The Church of Jesus Christ - Part 1
by Dom Prosper Guéranger

 

O Church of Jesus Christ!  That was promised by Him to the Earth during the days of His mortal life; that came forth from His sacred side when wounded by the spear upon the Cross; that wast organised and perfected by Him during the last days of His sojourn here below; we lovingly greet thee as our Mother; thou art the Spouse of our Redeemer, and it is through thee that we were born to Him. It is you that gave us life by Baptism; it is you that give us the Word, which enlightens us; it is you that ministered to us the helps, whereby we are led, through our earthly pilgrimage, to Heaven; it is thou that govern us, in the spiritual order, by thy holy ordinances. Under your maternal care we are safe; we have nothing to fear. What can error do against us? You are the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3). What effect can the revolutions of our earthly habitation have upon us?

 

We know, that if everything else should fail us, you will ever be with us. It was during these very days which precede the Ascension, that Our Lord Jesus said to his Apostles, and through them, to their successors: Behold! I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world (Matt. 28). What a promise of duration was this! If we consult the history, it will tell us that this promise has never once been broken. The gates of Hell have risen up against you innumerable times; but they have never prevailed against thee, no, not for one single moment!

 

And thus it is, O Church! that being founded on Christ thy Spouse, you give us a share in thine own divine immutability! Established as we are in thee, there is not a truth which the eye of our faith cannot see; there is not a blessing which, despite our weakness we may not make our own, there is no object shown us by hope, which we may not attain. You hold us in your arms; and from the height whereto you raise us, we see the mysteries of time and the secrets of eternity. Our eye admiringly follows thee, whether we consider you as militant on Earth, suffering in thy dear ones who are in the temporary state of expiation, or triumphant in Heaven. You are with us in our exile, and already are you, in millions of thy children, heiress of the Eternal Kingdom. Keep us near you, nay, within you, O thou our Mother, who art the beloved Spouse of Our Lord. To whom shall we go but to thee? Is it not to thee, and to thee alone, that He has entrusted the words of eternal life?

 

How much they are to be pitied, O Church! who do not know thee!  And yet, if they are seeking God with all their heart, they will, one day, know thee. How much they are to be pitied who once knew thee, and afterwards, in their pride and ingratitude, denied thee! And yet no one ever fell into such misery, unless he first voluntarily shut his eyes against the light that was within him.