om one of St. Paul's Epistles was
read, after which the priest passed to the left side of the altar to
sing a passage from the Gospel. The people now stood to profess their
belief in the faith and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Marjorie and her father and mother recollected themselves quite during
these solemn moments and no syllable of communication passed between
them, all assisting at the service with prayer-books or beads,
following every movement of the priest intelligently and with devotion.

The congregation were permitted to sit while the celebrant of the Mass
offered the materials for the sacrifice, unleavened bread and the pure
juice of the grape, to Almighty God, to adore Him above all other
things, to thank Him for all the graces and blessings bestowed by Him on
mankind, to satisfy His justice for the sins of man and to implore Him
for whatever favors He might deign to bestow.

Soon the voice of Father Bandol resounded through the church with the
opening tones of the Preface of the Mass, the responses to which were
made by the members of the choir. Slowly and solemnly he chanted the
notes of praise, ending with the "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts."
A sound from the bell gave the warning that the awful moment was about
to arrive, the moment when the ambassador of Christ would exercise the
power communicated to him from Jesus Himself through the Twelve and
their successors, the power of changing the substance of bread and wine
into the substance of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

The people bent forward in an attitude of humble adoration. Marjorie
buried her face in her hands on the top of the forward pew, pouring out
her heart in praise and thanksgiving to her God and Master. In profound
reverence she remained while the priest pronounced the mystical words
"Hoc est enim corpus meum" over the species and effected the mystery of
mysteries, the translation of Christ's Mystical Body to the elements of
the earth, in the transubstantiation of the Mass. Now Her Lord was
present before her; now the Divinity of His Person was but a few feet
away, clothed, not in flesh and blood, but under the appearances of
bread and wine; now Her Creator was with her, lying on the white
corporal of the altar and she poured forth her soul to Him in accents of
adoration and supplication.

"O my God!" she breathed. "I adore Thee through Jesus; I beg pardon
through Jesus; I thank Thee through Jesus; I humbly ask every blessing