world, and how to-day, after nineteen hundred

years, some three hundred millions sit around that great table to

enjoy the feast a King prepared for His children. This is the

fundamental meaning of the word Church. It is the Kingdom of

God, the Kingdom of Heaven, here on earth.

Reverend Fathers, study this coenaculum, and see there the

model and ideal of your parish church. Every church, small or

great, in the city or in the country, must be shaped according to

this pattern which the King Himself gave us. You represent
Christ, you must preside and you must officiate with Him, through

Him, and in Him. See there your dignity and understand your

sublime. office. Resembling Christ therefore in your own parishes,

in your own coenaculum, first invite the people, the poor fisher-

men as well as the learned, wise men and the kings of this worldly

kingdom. Make them all understand that the Church, because

of the goodness and love of the King, is a continuous wedding

feast, a feast of joy, where things are given to make the guests

happy.

In your own coenaculum at home be true priests, according

to the Model which we see in the coenaculum in Jerusalem

—

Christ, the High Priest. A priest is a sacerdos. A sacerdos, says
St. Thomas, means “quasi sacra dans,”—a man who gives things
sacred. Having brought the people from the highways and byways

to the wedding feast of that King of Heaven, wash them clean,

as the Saviour did wash the feet of His disciples before the great

festival began. Adorn them all with the wedding garment, and

let no one approach, as far as you can help it, -without that

heavenly wedding garment. Having all thus assembled, represent

Christ, and give unto them the words of eternal life, in that calm,

loving way in which Christ spoke to His own from His heart, in

a familiar tone at the Last Supper. Thus enlighten their faith,

that they may understand their dignity as members of the King-

dom of God.

In your own churches you must be a king, representing the

eternal King, and, as kings of the heavenly kingdom, you must

feed your people with a royal food, in a priestly way. Give them

the food of angels in Holy Communion frequently, and always

with that reverence and that respect with which Christ spoke,

with which Christ dealt out that food of life eternal. Let your

coenaculum, therefore, your parish churches, reflect the spirit of

the coenaculum in Jerusalem, and your people will understand

that Christ said His kingdom is a priceless pearl, a hidden treas-

ure. It is a pearl, the pearl beyond all price. It is the one great

treasure, but a sadly hidden treasure. Reveal that treasure.

Show the beauty of that pearl and make the people happy.



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 83

Study well, Reverend Fathers, the coenaculum in Jerusalem.

It is the ideal church. Then go home and shape and form your

own parish churches according to this pattern. In that coenac-

ulum there was nothing profane. The disciples had preceded the

Master, and had prepared all things well. Thus precede the Mas-

ter, Who descends upon His altar throne in the sacrifice of the
Mass, and prepare all things well in the church, in the sacristy,

in the sanctuary, upon the altar, in the tabernacle, that everything

may be fit for the angels of the Heavenly Kingdom, and as well

as we can make it for the King of that Kingdom of God. Keep

out of your churches as best you can all worldly things—worldly
lectures, worldly music, entertainments that are given for money,

and not directly for the glory and the worship of the Kingdom of

God. I know there is a custom growing to remove on various

occasions the Blessed Sacrament, and use the sacred edifice for

things half religious, and for concerts more worldly than religious.

Reverend Fathers, we can remove the Blessed Sacrament, but

wTe cannot remove thus easily the benediction' which was given
to the Church, and by which it was consecrated to the services

of God. That remains, and must remain always, and therefore

at all times that church is a coenaculum, and everything that is

said and everything that is done in that coenaculum must reflect

the spirit, the love, that Christ manifested at the Last Supper.

If thus you succeed in making the people in your parishes

and your communities see, understand, or rather feel, that the

Church is a kingdom, the kingdom of a God, that the kingdom

makes happy, gives light, gives food, is a wedding feast of great

and eternal joy, then indeed the people will sell all they have and

buy this acre, to possess this pearl, to enjoy this treasure. It is

just what we need to-day. Socialism is great and is spreading

fast, and is threatening to be the one great menace of the king-

dom of Christ in our days. The members of Socialism demand

a greater dignity. They see their own lowliness and poverty and

misery. They envy the rich and the well-to-do.. Therefore they

rise in rebellion. Take that hidden treasure, unfold it, and they

will see that the true dignity of a man consists in belonging to

the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and not the little worldly kingdom

of which the devil himself is the prince. Take that hidden treasure.

It is hidden; you must show it, reveal it to the people, and they

will find in it what they seek in Socialism. They demand equality,

better wages to enjoy a better life and a happier life. The king-

dom of the world, of which the devil is called the prince, cannot
give that. The Kingdom of Christ gives it to its members. There

all, the servants as well as the master, the slave as well as the

prince, sit together at a royal banquet, all receiving the same food

and the same drink. There, if at any place in the whole world,

we can write the words “fraternity, equality.” Before God, in



84 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

the Kingdom of God, we are all equal. We are all brothers, mem-
bers of one and the same mystical body, the body of Christ. They

in Socialism seek happiness which they cannot find in their poor

state, and which they imagine to exist in the homes of the rich,

and the gatherings of society. That is a mistake. Fathers, open

your coenaculum, take the hidden treasure, show that to the

people and they will see how fishermen, workingmen of all classes,

are there transformed into sons of God and heirs of Heaven, to be

made happy in this world, and to be made happy forever.

The kingdom of God in this world, although it is a priceless

pearl, a hidden treasure, a wedding feast prepared for men by

God Himself, is still very imperfect. Christ explained this very

frequently in His parables. He compares it to the ten virgins,
of whom five, one-half, are foolish; or again, to a field, in which
a man sowed good seed but which the enemy over-sowed with

cockle; or again, compares His Kingdom to a net cast into the

sea, gathering all kinds of fishes, some of which are chosen and

put into a vessel, others, being bad, are cast forth. The truth of

these parables we see indeed to-day in that Kingdom of God, the

Catholic Church. We have these foolish virgins, we have the
cockle growing, we have the guests without wedding garments.

You will find them not only in a general way in the great mil-

itant Church—you will find them in your own parishes, in your
own churches, in your own coenaculum. The sight of the foolish

and the bad and the wicked did not discourage Christ. He had a

Judas, He had a Peter who would fall, but He also had a John
who never fell. Thus let the wicked and the bad in no way dis-
courage you. Some, like a Judas, will fall, never to repent.

Others, like a Peter, will fall to rise again in greater glory and

greater power, and many indeed, like a St. John, will always

remain near Jesus, living and dying in the spirit of Jesus Christ.

This Kingdom of God, thus imperfect, will soon become per-

fect, being transferred from this valley of tears to the very house

of the Father. There Christ the King will be seen, not as a hid-

den treasure, but face to face in His great glory. There Christ

will communicate His whole glory, His whole light, His whole

being unto His own. There His own will possess Him completely
and enjoy Him eternally. That is the consummation of the great
kingdom which Jesus Christ found in this world; that is the final,

universal, eternal result of the sacrifice that Christ brought at the

Last Supper. That is the complete transfiguration and transfor-

mation of the little coenaculum, of the little Jerusalem, into the

great coenaculum, into the new, Heavenly Jerusalem.



PASTORAL DUTIES OF A PRIEST

“I am the Good Shepherd.”

HRIST, according to the tenth chapter of St. John, called

Himself the Good Shepherd. This word illustrates well the

character and mission of the Saviour, and His deep, pro-

found love for the children of men. On every page of the Gospel
we find Him gathering His flock, defending His flock, teaching
His flock with the love of a good shepherd. Nowhere did Christ

appear more strikingly in the performance of the duties of a good

shepherd than at the Last Supper, when He gave His sheep the
food of angels—His own flesh and His own blood. The Easter
lamb on the table must have reminded Him of His duty as a shep-
herd. He Himself alludes to the title when He quotes the
prophecy : “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock

•shall be dispersed.” Let us study this picture of the Good Shep-

herd with great attention.

In the first place, we are the favorite sheep of His flock. We
can say and sing every morning in our official prayer: “Nos oves

pascuae ejus.” We can recite frequently the psalm “Dominus
regit me et nihil mihi deerit * * * in loco pascuae ubi me col-
locavit. Parasti in conspectu meo mensam, * * * et calix

meus inebrians quam praeclarus est !” Jesus is the Good Shep-

herd of us priests. There is a great consolation in having the

Lord as a shepherd. Again, we want to study this beautiful pic-

ture, this favorite picture of the Catholic Church—Christ the
Good Shepherd—because we are called upon to-day to take His
place, to feed His lambs and to feed His sheep. As priests we

have entered in by the door. The door is Christ Himself. He
has called us, He has prepared us, He has given us His own
power, His own staff, and He has sent us even as the Father sent
Him. “Go feed My lambs, feed My sheep,” He said to St. Peter,
and the same words were virtually spoken to me and to you.

It is the first duty of a good shepherd to know his sheep.
“I know Mine, and Mine know Me,” says Jesus. Jesus knew His
own, not only as God, but also as Man. He went about from
home to home, from city to city, from country to country, study-

ing His sheep. He had no time for the great cities of Athens and
Rome—for all their sciences and all their arts. He loved His
sheep, and He gave all His time to His sheep. How well He knew
them—their very hearts—we see in the beautiful incident of the
calling of Nathaniel. “Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to Him, and

He said to him: Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no
guile. Nathaniel saith to Him: Whence knowest Thou me?



86 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

Jesus answered and said to him: Before that Philip called to thee

when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.” Jesus knew the

hearts of all as He knew the heart of Nathaniel. In them He saw
not wickedness and sin—He saw only that which was good, which
came from the Father, which made them the images of the Father.

No shepherd sees in his sheep malice or wickedness. There may

be ignorance, there may be folly, but there is also goodness.

Every pastor must thus try to learn to know his flock. We can-
not lead the flock to Heaven unless we know them. Here we see a
weak point in the great pastoral work of the Church in America.

Too many of our good, active, busy pastors do not know their
sheep. They may give as reasons that the parish is so great

;

that the people come and go
;

that they have no time. These

reasons are not sufficient. They do not excuse them. Every

general knows his officers and his army. Every superintendent

of great works knows his workmen. Every pastor knows the

dollars he takes in and the dollars he gives out exactly. If, then,

the men of the world can know their subjects so well and individ-

ually, a good pastor must know his sheep, must know their num-

ber, and must know the joys and sorrows of the hearts of all. To

attain that knowledge of a good pastor it is of great importance,

almost necessary, to make annual visitations. Some fear to do it.

They think they have no right thus to enter homes and molest

the families. This is a mistake. A pastor who enters a home
in the spirit of the good shepherd, and says from his whole heart

on entering: “Pax huic domui,” and then speaks the words of

peace, will always bring peace to the home, and will be blessed

by the home when leaving it. Pastors, if you know your own

your own will know you, and if, knowing your own, you call your

own, you own will follow you. “The sheep hear his voice, and

he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.”

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, showed His goodness and His

love for His sheep by dying for His sheep. “I lay down My life
for My sheep,” He said. Read the holy Gospel thoughtfully.
How He defended the innocent children, the good, simple people,
and the faithful disciples against the attacks of all enemies ! He
was mild and kind always, but when He saw the sinners scandal-
izing the children, He said in holy anger it were better to put a
•stone around their necks and to cast them into the sea. When
He saw the Pharisees abusing the good, simple people, He rose. in

holy anger and said : “You scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,

because you shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you

yourselves do not enter in, and those who are going in you suffer

not to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, be-
cause you devour the houses of widows.”

A pastor who knows his flock will also see the wolf at the
very gates. It has been the glory of the Catholic priesthood ever



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 87

since the days of St. Peter that they were faithful to their flocks

in times of danger and persecution. How many a pastor has died
like a Father Damien among the lepers, because he loved the

sick ! How many pastors have died like the noble band of priests
in Ireland when the persecutors held the sword over them ! Even

in our country how many missionaries of all Orders and of the

secular priesthood have given their lives, like a Father Jogues,

to save the childlike Indians. Remember the Titanic—when all
looked for safety the Catholic priest was there, fearless and think-

ing only of saving the souls of those that knelt and cried for help.

Thus we to-day must be pastors according to our Divine Model,

and be ready to lay down our lives for our flock.

In almost all our great cities we find the non-Catholic prosely-

tizers stealing innocent children, whose immortal souls are

adorned with the sign of baptism. Socialism—the red flag—is
trying to invade the homes and the shops of the working people,

like a wolf to steal the simple, good, honest workingman. The

evils of divorce and pagan family vices are threatening our Cath-

olic homes. O you reverend pastors ! Be not hirelings ! Be
good shepherds ! And as good shepherds lift your hands, lift your

voices, work and toil in season and out of season, and defend

those lambs and sheep for whom the Shepherd gave His blood.
If you neglect your duties and sleep peacefully while the wolf is

at work in your parishes, God some day may say to you what He
spoke to the unfaithful shepherds of old through the great Prophet

Ezechiel, when He said : “Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word
of the Lord : As I live, saith the Lord God, for as much as My
flocks have been made a spoil, and My sheep have become a prey
to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd; for

My shepherds did not seek after My flock, but the shepherds fed
themselves, and fed not My flocks. Therefore, ye shepherds,
the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God

:

Myself come upon the shepherds. I will require My flock
hand, and I will cause them to cease from feeding

any more.”

