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Chapter XXIII: There is but one Liturgy

GOD could not create except for His own glory, and for that very reason the whole duty of intelligent creatures consists in the worship rendered to the Divine Majesty, a worship which is at once both internal and external.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom “it is written in the head of the Book,”1 Jesus Christ, “the firstborn of every creature,”2 is the first to render to God this supreme worship decreed from all eternity by the Divine Will: “Behold I come to do Thy will.”3 He came as a creature to pay to His Father a homage the most complete that God could possibly receive, a glory proportionate to God, since it is offered by God Himself, the hypostatic union giving to the human nature of the Incarnate Word a dignity and a splendour unparalleled: “Wherefore when He cometh into the world He saith: Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldst not, but a body Thou hast fitted to Me.”4 That which our Lord had in view is very evident; the end or purpose of His Incarnation was to enable Him to become priest and victim, that He might thus offer to the Divine Majesty the most perfect and exalted worship that an intelligent creature could offer.

The coming on earth of the Son of God had a further consequence. Whatever else may have been the motive of the

Incarnation, it at once brought this result: it associated intelligent creatures with the liturgical act. Raised to the supernatural order, and, by the condescension of the Son of God, favoured to such a degree that for their sake He would become not only a holocaust, but a victim for their sins, these creatures were purified from their faults and errors in such sort, that they themselves were henceforth to concur in our Lord's sacrifice, as members of one and the same body, of which He is the head: "In the which will we are sanctified by the oblation of the Body of Jesus Christ once."5

The mission of the Incarnate Word is then the mission of a pontiff, and thus the Apostle St. Paul wished that perfect Christians should understand it: "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly vocation, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession Jesus, who is faithful to Him that made Him."6 Now Christ did not in a transitory and momentary way receive this priesthood, but permanently: "But this, for that He continueth for ever, hath an everlasting priesthood, whereby He is able also to save for ever them that come to God by Him, always living to make intercession for us."7 Thus the sovereign pontificate is eternal, and it is exercised for ever; not only in the adorable person of the Son of God, but in that priestly tribe of which He is the Head, "a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood,"8 wherein all are priests, although in different degrees, and all are called to concelebrate with the supreme Pontiff. The sacrifice offered by Him is one, for He could not offer many times a sacrifice which is lasting, and which fulfils by one single permanent oblation all the just claims of the Divine Majesty: "For Jesus is not entered into the holies made with hands, the patterns of the true, but into heaven itself, that He may appear now in the presence of God for us. . . . Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many."9

It cannot then be wondered at that St. John, contemplating with his eagle eye what takes place in the inaccessible light, should have shown us Jesus, our Pontiff, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, exercising His ministry in the midst of the redeemed creation, of which He is the keystone of the edifice. He celebrates in the midst of the very throne, for He is God; and the annihilation of His Incarnation, the opprobrium brought upon Him by our redemption, far from lessening the honour due to Him, have caused His Father to exalt His name as man above every other name: "And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father."10

It is then in the bosom of the Father's glory, in the centre of the throne that we see the Lamb, standing as a Conqueror and as a Priest, "a Lamb, standing as it were slain, having seven horns."11 He is slain, for He is the universal victim; He has seven horns, symbols of the sevenfold Spirit that rested upon Him and anointed Him "above His fellows—præ consortibus suis.”12

He, only, has the power to open the seven seals of the Book, for He is the supreme Hierarch, the Initiator by excellence, and the Interpreter of the most profound mysteries; His victory gained for Him this right. But the moment that He exercises it, the four living creatures and the four and twenty ancients prostrate before Him; their harps proclaim His praise, and their golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints, send up the smoke of incense, while heaven resounds with the hymn of eternal gratitude from the lips of the redeemed: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the Book and to open the seals thereof; because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, in Thy Blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests.”13

