The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 367leaves. These are necessary for the protection ofthe fruit. In like manner, though the fruit of pietydoes not consist in exterior forms, it must, however,be fostered by some outward observances, or it willgoon decay. There is as close a relation betweendevotion and ceremonial as exists between the barkand the fruit of a tree.The man who daily bends the knee to his Maker,who recites or sings His praises,who devoutly makesthe sign of the cross, who assists without constraintat the public services of the Church, who observesan exterior decorum in the house of God, who givesto the needy according to his means, and dulyattends to the other practices and ceremonies ofreligion, will generally be one whose heart is unitedto God, and who yields to Him a ready obedience.Show me, on the contrary, a man who habituallyneglects these outward observances of religion andcharity, and I will show you one in whose soul thefire of devotion burns very faintly,if it is not quiteextinguished.The ceremonies of the Church not only render thedivine service more solemn, but they also rivet andcaptivate our attention and lift it up to God. Ourmind is so active, so volatile, and full of distractions;our imaginationis so fickle, that we have need ofsome external objects on which to fix our thoughts.Almighty God considered ceremonial so indispensable to interior worship, that we find Him in theOld Law prescribing in the most minute detail the