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The Ascension of Our Lord

5/28/2025

Gospel. Mark xvi. 14-20. At that time as the eleven were at the table, Jesus appeared to them, and upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart: because they did not believe them who had seen him after he was risen again. And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues: they shall take up serpents: and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere, the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed.

After Our Lord had consoled the Apostles by appearing to them at different times, and by wishing them peace, He declared at last that He was about to leave this world and ascend to heaven "to prepare a place for them."

On this day, for the last time, He came to visit the Apostles. He promised to send them the divine Spirit, the Spirit of strength and wisdom. He said that the time had arrived for Him to go from them to remain in the enjoyment of His peace. He raised His hands, blessed them, and took leave of them all, as well as of His dear Mother. He then conducted them to the Mount of Olives. There they listened to His words, with their eyes fixed upon Him, when suddenly He was raised above them; higher and higher still He was borne, until a light cloud withdrew Him from their sight. While they were beholding Him going up to heaven, suddenly two angels stood by them, who said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? " This same Jesus whom you have just seen ascending into heaven will return again at the end of the world to judge mankind. He will then appear in the same form in which you have just seen Him. You ought then, my dear young friends, joyfully do all that He has commanded you before He left you, that you may be well received by Him on His return. The disciples fell to the ground and adored their Lord and Master, and then returned to Jerusalem; where they retired to a quiet place, and remained
in prayer until the coming of the Holy Ghost.

My dear young people, who can imagine the great triumph with which the King of glory was received on His entrance into heaven. The whole court of heaven was there, ready to meet its Master and Creator. All came forward to make their submission to the great Conqueror of the world and the devil, who has returned in triumph. These good souls must have been in an ecstasy of joy when they saw the great Hero; they looked with wonder on those wounds, which shone like stars. As He entered heaven they joined Him singing hymns and canticles to the great glory of God; then they conducted Him to His throne in heaven, where He sits at the right hand of His Father.

Our Lord, my dear young friends, left this world and ascended into heaven, to prepare a place for us; we had lost heaven, but He regained it for us. He again opened heaven to us, that pleasant, happy place, which will be our home for all eternity. As long as we live on this earth, we shall have to suffer many evils, sickness, and, finally, death, but in heaven we shall have everything; riches, happiness, enjoyment; we shall be inebriated with torrents of delight. The angels will be our companions, the saints will be there, and Mary and Jesus, too. We shall enjoy the happiness that God gives; we shall see God's omnipotence, with which He created heaven and earth; we shall see His wisdom and providence, by which all created things are governed; we shall see all the perfections and attributes of God clearly. We shall then see the Son of God in the Godhead, and Jesus in His divine person. We shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. We shall see God in the splendor of His glory on a throne of majesty; the centre and source of all the joy and brightness of heaven. If one little drop of that heavenly joy should fall from heaven into hell, it would sweeten the dreadful pains that are felt there.

But, my dear young friends, remember that if you wish to attain the possession of this happiness and to reign with Jesus, you must not look for your heaven here on this earth; those who enjoy this world will hardly enjoy heaven. Many wish to give full sway to their passions here, and then expect to have the reward of heaven also. But they are foolish, for if they indulge their passions here in this world, they defile their souls, and cannot enter heaven. If you want to get to heaven, keep the law of God, keep the commandments of the Church, observe the laws of the state, and you will have a right to its joys. Not only should we observe the commandments of God, but we must also join to it the imitation of Jesus Christ if we wish to possess the place which He has prepared for us in heaven. My dear children, Jesus Christ is the model that is set before us and we must imitate Him just as the artist does who has a model before him; he marks the outlines, and then faithfully follows every lineament, every particular feature with the most scrupulous exactness. Have you so far endeavored to model your lives on that of Jesus Christ? "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ," so that those who see you will say, "this is a faithful imitator of the divine Master." It is easy to recognize the original and the faithful copy.