In the third place, Christ, the Good Shepherd
For them He had a twofold food—the consok
heaven for their minds, and the grace of the

dally the Holy Eucharist—'His flesh and
hearts. He fed them not only on the
upon to preach in the great synapj"

about doing good. Wherever

mountain top or in the

a wedding feast or at a f

on the Cross, He
flock. The

eight times



88 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

you to make you happy
;

I preach to you to make you happy

;

I give you a doctrine that teaches you happiness
;

I lead you on

to eternal happiness.”

The light of the Gospel is necessary food, but that alone does

not suffice. It shows the way to happiness, but does not give the

strength to walk the way. To strengthen them, the Good Shep-

herd stands there in the midst of His starving flock, and He gives
them a food from Heaven. “Eat My flesh, drink My blood.” Be-
hold Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd! Well can St. Thomas,

who understood the mystery so well, say in his antiphones of the

Lauds of the Office of the Blessed Sacrament : “Sapientia aedi-

ficavit sibi domum, miscuit vinum et posuit mensam. Angelorum

esca nutrivisti populum tuum, et panem de caelo praestitisti eis.

Pinguis est panis Christi et praebebit delicias regibus.” The

Good Shepherd, in His eternal wisdom, built a house for His

sheep. He placed a table before them. Upon it He offered the
best of wine, and with the food of angels He fed His flock. And
He gave them a bread that came from Heaven. That bread of the

Good Shepherd, Christ, is delicious, and gives delight even to

the very kings.

You, Reverend Fathers, are ambitious. Ambition, when con-

trolled by reason and guided by faith, is good and noble. A man
without ambition'is dead. You look forward to a parish. You

want to be pastors. You hope to have great parishes. You want

to be great pastors. Do you understand that the title “pastor”
is not a title of honor, but that it expresses a duty, and implies

a terrible responsibility? Do you pastors feed your flock as the

Divine Shepherd fed His own? You must give them a twofold

food—light and grace, doctrine and the sacraments. Feed well,
above all, the little lambs. Have for them the parochial school.

°“ing them there together day after day. Be not satisfied with

g the good Sisters teach them. You are the shepherds, you
oastors, you are the principals of those schools. You must
t the children

;
instruct them and teach them to know,

d to serve their Saviour, Jesus Christ. “Feed My
ffirist. Give them the word of God every Sunday

and preach the word of God in such a way that

he house of God satisfied, consoled and happy,

food of angels. Bring them to the altar rail,

nion frequently. Be not satisfied with

ur flock—the good women and the



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 89

is the Church of men. Christ honored men by calling them and

making them His Vicars upon earth. The Church honored men

by reserving the sanctuary for men only. As St. Paul speaking,

enlightened by the Holy Ghost, commanded the women to be

silent in the church, there it is the privilege of men to lead, to

direct and speak. It being the Church of men, pastors, bring your

men and keep your men in the Church, and thus feed your

whole flock.

The good shepherd misses the weak, feeble, sick members

of his flock. Christ says : “I am the Good Shepherd,” and He
showed the goodness of His heart in the great attention He gave
to the suffering members of the-flocks so dear to Him. Read the

life of the Good Shepherd; follow Him step by step and notice

how His first attention was given not to the rich and those occu-

pied in high places, but to the blind and the weak and the feeble.

One day He came to a miraculous pond near Jerusalem' and there
He saw a certain man that had been eight and thirty years under

his infirmity. We can imagine the sad condition of that poor
man—his neglected appearance, his body covered with rags. The
people passed by. Jesus came, looked at him with sympathy and

kindness, took him by the hand and said : “Wilt thou be made

whole? * * * Arise, take up thy bed and walk.” A pastor
must be good to his whole flock, but his heart must go forth to

the poor and to the afflicted. That shows best of all that he is

not a hireling, but that he loveth his sheep.

Attend well, Reverend Fathers, to the sick in your parish.

Go to them not only when you are called at the last moment to
administer the Holy Sacraments—go frequently, and whenever
you go, speak to them a few words of consolation, offer up for

them a devout prayer and bless them before you depart. There

you have an opportunity of doing good. A soul is never more
disposed to receive the word of God with fruit than when sick.

By helping one sick person, you will help the whole family, often

the whole relationship and neighborhood. Many will come to see
that poor child, and to every one coming the child will say : “The

pastor was here,” and repeat the words the pastor spoke.

Through that one sick person, Reverend Fathers, you can preach

to many. In Scripture we read there was a certain rich man whose
son was sick. He was a Gentile, and no doubt had no interest
in Christ, but when the son was suffering, and when medicines
failed to cure him, even the rich Gentile remembered Jesus, and

went to Jesus personally and knelt down before Jesus, adoring

Him and imploring Him. Take thus good care of the sick, and
through the sick you can bring many a sheep back to the fold.

Sickness of the body is only an image of the sickness of the

soul. When Jesus saw the sickness of the man having the palsy,
He penetrated with His eyes divine the mortal body and saw the



90 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

sin-stained soul, and He said : “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” How
Christ, the Good Shepherd, tried to bring back the lost sheep to

the fold, we see so clearly and beautifully at the Last Supper.

There was Judas. His heart was that of a traitor. Jesus loved

him still. Seeing him, He was “troubled in spirit.” He warned

him, He admonished him, He even knelt down before him and

washed his feet—all that to bring Judas back, to save that lost
sheep. “A good shepherd,” says Jesus, “will leave the ninety-

nine in the desert and go after the lost sheep.” Fathers, there is

hardly a family in your parish but has some such lost sheep. How
many families are there confided to your care who have gone
astray ? What efforts are you making to bring them back ? Christ
says the good shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and goes after those

lost ones. How long? Christ says until he finds them. And what
does the good shepherd do when he finds the lost sheep ? Listen

to your Master, the Good Shepherd. He says he takes that lost
sheep and places it upon his shoulders

;
he carries it back. He

is kind
;

he is helpful
;
he knows that sheep is weak. There is

little faith left, and therefore he gives a helping hand and carries

it back and gives joy to his own heart, to the whole flock, to the

angels in Heaven, but above all, joy to the Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

There is a fifth duty of the good shepherd, which I must men-

tion briefly. “And other sheep I have,” says the Good Shepherd,

“that are not of this fold. Them also must I bring, that they

shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.”
A good pastor must have an apostolic heart and, having an apos-
tolic heart, he will always try to spread the faith and make con-

verts. Here in America, in this land of religious liberty and free-

dom, the circumstances are most favorable. The Lord has placed

us in a most fruitful spot of His vineyard. Therefore every priest

must make constant and serious efforts to bring those outside of

the fold into the fold of Jesus Christ, and thus help the Master in

his own quiet, limited way, that there may be one fold and one

shepherd; that the one great fold may be led onward to the one

great Heaven, and there may be happy forever.

Blessed is the shepherd and pastor who, when entering

Heaven, can count his sheep and find that no one is missing. And
blessed indeed is the good pastor and shepherd who, dying, can

say, repeating the words of Jesus : “Father, I have kept them

Thou hast given me.” This flock, glorious and happy, surround-

ing him in the Heavenly home, will be his great crown of glory,

and this crown of glory I wish you all, in the name of the one

great shepherd—the shepherd of all our souls—Jesus Christ.



MARY MAGDALEN AT THE FEET OF JESUS

“Convenit * * * ut ineffabilem rnodurn divinae praesentiae in

Sacramento visibili veneremur
;

et laudetur Dei potentia, quae

in Sacramento eodem tot mirabilia operatur : necnon et de

tarn salubri, tamque suavi beneficio.”

/jfKVERY morning we priests, by nature men of clay transformed
by the grace of Holy Orders into men of God, ascend the

altar, use our feeble voices to which God gives a divine

power, and call the King of Heaven down upon the altar throne

to be our Guest. Christ dwelling in the tabernacle being our

Guest, we must treat Him royally. An enemy we cast out of the
house, and a stranger we receive with indifference. A friend we
receive with open arms, remain with him, entertain him, live with

him. A priest must entertain Jesus as a friend. Taking the place
of the angels, he must adore that King of angels. He must take

into his anointed hands that Office Divine, and recite it devoutly,

kneeling in reality, or at least in spirit, in the presence of Jesus,

and praise Him and thank Him, implore His pardon and ask for

His assistance.

During the day a good priest will enter the sanctuary to visit

his Master, to speak to Him from his heart. A good illustration
of the perfect, constant union which must exist between the soul

adorned with the sacerdotal character, and Emanuel, the High

Priest—a touching example of such private devotional visits to be
made to the Blessed Sacrament—the priest may find in the life, of
Mary Magdalen.

We find her six times visiting. Christ, kneeling down at His
feet. The first visit to Jesus Mary Magdalen made to repent, to
weep over her sins, to obtain forgiveness. No doubt she had seen
Jesus going about doing good, blessing the innocent children,

entering the homes of sinners, preaching the gospel of peace, in-

viting all, saying with outstretched arms : “Come, all ye that suffer

and are afflicted, and I will refresh you.”

The very sight of innocence and holiness touches the guilty
heart. The heart is naturally the image of purity and must love
and admire purity. In Jesus, as in a mirror, Mary saw her sinful
heart reflected and saw its blackness. Assisted by God’s wonder-

ful grace, she hated her sinfulness and loved Jesus, the personi-

fication of sanctity. Her heart, by nature warm, great and gen-
erous, hated much and loved much. She delays not, she co-oper-
ates at once with the help God gives her. She tears her heart
away completely from lustful pleasures and sinful companions.



92 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

She seeks Jesus. The greatness of her feelings knows no fear or hu-

man respect. Uninvited she enters the hall of Simon, the Pharisee.

Without a word of greeting, or apology, or explanation— her
heart is too contrite, she cannot speak—she kneels down at the
feet of Jesus and weeps bitterly. The tears of repentance and love

flow so abundantly that she actually washes the feet of the Master

with the tears of her heart, humbly wipes them with the hairs of

her head, kisses them, takes an alabaster box of ointment and

anoints them.

Such an humble and contrite heart Jesus never despises. In

silence, deeply moved, He t-urns from His host and companions
to console the weeping sinner, and speaks that one word for

which the restless heart longs : “Thy sins are forgiven thee

—

go in peace.”

The contrast makes this picture, which in course of ages has

touched the hearts of millions and made them weep, doubly clear.

Simon, the proud host, entertains yet knows not Jesus. The

humble Mary knows Him. Simon, the blind host, who

judged himself to be one of those clean men whose

very souls are defiled by the very presence of a sinner,

in his heart judges and condemns Jesus. “This man, if

he were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of

woman this is that toucheth him
;

that she is a sinner.” Mary,

in the light of grace, knows that Jesus is a prophet and more than

a prophet, that He is the merciful Saviour. Simon, the unjust

host, is severely reproved and reprimanded by Jesus, always just,

while Mary is publicly praised by Him. Simon, the sinful host,

is wounded, unhappy, while Mary leaves the place with a new,

unknown feeling of happiness in her heart. Let us imitate Mary

Magdalen and avoid the sins of Simon, the Pharisee.

Jesus said: “Go in peace!” Mary went, but did not return

to the gay, thoughtless, sinful world. She had learned to know a

new and better life. She went home to continue the life of pure

and holy love with Lazarus and Martha, her saintly brother and

sister. “It came to pass,” says St. Luke in another chapter, “that

Jesus entered the town, was invited by Martha, who received Him

into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who, sitting

also at the Lord’s feet, heard His word. But Martha was busy

about much serving, who stood and said : Lord, hast Thou no

care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? Speak to her,
therefore, that she help me. And the Lord, answering, said to
her : Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about

many things. But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the

best part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

We notice that Mary has changed much since her first visit.
The love in her heart has grown and become peaceful, calm and

confidential. She is not kneeling and weeping, but sitting at the



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
93

feet of Jesus, listening to His words of Divine Wisdom. Sitting

thus, she has become the type of the little understood and much

undervalued contemplative life, which forms an essential part of

all religious, but especially of Dominican life.

The contrast giving life to the picture is here not between

the proud Pharisee and the weeping sinner, but between two

saints, both trying to please Jesus; the one by remaining near

Him, giving her heart to Him and pondering in her heart over

His words
;

the other by being busy about much serving. Both

are good, necessary and essential to religious life. The difficulty

consists in keeping the just proportions between the two. In our

country and century the tendency is to do the work of Martha

and neglect the work of Mary. For the sake of work, religious

exercises are shortened or entirely omitted in such a way that

priests have no more time for spiritual work than the faithful in

the world
;

that the first duty of a priest to perfect and sanctify

the soul is ignored; that on account of overwork hearts get cold

and empty and the health of the body poor and frail.

Martha, although a saint, seems to have made a twofold mis-

take. She was careful and troubled about many things, and she

complained about her sister who left her alone to serve. These

two mistakes every priest must avoid. No matter how difficult
and manifold be the work assigned to us, we must learn to begin

and perform it with the calmness and confidence of Peter, who,

in the name of Jesus, threw out his net.

All priests may well take to heart and remember the words
of Jesus, defending Mary against the complaint of Martha: “One
thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall
not be taken away from her.” That happy, best choice of Mary

was Jesus, the Saviour. The world, with its riches and pleasures,

its cares and troubles, has been taken away from Mary, but not

Jesus. She is with Jesus now and will be with Jesus forever. Thus,
not only during the annual retreat, but every day, must we choose

first and above all, Jesus, and “in Him, with Him and through
Him,” seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all the rest will be
given unto us. We sell all things to become perfect and not to
teach or work.

