Old Testament and by Jesus
Christ and His apostles in the New Law.

I. Ceremonies Necessary to Divine Worship

THE angels are pure spirits. They have no body. Consequently the worship
they render God is spiritual, interior.

The heavenly bodies are not spiritual, but entirely material substances.
They render God a sort of external worship according to the words of the
prophet Daniel, "Sun and moon bless the Lord, . . . stars of heaven
bless the Lord. Praise and exalt Him forever." Man has a soul, a
spiritual substance similar to the heavenly bodies. He should,
therefore, honor God by the twofold form of worship, interior and
exterior.

"God is a spirit; and they that adore Him must adore Him in spirit and
in truth" (_John_ iv. 24).

From these words of the beloved disciple we are not to conclude that
interior worship is prescribed as the only essential, and exterior
worship condemned. True piety must manifest itself externally. Man
naturally manifests his feelings by outward signs and ceremonies.

The Catholic Church recognizes that man has a heart to be moved as well
as an intellect to be enlightened. She enlightens the intellect by her
good books, sermons, etc.; and she moves the heart by the grandeur of
her ceremonies.

If any one doubts that God considers ceremonies necessary to divine
worship, let him read the books of Leviticus and Exodus. Almost the
whole of these books treats of the rites and ceremonies used by the then
chosen people of God in their public worship.

The 26th, 27th, and 28th chapters of Exodus prescribe the form of the
tabernacle and its appurtenances, the size of the altar and the oil for
the lamps, and the holy vestments which Aaron and his sons were to wear
during the performance of the public ceremonies.

The book of Leviticus treats more particularly of the sacrifices, rites,
and ceremonies of the priests and Levites.

"And the Lord called Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of the
testimony, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say
to them: The man among you that shall offer to the Lord a sacrifice of
the cattle, that is, offering victims of oxen and sheep, if his offering
be a holocaust and of the herd, he shall offer a male, without blemish,
at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, to make the Lord
favorable to him. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim,
and it shall be acceptable and help to his expiation" (_Lev._ i. 1_ e