Jesus, my dear young people, is the lily of the valley, the Immaculate Lamb. Here is a very important virtue. Do you possess that scrupulous purity of thought and action which renders man like the angels? Jesus was obedient, obedient even unto death. What are the inclinations which most young people follow? They are disobedient and rebellious, independent and loving liberty; they are constantly looking for pleasure, so that life loses the necessary seriousness which belongs to it. What a difference between their life and that of Christ! Your whole effort, my dear children, should be to imitate Jesus in the purity of His life, in His obedience to the divine will, and His respect for authority. Lead a mortified life, joyfully accepting all the trials you may meet with here on this earth, and then shall come true as St. Paul says, "As you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation."

A young man once came to St. Jerome and said he desired to abandon the world, to follow Jesus and to imitate Him. He was rich. St. Jerome voluntarily accepted him among his disciples, but he took him aside and gave him a little instruction. First he said, "Son, our life is a very hard one, as you see; we have no shoes, our clothes are coarse, we have to bear the cold and the heat in our houses; to endure abuses and hard words from people and violent temptations from the devil. I know not whether you can endure all this; you seem to have been brought up tenderly and in luxury." The young man answered, "Am I more delicate than Jesus was when He walked about without shoes, suffered hunger and thirst, cold and heat, many persecutions and at last death? He has promised to help me: had I twenty bodies I would sacrifice them all for His love."

Oh, my dear young people, if you will reflect seriously but for a moment, you will see that the imitation of Jesus Christ is a necessity. "I have given you an example that as I have done to you, so you do also." Jesus desires you all to be in paradise. Do you not wish to go there? Yes, certainly; everybody expects to go to heaven; it is the greatest insult even to intimate to your friend that there is a danger of his going to hell.

Do, then, as the Apostles did. When they saw Our Lord ascend and taken away from them their hearts followed Him because they had no interest except in the glory of Jesus and the spread of His kingdom on earth. They desired trials, torments, persecutions, even violent deaths in order to be the sooner with Christ. They disliked the world and all its vanities. Let us not put our love on the things of this earth; let us look up to heaven, where our home is. Let us suffer, let us labor hard, let us employ all our time in this life, and so deserve a heavenly reward.

Source: Sermons for the Children's Masses, Imprimatur 1900

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The Desecration of the Sunday is the Ruin of Religion

5/11/2025

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"See that you keep my sabbath: because it is a sign between me and you in your generation." EXODUS 31, 13.
We spoke the last time about the Sunday and its sanctification. And in sooth no commandment is more ancient than this one. It has been with us since the days of Paradise and will endure unto the threshold of eternity, yea into the very realm of Heaven.
No religious law is so universal, since it embraces all the peoples: the pagans, the Turks, the Jews and the Christians. It has withstood every vicissitude of time, every catastrophe of the world, for it is the pillar and the ground of the human race. All creatures praise their Creator, the heavens proclaim His glory and His omnipotence, and the hosts of Heaven give homage to God and sing the praises of the thrice holy God. In like manner the human race on earth is bound to praise and adore God its Lord and Creator, and to offer Him the sacrifice of its homage. For this reason God has reserved one day of the week for Himself and designated it as a day of rest and adoration for men. No commandment is so replete with promise as this one: "Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day."

And again no commandment brings with it such dire threats of punishment for time and eternity, for temporal and eternal perdition as this one. Hence Jews and Christians place it in the front rank of the commandments of God. And for the same reason it is of the first importance in all Christian codes of law. The captivity of the Jews, every calamity that befell them, the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and its profanation by the heathens all these had been threatened by God to avenge the desecration of the Lord's Day.

And now, my dearly beloved, has God changed in the New Law ? Or has the Sabbath, the Lord s Day, become less holy because the Apostles transferred it to Sunday in memory of Christ s Resurrection, of the Descent of the Holy Ghost, and to differentiate them from the Jews? Or are the Christians, upon whom God has lavished more graces and benefits than upon the Jews, less obliged to gratitude, fidelity and adoration ? Is the son of the Cross, the Christian, for whom Jesus bled upon the Cross, less obliged to live for the salvation of his soul and for the adoration and the love of God, than the bondsman of the Ancient Law, the Jew? or than the poor pagan who is deprived of the knowledge of the one true God? No, this commandment of God, "Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day," has a greater and holier importance for us, but its non-observance is also attended with more dreadful consequences for us.