Mary and Martha did not agree in the manner of serving

Jesus, but they fully agreed in imploring His help in the hour of

trial. To serve Jesus means to suffer. Even the holy family in
Bethania, which Jesus favored and blessed frequently with His

visits—which, according to St. John, Jesus loved: “Jesus loved
Martha and her sister Mary, and Lazarus” — was saddened by
sickness. Lazarus was sick. The good sisters, in their sympathy

having no doubt tried all natural remedies, prayed for their

brother and sent a messenger to Jesus across the Jordan, with

the petition so beautifully and delicately worded : “Lord, behold,

he whom Thou lovest is sick.” Strange, Jesus receives the mes-



94 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

sage, but He answers not. He does not cure him. He does not
come to visit and console him. He still remained in the same
place two days. Meanwhile Lazarus grows worse, dies and is

buried. Mary and Martha, who loved their brother as only saints

can love, felt his loss as only saints can feel such a loss. Many
of the Jews came from Jerusalem to comfort them concerning

their brother, but brought little consolation. Such expressions

are* often too formal, and even when they are sincere and come

from the heart, although they soothe the pain, they cannot heal

the wound. Jesus, the true consoler of the heart, did not come

and His absence was to them a painful mystery. However great

this mystery was, they do not lose their faith and’ confidence in

Jesus. Days later Martha whispered to Mary: “The Master is

come and calleth thee.” She, as soon as she heard this, riseth

quickly, “and, without a word of excuse or explanation to the

sympathizing friends, goes to meet Him, falls down at His feet

and says : Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother had not died.
Jesus, when He saw her faith and saw her tears, wept also. He
knew how to weep with the weeping. Weeping, He goes with the
weeping sisters to the grave, and says : Lazarus, come forth, and

makes them all happy.”

In this eleventh chapter of St. John, one of the most beautiful

chapters in Scripture, we are pleased, to see that Mary, although

so human, loving her brother, weeping for her brother, is so

religious, calling Jesus, disappointed when He does not come, but
not murmuring, not complaining, not disheartened or discour-

aged, running to meet Him and adoring Him in her simple faith
when He comes; and we are touched to see how Jesus, although
so Divine, commanding the dead to rise, is so human that He
weeps with the afflicted. Religion lifts the heart up to God, and

religion brings God down to the heart.

The lessons to be learned from this event are many. There

will be trouble in the best hearts, in the best homes. Religion

does not sever the natural, holy family ties. It purifies them and

strengthens them. When news of sickness or death comes we
cannot be cold and indifferent. We cannot always visit our own
to bring them consolation, but we can always do what Mary did,

go to Jesus, “the Resurrection and the Life,” and say to Him:

“Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” A priest thus pray-
ing for his own, kneeling in the sanctuary, giving his whole life

as a sacrifice for his own, is for them what Mary Magdalen was

for her brother Lazarus when on the sick-bed and in the grave.

Jesus cannot always do what we ask Him to do in our blindness
and simplicity, but He always hears a good prayer. He may
allow a brother to sink into the grave. “He "is the Resurrection

and the Life.” Because of the good prayer of a priest, He may

come in a few days to free that soul from the grave of Purgatory

and that body in glory from its tomb on the day of resurrection.



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 95

The prayer, the invitation of a priest, brings Jesus into the family,

and where Jesus is there is blessing and happiness.

Every gift and grace is a token of God’s love. The more the

human heart remembers such gifts, reflects on them, the more

will it feel the goodness of God and be filled with the, desire to

love the good God. The love of God reveals its purity in grati-

tude. Mary Magdalen in her happiness did not forget Jesus, the

cause of her happiness. She counted His gifts. He had cast out

the evil spirits, He had forgiven her her sins. He had given her

perseverance in that life of grace and God’s friendship. He had

come at the risk of His life. He had restored her brother to life,
although foreseeing that the miracle would be the occasion of

His condemnation, and she felt : “I must thank Him.” Moved

by the greatness of the love and generosity of her heart, she pre-

pares a banquet, invites many guests, and Jesus, the guest of

honor. When all are assembled, Mary enters in silence, ap-
proaches Jesus with reverence, kneels down by the Master, opens

a box of very precious ointment the odor of which filled the hall

with sweetness, and anoints His sacred feet and wipes them with

her hair. By this unusual ceremony she meant to say: Jesus,

I thank You, I thank You publicly. There is nothing sweet and

precious enough to express the gratitude that fills my poor,

humble heart.

The nobility of this grateful heart of Mary, prostrated at the

feet of its Benefactor, giving itself and expressing its gift in the

sweetness of precious ointment so humbly and publicly bestowed,

shines doubly bright when compared with the blackness of the

ungrateful heart of Judas, one of the guests at the banquet. Judas

voiced. the sentiments of some, murmuring against Mary and said:

“Why was this waste of the ointment made? For this ointment
might have been sold for more than three hundred pence and

given to the poor.” How narrow such a miserly heart is ! It
calls a waste all that which is given to God, the Giver of all gifts.

It tries to hide its mean selfishness under the cloak of charity.

It might have been given to the poor, he says, but means not a

word of what he said. Here, we see, the love of God makes a
heart great. The love of money makes a heart small. The love
of God makes a heart open. The love of money makes a heart
hypocritical. The love of God makes a heart generous, giving
all in its goodness. The love of money makes a heart selfish,
seeking all in its avarice. The love of God makes a heart exult
in the noblest of feelings. The love of money makes a heart as
senseless as the hard, cold coin. The love of gold changes the

human heart into the heart of a traitor. The love of God makes
the human heart like unto God, the object of its love. The love of
money makes the heart like unto its ideal, the soulless metal.

Jesus, Who always sees the intention of the heart and appre-
ciates its feelings fully, rose and publicly condemned the criti-



96 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

cisms of Judas and praised the deeds and gifts of Mary’s gratitude.

“Let her alone,” He said; “why do you molest her? She hath
wrought a good work upon Me. Amen, I say to you, whereso-

ever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also

which she hath done shall be fold for a memorial of her.” No
human heart can equal the Sacred Heart in goodness. He is
grateful to Mary for her act of gratitude and rewards her a hun-

dredfold. Gratitude for favors received is a good prayer to ob-

tain new favors. Reverend Fathers, imitate not a Judas but a

Mary Magdalen, Kneel down at the feet of Jesus and open the

box of precious ointment, your pure hearts, and pour forth freely

your sentiments of thankfulness for the many favors of priestly

vocation and priestly life.

A fifth time we find Mary at the feet of the Master, on the
top of Calvary. When the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus
was announced to the Pharisees they immediately gathered a

council, where Caiphas pronounced the sentence of death : “It is

expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that

the whole nation perish not.” From that day, therefore, they

devised to put Him to death. Strange ! the miracle of love giv-
ing life became the immediate occasion of hatred decreeing death.

Jesus hesitated not. He worked the miracle, not fearing the
results. Mary, in turn, was loyal and followed Jesus unto death.

The Crucifixion was the great test of love. The Apostles

who had said “Let us also go, that we may die with Him,” when

they saw Jesus in the hands of the enemy, lost courage and fled.

Mary Magdalen’s love did not fail. She loved much and went

with Him. When Jesus was hanging on the Cross, it was the
hour of darkness and the powers of hell seemed to rule. Up to
the last moment the enemies feared somewhat the final result,

remembering “This man doth many miracles.” But when they

saw Him nailed to the wood of the Cross, dying, all their feelings
of hatred and vengeance and jealousy, inspired by the devil, long

pent up and nourished in the heart, found expression in jeers,

insults, blasphemies. While these rude men stand around the

Cross, blaspheming Jesus with a devilish joy, Mary Magdalen

presses through the mob, kneels down at the foot of the Cross

and adores Jesus. The men may have pointed at her, laughed at
her, ridiculed her, called her a hypocrite, a public sinner. Mary

loved much. In her love she cares not what the whole world

says or does. She remains true and faithful to Jesus. Here we

see the power of Divine love. Jesus loved us on the Cross and,

loving us, gave His life for friend and foes. This love of Jesus

inspires love. He, having been lifted on high, has drawn all

hearts to Himself. In all countries and in all centuries millions

of hearts have sacrificed all, to give themselves fearlessly and

lovingly to the Sacred Heart. Of these many millions Mary Mag-

dalen is a leader and a queen.



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 97

To adore Jesus carrying the Cross; to adore Jesus perse-

cuted is the very essence of the great devotion of our times, the

devotion to the Sacred Heart. Jesus requests us to make atone-

ment for the coldness and sinfulness of the world. We live in the
age of blasphemy. Not only those who know not what they do

are addicted to cursing and swearing, but many of the learned,,

even so-called Christian writers and preachers, attack boldly that

which is most fundamental and sacred— the Divinity of Jesus
Christ. Great powers are united to persecute Christ by perse-

cuting His Church. We can sing with the prophet: “Why have
the "Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? The kings

of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the

Lord, and against His Christ.” Now, more than ever, must every

priest imitate Mary Magdalen, following Jesus not as the Apos-

tles up to the Last Supper, but even unto the Crucifixion.

The Love of Mary Magdalen was deep and sincere and,,

therefore, did not end with the life of Jesus. When Jesus was
dead and buried she could not rest, could not sleep, her heart was

with Jesus in the tomb. She reflected on what Jesus had done:

how He had suffered so patiently, how He had prayed so devoutly
for sinners, how He had given His life for all. She felt now
“He hath loved much, I owe Him much.” What could she do to>
pay her debt of gratitude? Anoint the Sacred Remains? Hu-
manly speaking, it was a foolish thought. The grave was closed,,

the door was sealed, a big stone was placed before the door, sol-

diers were guarding the tomb. Mary in her love saw the end only

and not the difficulty. She found the stone rolled back and, no

doubt, rejoiced. She comes to the grave, looks into it and, alas
!’

He is not there ! She begins to weep bitter tears and, while
others go away, she remains standing by the empty grave, weep-

ing. While she is weeping, seeking Jesus, Jesus appears to her

and says one word: “Mary!” She kneels down, adoring Jesus

arisen, saying : “Rabboni !” What shall we admire more— the
perseverance of Mary seeking Jesus, or the goodness of Jesus
revealing Himself to those that seek Him? Jesus forgets her past
life completely and makes her, who had been known as the sinner,,
the Apostle of the Apostles, to announce to the world the hap-

piest news, the news of the Resurrection. “Go to My brothers-
and say to them : I ascend to My Father and to your Father, to
Mv God and to your God.” Jesus ascends into Heaven. Mary
Magdalen persevered in her love, living in a lonely cave for many
years, shedding tears of repentance and tears of love.

Priests, day and night, must have their hearts with Jesus in

the tabernacle, as Mary had her heart with Jesus in the tomb.
Priests who thus love Him and seek Him will in a very short time
see and adore Him in glory and ascend with Him to His Father
and our Father, to His God and our God, to be one with Him,,
as He and the Father are One.



THE HOLY GHOST

"‘It is expedient to you that I go, for, if I go not, the Paraclete will

not come to you, but if I go I will send Him to you.”

EADING attentively the account St. John gives of the Last
Supper, we notice that in the first part Christ purified and

prepared His disciples for- the greatest religious event.

Then He instituted the Blessed Sacrament, gave Himself as an

eternal victim, and created the eternal priesthood, laying down

at the same time the fundamental laws of the New Testament:
* r

Abide in My love, and love one another.”
In the last part He spoke from His heart to console His dis-

tressed disciples. The poor disciples needed consolation very

much. At the banquet for which they and the Master had longed

with an ardent desire they had received many and sad shocks.

They were shocked when they saw a Judas leaving their company

in that treacherous way. They were shocked when they heard

that even Peter, their leader, would deny their Lord. They were

shocked when they heard that they all would be dispersed like

sheep without a shepherd, but they were shocked most of all

when they heard the Master say : “A little while and ye shall see

Me no more.” Christ Himself noticed their sadness of heart.

Then He said : “Let not your hearts be troubled.” To keep their
hearts from being troubled, He promised, among other things,
to send them the Holy Ghost. “And I shall ask the Father, and

He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you
forever. The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.
* * * The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
you in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring all
things, whatsoever I shall have said to you. * * * It is ex-

pedient to you that I go, for, if I go not, the Paraclete will not

come to you, but. if I go I will send Him to you.”

Here Christ not only promises to send the Holy Ghost, but

He tells them plainly the importance of the mission of that
heavenly spirit. He goes so far as to say “It is expedient to you
that I go,” meaning, from now on the presence of the Holy Ghost

will be a greater consolation and help to you than My bodily pres-
ence could be. The Holy Ghost—-His personality and His mission
—are, and remain great mysteries to us. A great mystery is the
Blessed Trinity, of which the Holy Ghost is the third person. A
great mystery is the eternal procession of the Holy Ghost from

the Father and the Son. A great mystery is that union between



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS
99

the three persons which makes them one God, and a great mystery

is the part the Holy Ghost took in the redemption and sanctifica-

tion of mankind. In almost every Mass we, say : “Credo in

Spiritum sanction vivificantem qui locutus est per prophetas.” It

was the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament Who from time to time
inspired the prophets to remind the people of the promised Mes-

siah, and to prepare their hearts for His coming. It was the

Holy Ghost Who, according to St. Luke, descended upon the

Blessed Lady and operated in her the greatest of mysteries. “The

Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most

High shall overshadow thee, and therefore also the Holy which

shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Another

great work of the Holy Ghost is the sanctification of the Church

of Jesus Christ. To understand in some degree His influence

upon the human soul, we shall consider two of His apparitions.

