We call to mind, O glorious Pontiff,
those words written under thine eye,
which seem to be a commentary on thy decree
concerning the Sacred Mysteries:
"We receive not," cried St. Justin the Philosopher
to the world of that second century,
"we receive not as common bread, nor as common drink,
the Food which we call the Eucharist;
but just as Jesus Christ our Savior,
being made flesh by the word of God,
had both Flesh and Blood for our salvation,
so have we been taught that the Food made Eucharist
by the prayer formed of His own word,
is both the Flesh and Blood of this Jesus,
Who is made flesh" (Apolog. I 66).
This doctrine and the measures it so fully justifies,
found, towards the close of the same century,
other authentic witnesses who, in their turn,
would almost seem to be quoting
from the prescriptions attributed to thee.
"We are in the greatest distress," said Tertullian,
"if the least drop from our chalice,
or the least crumb of our Bread fall to the ground" (De Corona, III).
And Origen appealed to the initiated
to bear witness to "the care and veneration
with which the sacred gifts were surrounded,
for fear the smallest particle should fall;
which, if it happened through negligence,
would be considered a crime" (In Ex. Homil., 13).
And yet in our days heresy,
as destitute of knowledge as of faith,
pretends that the Church has departed from Her ancient traditions
by paying exaggerated homage to the Divine Sacrament.
Obtain for us, O St. Pius,
the grace to return to the veneration and love
with which that Faith inspired them for the Chalice
of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus,
that richest treasure of earth.
May the Pasch of the Lamb (the Easter Liturgy)
unite, as thou didst desire,
in one uniform celebration,
all who have the honor to truly bear the name of Christian!

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Saint Pius I,
Pray for us.

Saint Pius I,
Pray for us.

Saint Pius I,
Pray for us.