The first of these consequences is the ruin of religion not only for the individual, but also for whole nations. I shall therefore speak today of his first consequence.
O Jesus, assist us with Thy grace!

1. What do we mean by religion? Religion is the bond and union of man with God. Religion is the tie that unites us with God. Now religion is not only for the individual but for all, and manifests itself in the public adoration of God, in the public profession of faith, in public worship; hence the desecration of the Sunday is the destruction of religion. God Himself has established the Sunday as the public sign of His Covenant with men. And in fact, what has ever been the war cry of those who rebelled against God? Was it open atheism, or professed sensuality, or the robbery of the Church s patrimony? Such crudity would be revolting to the majority of men, and would give too patent an evidence of their ultimate aim. No, they have inscribed on their banners what the Royal Prophet read upon them more than three thousand years ago: "Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land" (Ps. 73, 8).

Verily, the trend of evil is unmistakable; it does not always strike hard, but it strikes surely. As soon as a nation begins generally to desecrate the Sunday, it readily loses all knowledge and practice of religion, it offers up no prayers, it receives no sacraments, it renders no public act of worship. Experience teaches this, and it is a fact which is patent to everybody. Now, what happens to the individual Christian who is guilty of a constant disregard of the Lord's Day?

Let us begin with the children. They have learned a little catechism while they attended instructions, but if they fail to keep holy the Sunday they will forget the little they knew in a few short years. It is a matter of sad experience that many people of advanced years no longer know the Apostles Creed. What right have we then to expect such as these to know anything about the commandments of God, about the laws of the Church, or about the sacraments? Yea, it is not infrequent that we meet with people who know nothing about Jesus Christ. The desecration of the Sunday is the destruction of religion in the individual.

But let us assume that the adult has not forgotten the instruction which he received, but on the contrary knows all the truths of his holy religion. Even this knowledge will not suffice. If these truths are to be conducive to the salvation of the soul they must exercise a great influence on the heart and the will. We must therefore often meditate upon them, and have them frequently explained to us. The desecration of the Sunday renders this impossible, and all the influence that religion may possess, is entirely lost upon the mind and the will, but especially on the conduct of life. When will the servant, the laborer, the trades man find time to meditate on the truths of Heaven if those who are in a position to give the example fail to do their duty? Their failure can only be ascribed to a lack of good will. For all these the desecration of the Sunday is the destruction of religion and with it of every grace and of redemption.

The fact becomes all the more serious, for the sanctification of Sunday is the absolutely necessary condition of our union with God. "The Sabbath," says God to Moses in Exodus 31, 16, "is an everlasting covenant between me and the children of Israel, and a perpetual sign." Now what the Sabbath was in the Old Law, that and more is the Sunday in the New Law. Hence I shall put to each of you the same question that the persecutors put to the first Christians : "I do not ask you if you are a Christian, but I wish to know if you observe the Sunday?" From this we can see that in the sound judgment of the pagans the sanctification of the Sunday was the mark of the true Christian. The desecration of the Sunday is therefore a practical denial of the faith. There are many in our day who vaunt their Christianity and ever pretend that they are very pious Christians, but in reality they are nothing more than rebels against God.

2. I say: rebels against God. The desecration of the Sunday is an open revolt against God. And this with its dreadful consequences is a more terrible misfortune than all the lost battles of the world. Every seventh day a countless number of men of every condition in life place themselves in open rebellion against God; in their awful presumption they revolt against the most sacred commandment of God. The church bells call to service; they invite us all to come and adore and praise the Lord; they plead with us to assist at the Unbloody Sacrifice, to be united with Jesus the Saviour and the Judge of men. But deaf to every appeal are the ears of many, and everywhere and in every way we see a shameful disregard of the holiness of the day. The call of pleasure and of self interest is stronger than the call of duty. Can there be a greater crime than this? The desecration of the Sunday is the ruin of all religion.