When Christ began His public life and was baptized by John
in the waters of the Jordan, the Spirit, as a dove, descended upon

Him and remained with Him. And the Spirit, as a dove, took
Him out of the world and led Him into the desert, and there

Jesus in the Holy Spirit fasted and prayed for forty days. As

thus the Holy Spirit in the gentle way of a dove led Christ into

the -solitude, so He has led into, solitude practically all the great
and holy souls of the kingdom of Christ on earth. Paul He led
into solitude to fast and to pray. All the fathers of the Church

were sanctified and prepared for their providential mission by the

Holy Ghost in solitude. The great saints of the Church, like St.

Theresa and St. Catherine of Sienna, felt that influence of the

Spirit in their early childhood days. Led by that gentle dove they

left their homes and looked for a desert or a cave, there to mortify

themselves, there to be alone with God, there to pray.

We ourselvs, Reverend Fathers, have received and felt that
spirit of God in us. We were baptized in the name of God the
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. From that day on our childlike
hearts were the temples of that heavenly Spirit. We were con-
firmed in that Holy Ghost and, being confirmed, we felt His mag-
netic power so keenly that, like Christ, we left our homes, we left
the world and entered the solitude of the cloister or the sanctuary.

If we reflect on those youthful days we shall find that we have
experienced the truth of the beautiful words

:

“Consolator optime,

Dulcis hospes animae,

Dulce refrigerium.”

If we reflect on those youthful days, we may remember that we
loved to pray, and that the mortifications the rule imposed and

the laws demanded were not sufficient. The Spirit of God



iioo A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

prompted us to seek new works of penance and to pray when

alone and unseen. It is good to know that we were thus under

'the influence of that Spirit of God; that Christ sent Him to us
as well as to the Apostles.

Let us ask ourselves whether we have continued under the

.influence of the Holy Ghost. As a matter of fact, the spirit of

penance seems to be almost dying out of the Church in America.

Where are the people who still fast seriously, who take their

crosses and follow the crucified Master with the crown of thorns ?

There is great danger even that we priests ignore the laws of fast-

ing and mortification. We forget to imitate St. Paul, who said:
'“I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps

when I have preached to others I myself should become a cast-

away. * * * Always bearing about in our body the

mortification of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may

be made manifest in our bodies.” It may be true that

we cannot fast and abstain as they do in other countries and have

done in former centuries. Still many things we can do and must

do. Let me suggest one great work to you. Abstain from intoxi-
cating liquor. 1 emphasize the word strong' liquor. There may

be an excuse for some to take a glass of wine, but Fathers, we

all know that liquor is one of the greatest curses of the people

—

yes, even of the Church in America. And, therefore, even if an

angel of Heaven should tell us that there is no danger in liquor

for us personally, for the sake of an example, and for the sake

-of reparation and atonement for the many great crimes committed,

let us continue the spirit of penance, and deny ourselves in this

^respect. Let us pray with David, the sinner, every day: “Miserere

:mei, Deus. * * * Spiritum sanctum tuum ne-auferas a me.”

“Punish me, God, if Thou wilt, because I have sinned, but one

thing, O God, I beg Thee not to do—do not take that Holy Spirit
away from me.” And if we should find upon examination that

we have lost that spirit of prayer and penance, let us cry with

iervor : “Credo in Spiritum sanctum vivificantem.” The Spirit

of God gives life, renews that life, renews those virtues, if only

we implore His help. If, led by the Holy Spirit, we fast and pray

as Christ did, then we are prepared to meet Satan and to resist

his manifold temptations as Christ did.

A second time the Holy Ghost appeared when the disciples,
after the Ascension of Christ, had spent ten days in prayer, in

union with the Blessed Lady—well styled the Bride of the Holy
4Ghost. This time He did not come like a gentle dove. He came
with a rush of winds and in the shape of fiery tongues, and des-

cended thus upon each and every one of them, and filled the whole

.house. “And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a

.mighty wind, and came and filled the whole house where they were



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS IOI

sitting; and there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of

fire, and sat upon every one of them, and they were all filled with

the Holy Ghost.” The first effect of fire is light. Where there is

fire there is light, and thus one of the effects of this fiery tongue

was a new light in the souls of the disciples. The Holy Ghost

kept them from making mistakes in teaching. The Holy Ghost

made each and every one of them infallible. According to the

promise of Christ, He remained with them as the spirit of truth,

and remained with them forever. As the result of His coming and

His remaining, the Church stands there for nineteen hundred

years, and can challenge all her enemies, saying “Who can accuse

me of one false doctrine?” The other churches, although of

recent date, do not dare to claim such a privilege, because they

all know they have erred and changed their creeds.

Fathers, we personally, and as spiritual directors of others,

need that gift. If we examine our consciences briefly, we find

that alas ! we have made mistakes. Personally
;
we have made

mistakes in building up the parish
;
we have made mistakes in

governing and ruling the people
;
we have made mistakes in giv-

ing advice and counsel to our penitents. To avoid such mistakes
in future, let us pray more fervently for the gifts and graces of

the Holy Ghost

:

“Veni Sancte Spiritus,

Et emitte coelitus

Lucis tuae radium.”

The Holy Ghost, in the second place, as a light from Heaven
inspired them with new ideas. Christ had said : “The Paraclete
will teach you all things, will remind you of what I have told you,
will bear testimony of Me.” In every action of the Apostles we see
that these wonderful promises of the Saviour were fully realized.

Read the sermons of St. Peter and of St. Stephen, and see how
the heavenly truths had become clear to them

;
how they began

to understand the greatest mysteries of the divine faith. “Veni

Sancte Spiritus, fons vivus, ignis, charitas, et spiritalis unctio.”

“Come and help us priests as you helped the Apostles. Teach us
all truth. Remind us of what Christ said. Bear testimony unto
us about Him, that we may know what to do and what to preach
to bring sinners to a love of virtue, and to bring the unbelievers
to the fold of Christ.” “Ut cognoscamus in terra viam tuam, in
omnibus gentibus salutare tuum.”

When the Paraclete had thus enlightened the disciples, He
gave them the gift of tongues. “Loquebantur magnalia Dei.”
“They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to
speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave
them to speak.”. To possess this gift, we must co-operate with



102 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

the Holy Ghost. We must in the first place read good books,
religious books, the masterpieces of the greatest writers. We
must thus acquire “scientia.” This “scientia” must develop into

“sapientia.” “Sapientia” means to taste the sweetness of the things

we know
;

to make that knowledge our own
;

to have it sink

into the heart
;

to digest it. To make “scientia” “sapientia” a

priest must meditate and reflect and consider well in a prayerful

way the things he reads. By and by “sapientia” must develop into

“eloquentia”—that is, all the priest has in his heart he must learn
to express, and to give it to others for their benefit and enlight-

enment. The Holy Ghost thus transformed the fishermen into

Apostles. If we pray and work, the Paraclete will make us the

apostles of America.

That fire from Heaven which came upon the Apostles on the

day of Pentecost brought not only light—it brought heat. The

rays of the sun a're not only clear but also warm. Heat is a

power. Behold the mighty ocean steamer. It sails onward calmly

and steadily against all winds and waves, and crushes every ob-

stacle in its way. What gives that steamer its power? There is

a fire in the heart. Thus the Holy Ghost fills the hearts of the

disciples with the fire of love, and that love of God is a force. It

made them leave the upper room where they were assembled
;

it

made them face all enemies
;

it made them walk from country to

country, from prison to prison; it made them die gladly and

cheerfully for the object of their love—Jesus Christ. “Fortis ut
mors dilectio.” “For the charity of Christ presseth us,” as St.

Paul expresses it. St. Peter was asked to stop preaching Christ

and he answered so beautifully: “We cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard.”

Fathers, if we have that fire of the Holy Ghost in us—that
love of God— we could, as St. Catherine expresses it, set all
America on fire with it. It is this gift— love of God, love of
neighbor, the flame of love, zeal—which we need in these cold
days of infidelity. Christ applied to Himself the words of the Old

Testament: “Zelus domus Dei commedit Me.” “The zeal of the

house of God must consume us.” It must consume much in us.

That fire of God, that love of God, must consume in us our little,

mean self-love. It must consume in us our love for ease and com-

fort. ft must consume in us our love for worldly pleasures and

amusements. It must consume in us our worldly ambitions and

our pride. It must make us live just for Christ, and the Bride of

Christ, the Holy Catholic Church. “I most gladly will spend and

be spent for your souls, although loving you more I be loved less,”

says St. Paul to the Corinthians. If we have this light of the

Holy Ghost, and this love of the Holy Ghost in our priestly hearts,

we can change the face of the earth. “Emitte spiritum tuum et



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 103

creabuntur et renovabis faciem terrae” O God send us that fire,
and send us that light and love of the Paraclete, and He will create

in us that apostolic zeal, and we shall renew the face of America.

Even as the warm rays of the sun in spring time renew the face

of the fields and make them green, thus we shall make the cold,

dying faith of the people live again in its first beautiful fervor.

The green fields, because of the beautiful sun, are adorned and

decorated with flowers. If we have those rays of the heavenly

Paraclete giving light and spreading love, we shall adorn the

hearts of the faithful with the virtues resembling heavenly pearls.

"‘But the fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, patience, benignity,

goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency and

chastity.” Behold some of the flowers the spirit of God makes

grow and blossom in the hearts of men. These flowers will by

and by develop into the beatitudes—the eight beatitudes—the
result of the great gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost.

See, dear Fathers, the great consolation, or rather the great

Consoler that Jesus promised to His disciples. The same was

promised unto us
;

the same will come to us if we pray as they

prayed. “O God, Who didst teach the hearts of Thy faithful by
the light of Thy Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to have
a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His

holy comfort.”



THE PRIEST’S ROSARY

“When Jesus therefore had seen His mother and the disciples

standing, whom He had loved, He said to His mother: Wo-

man, behold thy son. After that He said to the disciple

:

Behold thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took

her to his own.”

tfJVNE of the many great consolations which Christ, parting,

gave His saddened disciples, was His own Blessed Mother.

In giving her to John, the newly ordained priest, He gave
her to the twelve, with whom she was assembled, praying for the
coming of the Holy Ghost. He gave her to the whole eternal

priesthood, and made her thus the mother of the Catholic priest-

hood. John took her unto his own. Blessed indeed was John,

who was privileged to live with the Blessed Mother, to pray with

her, to celebrate the mysteries with her, to partake in the myster-

ies with her, to spend with her hours and hours speaking about

Him Who was dearest to their hearts, and no doubt seeing Him
frequently coming from Heaven to console them and to encourage

them. Reverend Fathers, let us imitate the beloved disciple, St.

John, and take the Mother of Christ unto our own, with us to our

homes, that she may be a mother unto us in our private lives and

our priestly work.

Instead of dwelling this morning upon her virtues, privileges

and prerogatives, instead of reflecting to see how at all times she

is the mother of mercy and the mother of grace, the life, sweet-

ness and hope of the Christian world, we shall consider her

favorite devotion, which is the Holy Rosary. Every good mother

teaches her child to pray. Mary, being the best Mother, gave us

a perfect form of prayer. The Rosary we all have learned to

recite from our mothers in early childhood days, and one of our

sweetest recollections is to remember the evenings when at home

we knelt down in the family circle, and repeated alternately the

Our Father and the Hail Mary, reflecting on the mysteries. Al-

though we have learned these prayers in our infancy, they never

grow old. The more we study, the more we advance in learning,

the more we see the beauty of them. Even if a little boy who

loves the Rosary becomes as learned as a St. Thomas of Aquin,

when standing at the altar at the most solemn part of Mass, he

can find no prayer that expresses the thoughts of a soul so per-



A RETREAT EOR PRIESTS ™5

fectly as the “Pater noster qui es in coelis.” When the priest,

therefore, says the Rosary, he says the same prayers and dwells

upon the same mysteries as the little child, but the lessons he

learns, and the applications he makes, are different. Here we

wish to suggest just a few thoughts that may be of interest and

consolation to every priest.

In the five joyful mysteries we priests see the Blessed Mother

with the Child Divine—the Real Presence. Mary may be called
the first priestess, for in the Annunciation we witness the Incarna-

tion, and the mystery of the Annunciation and the Incarnation

are repeated and perpetuated in our anointed hands. What a

great similarity is there between a Catholic priest and the Mother

of Jesus Christ. What an intimate, close relationship. We may
call it, in the light of faith, the relationship not only of the spirit,

but even of flesh and blood.

Having this picture of the Annunciation and the Incarnation

vividly presented to our imagination, let us learn from it a few

lessons. Like the Blessed Mother, let us, as clerics, men who

have left the world and have made the lot of Christ our own, love

solitude, and live as far as we can like the Blessed Mother, and

with the Blessed Mother, in peaceful, silent solitude. When the
angel comes to speak to us through positive law, or in meditation,

let us answer with the Blessed Mother : “Behold the handmaid

of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to His word.” Since
such an obedient, submissive solitary life is not easy, let us take

the Rosary, and say devoutly
—
“Our Father—give us this day our

daily bread.” “Mother of God, my Mother also, pray for us now.”

In the mystery of the Visitation, we see the charity of the

Blessed Lady, now the Mother of God. Having goodness in her

heart, she feels the first law of goodness, which is to spread it-

self, to spread happiness. Mary leaves her dear solitude, crosses

the mountains to bring joy and grace to her cousin Elizabeth.