Since the Lamb is not only the completion of our human hierarchy, but the pontiff of the universal hierarchy, the angels in their turn proclaim His praise. No sooner had the Father introduced Him into the world, than He commanded them to adore Him; and they with enthusiasm accomplished this order, singing the hymn proper to them: “The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction.”14 To this grand harmony celebrating the victory of the Lamb is joined the praise of Him to whom is offered the sacrifice of the Lamb, and the incomparable hymn sung unceasingly day and night by the heavenly citizens: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.”15 The better to confess that He whom they are adoring is the self-existing Being and the Author of all gifts, they cast their crowns before the throne, thus testifying that their victory comes from Him, and that in crowning their merits He does but crown His own gifts. Then resounds the canticle: “Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory, and honour, and power; because Thou hast created all things, and for Thy will they were, and have been created.”16 Now the light which sheds its rays upon this eternal liturgical function, is not an artificial light, a created sun, or any star whatsoever, “for the glory of God hath enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof.”17

Such is the liturgy of the Church Triumphant, a liturgy developed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; for it was by Him that the Lamb offered Himself, “who by the Holy Ghost offered Himself unspotted unto God.”18

But during the days of her pilgrimage our Pontiff would not abandon His bride; and by a wonderful way, and with a wisdom all divine, He found the means of identifying the Sacrifice of earth with that of heaven, since there is but one priesthood, that of Jesus Christ, but one Sacrifice on earth and in heaven, but one Victim, namely, the Lamb conquering yet slain. The shadows and figures of the Old Law drew all their efficacy from the one future oblation of the Incarnate Word, so much so that these rites instituted by God Himself, bore even then some traces of the true and perpetual Sacrifice which is celebrated in heaven as it is celebrated on earth in virtue of that divine command: "This do for the commemoration of Me."19 Thus the Church's hierarchy on earth through the wonders produced by the Sacraments, presents to the ravished gaze of the heavenly citizens a faithful reproduction of that which takes place "within the veil, ad interiora velaminis." Our Lord Jesus Christ has then realized this admirable union of the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant; the former enjoys the vision, the latter still walks by faith, and yet the diversity of these two modes in no way lessens the unity of the liturgical work accomplished in both portions of the inheritance of the Lamb. It is the same oblation that is offered on the altar of heaven, and on the altar of earth, with this special glory for our earth, namely, that heaven itself is indebted to it; for the eternal Sacrifice was accomplished first among us; and we afterwards gave it to the angels.

The Holy Spirit, the principle of unity and the link uniting the members with their Head brings about this marvellous association which is the Communion of Saints. He it is that makes the unity of the Priesthood, the unity of the Altar, the unity of the Victim, the unity of the Sacrifice, consummated in heaven and on earth by His devouring fire. He is the fire which our Saviour came to cast upon earth, and which He so ardently desired should be enkindled. Again our Lord says: "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of truth";20 and as His prayer is always heard by the Father, and always granted, the Spirit abides with us until the second coming, which itself will only be the result of the ceaseless cry of the Spirit and the bride,

"And the Spirit and the bride say: Come!"21 He is the Spirit that contains all things: "For the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world; and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice."22

Yes, His continuous working unceasingly provokes an admirable concert, and His zeal seeks to make the "Word of Christ dwell abundantly"23 in souls, in order that they may accompany the one Sacrifice with spiritual canticles like unto those of heaven, since they can but repeat the praise of the thrice holy God and of the Lamb at once conquering and slain.

The action of the Spirit has not only an external efficacy, it penetrates into souls, it seeks to draw them to the rule and discipline, that is, to the Son;24 the Spirit does not despair of the sluggish and carnal-minded man, and He closes the sanctuary against him only when he himself refuses to enter. Thus far does the Spirit interest Himself under every form: "Holy, one, manifold, subtle, eloquent, active, undefiled, certain, sweet, loving that which is good, quick, which nothing hindereth, beneficent, gentle, kind, steadfast, assured, secure, having all power, overcoming all things and containing all spirits; intelligible, pure, subtle."25 These divine and intimate resources are constantly being applied as long as their time of trial lasts, to form, and to adapt men to the sacred ceremonial of the one only liturgy.

Yea, even in His unwearied energy, He is not only the fire of the altar, a fire which consummates and consumes the holocaust, but also the live coal26 which purifies the lips of those destined to sing the divine praises, the live coal taken off the altar of heaven and placed in the human heart as in a censer, that the prayers of the saints may ascend to the throne of God.

