Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/532



526 THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST.

with an abundance of heavenly blessings, and fills it with a sweet joy which far surpasses man's hope and expecta- tions; it sustains him in adversity, strengthens him in the spiritual combat, preserves him for life everlasting, and as a special provision for the journey accompanies him thither. And in the frail and perishable body that divine Host, which is the immortal body of Christ, im- plants a principle of resurrection, a seed of immortality, which one day must germinate. That to this source man's soul and body will be indebted for both these boons has been the constant teaching of the Church, which has dutifully reaffirmed the affirmation of Christ: He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My hlood hath everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day}

In connection with this matter it is of importance to consider that in the Eucharist, seeing that it is instituted by Christ as "a perpetual memorial of His passion,"^ is proclaimed to the Christian the necessity of a salutary self-chastisement. For Jesus said to those first priests of His : Do this in memory of Me; ^ that is to sa}^, do this for the commemoration of My pains, My sorrows, My grievous afflictions, My death upon the cross. Wherefore this Sacrament is at the same time a sacrifice, seasonable throughout the entire period of our penance; and it is likewise a standing exhortation to all manner of toil, and a solemn and severe rebuke to those carnal pleasures which some are not ashamed so highly to praise and ex- tol : As often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink this chalice, ye shall announce the death of the Lord, until He come.*

Furthermore, if any one will diligently examine into the causes of the evils of our day, he will find that they arise from this, that as charity towards God has grown cold, the mutual charity of men among themselves has likewise


 * John vi. 55.

^ Opusc. Ivii. Offic. de festo Corporis Christi. ' Luke xxu. 18.


 * 1 Cor. xi. 26.