She enters the home, salutes them in the name of God, and be-

hold! the heart of St. Elizabeth is filled with the joy of God, and

the soul of her unborn child is filled with the grace of God. Mary

brings joy and blessing to the home which she enters. Apply this

to yourselves. Leave the house, not to seek happiness, pleasure

and enjoyment, but like Mary to visit the people of your parish,

the members of your flock, to bring Christ unto all, to bring grace

to the sinners and happiness to the saints. This is the great mis-

sion of every Catholic priest. It is as difficult as it is great and

beautiful. To fulfill it well let us kneel down and say: “Our

Father, Who art in Heaven—give us this day our daily bread.”
“Mother of God, pray for us.” If thus we begin the day taking

Mary unto our own, like Mary, we shall spend the day bringing

happiness to her own.



io6 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

The picture of the Nativity is familiar to every child, and most

familiar to us priests. We see there the Blessed Mother taking
that Child, according to St. Luke, and placing Him in the manger,

“Reclinavit in praesepio.” We can imagine with what love and
devotion, with what care and tenderness the immaculate hands

placed the Infant Divine in the poor, but neat and clean manger.

As priests, we have the same privilege and duty practically every

morning. We must take that pure, white, immaculate Host that
Child of God, that Child of the Blessed Mother, and place it in

the tabernacle. May we always do that with the devotion, Rever-

end Fathers, and love of the Blessed Lady. May that tabernacle,

though simple and poor, be always as neat and clean as human

hands can make it.

While remaining with Him near the manger, she sees com-

ing the poor shepherds and the wise men. She rejoices to see

them kneel down and adore her God and her Child. She unveils

the countenance of the Child to them and makes them happy. This,

Reverend Fathers, is our duty. We must show Christ to those
who kneel down in faith and adore Him. Let us always do it

as our Blessed Mother did. She was equally good to the shep-

herds—the poorest of the poor—and to the wise men, who were
learned and rich. With the same joy and readiness she showed

the Saviour to those who brought gifts, precious gifts, and to those

who were too poor to give more than their own good hearts. Let

us thus be equally good unto all, for the poor are brought by the

angel, even as the learned are brought by the star of the king.

This is difficult. “Mother of God, pray for us.”

In the fourth mystery, the priest sees, a picture of the sacri-

fice of Mass. Mary enters the temple and presents the Child unto

the Blessed Trinity, through the agency of the Prophet Simeon.

Notice here how Mary, although not bound by the laws because

of her privileges, observes the laws. When the child was forty
days old, according to the law, she presented Him in the temple.
According to the law, she brings an offering, two turtle doves,

the offering of the poor. As priests, when sacrificing, when bring-

ing that same offering in God’s temple, let us observe all the laws,

all the rubrics, all our beautiful, significant liturgy.

Learn a lesson also from the Prophet Simeon. St. Luke
describes his priestly character perfectly in a few words when he
tells us the Prophet Simeon was a just man, a devout man, filled

with the Holy Ghost—a man who expected the consolation of
Israel. He is a model for every priest. Thus we must be able
to say of every priest : he is just, he is devout, his whole heart

is full of expectation for Christ. He enters the church in the
spirit of God.



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 107

Simeon, having offered that offering Divine, made a beautiful

thanksgiving, singing the immortal “Nunc dimittis servum tuum

Domine,” and he blessed the Mother and the guardian St. Joseph.

Do we thus, with joyful, grateful hearts, thank God, and bless the

people at the end of the sacred mysteries.

The fifth mystery is both joyful and sorrowful—joyful because
Mary found the Child whom she had lost, sorrowful because she

had lost Him, not through her own fault, but because of the

multitudes in the city. How many a young priest loses Christ,
sometimes innocently, and sometimes through his own fault, in

the noise and activity and busy, distracting life of the city. He

begins his priestly career with a recollected mind and a devout

heart, but alas, soon these holy sentiments dwell no more in his

soul. As the Blessed Mother, he is unhappy. Go and seek Him.

You will find Him not in the homes of friends and kinsfolk. Like
Mary, and with Mary, you will find Him in the temple. Listen
to Christ saying to His Mother : “Didst thou not know that I

must be about My Father’s business?” They were priestly words
spoken in the temple. He loved His Mother as no child ever
loved a mother, but He separated Himself from His Mother and
caused her bitter tears to flow, to be faithful to His duty as God’s

Anointed. Every priest thus must be ready to be about his

Father’s business, and not allow the work of God to be interfered

with by human affections or family ties. All these lessons are

beautiful and practical. Can we observe them in our daily life?

We can if we imitate St. John, and take her unto our own—take
her with us home and say to her: “Mother of God, pray

for us now!”

Coming to the sorrowful mysteries, so practical for every

priest, we shall just consider one— Christ carrying His Cross.
Every priest has a cross to carry. “Whosoever doth not carry

his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Every priest
must be ready to drink the bitter chalice with his Divine Master.

The eternal priesthood, according to Pere Lacordaire, is an eternal

sacrifice, or the immolation of self added to the immolation of

a God. The Blessed Virgin Mary, in the sorrowful mysteries of the

Rosary, teaches us how to carry that cross, how to drink that bitter

chalice, how to immolate ourselves with Christ and for Christ.

In the fourth sorrowful mystery, we see Jesus carrying that

heavy Cross upon His wounded shoulders, patiently, even cheer-

fully. We follow Him, ascending the steep mountain. We see
Him fall again and again. We see the blood flowing, but we hear
no word of complaint, no sign of resistance. He speaks a few
times, but every time to console others. He consoles the good,
weeping women, He consoles Veronica, He consoles those who
are crucified with Him. Seeing Him thus, and following Him



io8 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

thus in spirit, we must sympathize with Him as the holy women
did, help Him as Simon of Cyrene did, taking part of the Cross
upon ourselves, as the Blessed Mother did, having her own heart
pierced to help Him in the great work of the atonement for sin.

We notice there three crosses—one upon the shoulders of
Christ and two upon the malefactors following Christ. I believe

every priest has a threefold cross to carry. The first may be called

the physical cross. He has to suffer pain, sickness. And, al-
though these afflictions are common to all mankind, the priest

feels them more keenly, because his life is more irregular, and be

is more deprived of needed attention. The second cross is the

moral cross. His heart to some extent must be pierced like the

heart of the Blessed Mother. He has his life of isolation. He has

his great spiritual family, and if his heart is a truly priestly heart,

he will suffer with all those who suffer, and the world becomes

for him truly a valley of tears. The heaviest cross, the cross of

Christ, is the spiritual cross. Burdened with his many private and

official duties, he at times will pray like Christ in the Garden of

Olives, and see the angel of consolation; at times will pray like

Christ on the Cross, and feel that seemingly even God has aban-

doned him. Indeed the priest is an “alter Christus,” and he must

suffer like an “alter Christus,” and say with St. Paul, “In my
sufferings for you fill up those things that are wanting in the

sufferings of Christ.”

Carrying this threefold cross daily, we priests need help. All

our learning, experience in worldly things, eloquence, or what-

ever gifts we may possess, will bring no consolation. We take
the rosary as a powerful staff and, holding that in our hands and

using it well, we shall follow Christ to the top of Calvary. Christ

on His way was consoled by His Blessed Mother. We take her
unto our own on our way of the Cross, to be consoled and helped

by her. We all know from the lives of the saints and, better still,
from our own personal experience, that in the hour of trial, if

we can kneel down and pray devoutly: “Our Father, Who art in
Heaven, give us this day our daily bread”

—
“Mother of God, pray

for us now,” we rise again and we feel better able to walk onward,

to carry that cross. Assisted by the Blessed Mother, we shall not

carry our crosses like the two robbers—unwilling, rebellious, and
without fruit—we shall carry our crosses assisted by her, as Simon
of Cyrene did, unwilling in the beginning perhaps, but, seeing

Christ and feeling the nearness of Christ, joyful and grateful. Bet-

ter still, if on the way of the Cross, we meet the Blessed Mother,

we shall learn to carry that cross Christlike, stretch forth our arms

to it, embrace it and cling to it, until that cross has given us to our

God and given our God unto us.

In the glorious mysteries we see the greatest festivals of the

year—the Resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost, the Assump-



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 109*

tion, the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. By reciting well!

the Rosary, the beautiful lessons of these glorious festivals wilt

live always in our memories, and bring daily their spiritual joys

to our hearts. Christ emphasized the glorious mysteries at the-

Last Supper: “In My Father’s house there are many mansions.
* * *

1 go to prepare a place for you : and if I shall go and

prepare a place for you I will come again, and will take you to

Myself, that where I am, you also may be.” The glorious mys-

teries of Christ are promised to be the glorious mysteries of the

disciples, and our own glorious mysteries. It is a sign of the

weakness of our faith that we forget our eternal destiny so easily

and frequently, and this weakness of our faith is the cause of our

moral weakness. The disciples, who had not only heard Christ

speak about the Resurrection, and the Kingdom of Heaven, but

had seen Christ arisen and ascending into Heaven, were filled and.

penetrated with these mysteries, and therefore they preached them

so frequently and remembered them constantly. It gave them,

courage and hope when in peril and in prison. “Behold I tell

you a mystery. We shall all indeed rise again. * * * In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the

trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again incorruptible,

and we shall be changed. For the corruptible must put on incor-

ruption, and this mortal must put on immortality, and when this,

mortal has put on immortality, then shall it come to pass the say-

ing that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death,
where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” Ever since
the just God spoke the word, “Thou shalt die the death,” man has-
sought for nothing so anxiously and eagerly as the remedy against,

death. Man has failed to find it. There comes Christ and says

:

“I am the remedy, I am the Life and the Resurrection.” He not
only speaks the wonderful words

;
to convince all, He rises again,,

and gives to suffering mankind a living, glorious picture of im-

mortality.

What a consolation to the heart of a priest is this mystery,,
and what a consoling mystery is this first mystery, to be preached

by the priest. Holy Communion, our daily bread, is the Bread of

life immortal. “Your fathers did eat manna in the desert and are

dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that if'

any man eat of it he may not die.” Let us, therefore, receive this
daily food, give this food of immortality to others; and that this

food of life everlasting may make our bodies and souls live for-
ever in glory, we recite every morning “Mother of God, pray for
us.” We take her unto our own.

In the Sacrifice of Mass, we not only commemorate the Pas-
sion of Christ, but also the glorious mysteries. We say: “Call-
ing to mind the blessed Passion of the same Christ thy Son our



no A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

Lord, together with the Resurrection from the grave, and also

His glorious Ascension.” The Resurrection of Christ, and the

Ascension of Christ thus called to mind at the altar must fill our

minds during the day. We take our Rosary,, and we meditate
on Christ in Heaven preparing a place for us. This must have

been the favorite meditation of the beloved disciple, St. John, for

he speake of Heaven so often and so beautifully. “And I, John,

saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem. * * * Behold the tab-

ernacle of God with men
;
and He will dwell with them, and they

shall be His people, and God Himself with them shall be their

God. * * * And the twelve gates are twelve pearls. * * *

And the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent

glass. * * * And the city hath no need of the sun nor of the
moon to shine in it, for the glory of God hath enlightened it, and

the Lamb is the lamp thereof.” In the light of the Lamb we shall
shine as Christ transfigured on the mountain. In that light of

the Lamb Himself, we shall see our God face to face. “In lumine

tuo videbimus lumen.” That seeing of the light in the light we
know is the very essence of heaven—the beatific vision. This is
communion, perfect communion, continuous communion, perpet-

ual communion, a union with Christ, not veiled as in the taber-

nacle, but a union with Christ seen face to face, possessing Him
and enjoying Him with the angels.

If only we could imitate the disciples, and lift our eyes up to

Heaven every day, and thus see the place prepared for us in the

house of the Father, as a St. Paul did, or as a St. Stephen did,

looking up steadfastly to Heaven, seeing the glory of God and

Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and he said: “Behold

I saw the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing on the
right hand of God,” we need not fear the sword that severed the

head from the body of Paul, nor the stones that were flung at

Stephen to free the soul from the prison body.

Seeing God face to face in the house of the Father, we shall

also see the Mother of God, no longer weeping with a bleeding

heart, but as St. John saw her in the vision, “a woman clothed

with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a

crown of twelve stars.” And then we shall sing with joyful hearts

the
k
'

7

Hail, full of grace,” seeing the fullness of God’s grace in her.

The triumphant ascension of Christ into Heaven was made

more glorious because of the many saints of the Old Testament

who followed Him into the kingdom of glory. “I saw a great

multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and tribes,

and peoples and tongues, standing before that throne, and in the

sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their

hands. * * * These are they who are come out of great tribu-

lation, and have washed their robes and have made them white



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS III

in the blood of the Lamb.” This crown of glory, this crown of

saints, which surrounds Christ, the King of glory, will also be the

crown of glory for every faithful priest, and will add much to his

personal happiness. At the Last Supper Christ promised His

newdy ordained priests this crown. He gave them His own name

to work in. “If you shall ask Me anything in My name, that I will

do.” Working in His name, He promised them great results.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, he that believeth in Me, the works

that I do he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do.”

This great fruit of their labors we see in the Apostles. They went

forth and converted thousands, God blessing their work. The

rich harvest of their labors remained eternal. “And your fruit

shall remain.” It remains with them and it surrounds them now,

as princes of the kingdom of Christ.

