The Blessed Sacrament I

Hoc Est Enim Corpus Meum

It is rather taxing on the mind on how precisely I should approach this subject. My readers, many of them, will read it, acknowledge what is being written, nod in agreement, and move on to some other study. Such too would be my mode. However, some might question it. Might even disagree with its thesis. Along with those few sympathizers who of course sympathize but cannot come to the same conclusion.

We should want to speak to them. Not as enemies but as friends, our friends, and express honesty. This is written for them.

As of late, I have been doing, with pleasure, a reading of The Devotion to The Sacred Heart by Father John Croiset. I must confess that upon reading it, it does not fail in stirring a kind of desire for God like no other. Of course, the book was published in 1691. Europe had of yet learned that God was dead and knew that God in fact resurrected from the dead. A fact it has since forgotten.

The book was written at the request of a nun named Margret Mary Alocoque. However, if her claims are credible, then the book was not written upon her request but by Our Saviour himself.

A rather strange claim to be sure, but Margaret Mary was a very strange woman. So, ardent was her desire to suffer like Christ on the cross she would clamp iron chains upon her wrists that would do nothing but cut deep into them. To remove them, her skin had to be removed as it had grown around the clamps. A rather gruesome scene, strips of flesh being removed to be freed.

Yes, very strange indeed. At least, to us, she would be. A French nun in chains having direct conversations with Jesus Christ and then claiming that that same Christ wants man to know his sacred heart. Truly, a madwoman. Nonetheless, the circumstances of her life and death are rather curious.

In letters to Father John Croiset, Margret Mary is urging him to write the book. “If you knew the ardent desire which urges me to make the sacred Heart of my Sovereign known and glorified, you would not refuse to undertake this work. If I am not mistaken, He wishes you to do so.” And he does. In 1690 he starts the work and upon hearing the news, Margret Mary begins foretelling a sister that she,” … shall certainly die this year in order not to be an obstacle to the great fruits which my savior intends to draw from a book on devotion to his sacred heart which Father X. will get printed as soon as possible.”

At the end of the year, she died. Just as she said she would. The book was printed and quickly spread throughout Europe like wildfire.

Now, do I believe anything that I have shared so far? Well to say I do would be foolish. But then again, many holy men and women have been described as fools for Christ. To believe some French nun holed up in some convent is or was having conversations with God sounds like a story conjured up by a cult, to be frank. And considering that Margaret Mary is now considered a saint, well there probably is one dedicated to her. But I will say this, by the end of her life, she made it known That Christ desired that the King of France consecrate France to His Sacred Heart… and it never happened. No monarch does this for 100 years, then in 1793 Louie XVI and his wife gets guillotined. It’s almost biblical how these events align themselves.

So, what is this all about? Is this about Margret Mary? Is it about France? No. Nobody cares about France because France isn’t real. You can quote me on that. France is just this magical place that doesn’t exist. It’s kind of like Atlantis or Ukraine.

But jokes aside, what I truly wish to write about is the Blessed Sacrament.

and considering the eucharist is a large part of this devotion I felt it necessary to not only expound upon it but all 7 Sacraments.

How shall we begin? Perhaps it is best to first explain what a sacrament even is, then proceed to explain each Sacrament as is needed.

Sacraments are common to all the faithful, and these sacraments, particularly Baptism, the door, as it were, by which we are admitted into the church.

The word sacrament has been used to express the obligation which arises from an oath, pledging to the performance of some service, and hence the oath by which soldiers promise military service to the state has been called a military sacrament. However, when it is used by the Church Fathers in theological subjects, the word sacrament is used to describe a sacred thing that lies concealed. The Greeks used the word mystery to express the same thing.

“That he might make known to us the mystery of his will.”-Eph. 1:9

“Great is the mystery of godliness.”-1Tim. 3:16

In Latin, the word mystery would be Sacramentum.