3. But the desecration of the Sunday is more than an open revolt against God it is a frank profession of atheism and of disbelief in God. And this is the truest and most hateful characteristic of the Sunday profanation. There is no religion, not even a pagan one, that is without its public act of worship. Religion is intended not for one, but for all men without exception, and unites us all with God. Hence the whole nation must take part in a public act of worship, because thereby it makes an open profession of its faith and declares that it is a religious people. All the nations of the earth have known and acknowledged this: Christian, Jews, Turks and heathens; we do not find a single exception among the nations.

Public worship must, however, have its appointed time, its definite day, when all may unite in the same belief and in the same adoration a spectacle worthy of Heaven. God has established this day for the Christian peoples ; it is the Sunday. A nation, therefore, that does not sanctify the Sunday has become more degraded than the very pagans, for it openly professes its atheism, its disbelief in God. Or do you think that a few sentimental considerations, a few pious thoughts, a few banal phrases constitute true faith and a real worship of God? If you believe in God, honor Him, adore Him, and observe His commandments! Remember that the following is the most sacred of His mandates :
"See that you keep my sabbath: because it is a sign between me and you in your generation." The profanation of the Sunday is the destruction of religion in the individual as well as among the nations.

But what do we understand by the destruction of religion? It means the dissolution of our bond with God, with Christ the Redeemer, with the Holy Ghost the Sanctifier; it means the annihilation of redemption, of grace, of Christian virtue, of faith, hope and charity; it means the blotting out of piety, morality, honesty, faith and loyalty, of obedience and of every respect for authority. The desecration of the Sunday implies rebellion against God, selfishness, brute sensuality and the slipping of the leash to all the passions.

But the destruction of religion brings further evils in its train : might without right and justice, consideration without respect, constitutions without stability, laws without obedience, sacrifice without recompense, sorrows without consolation, despair, suicide, ferment and dissolution of every legitimate tie. Whence all conspirators against the established order of things inscribe on their banners : "Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land." For the profanation of the Sunday is the ruin of religion. Look upon
the condition of our public affairs, consider the menaces that the future holds for us: my language is not too severe.

If I have called the child by its name, if I have endeavored to show you the true characteristics of the desecration of the Sunday with its evil consequences, I have done so with the laudable purpose of strengthening and confirming you in the faithful fulfillment of your most sacred obligation as men and as Christians. Keep ye holy the Sunday. I thank God that you are animated with the desire of doing so. Your conduct is a proof of this. One thing, however, I ask of you: do not restrict the sanctification of the Sunday to your own selves. Give your children and all those who are dependent on you an opportunity of adoring and praising God on the Lord's Day. Never render yourselves guilty of preventing them from fulfilling their sacred obligations. You know now that faith and grace and salvation depend on this. May God grant that the magnificent promises which He has attached to the faithful observance of His Day may find their accomplishment in us both in time and in eternity.

May our Sunday on earth be changed to the unending Sunday in Heaven, whither we are called to adore and praise God with His angels and His saints through a blessed eternity. Amen.

Source: The Beauty and Truth of the Catholic Faith, Imprimatur 1916

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Crowning Mother with Roses

5/11/2025

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OF COURSE, I’ve told it often. But it won’t hurt one tiny little bit to tell it over again. It? What? Why, the beautiful legend about the rosary. Don’t you remember?
Once upon a time a saintly Sister was walking slowly to and fro in a convent garden. Oh, it was so quiet there and so lovely! Flowers bloomed on both sides of the graveled walk. The sweetest odors filled the balmy air. Birds sang softly.
     But the Sister was praying.
     What was she praying? Hail Marys fell from her lips. Again and again the dear greeting of the “Ave” was given by this consecrated bride of Christ to Christ’s blessed Mother, the spotless Virgin of virgins. All of a sudden Our Lady appeared before the Sister. And then—what do you think happened then? Each Hail Mary that fell from the Sister’s lips became a beautiful rose! And as the roses dropped on Mary’s heart, she took them up and wove them into a fragrant crown. When the crown was finished angel hands placed it on Mary’s soft, beautiful maiden hair.
     Now, do you know what those Hail Marys were that the Sister was saying? Ah, they were the rosary. They crowned Mary with a crown of the roses she likes best of all. The word “rosary,” you know, comes from the Latin word “rosarium,” which means a place planted with roses, a rose garden.
     First we’ll call that holy nun Sister Rose. Then we’ll say to darling Mary, “Mother, we’ll crown you often with roses, just as Sister Rose did.”
“Queen of the most holy rosary, pray for us!”

