St Mary Catholic High School - Marathon Yearbook (Marietta, OH)

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1926 The Marathon llllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllIlllllllllllllllIlllllllIlllllllllllllllIlllllllIlllllllIIllllulllllllllIlllllllllIlllllllIlllllllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllnllll The Apostles taught this doctrine and they taught and wrote what they had heard from the lips of their Divine Master. St. Paul incorporates into his first Epistle to the Corinthians: ll-23-a noteworthy and notable account of the Institution, and as a concluding reflection, he warns all that would approach to receive the body and blood of Christ, that they must approach worthily, lest they be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, for 'the that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not disceming the body of the Lord. He thereby teaches the Real Presence of Christ, under the form of bread and wine, because he accepts the words of institution in their proper and literal sense. On this point, the tradition of the Fathers of the Church is unmistakable, for very often among them we find such expressions as these: Before the consecration there are bread and wineg after the mystical words are pronounced there are no longer bread and wine, but the body and blood of Christ. The bread is changed, is trans- muted, passes over into the body of Christ. St. G1'egory Nazienzen says: Change these offerings, O Lord, into the body and blood of our Liberator. St. John Damascene: If the word of the Lord is living and efficacious, and He hath made all things, why has He not the power to make the bread His body and the wine His blood? St. Cyril of Jerusalem says: After the movement of the Holy Spirit, the bread becomes the body of Christ. From the pages of the Old and New Testament we glean many foreshadowings of the Blessed Eucharist, showing it is possible. Almighty God took care to prepare the people and to dispose the world for believing in this most majestic mystery by doing, on different occasions, in a visible manner, what He does invisibly here. By the hand of Moses He changed the waters of Egypt into blood, He changed the rod of Aaron into a serpent. The miracle of Cana shows the power of Jesus to transform sub- stances, equal to the power which created them. The healing of the officer at Capharnaum from a distance, proves that the word of Jesus is mighty and distance does not alter its power. The multiplication of bread shows His creative power: His walking on the waters and calming the storm, His absolute authority over nature, the curing of the man sick of the palsy at Bethsaida declares that the most inveterate disease cannot resist Him, the man born blind attests that Jesus is the origin of light, and the resurrection of Lazarus proves Him the Master of life and death. At the marriage feast of Cana He changed the substance of water into the substance of wine and He did this in a visible manner, which shows that it is perfectly easy for Him to change one thing into another, when and where He pleases. It is a noteworthy fact that the very first miracle whereby our dear Lord manifested Himself to the world, had for its object the changing of one substance into another. The wine fails and Jesus will satisfy the desires of the guests by changing the ignoble into the noble, the water into wineg by one simple action our blessed Lord gave the water a higher substance. If the marriage of Cana was so great and so wo1'thy of the power that made it, what, let me ask, shall we find, into which the wine itself shall be changed? There is only one change possible, the wine itself must be made a living How from the Heart of our Divine Lord, only thus shall the feast of the Last Supper surpass that of the marriage of Cana. Such, my dear friends, is a brief outline of the doctrine of the Blessed Eucharist as it appeals for the assent of every true believer. We have seen it is the chief means whereby Almighty God has made the Incarnation a permanent reality for the children of men. How great a void there would be in the Christian life had not our Divine Redeemer blessed His Church with so great a Sacrament. On our part it calls for firm and unwavering belief. Our faith ought to be like that of the Apostles, whom when Jesus interrogated: Will you also go away? contented themselves with answering in the words of St. Peter: Lord, to whom shall 49

