Download Here I Am To Worship By Holy Drill
Carmela Stadtler
"Tell us," he imagines a deputation saying, "tell us, LORD, what is the meaning of Thy words, 'This is My Body.'17 There are some of us that are inclined to hold that the words are literal, and that in the holy Sacrament we have Thy Body actually and really present upon our altars. Others of us, who claim equal piety and learning, declare that such a thing is impossible, that the significance can be no more than a symbolical one; others again name the presence virtual, not real; others declare that the presence is real to the receiver, not in the bread. From this divergence there are countless quarrels, disputes and recriminations. We confess with shame that the sacrament of unity has been for many amongst us a sacrament of discord and hatred.
"Well, it is only an imagination. JESUS CHRIST is not here to decide the matter and interpret His own dark saying. I go to this and that teacher, and each tells me the same; it is a mysterious saying; it is not right to go beyond the words of Scripture; it must be left as He left it; the truth is to be found not in theology, but in the loving spirit that tastes and finds that the Lord is gracious: I must be content -- yes, all teachers tell me this, but one. There is one who is not content so to leave it, and who claims with awful arrogance to define the LORD'S own words in the terms of a questionable human philosophy. She sweeps aside Zwinglians, Calvinists, Lutherans and the rest; and tells me expressly that the substance of the bread is changed into the substance of the Body of the LORD; she adds that where the Body is there must be the Blood, and since CHRIST is alive and undivided, where His Body is must be His Soul and His Divinity. She names for the theologians these two doctrines, Transubstantiation and Concomitance, and she bids me, who am a simple layman, worship GOD and Man, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity really actually and literally present upon her altars."
3. "We must take a larger view," he cried; "this by-lane warfare is useless. Look at the Roman body as a whole once more -- its iron system, its artificial uniformity; that crushes out individuality, that forces catch-words into men's mouths, the same holy expression on their faces, and the same barbaric vestments on their shoulders. It is a superb instance of human genius and patience; it is like the drill of an army, the movement of a vast machine: this crank turns this wheel and that lever. Of course it is imposing and terrifying, until one learns the secret. But how utterly unlike to the free, pure, spiritual union of CHRIST and His simple servants, the union of charity and hearts and wills the union that is divine because it is deep! Let me look again at the Gospels."
Increased travel, particularly on pilgrimage routes, contributed to its burgeoning. So did the new emphasis on the cult of Mariology, and on private worship. By the end of the reign of King Louis IX (1226-1270), ivory carving in Paris had become a major industry. The artisans involved, most of whom had spent eight years of apprenticeship before entering the trade, were prohibited by law from working after dark ("because the light at night is not sufficient for them to practice their trade, for their trade is carving") and were excused participation in the city's night watch, an irksome chore ("for their trade belongs solely to the holy church and to princes and barons and other noble men").
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