That which in perfect unity in heaven and upon earth, the Divine Spirit accomplishes, that in like manner He reproduces in every human soul. In each of us the labours of the whole spiritual life tend only to this end: "For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God."27 Man is in very truth a temple wherein there is offered a liturgical oblation after the model of the worship rendered to God by the Church, and this, thanks to the Holy Spirit who takes up His abode within him. "Know you not," says the Apostle to the Corinthians, "that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? . . . For the temple of God is holy, which you are."28 Insisting once more upon this truth, he says: "For you are the temple of the living God, as God saith: I will dwell in them and walk among them."29

The idea of the human soul considered as a temple was so familiar to the first Christians that in the Epistle attributed to St. Barnabas we hear the unknown author by a similar teaching consoling the Jews and early Christians for the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem. At the end of his discourse he says to them: "The temple has been destroyed; it exists no more. But let us inquire whether there is not still another temple of God. . . . Before we believed in God the habitation of our heart was corrupt and weak, as being indeed like a temple made with hands. For it was full of idolatry, and was a habitation of demons through our doing such things as were opposed to God. . . . But it shall be built, observe ye, in the name of the Lord, in order that the temple of the Lord may be built in glory. How? Having received the forgiveness of sins and placed our trust in the name of the Lord, we have become new creatures, formed again from the beginning. Therefore, in our habitation God truly dwells by faith, by His calling unto the promise, by the wisdom of His statutes, by the commands of His doctrine; He Himself prophesying in us; He Himself dwelling in us, opening to us who were enslaved in death the doors of the temple that is within; and by giving us repentance introducing us into this incorruptible temple. He then who wishes to be saved looks not to man, but to Him who dwelleth in man, and speaketh in him, concentrating all the powers of his soul in the admiration of a language which he has never heard and which surpasses all his desires. This is the spiritual temple built for the Lord."30

Thus in the apostolic times the course of the spiritual life was given in the highest and most complete form. Christianity was never viewed under the common and oftentimes low form that we see nowadays; all at least knew what a Christian is, even when all would not draw the practical consequences of their knowledge.

The baptized Christian then is a temple, a temple not raised by the hand of man. This temple has secret depths into which none can penetrate save only Him who built it and who therein dwells in majesty: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man who is in him.”31 Behold here indeed a true sanctuary into which nothing profane can be admitted; its entrance is sacred to God alone, the carnal man could not even go down to it; only the man who has been made spiritual by shaking off the tyranny of the senses can enter in. All the masters of the spiritual life acknowledge that there are these secret depths in the human soul, and they admit also the difficulty that most men have in penetrating into the sanctuary of their own soul, there to find the august Majesty who resides within. It is requisite to have been brought in by the working of the Holy Spirit, to which working our own efforts have been joined, not only by putting no obstacle in His way but also by giving to the Holy Spirit a generous and untiring cooperation, which will have made us pass through all the degrees of initiation of which we have spoken in this treatise.

This sanctuary is then like a heaven in which are found all the realities of the other heaven. St. Teresa, speaking of the Seventh Mansion of the Interior Castle, says: "When it pleases our Lord to have compassion upon all that the soul has suffered and that she still suffers in the ardent desire of possessing Him, and when He has already determined to take her for His bride, He introduces her into this Seventh Mansion which is His own before celebrating with her this spiritual marriage. For heaven is not His only dwelling-place: He has one in the soul also, which may be called another heaven.”32

Hence it need not be a matter of wonder that man, although by Baptism and Confirmation consecrated to God, cannot for all that gain access into his own sanctuary except by the exercises of the spiritual life, for our Lord Himself says: "If any one love me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and

We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him.”33 The express condition then for this intimacy is an observance of the precepts and an exact fidelity, not a servile fidelity, but a fidelity of love. The Apostle makes the matter clearer still when he says: “So the things also which are of God, no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God.”34 Now, since God resides in the sanctuary of which we are speaking, only the Holy Spirit can give the soul experience of what passes therein.

