rcle around Him. The multitude bowed in prayer;
and Jesus prayed for them; "And," wrote Nephi, "no tongue can speak,
neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men
conceive so great and marvellous things as we both saw and heard Jesus
speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the
time we heard him pray for us unto the Father." The prayer being ended,
Jesus bade the multitude arise; and joyfully He exclaimed: "Blessed are
ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full." Jesus wept.
Then He took the children, one by one, and blessed them, praying unto
the Father for each.

"And when he had done this he wept again, and he spake unto the
multitude, and saith unto them, behold your little ones. And as
they looked to behold, they cast their eyes towards heaven, and
they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of
heaven as it were, in the midst of fire; and they came down and
encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about
with fire; and the angels did minister unto them."[1475]

The Lord Jesus sent for bread and wine, and caused the people to sit
down. The bread He brake and blessed, and gave thereof to the Twelve;
these, having eaten, distributed bread to the multitude. The wine was
blessed, and all partook, the Twelve first, and afterward the people.
With impressiveness similar to that attending the institution of the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper among the apostles in Jerusalem, Jesus
made plain the sanctity and significance of the ordinance, saying that
authority for its future administration would be given; and that it was
to be participated in by all who had been baptized into fellowship with
Christ, and was always to be observed in remembrance of Him, the bread
being the sacred emblem of His body, the wine the token of His blood
that had been shed. By express commandment, the Lord forbade the
sacrament of bread and wine to all but the worthy; "For," He explained,
"whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily, eateth and
drinketh damnation to his soul; therefore if ye know that a man is
unworthy to eat and drink of my flesh and blood, ye shall forbid him."
But the people were forbidden to cast out from their assemblies those
from whom the Sacrament was to be withheld, if so be they would but
repent and seek fellowship through baptism.[1476]

The necessity of prayer was explicitly emphas