when with the eye of faith we pierce the veil, and behold the Lord offering Himself as the Lamb as it had been slain, how real and true would that prayer be to us which has become the heritage of the whole Catholic Church, "O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us."

LENT LECTURES ON THE

HOLY EUCHARIST.

No. V.

The Means by which we Share in the
Entercession of Christ.

N my last lecture, my brethren, your attention

IN

was directed to the consideration of the Holy Eucharist, viewed in its sacrificial aspect.

It was pointed out to you that that holy ordinance, besides being a Sacrament wherein, under the veils of outward and visible substances, an inward and invisible gift is bestowed upon us, is also a sacrifice, in which an offering is presented to God as a perpetual memorial of our Lord's one great atoning sacrifice on the Cross; further, that this sacrifice is real and effectual, because it is offered up in union with that which Christ is ever offering and presenting in heaven, and is the channel through which the Church on earth is enabled to share in the all-prevailing intercession, which Christ, as her Head, is ever carrying on in her behalf in the heavenly courts. For it was shewn that our Lord's mediatorial work as the Church's Intercessor was not fully entered upon until the great act of atone

ment had been consummated on the Cross, whereby the offering was provided, whose infinite merits the great Mediator has ever since pleaded on our behalf. For having ascended up into heaven in that same body which was crucified on the tree, and consecrated by the shedding of blood, He, as our great High Priest, is ever presenting Himself before His Father, clothed in that same Body, with all the tokens and memorials of His Passion, as an offering of most prevailing efficacy, in virtue of which He never ceases to intercede for us.

Further, it was observed that that which the Church's Head is ever doing in heaven, He wills that the Church herself, being one with Him, should do on earth; and that to that end He graciously bestows His Presence in the Holy Eucharist, whereby an offering is provided which His Body, the Church, after His pattern and example, may ever present before God; and in virtue of which she may claim a part in the work of intercession which Christ, as her Head, is carrying on in heaven.

Thus the Eucharistic Sacrifice was shewn to be the chief channel of communication between heaven and earth, the golden link by which they are once more united together, and through which the Church on earth as the Body of Christ, and each individual Christian as a member of that Body, not only shares in all the benefits which flow from her Lord's intercession, but also in the high prerogative of taking part in that intercession herself.

In order, then, that we may duly appreciate the blessing which the Holy Eucharist confers upon us when regarded as a sacrifice as well as a Sacrament, let us consider, somewhat more fully than was possible in the last lecture, the nature of our Lord's intercession, and the special advantage that accrues to us from being associated with Him in so high and holy a work.

How, then, it may be asked in all reverence, does our blessed Lord intercede for us?

First, as we have already seen, by continually exhibiting before His Father His glorified and risen Body, bearing still the scars of the five sacred wounds which were inflicted upon it on the Cross. Those glorious tokens of His Death and Passion, presented as an offering before the throne of God, plead for us continually. His Presence in heaven is in itself an unceasing act of intercession for us; because, though the sacrifice was consecrated and perfected by the shedding of blood on the Cross, its power and efficacy are perpetuated by the constant offering of it in our Lord's Person before God. But further, we are told in Scripture that He ever lives to make intercession for us, whereby we are to understand that He also prays for us. How, my brethren, are we to reconcile this with the duty of praying to Him? We pray to Him because He is God; but if so, how can He pray for us? Is not prayer a mark of inferiority, and a sign of humiliation? But how can He, who is co-equal with

the Father and with the Holy Ghost, be any way inferior? or how can He bear any mark of humiliation in His glory? To intercede, would seem to imply a want of power to grant that which is sought. How, then, can He who expressly promised, "If ye shall ask any thing in My Name, I will do it," intercede by way of prayer?

The key to these difficulties, my brethren, is found in the great fact of our Lord's two-fold nature. He is both God and Man: as God, always in glory, the Object of worship, the Giver of all good; as Man, humbled in the flesh, now glorified. As God, He could never intercede by way of prayer; neither, as Man, does He pray by any reason of need or humiliation. While He was on earth, He prayed as having infirmity; He prayed not only for us, but even for Himself. "In the days of His Flesh He offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was able to save Him from death." While He humbled Himself "in the days of His flesh," He prayed as a part of the work He had to do; it was the accomplishing of the redemption of the world, for the blotting out of the sin of mankind. This prayer of humiliation passed away with the sharpness of the Cross, to which it was related, of which it was the shadow. The prayers which He offered being yet on earth, were a part of His obedience and suffering, to take away the sin of the world. All this, therefore, is excluded from His intercession now in heaven.