Thus every good priest who works in the name of Jesus

Christ, for the salvation of immortal souls, will bear very great

fruit, and when he enters Heaven, the immortal souls standing

there in the white robe of innocence, with the palm of victory,

will greet him, and praise him and thank him eternally. To have

thus helped many, and eternally, is a heaven in itself. Then the

words of Christ will be fulfilled : “These things I have spoken to

you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled.”

Thus to rise again, thus to ascend into Heaven, thus to lead with

us an army of immortal souls, let us, like John, take Mary unto

our own, and Mary will take us unto her own and show unto us,

after this exile, Jesus, the glorious fruit of her blessed womb.



PIONEER PRIESTS OF AMERICA

“I have chosen you
;
and have appointed you, that you should go,

and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain.”

/jr HRIST, at the Last Supper, having instituted the Holy Eu-

charist, and given Himself to His own, having instituted

the eternal priesthood and ordained His disciples, having

given them the sublime law of love, love of God and love of

neighbor, sent His priests into the world with His own power.

“As the Father hath sent Me, thus I send you, to bear fruit, much

fruit, everlasting fruit.” It is uplifting and inspiring to read the

Acts of the Apostles after the Last Supper; to read the history of

the early centuries, and see how these men of God worked in the
vineyard of the Lord and how their work was fruitful. It is still

more consoling and encouraging to see that Christ, Who said
“I remain with you all days, even unto the consummation of the

world,” has been in His priests and with His priests in our own

blessed land, up to the present century.

Among the many signal blessings which God showers upon
America, and which makes America dear and sacred not only to

all Americans but to all Christian nations, there is one which is

not sufficiently studied, not fully understood, and but little ap-

preciation. God gave young America not only great, daring dis-

coverers and explorers, great statesmen and warriors
;
God sent

to our shores learned, fearless, self-sacrificing, holy, apostolic mis-

sioners. To mention them all in one lecture is impossible. I’ll
select the names of a few who penetrated as far as the Middle
West and sowed the seed of the Gospel of peace upon this, our

fertile soil. I take much of my information from the great classic
work of Father Campbell, S. J., “Pioneer Priests of North

America.”

The pioneer of the pioneer priests of America was Father
Isaac Jogues. It is a cause of just pride for us here in the glori-

ous Northwest to know that this first Apostle of New York City
came to the shores of Michigan even before his blessed feet

touched Manhattan Island, and therefore our interest in him must

he as great as, if not greater than, that of the good New Yorkers
who erected a beautiful monument to his name and make their

pilgrimages to the place of his martyrdom.

What kind of a man was this first white man who stood upon

the shores of Lake Superior, having paddled his canoe for hun-

dreds of miles across the Great Lakes? He was the son of a
.good French family, was carefully and well trained in the novitiate



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 1 13

and schools of the sons of that soldier of Christ, St. Ignatius, and

gradually filled his heart with the apostolic spirit of a St. Francis

Xavier. His pure and noble heart loved America. When he

reached America he kissed the soil and wrote to his mother : “I

do not know what it is to enter heaven, but this I know—that it
is difficult to experience in this world a joy more excessive and

more overflowing than I felt on setting foot in the New World

and celebrating my first Mass on the day of Visitation.” Later,

this happy young priest, “small in stature and frail in his general

appearance, his features regular and delicate, wearing a soutane

very much worn and patched, the marks of many a hard journey

in the forests,” began to bleed for our country.

The unnaturally cruel, savage, bloodthirsty Iroquois Indians

tortured him. “Blows were showered upon me,” he tells us, “I

fell on the ground and I thought my end had come, but they

lifted me up all streaming with blood, and carried me more dead

than alive to the platform.” A woman was forced to saw his
thumb off with a jagged shell, after many of the other fingers of

his blessed hands had been gnawed and burned off. But notice

the indomitable self-control and courage of this martyr. When
the consecrated thumb fell to the ground, he picked it up and

offered it to God, saying: “I present it to Thee, O my God! in
remembrance of the sacrifices which for the last seven years I have

offered at the altars of Thy Church, and as an atonement for the

want of love and reverence of which I have been guilty in touch-

ing Thy Sacred Body.” When the Pope heard of this cruelty of
the Indians, surpassed by the Christian bravery of Father Jogues,

he immediately gave him permission to celebrate Mass with the

mangled hands, writing : “It would be wrong to prevent the mar-
tyr of Christ from drinking the blood of Christ.” When the
Queen Regent, Anne of Austria, saw those hands mutilated for
such a holy cause, she descended from her throne, knelt down,

devoutly kissed those hands and washed them with her sympathetic
tears, exclaiming, “People write romances for us, but was there
ever a romance like this? And it is all true.” That indeed was
a most queenly act; that indeed was a beautiful saying. Even
to-day we spend our time in reading fiction; why not read the
lives of our own missioners whose charity and fortitude surpass
all the human mind can invent?

It was this Father Jogues, crowned by the Indians with the
crown of martyrdom, crowned by God with the crown of glory,
who first came to Sault Ste Marie

;
who first preached the Gospel

of Christ to the Indians of Michigan; who first blessed the rich
dark forests and beautiful waters with his presence and prayers

;

who sanctified the shores of our lakes by sacrificing unto God



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS1 14

and bringing the God of all blessings among us. God was good

to us to send such an apostle to us, and we love the land all the

more because of him. May the Church place his name upon her
altars and give us a feast to honor Father Jogues

!

One of the most beautiful and fruitful States of the North-

west—of the whole Union—is Wisconsin. The soil of that State
is sanctified in the eyes of God and Christian by the unknown

grave of its apostle and confessor, Pere Rene Menard, known

as the most spiritual of all the missionaries, who more than two

hundred and fifty years ago went to work there, to die there, to

rest there until the day of the glorious resurrection. Father

Menard brought a double blessing to the new land. He came
to sacrifice himself, and under his protection came a few good

missionary Sisters—women whose zeal and courage seem to have
been equal to that of the pioneer priests. These nuns, who came

as early as 1640 to our land, were among the first, but not the

first, who gave up all to become all unto our Indians. Already

the preceding year the Venerable Marie de lTncarnation with her

fellow Sisters, accompanied and generously assisted by that noble

young French widow, Mme. de La Peltrie, landed at Sillery. The

arrival of the very best of the good religious women of France

was an important event in the history of our nation. It is gratify-

ing to read that its significance was fully understood and appre-

ciated even then. “The day when they arrived was a holiday for

the whole city; all labor ceased and the shops were closed. The

governor received these heroines at the riverside at the head of

the troops, who were under arms, and with the sound of cannon.

After the first compliments, he led them, amid the acclamations

of the people, to the church, where the ‘Te DeunT was chanted

in thanksgiving. These pious women on their side, in the first
transport of joy, kissed the earth for which they had so long

sighed, which they promised themselves to water with their sweat,

and did not even despair of dyeing with their blood. The French

mingled with Indians, pagans with Christians, and continued for

several days to make the city resound with their cries of joy.”

This is the graphic description of the glorious beginning of the

salutary work of the good Sisters and pious women in America.
Reviewing the two hundred and seventy years that have passed

since that day of universal joy, we see that they kept their prom-

ises, and surpassed even the expectations of the hopeful mission-

ed and the people. With their sweat and their blood they have
sanctified our country. Their work and their prayers, their purity

and their sanctity, make it more sacred and holy to true Americans.

Pere Menard, “the most spiritual of the missionaries,” did not

remain near the Sisters to give them spiritual consolation and

direction. They had come to sacrifice themselves, not for one an-

other, but for the Indians. Father Menard traveled much and



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 115

suffered much. He saw his fellow missionaries martyred,
and was

often on the point of being martyred, but the
hand of God ^pro-

tected him. “Without trembling,” we read in the
“Relation,” “he

saw the Iroquois fall upon him to cut his
throat when he was

laboring for their conversion. Others at the
same place raised

their hatchets against him to split his head,
but he

^

was not

frightened.” “Even the children,” says the historian,
attacked

him and till his dying day his scarred face showed
how cruelly and

how freely they had used their knives.” His
spiritual kindness

and gentleness conquered even the hardened
hearts of the crue

Indians. He loved them, and they learned to love him.
father

Menard, we are told, became a “favorite among
them, and his

going was like tearing out his heart.”

When this venerable, saintly, spiritual missionary had
worked

and suffered thus among the Indians over twenty
years, when he

was already fifty-five years of age, his
health shattered by labors

fatigue and excessive penance,” he did not
go to the convent of

the religious, he did not return to
France, there to rest and die.

The secret voice of God called the apostle westward
to Wisconsin.

Starting out with his Indian companions, he
said, “I am going to

Lake Superior, or perhaps beyond ; wherever
the glory of God

may call.” Going thus to the unknown and
uncertain mission,

he was certain that he was going to die,
and to die soon. In is

farewell letter to his friends, we read: “I write to
you probably

for the last time, and I want this last word to be
the seal of our

friendship until we meet in’ eternity. In three or four
months you

can put me in your memento for the dead.” He made
no pro-

visions for the needs of the body. “He who feeds
the birds and

robes the lilies of the field will have care
of His servants, and

if it happens that we die in misery, it will be
for us a source of

happiness.”. His was a heart perfectly detached,
well prepared for

a better world. He was anxious about his breviary
and, although

he worked hard paddling his canoe from
morning till night he

found time to say his Divine Office every day.
The voice of God

and the glory of God led him to some fugitive dying
Christian

Indians near Green Bay. Hearing of them, he
said to his few

companions on the journey : “Farewell ; and it is the
final farewell

that I bid you in this world, since you will not
see me again.

He was seen no more, he was heard of no more. No one
knows

how where or when he died. His relics are no doubt in
Wisconsin,

but only the angels know just where those precious
treasures lie

hidden. Such men of God bring the spirit of God wherever
they

go. Wisconsin is fortunate in having the remains
of this uncanon-

ized saint.

One of the beauties of the Catholic Church, and
especially of

the religious Orders in the Church, is that a
work is not limited by

the energies and life of an individual. The
apostolic mission in



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTSIl6

Wisconsin, which the dying Pere Menard began, was taken up and

carried on successfully by Pere Claude Allouez, the St. Francis

Xavier of America. Allouez spent over thirty years on his Indian

missions, traveled many thousands of miles in his little canoe,
founded many missions in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois, in-
structed over 100,000 Indians, and baptized more than 10,000 of

them
;
yet his name is relatively little known, even in the territory

in which he lived, suffered, and died. The reason of this may be
that his life, although most active and fruitful, was not illustrated

by any very thrilling scenes. The name of his youthful companion,

Pere Marquette, who worked less, converted less, traveled less,
suffered and ventured less, is universally known. Mankind re-

members and applauds the extraordinary, and often shows but

little appreciation of long, useful, faithful service and fidelity.

The very fact that this brave, untiring apostle could live so

long among the Western Indians without being mutilated or mar-

tyred forces upon us the pleasant conclusion that they were a little

more gentle and humane than those in the East. This natural

goodness of heart no doubt helped much to prepare them for the

word and grace of God. Knowing how careful, perhaps over-

careful, these early French missionaries were in preparing the

pagans for baptism, the number of 10,000 converts is indeed mar-

velously great. “By their fruits you shall know them,” said Christ.

According to that principle, Claude Allouez must have been one

of the greatest and most saintly men that ever came to this New
World. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin did well in

erecting a monument to him a few years ago, near De Pere, the

centre of his activity. The names of men who come so far, work

so long, suffer so much, pray so devoutly, sacrifice all to lay the

foundation of civilization and Christianity, often grow with the

ages. Thus, we are confident, it will be with these pioneer priests

of America, especially Father Allouez, S. J.

The St. Paul among the Apostles of America was Father John

De Brebeuf. This missionary of the Hurons came in quest of

souls to the banks of Lake St. Clair, where the beautiful city of

Detroit now stands, and most probably came farther westward

than that. The Northwest has, therefore, a little claim on him, for

it was benefited by his labors. It is impossible to give a picture

of this physically strong and robust, of this morally strong-willed

and fearless, of this religiously austere, patient, ardent lover of

souls. The eloquent words in which St. Paul pictures his mis-

sionary life
—

“In jounrneying often, in perils of waters, in perils

of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gen-
tiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in

the sea, in perils from false brethren : In labor and painfulness,

in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold

and nakedness. Besides those things which are without : my daily



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS II7

instance, the solicitude for all the churches”—may well be applied
to Father Brebeuf. His life among the Indians seems to have

been a constant martyrdom and his work a chain of disappoint-

ments. But all failures and base ingratitude could not discourage

him. All the hardships and mishaps of his long trips in ice and

snow were consolation for him. When he knew that the Indians
were planning his death he went to sleep and rested peacefully.

The many and manifold crosses God sent him did not satisfy

the deep desire of his soul to atone for his sins and the sins of

the Indians. His historian tells us : “He never omitted a single

one of the ordinary devotions, beginning them early in the morn-

ing, before the others were out of their blankets, and continuing

them late into the night when every one else was buried in sleep.

One almost shudders to hear that he was not satisfied with all

these privations, hardships and sufferings, but that he scourged

himself to blood with disciplines sometimes twice a day, and

that he continually wore on his body haircloth and sharp-pointed

iron cinctures.”

Life itself is the last and best a loving heart can give to the

good God for the salvation of souls. Brebeuf longed and prayed

for martyrdom. He made a vow not to take a step to escape it.