Source: Tell Us Another, Imprimatur 1928

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What the Sanctification of Sunday Means to the Christian

5/4/2025

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"I rejoice at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord." Ps. 121,

1. How beautiful is the Christian ecclesiastical year, adorned with a bright garland of splendid feasts feasts of our Lord, of our Blessed Lady and of the great saints ! The feast of Christmas, when we celebrate the anniversary of Our Divine Saviour s birth, is replete with emotion, and causes us the deepest joy. On this day the world of Christian children joyfully greets the Divine Infant, and in Him is glad of its own redemption and grace. The world of the poor raises eyes and hands to the Divine Child and feels itself strengthened and consoled in its poverty. The sick and the suffering find consolation and strength in the Divine Child, the rich receive from Him the impulse to be merciful, and all Christians rejoice because through Him they have all become the children of God. The days of Holy Week are solemn and striking. They are the days when we are vividly reminded of the Passion of Our Divine Lord and Saviour. The days of Easter are days of glory for Our Divine Saviour and days of joy for us, for the Resurrection of Christ is a pledge of our own resurrection to a better life. Equally glorious for the Saviour and consoling for us is the feast of His Ascension into Heaven, for we know that Jesus, the Just One, is now our Intercessor before the throne of His heavenly Father. The feast of Pentecost reminds us of the fact that the Holy Ghost guides and rules the Church in all truth, and sanctifies and comforts and assists us during our whole life. How beautifully the feasts of Our Blessed Lady fit in between all these; how they gladden mind and heart ! The Annunciation, the Assumption, the Nativity and the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Lady. And again we have the days of the glorious Apostles SS. Peter and Paul, of St. Stephen, St. John the Baptist and of all the others who, as faithful servants of the Lord, followed Him on earth in joy and in sorrow, and now possess with Him the eternal glories of Heaven, whence they point out to us the way to attain the same happiness.

Yes, truly, the Church is the place where, more than elsewhere, we obtain the grace and the mercy of God. It is the place of our regeneration, of our sanctification and of our redemption. It is the house of God, where God abides among men and where men may converse with Him. It is the abiding-place of the holiest mysteries, the house of rest and of peace, where all Christians, great and small, high and low, rich and poor, are the family of God, one heart and one soul. Hence it represents to us the paradise of Heaven and the gate of Heaven.

Today as yesterday, and during all the ages, the Christian in church is the disciple of the Lord. There he hears the words and the teachings of God, as once did the Apostles and the Jewish people. We find there the poor, the sick, the sinner, who have come to the Saviour to implore His mercy and to hear the sweet words: "Be of good heart, thy faith hath saved thee!" In the church the faithful come to the Saviour, as once did the Jews in the desert, or rather as the Apostles did at the Last Supper, to be nourished by Him unto life eternal. It is there that they are blessed by Him; it is there that they are the witnesses of His life, His teachings, His miracles, His Passion, His Resurrection and His Ascension. Hence the church is truly the house of God and of His faithful, and the commandment to sanctify the Sunday is a great and a decisive one for time and for eternity.

It is my purpose to speak once more on this topic, and to point out to you today what the sanctification of the Sunday means for the Christian. Would that all those within the hearing of my voice might take these words to heart, since everything depends on the sanctification of the Sunday faith, grace, religion, the welfare of the family, the salvation of the soul, a Christian death and eternal happiness.

O Jesus, assist us with Thy grace!