The heaven of the soul possesses then the august Trinity, and as in the heaven of the blessed so also there we find what St. John says that he saw in the celestial sanctuary: “And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”35 This river flows also in the human soul, of which fact our Lord Himself bears witness, when He says: “He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now this He said of the Spirit, which they should receive who believed in Him.”36

The presence of the triumphant Lamb, “standing as it were slain,”37 is equally secured for the soul by the adorable Eucharist, the grace of which Sacrament abides in us, even after the consecrated species have disappeared, according to these words of our Lord: “Abideth in me and I in him;”38 and those of the Apostle: "That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts."39

The secret sanctuary of our soul possesses also an altar—it is our heart. On this altar holocausts and sin-offerings are offered and consumed; for there it is that all the acts of the soul are truly consummated, both those that purify and justify her, even to the perfect sacrifice which is consummation in God. It is upon this altar that man offers himself, according to that sentence of St. Paul: "I beseech you therefore, brethren . . . that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service";40 or, according to the Greek text, which expresses our thought still better, "your spiritual adoration." And this victim is all the more acceptable to the Sovereign Majesty, because every true oblation is included in the one sacrifice of the Lamb Himself: "For by one oblation He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."41 Thus everything is brought back to close union with the eternal Sacrifice which, while it gives joy to heaven, is unceasingly renewed upon earth, and is ever bringing about the sanctification of mankind.

The soul accompanies her sacrifice by the incense of prayer, and she can say: "I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon, and aromatical balm; I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh."42 Here again the human soul does not separate her incense from that which the Lord Jesus burns in the presence of His Father: "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to

God, that is to say, the fruit of lips confessing to His name.”43 And this heavenly perfume of prayer should be so profusely burnt in the sanctuary as to embalm therewith every approach to the sacred spot; for it is in this sense that the Bride in the sacred Canticle says: “My hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers were full of the choicest myrrh.”44 Yea, her very garments are all impregnated with it, so much so that if they are drawn from the ivory chests wherein they are kept they shed abroad this perfume which bears no resemblance to the perfumes of earth: “Myrrh and stacte, and cassia perfume thy garments from the ivory houses.”45 The bride is so saturated with this fragrance, that those beholding her cry out: “Who is she that goeth up by the desert as a pillar of smoke, of aromatical spices, of myrrh and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?”46 Thus the spirit of prayer impregnates all the virtues of the soul, and constitutes a most noble homage, the sweet odour of which is ever rising towards heaven.

A temple, a sanctuary, an altar, a victim, the very presence of the living and true God—all these are not sufficient for liturgical worship, there must moreover be a pontiff. Now man is truly a priest, truly a pontiff in the august function which is celebrated in the sanctuary of his own soul: “Thou hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests.”47 Every baptized Christian is priest and king in the secret temple of his own soul, although he is but a single living stone of the edifice built by the hand of God, of which edifice our Lord Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. Such, in his first epistle, is the teaching of the Prince of the Apostles: "Be you also as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."48

But to realize all the perfection of this priesthood, man must, freely and voluntarily, offer his sacrifice, after the example of the eternal Pontiff whom we hear insisting on the absolutely free character of His oblation: "No man taketh My life away from Me; but I lay it down of Myself, and I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again."49 This liberty, which shows Him to be truly a priest, was understood by Isaias, when he said: "He was offered because it was His own will."50 Thus should it be with man whose will is called upon to cooperate with grace, for God will not receive anything from him by force and constraint. He looks for a voluntary and cheerful offering: "I will freely sacrifice to Thee."51

The harps which St. John heard in heaven vibrate also in this new temple; their music is composed of the varied sentiments which are ever bursting forth in the human soul, and which constitute the most beautiful accord, the sweetest harmony, when no breath save that of the Divine Spirit calls them forth. The strings of the harps are in tune and strong when they are free from all earthly dust, when they are strung up to perfect pitch, and when no counter breath comes to contradict the breath of the Lord. What a living and sublime music is this! What a true echo of the Word!

Exactitude of ceremonial accompanies the music of the harps when all the movements of the soul are well-ordered, and when they obey without resistance the divine moving principle, the Holy Spirit. The formula of this heavenly ceremonial is contained in the very device of the bride: "He set in order charity in me."52 The external expression of it is called perfect balance and discretion, "the mother of virtues."

Thus the soul renders to God a truly finished worship when she reaches the consummation of charity. Up to that time something is always wanting to the liturgical function celebrated in her temple, whether it is that the soul does not penetrate into the sanctuary, or that the victim is below the mark required, or that the free will of the priest is imperfect, or that the incense seldom burns, or is of low price, or that the harps are badly tuned, or that the ceremonies are performed without precision and without an enlightened appreciation.

