drink to the Divine Lord, who thirst for our souls, we give him
corrupted water in a filthy glass! In consequence of all this neglect,
I saw the weak scandalised, the Adorable Sacrament profaned, the
churches deserted, and the priests despised. This state of impurity and
negligence extended even to the souls of the faithful, who left the
tabernacle of their hearts unprepared and uncleansed when Jesus was
about to enter them, exactly the same as they left his tabernacle on
the altar.

Were I to speak for an entire year, I would never detail all the
insults offered to Jesus in the Adorable Sacrament which were made
known to me in this way. I saw their authors assault Jesus in bands,
and strike him with different arms, corresponding to their various
offences. I saw irreverent Christians of all ages, careless or
sacrilegious priests, crowds of tepid and unworthy communicants, wicked
soldiers profaning the sacred vessels, and servants of the devil making
use of the Holy Eucharist in the frightful mysteries of hellish
worship. Among these bands I saw a great number of theologians, who had
been drawn into heresy by their sins, attacking Jesus in the Holy
Sacrament of his Church, and snatching out of his Heart, by their
seductive words and promises, a number of souls for whom he had shed
his blood. Ah! it was indeed an awful sight, for I saw the Church as
the body of Christ; and all these bands of men, who were separating
themselves from the Church, mangled and tore off whole pieces of his
living flesh. Alas! he looked at them in the most touching manner, and
lamented that they should thus cause their own eternal loss. He had
given his own divine Self to us for our Food in the Holy Sacrament, in
order to unite in one body-- that of the Church, his Spouse--men who were to
an infinite extent divided and separated from each other; and now he
beheld himself torn and rent in twain in that very body; for his