1. Sunday is the Lord s Day, hence a day when man should rest from his ordinary work and devote his time entirely to the service of God, to adoring and glorifying Him. Men set aside a definite time for all important transactions, the week, the day, yea, the very hour is predetermined. The courts of law set a definite day for the cases that are to come before them, the employer decides when work is to begin and when it is to end, the mother sets the time for the meals, the teacher for the school, the farmer for his plowing, the huntsman for the chase. Is God alone to be denied the right of deciding on a definite time, a definite day for the holiest and most important action that man can and must accomplish on earth? Yea, my dearly beloved, since all men are bound to give to God this public and outward adoration, God Himself was obliged to establish this day for the benefit of man, so that all could assemble at the same time to take part in Divine Service. If God had left to man the designation of this day, nothing but the greatest disorder and conflict and discord would have resulted. Fathers, teachers, mothers, employers cannot leave the choice of the time that is to be devoted to work, to the school and to household affairs to the servants or the children with out having to fear the greatest disorder; they themselves must fix the time.

God has ordered the sanctification of the Sunday for the welfare of man, for the preservation of faith and of religion. It is on Sunday that the entire Christian world is assembled to praise, thank and adore God, and it is on this day that it is united with the angels and the saints in jubilation and adoration. On Sunday the Christian world becomes a grand, splendid congregation. It must be a spectacle worthy of God when on the same day in all parts of the inhabited globe, from the rising of the sun unto the setting thereof, the Christian world with one voice honors and praises God the Father for the work of His creation; when with one voice it honors and thanks God the Son for the Redemption, when with one voice it adores God the Holy Ghost and honors His grace. It must be a grand spectacle, worthy of God, when on the same day in all the churches of the earth the Christian world with one hand offers the Immaculate Sacrifice to the Triune God; when as with one heart it believes and hopes and loves; when it gathers as the great family of God for the same act of worship, and when they all feel that they are the children of God, the heirs of Heaven, Christian and brethren.

This is marvelously well expressed in the Preface or the hymn of praise of the Mass, where the priest summons the faithful to give praise to God in the following words: "Lift up your hearts!" After having received the answer : "We have raised them to God," he continues the hymn to God the Almighty and Eternal : "Through Jesus Christ, through whom the Angels and the Archangels praise His Majesty, the Dominations adore Him, the Powers tremble, the heavens and the Virtues of Heaven and the blessed Seraphim are united in joyous exultation. Permit us, we beseech Thee, to join our voices with theirs to proclaim in suppliant confession: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Sabbath." Yea, even the whole of inanimate creation joins in this hymn of praise: "The heavens show forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands" (Ps. 18, 2). "O Lord our Lord, how-admirable is thy name in the whole earth! "(Ps. 8, 2).

The whole world with its countless creatures is an immense organ, that sounds the praises of the Creator throughout the entire universe. But Jesus Christ is like the master that plays this organ. He is the High Priest Who accompanies it with His voice and thus only gives it the true expression of the praise of God. It is also through Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man, that all our adoration, all our praise, all our good works, every act of gratitude, every tear, every Christian suffering arises to God. He, as our High Priest, unites all our prayers and sacrifices to His prayers and Sacrifice, and so offers them to God His heavenly Father. It is not without reason that the Sunday is so great a day, and it is with truth that it is called the Lord's Day, for through Jesus Christ it unites the whole Christian world, yea even the universe, for the praise and adoration of God. It is not without reason that the commandment of keeping holy the Sunday is of such importance, and that on its proper fulfillment depend time and eternity, the preservation of religion, the welfare of families, the blessing of God and the consciousness of our heavenly vocation
as Christians and heirs of Heaven.

3. For this reason the desecration of the Sunday is also so great a crime against God and against ourselves. But what must not have happened in such Christians before they reached the point of desecrating the Sunday? Before they sank so low as to deny God the adoration that is His due, and to exclude themselves from the circle of the faithful? If such men, I no longer call them Christians, if such men, moreover, consider it a disadvantage and a waste of time to join their brethren in thanking, praising and adoring God the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, what can or shall we think of them? What crust of ice must not have formed around their hearts, and what dread mysteries of apostasy from God, of blindness and passion does not this condition of affairs reveal?

