Saint Peter Julian Eymard Founder, Blessed Sacrament Fathers THE CULTUS OF THE EUCHARIST Dilexi decorem domus Tuae. I have loved the beauty of Thy house. (Psalm xxv. 8.) ONE day a woman, a good adorer, came to Jesus to adore Him. She brought with her an alabaster box full of precious ointment which she poured upon His feet to show her love for Him and to pay honor to His Divinity and sacred humanity. "To what purpose is this waste?" said the traitor Judas. "This ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor." But Jesus vindicates His handmaid: "What this woman has wrought is a good work. And wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached, this also which she has done shall be told in praise of her." This Gospel incident may be applied to the Eucharist. I OUR Lord is in the Blessed Sacrament to receive from men the same homage He received from those who had the happiness of coming close to Him during His mortal life. He is there to give everybody the opportunity of offering a personal homage to His sacred humanity. Were this the only reason for the Eucharist, it should make us very happy; for the Eucharist enables us as Christians to pay our respects to our Lord in person. This presence is the justification of public worship as well as the life of it. If you take away the Real Presence, how will you be able to pay to His most sacred humanity the respect and honor which are its due? As Man, our Lord is present only in Heaven and in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Through the Eucharist we can draw near to the living Savior in person, and see Him and converse with Him. Without this presence, Divine worship becomes an abstraction. Through this presence we go straight to God and approach Him as during His mortal life. How unfortunate it would be if, in order to honor the humanity of Jesus Christ, we were obliged to go back eighteen centuries! That is all very well for the mind, but how pay an outward homage to so distant a past? We would content ourselves with giving thanks for the mysteries without actively participating in them. But with the Eucharist we can actually come and adore Him like the shepherds; we can prostrate ourselves before Him like the Magi; we need no longer regret our not having been present at Bethlehem or on Calvary. II NOT only is the Eucharistic presence of Jesus the life of exterior worship, but it also affords us the opportunity of giving alms to our Lord. Yes, in this respect we are more fortunate than the elect; they receive but no longer give. It is said: "It is a more blessed thing to give than to receive." We give to Jesus. We give Him of our money, of our bread, of our time, of our work, and of our blood. Is not that the greatest of consolations? Our Lord comes from Heaven with nothing but His goodness. He has nothing else, and He expects His followers to furnish Him with everything that is required for His existence here below: His temple, the matter for His Sacrifice, the lamps, and the sacred vessels He needs to become Sacrament; we give Him everything! Without these lights and this little throne our Lord cannot come out of His tabernacle. We give them to Him, and we can say to Him: "Thou art on a beautiful throne. It is we that have erected it for Thee. It is we that have opened the door of Thy prison and rent the cloud that hid Thee, O Sun of love. Dart Thy rays now on every heart." Jesus is our debtor. He is able to pay His debts, and He will pay them. He vouched for His poor and suffering members: "Whatsoever you shall do to the least of My brethren, I will repay it to you a hundred fold." But if Jesus pays the debts of others, with still greater reason will He pay His own. On the day of judgment we shall have the right to say to Him: "We visited Thee not only in the poor but in Thy august Person itself. What wilt Thou give us in return?" Worldly people will never understand this. "Give, and give a lot to the poor," they say. "But what good is it to give to churches? All this lavish expense on altars is wasted money." That is the way to become Protestant. No! The Church wants to have a living worship because she possesses her living Savior on earth. How fortunate we are to secure an eternal income by giving to our Lord! Is not that worth while? But that is not all. To give to Jesus is a consolation and a joy, as it is also a need. III YES, we feel the need of seeing and feeling our Lord near us, and of honoring Him with out gifts. If our Lord required of us nothing more than interior homage, He would fail to satisfy one of man's imperious needs; we cannot love without manifesting that love through outward signs of friendship and affection. That is why the strength of a people's faith may be easily rated from its gifts to churches. If the altar candles are numerous, if the sacred linen is clean, if the vestments are neat and in good condition, oh! that is a sign of faith! But if a church is without the proper vestments for the service of our Lord and looks more like a prison than a church, faith is lacking. How miserably we fail in France in this respect! People give to every form of charity; but beg something for the Most Blessed Sacrament, and they do not know what you are talking about. They are still willing to give for the decoration of the altar of some Saint or for some shrine where cures are wrought; but for the Most Blessed Sacrament! Not a thing! Is the King then to go in rags while His servants are richly clothed? We have not the right kind of faith, a faith that is practical, a faith that loves; we have only a negative, speculative faith. We are Catholic in name but Protestant in practice. Our Lord is on the altar. We are continually asking Him for favors, health, and a happy death; but we do not honor His poverty with the slightest gift. We should then hold our tongue. We are insulting Him! Saint James says that if a poor man asks you for an alms and you send him away without giving him anything and say to him, "Go in peace," you are mocking him and you are homicidal. Our Lord has nothing and expects everything from you. You come and say to Him: "I adore Thee and acknowledge Thee as my King. I thank Thee for being present in the Most Blessed Sacrament." And you do not give Him anything for the honor of His worship! You are insulting Him. When a parish priest is obliged to wear torn and worthless vestments because he has no others, his parishioners are responsible for it. It is scandalous! For everybody, yes, everybody can give to our Lord. And experience proves that it is not the great or the wealthy, but the poor that maintain the splendor of Eucharistic worship. One day our Lord saw the Pharisees cast large sums of money into the treasury; their gifts did not seem to affect Him in any way. But a poor woman came and cast in a farthing, which was all she had. Our Lord stood in admiration, His heart was moved, and He could not help telling His Apostles so. This poor widow had given more than all the others because she had given of her very substance. In the same way he who denies himself something in order to give a candle or a flower, gives more than he who can easily make a large offering. Jesus looks much less to the quantity of the gift than to the heart that gives it. Give therefore, and give often to our Lord! Console His abandonment! Help His poverty! IV BUT we are not through our subject yet. What! Jesus is present here, out of love? Well, if you believe in His presence and if you love Him, I cannot understand your not giving Him anything. Even setting aside the question of the graces and merits you obtain through your gifts, is not the fact of giving to our Lord and glorifying our King a sufficient honor in itself? Not everybody is allowed to pay his respects to an earthly king. This privilege is obtained only by force of patronage. Would we even presume to offer a birthday present to a friend of higher rank than we unless we were on intimate terms with him? Well, Jesus is indeed King since it is He Who makes kings. But He does not observe the etiquette of earthly kings; He allows us to pay Him our respects continually; He expects us to do so. Ah! What an honor for us! Let us take advantage of this opportunity! We have but one lifetime in which to give. God is willing to accept our gifts while we are here below. Ah! May we frequently have the consolation to say: "I gave to our Lord!" He will give Himself to us in return. 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