“I bind myself in such fashion that it will not be lawful for me,

where I am free, to avoid the occasion of dying and shedding my
blood for Thee. * * * And when I am about to receive the
stroke of death, I bind myself to accept it from Thy hand with
pleasure and joy of heart. * * * Hence, my Saviour and my
God, I take from Thy hand the chalice of Thy suffering, and I
will invoke Thy name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” Such sentiments are

indeed the sentiments of the great saints.

God heard the prayer of Father Brebeuf, and Father Brebeuf

kept his vow. His life of love was crowned with the crown of

martyrs. While baptizing his neophytes and absolving the dying

Christians on the battlefield, he was taken prisoner by the Iroquois.

“They tied him to a stake * * * tore off his finger-nails * * *

the fire was lighted and the flames climbed around his limbs, while

his executioners plunged hot prongs into his flesh * * * They

slashed off his nose and lips, shattered his teeth with their clubs,

and filled his mouth with fire * * * his scalp was torn off and

a poultice of hot ashes applied to the ghastly wound * * *

Finally they clove his head with a tomahawk and thus ended his

three hours of agony. Not once during this atrocious torture did

this wonderful man wince or groan.” Rome had her martyrs,
America has her martyrs. Among the thousands of martyrs of
Rome we find few, if any, who were tortured more cruelly and
who suffered more patiently. The blood of such martyrs has al-
ways been the seed of Christianity. Blessed is the land that is

dyed with it.



1 18 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

We turn from this bloody spectacle to the more peaceful and
cheerful scenes of Wisconsin. The most universally honored of
all the missioners of the United States is Pere Marquette. His

statue adorns the Capitol in Washington. The world honors him
as the discoverer of the Mississippi. We know him first and above
all as a zealous missioner and a saintly priest. If Father Brebeuf

is the St. Paul among the Apostles of America, Pere Marquette
is the St. John, the beloved disciple.

Practically all the missioners had heard about the great, beau-

tiful river in the West, and many of them, even Father Jogues,
were anxious to go to discover it, to make use of the stream to
spread the word of God. The lot fell upon the youthful, cheerful

Pere Marquette, who was then preaching the Gospel on the most
beautiful green island of Macwinaw, and across the Straits at St.

Ignace.

When the command to accompany Joliet reached Marquette,
he showed his deep and tender devotion to the Blessed Lady. “I

placed our voyage,” he writes, “under the protection of the Blessed

Virgin Immaculate, promising her that if she granted us the favor

of discovering the great river, I would give it the name of the

Conception.” Secondly, he was “fully resolved to do and suffer

anything for so glorious an undertaking.”

With a heart filled with religious confidence and courage, with

the breviary in his hands, praising God, most wonderful in His

works, the young Jesuit in a black soutane, the Rosary by his

side, ascended the pictureque Fox River, and went downward with

the swift current of the Wisconsin, blessing all with his presence

and prayers. On the seventeenth of June, 1673, he saw the Mis-
sissippi. Seeing in all creatures the hand of the Creator, he cer-

tainly fell upon his knees to thank and praise the Almighty, when

he beheld the wide stream of clean water flowing calmly south-

ward between the steep, green bluffs. And mindful of his promise

and his constant devotion on the journey, he consecrated this

great ornament of the fertile Middle West to the Mother of God,

calling it Mary of the Immaculate Conception. We thank God
that He made a Pere Marquette the discoverer of the Mississippi.
His name adds much to its beauty.

We know of no reception given by the children of nature, the
sons of the forests, more cordial and poetic than the Indians gave

to Pere Marquette as he descended the great river. “The people

crowded around us,” he says, “devouring us with their eyes, but

all in silence. We could hear, however, these words, which were
addressed to us from time to time in a low voice : 'How good

it is, my brothers, that you should visit us.’” When Marquette
had spoken to them about Christ, the chief arose and said : “Never

has the earth been so beautiful, or the sun so bright as to-day.

Never has our river been so calm, or so clear of rocks, which your



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 1
1.9

canoes have removed by passing; never has our tobacco tasted

so good, or our corn appeared so fine.” From this poetic, pagan,

Indian chief we learn a beautiful lesson. The sight of this ‘"black-

robed, pale-faced prophet and priest of prayer,” and the words of

his preaching made all this seem new, bright and cheerful to him.

How much more reason have we to sing such a song of
spiritual joy.

Father Campbell, the eloquent historian of “Pioneer Priests

of North America” makes the following telling statement : “On

the banks of the Kennebec, about thirty miles above Augusta,

there is a secluded and beautiful spot, which is without doubt the

most sacred place in New England.” That secluded spot he calls

the most sacred in all New England because there rest the remains

of Father Sebastian Rale, S. J. This man, whose grave sanctifies

New England, sanctified Illinois when in the prime of manhood,

and we are much pleased to learn that the Indians of Illinois re-

ceived and treated him well. “On the day after his arrival, one

hundred and fifty miles down the Illinois River,” we read, “a great

chief paid him a formal visit to invite him to a banquet which had

been prepared to do him honor. It was a splendid affair, and, as

several dogs had been sacrificed for the occasion, it was regarded

as a feast of the upper set.” Father Rale found that “of all the

Indian tribes, none lived in greater plenty than the Illinois. Their

rivers were swarming with wild ducks, swan, and the like. Great

droves of turkeys roamed over the plains, some of the birds being

thirty to thirty-six pounds weight. Bison covered the prairies,

as far as the eye could see.” Father Gabriel Maret, another mis-

sionary, gives a similar flatttering account of what he found on

the wild fertile plains of the great Northwest: “The country itself,

with its great rivers, dense forests, extensive prairies and wood-

covered hills, is delightful. There is abundance of oxen, hinds,

stags and other wild beasts. We find Fere multitudes of swans,
cranes, bustards and ducks. The wild oats, which grow freely

on the plains, fatten the fowl to such degree that they very often

die, their fat suffocating them. Turkeys are likewise found here in

abundance, and they are as good as in France.” Indeed “the con-

ditions along the Mississippi were quite different from those in

the North and East.”

When Father Marquette discovered our Mississippi he turned
southward with the crucifix, the sign of redemption, in his hand.

A few years later came the famous Flemish Franciscan Friar,
Father Hennepin, to bring the “tidings of great joy” to savages

on the picturesque shores of the northern Mississippi.

Hennepin, being a devout religious man, prepared himself for

the greatest event in his eventful life by making a long spiritual

retreat in a monastery in Quebec. He felt the need of God’s light
and God’s love, and understood that to obtain these heavenly gifts



120 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

we must ask for them. Having then prepared his soul he, like

Father Marquette, was ready to do all and to suffer all. Many
of his companions fell by the wayside, disabled and discouraged,

but the brave Friar renewed his fervor in his daily prayer and in

the sacrifice of Mass, and continued his journey up the Missis-

sippi. He had not the good fortune to receive the friendly re-
ception accorded to Marquette. He was taken prisoner and drag-
ged away by the Indians. But God turned all unto good. “The

word of God is not bound.” Even as a captive, he continued to

instruct the barbarians by word and example. The Indians led

him onward according to the wish of his heart to the great falls

of the great river, to which he gave the name of St. Anthony.

Hennepin may well be called the Apostle of Minnesota, and the
patron of the twin cities that sprang up on either side of the Falls

of St. Anthony.

Father Hennepin did not reach the northern part of Minne-

sota, that State of rich mines, great forests, fruitful prairies and

beautiful lakes. God,, as it were, completed his work by sending

the young and somewhat timid John Aulneau from Canada down

as far as the southern shore of the Lake of the Woods, which lies

between Canada and Minnesota.

Religious obedience is a wonderful power. It checked many

of the religious who were overzealous, and kept them from going

too far. It forced the young, inexperienced, trembling Pere

Aulneau to go all alone thousands of miles into the unknown wild-

erness to Fort Charles in Minnesota. He was human and he felt

the greatness of the sacrifice. He wrote to his friend : “I assure

you it is the hardest trial of my life, and I cannot face the situa-

tion without fearing for my salvation. The superior has appointed
me for this mission without any warning, and without any regard

for my intense aversion to it. I assure you it has cost me the
greatest struggle to make up my mind to obey. May God deign

to accept the sacrifice of my life and of every human consolation

which I have made in this act of submission.”

This struggle and victory, this act of submission and prayer,

helped him to conquer the natural aversion of his heart. God’s

will was his will. “May God be blessed !” he writes a little later.

“Henceforth He will be my entire comfort and consolation. I

Lave no other help than what Jesus dying on the Cross will give

me. * * * The more I reflect on the sufferings before me,

dhe more joy I feel that God has called me. * * * Let us love

God always, and Him alone. * * * Happy are those whom He

Fas judged worthy of dying for Him.”

God did judge this heroic, pious priest worthy to die for Him.

Having worked hard and well for the whites and the Indians at

and near Fort St. Charles, the noble priest died the death of a

martyr at the early age of thirty-one.



A' RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 121

Behold a few of the names that shine like stars in the firma-

ment of America, and spread a mild, heavenly light over the whole

continent, especially this section, the Middle Northwest. Well

may we rejoice and exclaim with the Apostles : beautiful are the

feet of those men who more than two centuries ago came to the

wilds of America to preach the peace of God, and the good things

concerning the heavenly home. When they arrived they knelt

down to kiss the land in which they were called to sow the good

seed. Well may we kneel down and kiss the land in which the

good seed brought forth fruit a hundredfold.

The foundation-stone of the Church in America has been laid

by learned men, saintly men, eloquent men, true confessors, true

apostles, true martyrs, uncanonized saints. We thank God for
having sent such men to this new land. We thank the European
countries for having produced, trained and sacrified such men for

us. We thank these missioners, these pioneer priests, whose re-
mains sanctify our soil, and whose souls adorn the heavens, for

all their labors and for all their sufferings. We promise them
and God to build up on the solid foundation which they have laid,

by emulating their heroic example and by continuing the work.

We ask them to protect us, to be the patrons of the land which
they loved and for which they died.

During the eighteenth century the activity in the missionary

field of America was small and not eventful. The divine

seed planted by the apostles in the seventeenth century and

moistened by their holy blood was developing slowly and almost

imperceptibly. In the nineteenth century we see the tree growing

quickly, spreading its branches, covered with flowers and laden

with fruit, over the whole country. It is the interesting period

of transition, marking the end of the missions among the Indians

and the beginning of the work among the brave pioneer settlers

;

men and women who crossed the stormy ocean in slow and dan-

gerous sailing vessels, then crossed the mountains and prairies

in heavy wagons drawn by oxen
;
men and women who pene-

trated the interior of the new land, facing untold dangers and

hardships, and by patient, persevering toiling transforming the

wild fertile plains of the Middle West into beautiful, fruitful gar-

dens. Our early settlers were men of sterling, sturdy character,
the lustre of their names will grow as time advances. Model

Catholic priests preceded and accompanied the pioneers of the

laity, and laid the solid foundation of the Church while the faith-

ful broke the soil and cleared the forests. From the long list of
those noble priests who labored in this section of the vineyard of
the Lord we shall mention, as typical and specially worthy of
mention and imitation, Bishop Fenwick, Bishop Baraga and

Father Samuel Mazzuchelli.



122 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

Bishop Edward Dominic Fenwick, the saintly apostle of Ohio,

and the first Bishop of Cincinnati, was one of the first and few

pioneer missionaries of American birth. He was a son of the

good, Catholic, English Fenwick family in Maryland. Hearing

the mysterious, but almost unmistakable, call of the great High

Priest, he went to Bornheim, Belgium, to prepare himself in the

school of the learned and saintly sons of the apostolic St. Dom-

inic, for the apostolic work in his native land. He became a

Dominican. From the days of Christopher Columbus the Do-

minicans had been active in the new country. In South America

and Mexico, in Cuba and in the Philippines, men like St. Louis

Bertrand, Las Casas and Louis Cancer had lived and died to

Christianize the pagans, and to lead the Christians like the beau-

tiful St. Rose to the highest degrees of sanctity.

As a Dominican, the pure, brave, youthful heart of Father

Fenwick was all aflame with the desire to be a St. Dominic in

America; to carry the name of Jesus across the waters and across

the mountains to the pagans still sitting in darkness. Patiently

he waited and fervently he prayed to obtain the necessary permis-

sion
;
to be sent by those having authority, with authority. When

the superiors finally gave their permission he rejoiced exceed-

ingly, went to the great State of Kentucky to begin his life of

untold hardships and manifold activities. Kentucky was a great

State in area of territory, but barren of any religious cultivation.

Imitating the example of his brethren in Mexico and South

America, he gave his attention first of all to the founding of a

convent and a school, to develop and prepare priestly laborers

for the fertile vineyard of the Lord in the Middle West. In 1806

he took possession of a farmhouse, converted it into a convent,

placed it under the protection of St. Rose of Lima, established

community life according to the rule of his Order, and began with

his five companions, to teach and to preach, to fill the place and

the neighborhood with knowledge, human and divine.

Having laid the foundation of the first convent of Friars

Preachers in the United States and the first nursery of the Cath-

olic priesthood west of the Alleghany Mountains, the charity of

his heart forced him to go forth and seek Christ’s lost sheep.