We may conclude by saying that it is very profitable for man to be by his state bound to the Divine Office, since God thus constantly places before his eyes the formula of His perfection, such as it is shown in holy Scripture. By means of the Divine Office53 the monk and the nun receive a deep and continuous teaching, which forms part of their very existence. As long as they are striving to prefer nothing to the Divine Office, and are eager to display in its celebration all the care and refinement which so august a function claims, the science of their own sanctification is communicated to them under the form which they must realize in the depth of their own souls.

And if it came to pass that in some liturgical function the souls called to take part in it were all very near the perfection of their own private liturgical worship, that is to say, the highest reach of the spiritual life, the angels would, in the midst of such an assembly, well nigh think themselves in heaven. God's satisfaction would for certain be unbounded, and the radiation from such a centre would be the wonder of the whole world.

As a matter of fact, whenever a man realizes within himself the ideal of the worship which we have described, God at once bestows choice graces, which are a sure sign of the presence of the creating and sanctifying Spirit. But on the other hand, how sad would be the spectacle presented of souls bound to the prayer of the Church, but without zeal for their own spiritual progress, leaving their interior temple without adornment, their sanctuary without beauty, their altar without victims or perfumes, their harps out of tune and without harmony. What would be said again if the genuflections, prostrations and other ceremonies were so disorderly as to make them almost a mockery, if the pontiff of this secret sanctuary, having become negligent, slothful, regardless of the Divine Guest who dwells therein, were to think that he had done enough because he had not allowed it to be utterly profaned? Yet such is the picture of souls who neglect the care of their own perfection. God has every right to reproach them with their inconsistency in wishing to have in the Church that which they no longer wish to have within themselves; such an inconsistency is severely punished, for the very reason that the soul has received special grace for the celebration of the sacred liturgy.

But if we conclude that those charged with the prayer of the Church ought above all others to have a burning zeal to reproduce within themselves the realities they are unceasingly celebrating, what shall we say of those who have furthermore been raised to any rank in the sacred hierarchy, and who are associated with the eternal priesthood of our Lord Jesus, "the

Pontiff for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.”54 Holy Church thoroughly penetrated with the sense of their nobility, and full of admiration for their greatness, says to them: “Understand what you do, imitate that which you handle, so that, while you celebrate the mystery of the death of the Lord, you may study to die, in your members, to all vice and concupiscence.”55 This is the teaching already given by the Apostle St. Peter: “For unto this are you called; because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps.”56

In fact, all who have been divinely elected to participate in the functions of the sacred ministry find in those very functions a principle of personal sanctification, provided that they accomplish them with a real understanding of what they are doing. Then their ministry magnificently falls back upon themselves; they purify and are purified, they sanctify and they are sanctified. Only, they purify, illuminate and sanctify by reason of their sacred character, whereas by their own personal ministry they cannot be purified, illuminated and sanctified, except in the measure in which their will, in virtue of a kind of voluntary initiation, assimilates what in the sacred rites is applicable to them. This assimilation is the Imitamini quod tractatis.

How unutterable the consolation of one responsible for the sanctification of others, and for the exercise of an awful ministry, to know that in devoting himself with intelligence and faith to this ministry he advances the work of his own sanctification. He has in his hands the formula, the method of his own personal perfection, and by penetrating himself with the rites, the ceremonies, the words, the substance and the form of the Liturgy, he gathers most practical instruction on the true spiritual life and holiness.

From the earliest times St. Denis, the prince of mystics, treated of the divers degrees of the sacred hierarchy and of the relations of each of them with a definite portion of the Christian people. His words are as follows: "The class of those undergoing purification is composed of those who cannot as yet be admitted to see or to participate in any of the Sacraments; the class of the illuminated is that of the holy among the people; the class of the perfect is that of holy monks."57 The first class he considers to be intrusted to deacons; and in fact, in former times the catechumens and penitents left the Church after the reading of the Gospel, which is the deacon's ministry, and they had no participation in the Sacrifice. The second class, the illuminated, has a close relation with priests; whilst those who have embraced the perfect life seem to have a bond of filiation with the episcopate.

