Thee Introit of this day's Mass is the prayer of a soul that trusts in God's powerful and merciful protection: The Lord is the strength of His people; the Protector of the Salvation of His Anointed. Save, O Lord, Thy people, and bless Thy inheritance, and govern them for ever. To Thee, O Lord, will I cry out. O my God, be not silent: refuse not to answer me, lest I become like those who descend into the pit. (Ps. xxvii.) Glory, &c.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. O God of all power, to whom entirely belongeth whatever is best: implant in our hearts the love of Thy name, and grant us an increase of religion that Thou mayest improve in us what is good, and preserve what Thou thus improvest by the practice of piety. Throught etc.

EPISTLE. (Rom. vi. 3 - 11.) Brethren: All we who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in His death. For we are buried together with Him by baptism unto death: that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, whe shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer. For he that is dead, is justified from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ. Knowing that Christ, rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over Him. For in that He died to sin, He died once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. So do you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

EXPLANATION. The apostle here teaches, that by baptism we are planted in Christ, are made members of His body, and must therefore die to sin; as Christ by His death died to physical life, but has risen again, so must we bury sin, by constant renewal of baptismal vows, and by self-mortification, and rise to a Christian life. As members of Christ's body we should in a spiritual manner imitate Him. As He permitted His body to be nailed to the cross and atoned for our sins, so should we crucify our sins, that is, our body's concupiscence by mortification, put it to death and bury it, and as He after His resurrection lives always for God, lives a divine life for the honor of God, so we, risen from the death of sin, should lead a pious life for God, as commanded by Christ, and by His grace return no more to the old sins.

ASPIRATION. I trust, O Lord Jesus, that by the merits of Thy passion I have risen from the death of sin, and now grant me Thy grace, that as Thou dost die no more, but livest for God, so my soul may die no more by sin, but live for God, according to Thy law.

GOSPEL. (Mark. viii. 1 - 9.) At That Time: When there was a great multitude with Jesus, and had nothing to eat: calling His disciples together, He saith to them: I have compassion on the multitude; for behold, they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own home, they will faint in the way: for some of them came afar off. And His disciples answered him: From whence can ony one fill them here with bread in the wilderness? And He asked them: How many loaves have ye? Who said: Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and taking the seven loaves, giving thanks He broke, and gave to His disciples for to set before them, and they set them before the people. And they had a few little fishes; and he blessed them, and commanded them to be set before them. And they did eat and were filled, and they took up that which was left of the fragments, seven baskets. And they that had eaten, were about four thousand: and he sent them away.


Why does Christ say: I have compassion on the multitude?

Partly because of His mercy and goodness to man, and partly to prove that which He taught on another occasion (Matt. vi. 33.), that to those who seek first the kingdom of heaven and justice, all other things will be added, even though they do not ask for it; for no one of the multitude asked Christ for food, and yet He provided for all.


INSTRUCTION ON BLESSINGS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
And He blessed them. (Mark. viii. 7.)

When, seduced by Satan, the first man violated the holy command of God, and brought upon himself by his sin the curse of God, the earth, his habitation, was cursed with him (Gen. iii. 17.), and he and all things came into the power of Satan, whom Christ therefore calls the prince of this world. Before sin man was made by God master of all created things; man was subject to God, and all created things subject to man. But when man failed in obedience to God and sinned, all created things revolted against man; the animals fled from him, the fields yielded him only thorns and thistles, the herbs became poisonous to him, or refused him their former wholesome power. Through sin came immense ruin to all men and to the whole earth, the devil drew both into his sphere and made them his servants, and this evil spirit now made use of created things to divert man altogether from God and to cause his eternal ruin. But God decreed, that man and earth should not remain in this condition. Christ, the Son of God, came upon earth, redeemed it from the bonds of Satan, and gave all men the power to become once more God's children. The devil was conquered by the cross, conquered, but not slain, man and the earth were indeed taken from his dominion, but not from his influence; for he even now as the apostle writes (Eph. vi. 12.) dominates in the air, even yet goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (i. Peter v. 8.); and as he used the forbidden fruit in paradise to seduce man, he now uses the created things of the earth, in order to tempt man, and make him again by sin his servant. Man and all creation had still to be drawn from this pernicious influence, to be liberated from the bondage of corruption and be brought to the freedom of the children of God. (Hom. viii. 19)