Thou, O man, art a sacrilegious wretch ! By thy profanation of the Sunday thou robbest God of His Day, of the Lord's Day! By thine own act thou cuttest thyself away from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. By thine own act thou executest the sentence of exclusion from Holy Church, from the communion of the saints and from the company of the saved! The leaf that falls from the tree does not fall of its own volition, but through thine own fault thou hast fallen away from the tree of life, of redemption. The worm that thou tramplest under foot does not die by its own act, but thou diest because of thine own fault, voluntarily thou tramplest under foot the salvation of thy soul! The leaf and the worm glorified God by their existence, but man dishonors Him, and by the desecration of the Sunday he becomes a criminal against God and against himself.

4. Yea verily, my dearly beloved, the Sunday and its sanctification has an extraordinary significance for each and every Christian. By keeping holy the Sunday every human being fulfills the most sacred obligation of its existence on earth, namely, to serve God, to honor and adore Him, in order to become eternally happy. For this reason so many of God's favors are attached to the celebration of Sunday, and the house of God, where we gather to perform our duties, offers the soul so much consolation and so much grace and joy.
Most beautiful are the words of the Epistle read at the Mass proper to the feast of the dedication of a church: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more" (Apoc. 21, 4). And though this promise will find its full accomplishment in Heaven, it still is partially fulfilled in our churches, which are an image of Heaven and the vestibule to eternal happiness. God is indeed ever ready to dry our tears, to assuage sorrow and pain, if we come with confidence to His house and there beg Him for mercy. How many of you, my dearly beloved, have already made this happy experience! How many Christian fathers and how many Christian mothers have prayed and wept in church for their children, and God has heard their prayer and dried their tears. How many an anxious troubled soul has come to church and there pleaded for help with streaming eyes, and God has allayed its fears and swept away its sorrows. How many a child's prayer has risen there for the safety of its parents, and God has listened to its prayer. And who will count the sin-laden multitudes, who finding peace nowhere, have come with contrite heart like the Prodigal Son to beg the Father of all mercies to press them once again to His paternal bosom and grant them peace and grace and joy of soul? In the church stand the baptismal font, the confessionals, the altars, the tabernacle, the communion railing, bearing eloquent witness to the mercy and the bounty of God. All these have served us from the earliest days of our childhood, and not only us but also our parents and our ancestors.

For them also the waters were taken from the baptismal font, to cleanse them from sin and to make of them Christians and children of God. For them, too, the doors of the tabernacle opened to nourish them for life eternal. The confessionals have also heard their
acknowledgment of sin, their contrition and purpose of amendment, and if their confession was a worthy one, they were dismissed therefrom consoled and re-established in the grace of God. And from the pulpit our parents and forefathers have received many a
salutary lesson and well-meant warning, and if they received them cheerfully and remained true to them they have good reason to be glad of it in a happy eternity.

They have gone before us across the threshold of time into the realms of eternity. For them and for all those who have lived in the long ago, the church has been the place where they experienced in fullest measure the goodness and the mercy of God. It is there that they laid the ground-work of a life that was Christian and pleasing to God, yea, it is from those hallowed precincts that they drew all that finally brought them to eternal glory. And so for us too there is and can not be another place than the church. When they died they were brought once more to the church, and so we too in our turn, when we are dead, shall be brought to the church for the last time. The church is for every Christian the gate of Heaven, the place where he shall find either eternal happiness or eternal damnation, according to the words of the old proverb, "He who hastens to church, hastens toward Heaven ; he who goes slowly to church, goes slowly to Heaven ; he who does not go to church, will not go to Heaven." We can readily comprehend the reason for this. It is in the church that Our Divine Saviour wishes to be surrounded by His own on earth, just as He is surrounded by the angels and the saints in Heaven. It is especially in church that He wishes to be loved, praised and adored; it is here that He extends His arms in blessing over us, that He makes us sharers in His merits and His graces, so that we may finally surround Him forever in Heaven, see Him, not merely under the appearance of bread, but face to face, so that we may celebrate an unending Sunday with Him, and continue with unalloyed joy with the angels and the saints to sing the eternal hymn of praise to the Triune God.

