Page:Prayerbookforrel00lasa 0.djvu/609

 the faithful  for  the  restraints  placed  on  their  piety  on  Holy Thursday itself,  when  the  nearness  of  Good  Friday  hindered them from  making  it  a  sufficiently  joyful  festival. Now, what date  should  be  selected  for  this  Eucharistic  consecration, for  the  fuller  gratifying  of  our  pent-up  feelings  of joy  and  gratitude  for  the  institution  of  the  great  banquet of love? There was  a  certain  fitness  in  choosing  some  day that comes  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  completion  of  the yearly cycle  of  feasts  which  commemorate  the  events  of Our  Lord's  life  on  earth,  ending  with  the  establishment  of His  Church  and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost. That cycle closes  with  Pentecost:  what  day,  therefore,  after the octave  of  Whitsunday,  shall  be  the  glorious  feast  of reparation  and  thanksgiving  for  the  Sacrament  of  the  body of Our  Lord? The Thursday  of  the  first  week  after  Whitsuntide is  Corpus  Christi,  not  preferred  at  random  (as  we have  said  several  times)  to  the  other  days  of  the  week, but out  of  homage  to  that  particular  day  on  which  this Most Blessed  Sacrament  was  actually  instituted.

Finally, what  individual  claim  can  Ascension  Thursday advance to  be  ranked  as  a  Eucharistic  festival,  like  the two other  Thursdays  which  it  comes  between? Because the commemoration  of  the  departure  of  our  divine  Redeemer must  needs  call  to  our  minds  His  abiding  presence amongst us. He who  is  gone  stays  still. Hundreds of years  before  the  Ascension  the  Royal  Psalmist,  who  foresaw it,  linked  this  consolation  with  his  prophecy,  or  at least  piety  is  delighted  at  discovering  this  hidden  meaning in his  words:  "Thou  hast  ascended  on  high,  Thou  hast  led captivity  captive,  Thou  hast  received  gifts  in  men"  (Psalm lxvii.  19). This was  the  supreme  gift  and  love -token  which, if it  had  not  been  given  already,  would  have  been  given then, to  console  those  who  were  left  behind  in  loneliness on the  mountain  of  the  Ascension. Surely, as  all  the  pathetic words spoken  at  the  Last  Supper  have  a  deeper  force,  a more  poignant  significance,  if  we  imagine  them  repeated by Jesus  at  the  very  last  on  Mount  Olivet,  when  the  final parting had  indeed  come,  as  they  were  repeated  (if  not  with His  lips)  with  His  Heart;  so,  too,  the  "memorial  of  His marvels,"  memoria  mirabilium  suorum,  the  memento  that He left  behind  Him,  did  not  take  effect,  as  it  were,  or  come fully into  play,  until  His  visible  presence  was  actually  withdrawn. And therefore,  when  Our  Redeemer  goes  from  us on  the  clouds  of  heaven,  it  is  impossible  not  to  try  and  calm, our troubled  hearts  by  reminding  ourselves  of  the  supreme device of  His  love  by  means  of  which,  though  He  has  gone,