The definition of the word? Well, I agree with Augustine. “a sacrament,” he says, “is a sign of a sacred thing.” Bernard also states, “a sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible grace, instituted for our justification.”

We can understand these sacraments in two ways and both as sensible objects (objects that can be understood via the 5 senses). One is invented precisely to serve as a sign; others are established not for signifying something else, but for their own sake alone. For the latter, this can apply to things like words, flags, military standards, and even money.

Augustine writes, “a sign, besides what it presents to the senses, is a medium through which we arrive at the knowledge of something else.”

A sacrament, therefore, is to be numbered among those things which have been instituted as signs. It is there precisely to make known to us God’s invisible power being accomplished in our souls. So, baptism, for instance, which is administered by external ablution, along with solemn words, signifies that by the power of the Holy Ghost all stains and defilement of sin are inwardly washed away; while at the same time, the bodily washing accomplishes in the soul that which it signifies.

In scripture, particularly in Romans, Paul states: “and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of justice of the faith.”-Rom. 4:2

In another place: “All we who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death.” Rom. 6:3

Words that justify the inference that Baptism signifies that “we are buried together with him by baptism into death.” Rom. 6:4

Now the question that may be asked is “why?” “Why does God institute sacraments?” Well, to quote John Chrysostom: “If man were not clothed with a material body, these good things would have been presented to him naked and without any covering; but as the soul is joined to the body, it was absolutely necessary to employ sensible things in order to assist in making them understand.” We are so constituted by nature that no one can aspire to mental or intellectual knowledge unless through the medium of sensible objects. God gives us these things to show his children that he is in fact working on and acting on our souls.

Paul writes,” With the heart, we believe unto justice; but with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” Rom. 10:10

By approaching sacraments, we make a public profession of our faith in the sight of men. Thus, when we approach Baptism, we openly profess our belief that, by virtue of its salutary waters in which we are washed, the soul is spiritually cleansed.

Understand this. The sensible thing which enters into the definition of a sacrament is in fact twofold. Every sacrament consists of two things, "matter,” which is called the “elements,” and “form,” which is commonly called “the word.” “The word",” as Augustine puts it, “is joined to the element, and it becomes a sacrament.” By the words which constitute the form, and which are addressed to the ear.

Both the matter and form of the sacrament are expressly mentioned by Paul in Eph. 5:25-26- “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her; that he might sanctify her by the washing of water with the word.

And with that, I think we now have a suitable understanding of what a sacrament is. Now, we shall list all the sacraments. The number of sacraments is 7 as is shown in the scriptures.

• The first is Baptism. It can be described as the gate to all the other sacraments, and by which we are born again unto Christ.

Now I expect the reader to know the definition, element, words, etc. of this sacrament since I used it as my main example to explain what a sacrament was. But knowing some readers will have questions on some issues on baptism, I will try to answer them in brief.

The issue of sprinkling upon the head:

If I may be so blunt, there are no rivers, lakes, or ponds in a desert. This practice has been used since the time of the Apostles. As was instructed to the faithful to do by the Church leadership in places where natural running water was a rarity. If you desire to read more on the faithful instructions of the early church, you can read the Didache which was written around A.D. 40 and was popular in Syria. Please do not use Amazon services to obtain it.

On the issue of infant baptism:

Let us consider the following, if baptism is the door through which man is united to the body of God, why are children deprived of the body? Should not Christ’s teaching be taken quite literally? “Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) And also, in mention of children he says, “Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me; for the kingdom of heaven is for such.” (Matt. 19:14)

Moreover, we read of Paul baptizing entire families in (1 Cor. 1:16, Acts 16:33)

Circumcision, which too was a sacrament of the old law, was practiced on infants. That children were circumcised on the eighth day is known. If then circumcision, “made by hand, in despoiling of the body of the flesh,” (Col 2:11) was profitable for children, is it not clear that baptism is also profitable to them?

Will be Continued in the next post.