Thrice-blessed, therefore, the Christian to whom the church was a real home, who paid it frequent and devout visits, who let himself be blessed by his Divine Saviour, who often received the sacraments, who gladly listened to the word of God and who kept holy the Sunday. And when after death he is brought to the church for the last time for the purpose of receiving Christian burial, his soul will take a fond fare well from the church where he felt himself so much at home and contented : Fare thee, well, O church, thou gate of Heaven, thou image of the heavenly paradise, fare thee well! I shall pass over a better threshold, I shall enter the paradise of Heaven, the eternal house of God. Farewell, ye friendly altars where I have been so happy when assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, and whence I received such heavenly fruits! Farewell, thou communion table, where so often in childlike yearning I received the Body of my Saviour! Fare well, ye confessionals, where I have shed many bitter tears over my sins; O blessed tears, blessed contrition and confession, that obtained for me the mercy and the grace of God, fare ye well ! Farewell, thou pulpit, from which I have received so many saving lessons and encouragement! Farewell, ye servants of the Lord, who meant it so well with me, may God reward you for your trouble! Fare ye well, my Christian brothers and sisters, who so often edified me by your devotion! Farewell, all ye beautiful feasts that I loved to celebrate in church. I am now going to celebrate an everlasting feast, forever will I rejoice with the angels and the saints, eternally will I abide with God my Saviour, for he who hastens to church, hastens toward Heaven.

5. But he who does not go to church will not go to Heaven. It is a sad thing to note that there is a large number of men and of women who no longer even know where their church is, of what the church reminds them, who never keep holy the Sunday and who seldom or never receive the sacraments. They too will be brought to the church at the end of their days. How will their poor soul feel when even the church will rise in accusation against them? They will then cry out in pain and sorrow: Farewell thou hallowed abode of God's love and mercy that I contemned! Farewell, ye altars, tabernacle, and confessionals : O had I but a half hour's time to receive the sacraments, my eternal salvation would be secure! Farewell, ye good and faithful Christians, how happy I should be if I had followed your example, and had not looked upon you as fools and on myself as wise ! Farewell paradise, thou heavenly elysium, thou everlasting house of God, thou realm of happiness, farewell, for I shall never see thee ; another lot is mine, an abode of unending misery, for he who does not go to church will not go to Heaven.

May God grant, my dearly beloved, that you may always love to go to church, love to sanctify the Sundays and the holy-days. "I rejoiced at the things that were said to me : We shall go into the house of the Lord" (Ps. 121, i). Moreover the house of God reminds us of the dignity of our own soul. St. Paul tells us that we are the temples and the abiding-place of the Holy Ghost. Our soul was solemnly consecrated by holy Baptism. The foundation of this temple is the virtue of faith which was infused into us in holy Baptism. The spire is hope, which raises us to God, the high altar is charity, and the sacrifice, pure, holy, and pleasing to God, that we are to offer up to Him, is our very self with body and soul, and we do so when we give ourselves to the service of God in joy and in pain. The pillars upon which this spiritual temple of God rests, are the Christian virtues; the arch which extends over the temple of the soul, is the gracious Providence of God. And as long as we observe the commandments of God and of His Holy Church, as long as we remain in the state of grace and retain the innocence of our soul or have regained them by contrition and penance so long are we the temples of the Holy Ghost and God will willingly abide in us. Then the celebration of the Sunday will also be a feast of the soul and the prototype of the everlasting Sunday, which we are called to celebrate in Heaven. Hence let us ever rejoice when we are told : "We shall go into the house of the Lord," now on earth and one day in Heaven. Amen.

Source: The Beauty and Truth of the Catholic Church, Imprimatur 1916

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