These divers degrees are determined in proportion to the soul's proximity to that sanctuary in the centre of which God resides. Those who are leading the purgative life are in the porch of this temple. They must lay aside the life of the senses, and perseveringly practise virtue, that having put on the nuptial garment of the new man, they may be admitted to contemplate some of the mysteries, that is to say, to enter upon the illuminative life, wherein man, being no longer either so much weighed down by the senses, or distracted by the tyranny of his passions, can at last enjoy the light of divine things, and catch from afar, as it were by flashes, a glimpse of the sanctuary into which he may not yet enter.

Finally, the unitive life, is an entrance into the Holy of Holies, that is, into that close intimacy with God which is in truth, the end for which man was created. Here he can and ought to offer to the Lord the true sacrifice, being no longer obliged in a certain sense, to offer victims for his own sins, since there is now no obstacle between himself and God.

It is but too true that nowadays these distinctions no longer exteriorly exist, any more than do the relation which in the beginning existed between the divers portions of the faithful people and the corresponding degrees of the hierarchy. But as regards their advancement, souls are none the less before God in one or in another of the three degrees of the spiritual life of which we have spoken.

To these relations of the soul with God corresponds exactly the measure of her action upon men. If our eyes could contemplate invisible things, they would see that souls have an influence over others in exact proportion to their own advancement. The higher they rise, the more widespread is their influence; their power is in effect, in proportion to their nearness to God. Their nature, it is true does not change, but just as an object grows warm the nearer it approaches a furnace, and itself radiates in a larger sphere, so is it with the soul by reason of her proximity to the divine furnace. In this sense we read in Psalm XVIII: "And his circuit even to the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from His heat."58

The soul exercises a ministry corresponding to her state, and radiates diversely all round about her upon souls belonging to the purgative, the illuminative and the unitive life. Experience shows that souls more easily and with fewer dangers and trials pass through these degrees of the spiritual life when they are assisted by another soul who is in a higher state than they themselves are. The history of sanctity studied from this point of view is very instructive; and we can thus explain how it is that saints seldom stand alone. True pontiffs, they attract souls to themselves in order to unite them with God; they sanctify while stooping to those who belong to a lower state.

Happy the souls that know how to work the treasure contained in the sacred liturgy, and this not for the sake of loving it with a sterile and purely external love, but that they may draw into themselves and reproduce the symbols and the forms which contain realities so full of life. Under the Old Law God loved nothing so much as the temple; but by the mouth of the Prophet Jeremias He severely blamed those who thought that they might take every liberty because the temple was theirs: "Make your ways and your doings good; and I will dwell with you in this place. Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord."59 Otherwise, continues the prophet, if you do not cease from your presumption, thinking that the temple can stand in place of obedience to My precepts, behold what shall be your chastisement: "I will do to this house, in which My name is called upon, and in which you trust, and to the place which I have given you and your fathers, as I did to Silo."60 Undoubtedly the nation that possessed the temple was a privileged nation, but the temple could not dispense with fidelity; and before being honoured in the temple, God requires us to adore and serve Him in the invisible sanctuary which He has within us built for Himself.

We must then, with King Solomon repeat: "Thou hast commanded me to build a temple on Thy holy mount, and an altar in the city of Thy dwelling-place, a resemblance of Thy holy tabernacle, which Thou hast prepared from the beginning."61 This is our task here upon earth; that tabernacle already on the mount had been shown to Moses: "Look and make according to the pattern, that was shown thee in the mount."62 St. Stephen, in the great discourse which won for him the palm of martyrdom, reminded the Jews of it. Let us then build up this tabernacle according to the Exemplar and the Model, our Lord Jesus Christ; let all enter into this liturgical unity which receives from the Holy Spirit its life, its beauty, its consummation, and enables every creature in heaven and on earth and even in the depths of the ocean to cry out: "To Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction and honour and glory and power for ever and for ever. Amen."63

Finis

Footnotes

  1. In capite libri scriptum est de me (Ps., xxxix, 8). ↩

  2. Primogenitus omnis creaturæ (Col. i, 15). ↩

  3. Ecce venio, ut faciam voluntatem tuam (Heb., x, 9). ↩

  4. Ideo ingrediens mundum dicit: Hostiam et oblationem noluisti, corpus autem aptasti mihi (Heb., x, 5). ↩

  5. In qua voluntate sanctificati sumus per oblationem corporis Jesu Christi semel (Heb. x, 10). ↩

  6. Unde, fratres sancti, vocationis cœlestis participes, considerate apostolum et pontificem confessionis nostræ, Jesum; qui fidelis est ei qui fecit illum (Ibid, iii, 1, 2). ↩