This is done in the Church, to which Christ entrusted the power of binding and loosing, and gave the work of sanctifying in the Holy Ghost, by means of blessing and consecration. By virtue of the merits of Christ, and with the assistance of the Holy Ghost, the Church, or the priest in her name, therefore blesses and consecrates persons as well as created things which they are to use, or which she is to apply to the service of God. The Church follows in this the example of Christ and the apostles. Jesus embraced children and laid His hands upon them, blessing them (Mark x. 16.); He blessed bread and fishes, the food of thousands; blessed bread and wine at the last supper (Matt. xxvi. 26.); was recognized by the disciples in the blessing of bread (Luke xxiv. 30.); blessing the disciples He ascended into heaven (Luke li.); by His command the apostles wished peace to every house in which they stepped (Matt. x. 12, 13.); and St. Paul expressly says, that every living thing is sanctified by prayer and the word of God. (i. Tim. iv. 5.) The blessing by the Church is prefigured in the Old Law. God commanded the priests to sanctify and to consecrate whatever was to belong to His service (Levit. viii.), and the Old Law is full of holy blessings and consecrations, which had to be used by the priests (Exod. xxix.36.; xxx. 25.; xl. 9.); and if persons and things used for it, were to be blessed for God's service, how much the more so in the New Law which in place of the type contains the reality and truth! The testimony of Scripture is confirmed by all the holy fathers, and by the constant practice of the Church, which has received from her Head, Christ, the power to bless and to consecrate.

The blessing or benediction of the Church is nothing more than a prayer of intercession, which the priest makes in the name of the Church, that for the sake of Christ (therefore the sign of the cross) and the prayers of the saints, God may give His blessings to a person or thing, and sanctify it. Through consecration in which, besides prayer and the sign of cross, anointing with holy oil is often used, the things required for Church service are placed by themselves and sanctified. Thus people, fruits, bread, wine, houses, ships and fields, are blessed; Churches, altars, bells, &c, are consecrated.


What power have these blessings?

Here a distinction must be made between the blessing of persons and of things. The chief effects of the blessing of persons are: Preservation or liberation from the influence of Satan; preservation of the soul from his temptations and evil suggestions; preservation of the body and of the property from his pernicious malice; forgiveness of venial sins, and strength to suppress concupiscence; curing of sickness and physical evils, whether natural or supernatural; a blessing upon the person and his surroundings; the imparting of the grace of conversion; the advantage of the prayer of the Church and further grace for the remission of temporal and eternal punishment--The blessing of things effects: that they are withdrawn from the devil's influence, so that he can no longer use them as a means of bringing us into sin; that God's blessing is thus given us for the welfare of our body and soul; and that they serve us as a protection against the evil spirit and as a means for our salvation.


Whence do the blessings derive their force?

From the merits of Christ who by His death on the cross vanquished Satan, and through whom and in whose name the Church asks God that He may through these merits, and on account of the intercession of the saints, bless a person or thing, and make the use of the things blessed profitable to us in regard to both body and soul. Whether or not the effects of these blessings show themselves in the person who receives the blessing or makes use of the object blessed, depends partly on his faith and moral condition, partly also on the usefulness or profit of the blessing to him. We should not, then, place obstacles in its way by distrust of God, and the prayers of the Church, or by a sinful life, and we should be always convinced, that these benedictions will serve for our benefit if according to God's will they are useful and we use them as the Church intends, as a means of overcoming the evil without and within us, to sanctify ourselves and to honor God.


Why are salt and water blessed?

This is plainly shown in the prayer the priest says in blessing them; for he asks, in the name of the Church, that God will pour the virtue of His blessing over the water, that it may conquer devils, prevent sickness, and that all, in houses or in other places, which is sprinkled with it, may be preserved from all impurities, and from every injury, and that He will bless the salt, so that it may be salutary for the body and soul of all who use it.


Why are the people sprinkled with holy water on Sundays?

To remind us, that we should come to the Church service with the innocence of baptism, or that if this has been stained by sin, we should wash it clear with tears of sorrow and repentance; to remind us also, that Jesus by His sacred blood has redeemed and purified us from sin; to admonish us to be most grateful for this incomprehensible act of mercy, and to beseech our Saviour to purify us more and more, as expressed by the fiftieth psalm: Asperges me hyssopo, &c. "Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed," which the priest says. The triple sprinkling of the altar means, that we should assist purely and worthily at the sacred mysteries which are celebrated on the altar, and that all power of cleansing from sin proceeds from Christ whom the altar represents Finally, the people are sprinkled, with the desire that the temptations of the evil one may depart from all, enabling them to attend with greater fervor and with more recollection to the holy service.


What else is to be remembered concerning the use of blessed things?

That they are to be used with faithful confidence for the purpose for which the Church blessed them, and are to be treated with great reverence, because they are blessed by the Church in the name of Jesus, a custom almost as old as, Christianity itself. The Christian must not believe, that blessed things which he possesses, carries, or uses, will make him holy, for he should always remember that things blessed are only a means of sanctification, and are only effectual when the faithful have the earnest will to die rather than sin, to fight with all fervor against the enemies of their salvation, to follow Christ, and be thereby received into the freedom of the children of God and into heaven.