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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 1 7

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 gloriam 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:
‘ rTake 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 1 27

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.