vant of Elisha, they would still see the horses and chariots of fire
gathered round the mountain where is the prophet of the Lord.[340]

We come to the second of the Sacraments selected for study, that of the
Sacrifice of the Eucharist, a symbol of the eternal Sacrifice already
explained, the daily sacrifice of the Church Catholic throughout the
world imaging that eternal Sacrifice by which the worlds were made, and
by which they are evermore sustained. It is to be daily offered, as its
archetype is perpetually existent, and men in that act take part in the
working of the Law of Sacrifice, identify themselves with it, recognise
its binding nature, and voluntarily associate themselves with it in its
working in the worlds; in such identification, to partake of the
material part of the Sacrament is necessary, if the identification is to
be complete, but many of the benefits may be shared, and the influence
going forth to the worlds may be increased, by devout worshippers, who
associate themselves mentally, but not physically, with the act.

This great function of Christian worship loses its force and meaning
when it is regarded as nothing more than a mere commemoration of a past
sacrifice, as a pictorial allegory without a deep ensouling truth, as a
breaking of bread and a pouring out of wine without a sharing in the
eternal Sacrifice. So to see it is to make it a mere shell, a dead
picture instead of a living reality. "The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion [the communication of, the sharing in] of
the blood of Christ?" asks the apostle. "The bread which we break, is it
not the communion of the body of Christ?"[341] And he goes on to point
out that all who eat of a sacrifice become partakers of a common nature,
and are joined into a single body, which is united to, shares the nature
of, that Being who is, present in the sacrifice. A fact of the invisible
world is here concerned, and he speaks with the authority of knowledge.
Invisible Beings pour of their essence into the materials used in any
sacramental rite, and those who partake of those materials--which become
assimilated in the body and enter into its ingredients--are thereby
united to those whose essence is in it, and they all share a common
nature. This is true when we take even ordinary food from the hand of
another--part of his nature, his vital magnetism, mingles with our own;
how much more true then when the food has been solemnly and purpo