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The Marathon 1926 eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting lifeg and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. I-Ie that eateth this bread, shall live forever. After this many of His disciples went back and walked no more with him. QSt. John 6:47 and following verses.J Accepting the words of promise in their literal and exact meaning, and granting the divinity of Christ, who uttered them, we, on our part, must readily agree that the fulfillment will infallibly follow, unless we wish to question the infinite truth and fidelity of God Himself. The Catholic Church, speaking with authority through the Council of Trent, teaches that in the Most Holy Eucharist the whole substance of bread and the whole substance of wine are changed into the substance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ-the species or appearances of bread and wine alone remaining. The operation whereby this is eHected, the Church has aptly and definitely named transubstantiation, or a change of one substance into another. By transubstantiation is meant a miraculous and astounding change of the elements of bread and wine into the sacred Body and precious Blood of Jesus Christ by the words of consecration in Holy Mass,-a prodigy efected by divine omnipotence through the ministry of validly ordained priests. To understand the real meaning of these terms, which even a child meets in his catechism, we must observe that in all bodily objects about us there are two things to be carefully noted and distinguished,-the outward form or sensible appearances which they exhibit to the senses when applied, such as figure, color, and taste, and the inward matter or substance, in which all these sensible qualities reside. These sensible qualities are the proper objects of our knowledge, of which we are absolutely certain, on account of the testimony of our senses, but the inward matter or substance, or the nature and structure of the thing are imperceptible to us and hidden from our eyes. Now the Church teaches that this inward matter or substance of the bread and wine is, at the consecration during Holy Mass, entirely taken away by the almighty power of the great, eternal God and changed into the substance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, who is substituted in its place, so that now Jesus Christ, is present instead of the bread and wine, exhibiting or showing Himself to us under the very same appearances and outward qualities which the bread and wine had before the change. Such is the doctrine of the Church, which is supported by the unanimous testimony and evident authority of Holy Scripture and Apostolic tradition. The Evangelist Matthew 126:26-293 tells us that Jesus, on the night before He died, while at supper with the Twelve, took bread into His holy and venerable hands, and having given thanks, he blessed and broke and gave to them, saying: Take ye and eat, this is my body. In like manner, having taken the chalice He gave thanks and blessed and gave to them and said: Drink ye all of this, this is my blood of the new and eternal testa- ment, which shall be shed for many unto the remission of sins. Taking these words as they are in themselves, we must admit that there can be no doubt as to their meaning, for when Christ took b1'ead into His hands, it was then bread, but when He gave it to the desciples He expressly declared that what He then gave them was His body, for by declaring it to be His body, He made it His body, seeing that it is wholly impossible that His words be false. Consequently, since what before consecration was bread, became after consecration the body of Christ, the bread must undoubtedly have been changed into the body of Christ, and as is evident to our senses that no change has taken place in the outward form or sensible qualities, the substance of the bread must have been changed. 48

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The Marathon 1926 we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, fSt. John 6:68 and 691 thus deserving by their confession to obtain the grace of final perseverance in His blessed company. Exactly the same contrast that existed at Capharnaum nearly two thousand years ago between the Jews and Christians, exists today between Catholics and those without the Church-our non-Catholic friends. Those who disbelieve in the Real Presence ask such questions: How can this be? How can the body of Christ be present in such a small particle? How can the body of Christ be present in heaven and on earth in so many places at one and the same time? How can bread be substantially changed into the body and wine into the blood, and the external form remain the same? This is the fatal how pronounced by the Jews and those unfaithful disciples whom our Lord suffered to depart from Him, when they asked: How can this man give us His flesh to eat? Good Catholics imitate the Apostles by despising these pretended difficulties which indeed are as nothing to divine omnipotence, and they give full credit to Him who has the words of eternal life. Our belief ought to show itself-practically by the frequent use we will make of a means of grace so holy and miraculous. With what respect and reverence and love ought we not come into the Presence of Christ on the Altar: and with what devotion, love and fervor should we not attend and assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as often as possible, when this wonderful mystery of Love takes place. Ought we not approach Him as often as we are permitted? Truly, my dear friends, we may apply to this great Sacrament the words of the Royal Prophet: He hath made a memorial of all His wonderful works. He that is merciful and kind hath given food to those who fear Him. Amen. He is not here, for He is risen, as He said. fMattlzew 2876.1 Grace be unto you from Jesus Christ, Who is the First-Begotten of the dead. lActs 1:5.j The sorrow and sadness of Good Friday have burst forth into the solemnity and beautiful grandeur of Easter Sunday. And how very wonderfully did Almighty God, in His omnipotent and divine Providence arrange it all! And Joseph taking the body wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth. And laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewd out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument and went his way. fMatthew 28:59 and 60.1 And the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came together to Pilate, saying: Sir, we have remembered, that that seducer said, while he was yet alive: After three days I will arise again. Command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day: lest perhaps his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people: He is risen from the dead: and the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate saith to them: You have a guard: go, guard it as you know. And they departing, made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting guards. And in the end of the sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the Hrst day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow. And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead men. And the angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid. And going quickly, tell ye his disciples that he is risen: and behold he will go before you into Galilee: there you shall see him. Lo, I have foretold it to you. And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples. And behold Jesus met 50 l .