ness of him, and that you may teach all
men that he alone is all powerful. Persevere in discipline and
obedience, and with an honest and firm will keep that which you
have promised.

After this opening Francis immediately passes to the essential matter of
the letter, that of the love and respect due to the Sacrament of the
altar; faith in this mystery of love appeared to him indeed as the
salvation of the Order.

Was he wrong? How can a man who truly believes in the real presence of
the God-Man between the fingers of him who lifts up the host, not
consecrate his life to this God and to holiness? One has some difficulty
in imagining.

It is true that legions of devotees profess the most absolute faith in
this dogma, and we do not see that they are less bad; but faith with
them belongs in the intellectual sphere; it is the abdication of
reason, and in sacrificing their intelligence to God they are most happy
to offer to him an instrument which they very much prefer not to use.

To Francis the question presented itself quite differently; the thought
that there could be any merit in believing could never enter his mind;
the fact of the real presence was for him of almost concrete evidence.
Therefore his faith in this mystery was an energy of the heart, that the
life of God, mysteriously present upon the altar, might become the soul
of all his actions.

To the eucharistic transubstantiation, effected by the words of the
priest, he added another, that of his own heart.

God offers himself to us as to his children. This is why I beg
you, all of you, my brothers, kissing your feet, and with all
the love of which I am capable, to have all possible respect for
the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then addressing himself particularly to the priests:

Hearken, my brothers, if the blessed Virgin Mary is justly
honored for having carried Jesus in her womb, if John the
Baptist trembled because he dared not touch the Lord's head, if
the sepulchre in which for a little time he lay is regarded with
such great adoration, oh, how holy, pure, and worthy should be
the priest who touches with his hands, who receives into his
mouth and into his heart, and who distributes to others the
living, glorified Jesus, the sight of whom makes angels rejoice!
Understand your dignity, brother priests, and be holy, for he is
holy. Oh! what great wretchedness and what a f