ncient cathedrals,
or any of our magnificent modern churches, and admired the varied
ornaments or artistic wonders therein; if you have ever been present at
our religious solemnities and witnessed the gravity of our ceremonies,
the beauty of the chants, the piety of the adorers; if you have
reflected upon the spirit of sacrifice and self-forgetfulness so common
to Catholicism and so unknown elsewhere--that spirit which moves
thousands of the young of both sexes to forsake the world and devote
themselves to the care of the sick, the education of the young, and to
other works of charity--if you have witnessed these things and reflected
upon them, you can not but have asked yourself why are such gorgeous
temples built; why such magnificent works of art as displayed on the
altar, the sacred vessels, paintings, and other things in the church?
What prompts such sacrifices? And the answer will be, because the church
is the edifice where God in the holy Mass daily renews the prodigies of
His mercy, and it can never be worthy of His love; because God, who
sacrificed Himself for us, is ever with us in the Blessed Sacrament of
the altar, to soothe our cares and answer our prayers. Yes, the grand
feature of the Catholic Church is the holy altar. On the altar is the
tabernacle for the residence of the Lord of Hosts.

There our "hidden God," Jesus in the Eucharist, dwells night and day in
the midst of His people, saying to them with words of love, "Come to me
all you that are burdened and heavy laden, and I will refresh you."

The Mass, independent of its sacrificial aspect, consists of the best
prayers ever uttered. The priest begins by making the sign of the cross,
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This
sign is an epitome of the Christian's belief in the unity and trinity of
God and in the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ. After making the
sign of the cross he repeats the 42d psalm, "Judge me, O God," and then
makes an humble confession of his sins to God. He ascends the altar and
nine times asks God to have mercy on him, _Kyrie Eleison_; then follows
the beautiful hymn the shepherds heard the angels singing at the birth
of the Saviour, _Gloria in Excelsis Deo_.

The prayer of the feast, the epistle and gospel follow, and then the
sermon in the vernacular is usually preached. After the Nicene Creed,
_Credo in Unum Deum_, the priest makes the offering of bread and wine.
He then washes the tip