In fact, the Roman Catholics have no other Saviour to whom they can betake themselves than the one made by the consecration of the wafer. He is the only Saviour who is not angry with them, and who does not require the mediation of virgins and saints to appease His wrath. This is the reason why Roman Catholic churches are so well filled by the poor blind Roman Catholics. See how they rush to the foot of their altars at almost every hour of the day, sometimes long before the dawn! Go to some of their churches, even on a rainy and stormy morning, and you will see crowds of worshippers, of every age and from every grade of society, braving the storm and the rain, walking through the mud to pass an hour at the foot of their tabernacles!
How is it that the Roman Catholics, alone, offer such a spectacle to the civilized world? The reason is very simple and plain. Every soul yearns for a God to whom it can speak, and who will hear its supplications with a merciful heart, and who will wipe away her penitential tears. Just as the flowers of our gardens turn naturally towards the sun which gives them their color, their fragrance and their life, so every soul wants a Saviour who is not angry but merciful towards those who come unto Him—A Saviour who will say to the weary and heavy laden: “Come unto me, and I will give you rest.”—A God, in fine, who is not armed with Thunder and Lightning, and does not require to be approached only by saints, virgins and martyrs; but who, through his son Jesus, is the real, the true and the only friend of Sinners.
When the people think that there is such a God,—such a loving Saviour to be found in the tabernacle, it is but natural that they should brave the storms and the rains, to worship at his feet, to receive the pardon of their sins.
The children of light, the disciples of the gospel, who protest against the errors of Rome, know that their Heavenly Father is everywhere ready to hear, forgive and help them. They know that it is no more “at Jerusalem, nor on this or that mountain,” or at church that God wants to be worshipped (John iv. 21.) They know that their Saviour liveth, and is everywhere ready to hear those who invoke His name; that He is no more in that desert, or in that secret chamber (Matt. xxiv.) They know that He is everywhere—that He is ever near to those who look to his bleeding wounds and want to wash their robes in His blood. They find Jesus in their most secret closets when they enter them to pray;—they meet Him and converse with Him when in the fields, behind the counter, traveling on railroads or steamers—everywhere they meet with Him, and speak to Him as friend to friend.
It is not so with the followers of the Pope. They are told contrary to the gospel (Matt. xxiv. 22.), that Christ is in this Church—in that secret chamber or tabernacle! Cruelly deceived by their priests, they run, they brave the storms to go as near as possible to that place where their merciful Christ lives. They go to the Christ who will give them a hearty welcome, who will listen to their humble prayers, and be compassionate to their tears of repentance.
Let Protestants cease to admire poor deluded Roman Catholics who dare the storm and go to church even before the dawn of day. This devotion, which so dazzles them, should excite compassion, and not admiration; for it is the logical result of the most awful spiritual darkness. It is the offspring of the greatest imposture the world has ever seen, it is the natural consequence of the belief that the priest of Rome can create Christ and God by the consecration of a wafer, and keep Him in a secret chamber.
The Egyptians worshipped God under the form of crocodiles and calves: The Greeks made their gods of marble or of gold: The Persian made the sun his god: The Hottentots make their gods with whale-bone, and go far through the storms to adore them: The Church of Rome makes her god out of a piece of bread! Is this not idolatry?
From the year 1833, to the day that God in his mercy opened my eyes, my servant had used more than a bushel of wheat flour, to make the little cakes which I had to convert into the Christ of the mass. Some of these I ate; others I carried about with me for the sick; and others I placed in the tabernacle for the adoration of the people.
I am often asked:—“How is it that you could be guilty of such a gross act of idolatry?” My only answer is the answer of the blind man of the gospel: “I know not, only this one thing I know, that I was blind, and could not see. But Jesus has touched my eyes and now I see.” (John ix. ii).