ractice of all antiquity it mutilates the rite by
omitting the sacred unction. It retains the shadow without the substance.

It raises, indeed, its hands over the candidates; but they are not the
anointed hands of Peter or John, or Cyprian or Augustine, to whom it is
said: "Whatsoever thou shalt bless, let it be blessed; whatsoever thou
shalt sanctify, let it be sanctified."(365) Their hands were lifted up
with authority and clothed with supernatural power; but the hands of the
Episcopal Bishops are spiritually paralyzed by the suicidal act of the
Reformers, and they expressly disclaim any sacramental efficacy in the
rite which they administer.

Chapter XXI.

THE HOLY EUCHARIST.

Among the various dogmas of the Catholic Church there is none which rests
on stronger Scriptural authority than the doctrine of the Real Presence of
Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. So copious, indeed, and so clear are
the passages of the New Testament which treat of this subject that I am at
a loss to determine which to select, and find it difficult to compress
them all within the compass of this short chapter.

The Evangelists do not always dwell upon the same mysteries of religion.
Their practice is rather to supplement each other, so that one of them
will mention what the others have omitted or have touched in a cursory
way. But in regard to the Blessed Eucharist the sacred writers exhibit a
marked deviation from this rule. We find that the four Evangelists,
together with St. Paul, have written so explicitly and abundantly on this
subject that one of them alone would be amply sufficient to prove the
dogma without taking them collectively.

These five inspired writers gave the weight of their individual testimony
to the doctrine of the Eucharist because they foresaw--or rather the Holy
Ghost, speaking through them, foresaw--that this great mystery, which
exacts so strong an exercise of our faith, and which bids us bow down our
"understanding unto the obedience of Christ,"(366) would meet with
opposition in the course of time from those who would measure the
infallible Word of God by the erring standard of their own judgment.

I shall select three classes of arguments from the New Testament which
satisfactorily demonstrate the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed
Sacrament. The first of these texts speaks of the promise of the
Eucharist, the second of its institution and the third of its u