Passionately an apostolic man, he desired to be free and unhamp-

ered to give more of his time to the work of the missions, for

which nature had so singularly fitted him. His great, tender

heart had gone out to the people of Kentucky in their piteous

spiritual condition. He became a general missionary and was
seldom found at home. It has been said of him that he almost

lived in the saddle. He traversed and retraversed Kentucky in
every direction in search of neglected or wayward Catholics, fre-

quently riding forty or more miles out of his way to find some



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 23

lonely family or person of whom he had received word. Notice

the greatness of such men of God. Their greatness did not con-

sist in erecting great churches, directing big parishes or preaching

eloquent sermons. They cared nothing for ecclesiastical titles

or honors. They gave themselves entirely and absolutely to the

great work of the Saviour. They were lost in it. Enlightened

by God, they clearly saw their opportunities and foresaw the needs

of the Church. They were men of great zeal who brought great

sacrifices for individual souls scattered over immense territories.

Fidelity in little things led Father Fenwick, the apostle of

Kentucky, to Ohio and made him the apostle and first bishop of

that State. He was faithful in little things, and therefore the Lord

placed him over things that were great. Passing through Ohio

in 1810, he heard at a distance the sound of an axe. At once he

concluded there were white men here and they may stand in need

of the ministrations of a priest. He followed the sound and found

three good Catholic men, representing three good Catholic fam-

ilies, starting a colony in the forests of Ohio. The unexpected

meeting of Christians and Christ’s anointed in the lonely woods

brought great joy to every heart and home. The men were gen-

erous, and Father Fenwick was good to them. They offered him

a farm, which he accepted and on which he erected in a short time,

a new convent and a new school and consecrated both to St.

Joseph. There he taught, there he preached and there he went

about doing good, like an “alter Christus.”

In 1822 Father Fenwick, the pioneer Dominican missionary,

was made a pioneer American Bishop of Cincinnati—a new dio-
cese comprising practically the whole of the Middle West. In the

growth of his dignity, power and authority, he saw only the growth

of duty and responsibility. The sacred insignia of a bishop—the
mitre, crozier and ring—had for him a sacred, practical meaning.
He felt himself more intimately and solemnly consecrated to his
apostolic work

;
to use the crozier as a shepherd’s staff, to feed

and protect the lambs and sheep of Jesus like another St. Peter.

The life and labors, the last journey and death of Bishop

Fenwick we find well described in the letter of Father Baraga, the

Indian missionary of Michigan. “It is impossible,” he reports to

the Leopoldine Society, “to describe the heartfelt joy which our

good Indians showed when they saw their ‘great Father’ approach-

ing the village—Arboc Crocke. They assembled at the shore of
the lake and formed a double file. On one side were the men, on
the other the women and children. The pious bishop was deeply
moved by the unrestrained manifestations of joy by these, his
best children. He gave them his apostolic blessing and then
kindly shook hands with every one of them, a ceremony which



124 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

the Indians regard as a sign of friendship and a token of favor.

In procession they led him to the church where the bishop adored

the Blessed Sacrament, and then addressed the Indians in such a

way that the hearts of all were profoundly touched.”

The heartfelt joy which the great Father Bishop Fenwick

brought to his Indians, his best children, did not last long. A
little later the saintly missionary reported the death of his friend,

the saintly bishop, in the following words : “With the greatest

sorrow I inform you, reverend members of the Board of Direction

of the Leopoldine Society, that our most highly respected and

dearly beloved bishop, Edward Fenwick, died of cholera on the

twenty-sixth of September. As a zealous missionary he always

lived in poverty, and, like a St. Francis Xavier, died poor and

abandoned on a missionary tour. He was returning home from a
missionary and visitation tour which he made every year for the

great spiritual benefit of the children of his diocese, when sud-

denly he was seized with terrible cramps. He was compelled to
leave the coach and enter the house of a Catholic family. They

immediately sent for the nearest priest, who lived at a distance

of thirty miles. When he arrived our beloved bishop was dead
and buried. Thus this apostolic man, who generally travelled

alone in order not to deprive a parish of its pastor, departed this

life without the ministrations . of a priest. The angels and the

Queen of Angels, to whom the bishop had during his whole life
cherished a most fervent and tender devotion, assisted him no

doubt in the hour of his death. While his body was buried with-

out a priest, the angels evidently led his soul to the throne of

God, to Whom he had given his whole life. No grand monument
tells posterity where the remains of the Apostle of Ohio rest.

The hearts of the thousands whom he brought to the knowledge
of God through his marvellous zeal and pious prayer form his

monument. The tears and supplications of these thousands fol-

low him, resting in the grave. May he rest in peace, and may eter-
nal light shine upon him.” Bishop Fenwick died and was buried at

Wooster, Ohio, but subsequently, after the cholera scare had gone,

his remains, through the agency of a devoted convert, were brought

to Cincinnati and laid to rest under the altar of St. Peter’s Cathe-

dral, where they now repose. May the life and death of Bishop
Fenwick, the pioneer American priest and pioneer American

bishop, be a guiding star for all priests and bishops in America.

The great men in the Church provide for the future. They

become the spiritual fathers of noble sons and daughters. Their

example inspires youthful hearts and minds. Bishop Fenwick

founded two Dominican schools to supply the country with mis-

sionaries, and brought two noble priests from Europe to take up

and continue his work—Bishop Baraga and Father Samuel
Mazzuchelli.



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS J25

Bishop Baraga’s name is immortal in the regions in which he

lived and worked. In the State of Michigan there is a town called

Baraga, a county called Baraga, and in the beautiful city of Mar-

quette there is a Baraga Avenue. Under the main altar of the

Marquette cathedral a marble stone bears the following inscrip-

tion : “Here lies the body of the Rt. Rev. Frederick Baraga, D. D.,

the Apostle of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, First Bishop of

Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette Diocese. Born June 29, 1797, Car-

niola, Austria; ordained priest in Laibach, September 21, 1823;

consecrated bishop, Cincinnati, November 1, 1853; died Jan-
uary 19, 1869.”

As a student of law at the University of Vienna, Baraga man-

ifested, in his letters written to his sister, an exceptionally pure and

tender heart. Such a chaste, childlike heart is too good for the

world. We are not surprised to see him exchange the books of
civil law for books of law divine; to see him sacrifice the prom-

ising career of a statesman to become an humble priest, a man

of God. As a young priest Father Baraga excelled in piety. He
wrote spiritual books full of unction and brought a new life to a

parish that had fallen asleep. Things at home went well, but

Christ inflamed the heart of the young priest with a love that longs

for greater sacrifices, for greater fields of activity and for sheep

more hopelessly lost and neglected. Invited by Bishop Fenwick

and nobly assisted by the Leopoldine Society, Father Baraga left

his weeping sister and his weeping spiritual children, to cross the

Atlantic to convert the Indians. He loved the Indians before he

knew the Indians, and could not rest until he was among them

to preach to them the name of Jesus, and to break unto therm the

“Panem de coelis, omne delectamentum in se habentem.” What

a lesson for the secular priesthood is this model secular priest!

Coming so far, and sacrificing so much to work among the chil-

dren of the American forests.

It is easy to say Father Baraga spent thirty-six years among

the Indians in the cold, snow and ice-bound regions of Northern

Michigan. What an isolation ! Hundreds of miles from a coun-

tryman. and hundreds of miles from a fellow priest. What pri-
vations for a man of noble birth and university education in such

a wigwam or shanty ! What food had he ? What kind of bed to
rest on? What dangers and hardships on his long journeys in
deep snow in the cold winter?

On one page of his interesting diary we find a little picture
which illustrates well his apostolic life. We find him all alone in
the midst of the forest, starting a little fire to keep the wild ani-

mals at a distance, to sit on a log and say his Breviary by the light

of the dim flame, to sleep in the snow. Jesus was Baraga’s com-

panion, and Jesus was Baraga’s food. In Him, with Him and
through Him Baraga was happy and strong.



126 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

A very important phase of the life of this apostolic man was
his manifold activity. While most faithful in the many pastoral

duties of thousands of Indians scattered over vast regions, and

most conscientious and exact in all his private and religious devo-

tions, Father Baraga found time to read, to study and to write.

What a long and difficult task it must have been to write an In-

dian grammar, an Indian dictionary, to transcribe the Holy Gos-

pels into the Indian tongue, without the aid of books or com-

panions, from personal experiences and observation

!

Love is strong- as death. Father Baraga loved his Indians

with a supernatural love, and to make them happy and to help

future missionaries to spread the happiness of heaven he under-

took and completed such brave works. Would to God that thus

to-day our priests would use the powerful pen to spread and

defend the Gospel of Peace in these troublous times

!

Of the great and lasting fruit of such long suffering and toil-

ing, preaching and praying we say little. The promise made by

Jesus at the Last Supper, “The work that I do, he shall do, and

greater than these shall he do,” we see fulfilled in our own land

and in our own times. History tells us that Baraga baptized

twenty-five thousand Indians. He transformed morally and spir-
itually the Ottawa and Chippewa tribes. He founded not a parish,
but a whole diocese. Well did the Holy Father honor Father

Baraga and make him the first Bishop of the Diocese of Mar-

quette. All who knew Bishop Baraga say he is worthy of admira-

tion and imitation
;
many add that he is worthy of beatification

and canonization.

Another great spiritual son of the great Bishop Fenwick was

Father Samuel Mazzuchelli. Almost every European nation has

contributed the very best it had to help the Church in America.

Italy may have sent us many children, poor in the goods of this

world, and weak in faith, but Italy has sent us Father Samuel

whose strong faith was a bright light in the Northwest and who

sacrificed his all to spread that light.

Mazzuchelli was the only son of a rich banker in Milan. The

wealth of his father, the affection of his sister, the beauty of his

city and country could not keep the zealous deacon from crossing

the ocean at the age of twenty-two to be ordained priest by Bishop

Fenwick in Cincinnati, and then to go forth to the banks of the

Mississippi to do good. It may be difficult to find, in the annals

of the Church, another priest wrho was sent so young, so soon

after ordination, to such a distant, unlimited mission as Father

Mazzuchelli was. Young priests often fear to leave their spiritual

friends and directors to begin their active life in a small and well

established parish. Who can imagine what Father Samuel felt,
when, shortly after ordination, he was sent all alone and almost



A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS 127

a thousand miles, not to a certain parish, or to a certain city, but

to the wild west, “to preach the Gospel to every creature/’ He
went like a true son of St. Dominic, and the strength of his cour-

ageous soul, and the joy of his pure heart grew with the hardships

and privations of his journey.

For many years the youthful apostle was a homeless travel-

ling missionary. We find him going about from Sault Ste. Marie,
in the extreme north, to St. Louis, seeking the scattered sheep

and bringing them back to the fold of Christ. He worked among

the Indians of various tribes, and among the whites of various

nationalities. He worked among Catholics and non-Catholics

;

he preached in the cathedral and under oak trees
;
he was active

building churches and city halls. Father Mazzuchelli was a highly

gifted, a universally talented priest, and he used his God-given

talents unceasingly; first for the Church of God, and secondly for

the good of America, his adopted country. He worked in many
States, but may well be called the apostle of Iowa. He built the
first churches in Dubuque and Davenport and in many of the

cities and towns that lie between these two episcopal sees. Fie

walked hundreds of miles across the fertile fields of that most

fertile State, to sow the heavenly seed, which, with God’s grace,

has borne fruit in such a bountiful way.

Such isolation and restless activity, we know from history,

have their great dangers. A young many may lose himself in
his work. He may take care of others and neglect himself. His
mind may become empty and his heart may grow cold for want

of spiritual food. He may preach to others and become himself
a castaway. Young Father Mazzuchelli grew in perfection with-

out the powerful assistance of convent and community life. It is

edifying to read how, at certain intervals, he travelled by canoe

to St. Louis, or on horseback to Ohio, to go to confession. His

lonely trips and lonely missions were for him spiritual retreats.

He was far from the worldly crowd, far removed from worldly
distractions, and he found his God in solitude and conversed with

Him familiarly. His spiritual vision was always clear, and his
ideals were always high and heavenly.

To secure help and to provide for the future, he, although

all alone, trusting in God and in the Blessed Virgin, planned the

foundation of a western Dominican Province, and a congregation

of Dominican Sisters to assist the Fathers in the important work

of the Christian schools. The authorities in Rome showed great
confidence in him by confirming his plans and giving him the

power of a Provincial of the Order. His relatives in Milan as-

sisted him generously with material donations. Father Maz-

zuqhelli bought the beautiful Sinsinawa Mound near Dubuque and
helped with his own- hands to lay the foundation of the convent



28 A RETREAT FOR PRIESTS

and college. His ideas were noble and practical, but beyond the

strength of a single mortal. He was far ahead of his times. He

had to discontinue the foundation of a school for missionary

priests, but succeeded beyond all expectation in organizing a con-

gregation of teaching Dominican Sisters.

Some of the first members of that great community still tell

with tears of love and affection how Father Mazzuchelli lived and

died. He came home from a distant sick-call and was sick unto
death. Hard work, great privations and voluntary penance had

weakened his weak constitution. In Lent he never broke fast

before the noon hour. The discipline he took regularly
;
and a

chain around his body mortified his poor flesh. He received the

consoling Sacraments devoutly, said the Rosary and the Litany

of the Blessed Lady, blessed the Sisters weeping at the bedside,

smiled calmly, having a little foretaste of Heaven before his saintly

soul ascended to Heaven.

Saint Clara College on Sinsinawa Mound, with its Saint Clara

Convent, which sends forth hundreds of Sisters all animated with

the missionary spirit of Father Samuel, to teach in parish schools

and academies, is Father Samuel Mazzuchelli’s monument.