  7. Hic autem eo quod maneat in æternum sempiternum habet sacerdotium. Unde et salvare in perpetuum potest accedentes per semetipsum ad Deum, semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis (Heb., vii, 24-25). ↩

  8. Genus electum, regale sacerdotium (1 Pet., ii, 9). ↩

  9. Non enim in manufacta Sancta Jesus introivit, exemplaria verorum; sed in ipsum cœlum, ut appareat nunc vultui Dei pro nobis. Christus semel oblatus est ad multorum exhaurienda peccata (Heb., ix, 24-28). ↩

  10. Et omnis lingua confiteatur quia Dominus Jesus Christus in gloria est Dei Patris (Phil., ii, 11). ↩

  11. Agnum stantem tamquam occisum (Apoc., v, 6). ↩

  12. Ps., xliv. ↩

  13. Dignus es, Domine, accipere librum et aperire signacula ejus: quoniam occisus es, et redemisti nos Deo in sanguine tuo, ex omni tribu, et lingua, et populo, et natione; et fecisti nos Deo nostro regnum et sacerdotes (Apoc., v. 9, 10). ↩

  14. Dignus est Agnus, qui occisus est, accipere virtutem, et divinitatem, et sapientiam et fortitudinem, et honorem, et gloriam, et benedictionem (Apoc., v, 12). ↩

  15. Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus omnipotens, qui erat, et qui est, et qui venturus est (Apoc., iv, 8). ↩

  16. Dignus es, Domine Deus noster, accipere gloriam, et honorem et virtutem, quia tu creasti omnia, et propter voluntatem tuam erant, et creata sunt (Ibid., 11). ↩

  17. Nam claritas Dei illuminavit eam, et lucerna ejus est Agnus (Ibid., xxi, 23). ↩

  18. Per Spiritum sanctum semetipsum obtulit immaculatum Deo (Heb., ix, 14). ↩

  19. Hoc facite in meam commemorationem (1 Cor., xi, 24). ↩

  20. Ego rogabo Patrem, et alium Paraclitum dabit vobis, ut maneat vobiscum in æternum, Spiritum veritatis (Joann, xiv, 16). ↩

  21. Et Spiritus et sponsa dicunt: Veni (Apoc. xxii, 17). ↩

  22. Quoniam Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum, et hoc quod continet omnia scientiam habet vocis (Sap. i, 7). ↩

  23. Verbum Christi habitet in vobis abundanter (Col. iii, 16). ↩

  24. Apprehendite disciplinam (Ps. ii, 12—Vulg.) Osculamini Filium (—Heb.) ↩

  25. Sanctus, unicus, multiplex, subtilis, disertus, mobilis, incoinquinatus, certus, suavis, amans bonum, acutus, quem nihil vetat, benefaciens, humanus, benignus, stabilis, certus, securus, omnem habens virtutem, omnia prospiciens, et qui capiat omnes spiritus, intelligibilis, mundus, subtilis (Sap., vii, 22, 23). ↩

  26. Isa., vi, 6, 7. ↩

  27. Ipse enim Spiritus testimonium reddit spiritui nostro, quod sumus filii Dei (Rom., viii, 16). ↩

  28. Nescitis quia templum Dei estis, et Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis; templum enim Dei sanctum est, quod estis vos (1 Cor., iii, 16, 17). ↩

  29. Vos enim estis templum Dei vivi, sicut dicit Deus: Quoniam inhabitabo in illis, et inambulabo inter eos (2 Cor., vi, 16). ↩

  30. Epist., Cathol., S. Barnabæ Apost., cap. xvi. ↩

  31. Quis enim hominum scit quæ sunt hominis, nisi spiritus hominis, qui in ipso est? (1 Cor., ii, 11). ↩

  32. The Interior Castle, chap. i. ↩

  33. Si quis diligit me, sermonem meum servabit, et Pater meus diliget eum, et ad eum veniemus, et mansionem apud eum faciemus (Joann., xiv, 23). ↩

