all the Councils and Fathers and writers and faithful who clung to the belief in the real presence had turned from the true faith to the rankest heresy and idolatry? If apostates and idolaters these latter were, how came it that they attained such eminent sanctity and wrought such stupendous miracles? How comes it that the histories of their opponents are stories of arrogance and self-seeking, or biographies of men who shocked the world with the scandal of their lives? This is heaven's own proof of the doctrine of the real presence, and if on the last day at our final judgment the impossible should occur, and God should arraign us Catholics on a charge of heresy and idolatry, we shall be able to answer boldly: " Not guilty." Not guilty, Lord, for Thou Thyself didst say: " This is My body; this is My blood." Thy great Apostle Paul taught us to discern in the Eucharist Thy body and Thy blood. At Thy bidding the priests of Thy Church continued to do as Thou hadst done, in commemoration of Thee. Thy saints proved this doctrine to us by Thy miracle-working power, and by the holiness of their lives. Not guilty, O Lord, not guilty, for if error there be, Thou Thyself hast misled and deceived us. Turn rather to our opponents and ask them why they doubted Thy words and abandoned Thy faith; why they allowed a few unworthy pastors to drive them from Thy Church, when Thou hadst said that such were to be obeyed but not imitated; why they preferred to follow Calvin and his fellow apostates rather than Thee, when Thou hadst commanded that if even an angel
Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/366
This page needs to be proofread.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/page366-1024px-SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu.jpg)