  34. Ita et quæ Dei sunt, nemo cognovit nisi Spiritus Dei (1 Cor., ii, 11). ↩

  35. Ostendit mihi fluvium aquæ vitæ, splendidum tamquam crystallum, procedentem de sede Dei et Agni (Apoc., xxii, 1). ↩

  36. Qui credit in me, sicut dicit Scriptura, flumina de ventre ejus fluent aquæ vivæ. Hoc autem dixit de Spiritu, quem accepturi erant credentes in eum (Joann., vii, 38, 39). ↩

  37. Agnum stantem tamquam occisum (Apoc., v, 6). ↩

  38. In me manet, et ego in illo (Joann., vi, 57). ↩

  39. Christum habitare per fidem in cordibus vestris (Eph., iii, 17). ↩

  40. Ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem, rationabile obsequium vestrum—spiritualem adorationem vestram (Rom. xii, 1). ↩

  41. Una enim oblatione consummavit in sempiternum sanctificatos (Heb. x, 14). ↩

  42. Sicut cinnamomum et balsamum aromatizans odorem dedi, quasi myrrha electa dedi suavitatem odoris (Eccli xxiv, 20). ↩

  43. Per ipsum ergo offeramus hostiam laudis semper Deo, id est, fructum labiorum confitentium nomini ejus (Heb. xiii, 15). ↩

  44. Manus meæ distillaverunt myrrham, et digiti mei pleni myrrha probatissima (Cant, v, 5). ↩

  45. Myrrha et gutta et casia a vestimentis tuis a domibus eburneis (Ps. xliv, 9). ↩

  46. Quæ est ista quæ ascendit per desertum sicut virgula fumi ex aromatibus myrrhæ, et thuris et universi pulveris pigmentarii? (Cant, iii, 6.) ↩

  47. Fecisti nos Deo nostro regnum et sacerdotes (Apoc., v, 10). ↩

  48. Ipsi tamquam lapides vivi superædificamini, domus spiritualis, sacerdotium sanctum, offerre spirituales hostias, acceptabiles Deo per Jesum Christum (1 Pet., ii, 5). ↩

  49. Nemo tollit animam meam a me; sed ego pono eam a meipso, et potestatem habeo ponendi eam, et potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam (Joann., x, 18). ↩

  50. Oblatus est quia ipse voluit (Isa., liii, 7). ↩

  51. Voluntarie sacrificabo tibi (Ps. liii, 8). ↩

  52. Ordinavit in me caritatem (Cant, ii, 4). ↩

  53. S. Reg., lxvi. ↩

  54. Sacerdos in æternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech (Ps., cix, 4). ↩

  55. Agnoscite quod agitis; imitamini quod tractatis; quatenus mortis Dominicæ mysterium celebrantes, mortificare membra vestra a vitiis et concupiscentiis procuretis (Pontificale Rom., De Ordinatione Presbyteri). ↩

  56. In hoc enim vocati estis: quia et Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum, ut sequamini vestigia ejus. (1 Pet., ii, 21). ↩

  57. De Eccl. Hier., cap. Vi, n. 5. ↩

  58. Et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus; nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus (Ps. xviii, 7). ↩

  59. Bonas facite vias vestras, et studia vestra: et habitabo vobiscum in loco isto. Nolite confidere in verbis mendacii, dicentes: Templum Domini, templum Domini, templum Domini est (Jerem., vii, 3, 4). ↩

  60. Faciam domui huic, in qua invocatum est nomen meum, et in qua vos habetis fiduciam et loco quem dedi vobis et patribus vestris sicut feci Silo (Jerem. vii, 14). ↩

  61. Dixisti me ædificare templum in monte sancto tuo, et in civitate habitationis tuæ altare, similitudinem tabernaculi sancti tui, quod præparasti ab initio (Sap., ix, 8). ↩

  62. Inspice, et fac secundum exemplar quod tibi in monte monstratum est (Exod. xxv, 40). ↩

  63. Sedenti in throno, et Agno, benedictio, et honor, et gloria, et potestas in sæcula sæculorum. Amen (Apoc. v, 13). ↩

Chapter 24 of 24