Saint Claire: That there has been a steady decline in reverence for the Most Blessed Sacrament does not bode well for the spiritual health of Holy Mother Church.

Saint John Baptist Vianney: Nor does it bode well for the spiritual well-being of the faithful. Lacking in reverence for The Most Blessed Sacrament can also be attributed to the decline in numbers who seek or even feel they need the Sacrament of Penance.

Saint Charles Borromeo: If only the faithful would awaken their lapsed souls into fervent love of this Most August Sacrament. It was one addressed at the Council of Trent under Pope Pius IV.

St. Clare: The directives of the Council of Trent must become as a spiritual book for all the faithful to read. If they were to come to an understanding of the great mystery and Divine Love that awaits them daily in the Most Blessed Sacrament, I believe they would quickly come to perfection, even overturning the past forty-plus years of deconstruction of the Faith.

St. John Baptist Vianney: One of the problems, as I see it, is that there has been a dilution of the Faith through lack of discipline, and the adherence to modernism. Where modernism exists one can expect to find few who even believe in the Real Presence of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

St. Joseph: Your Excellency Charles, please tell us of your experiences at the Council of Trent. You attended the first and last session of the Council, and were instrumental in putting forward it's solid doctrine and dogmas, as well as its teaching. Was there a lack of reverence then for the Blessed Sacrament?

St. Charles Borromeo: Much damage had been done to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, dear Joseph. It was the time of the Reformation, and many of the faithful had eagerly sought a false religion. The Council instructed, set forth norms, and adopted as Dogmatic Decrees much of which, sadly, has been undone at Vatican Council II. I knew politics. My uncle was Pius IV. It was a continual struggle to keep the faithful focuses on the ABSOLUTE TRUTHS of the One True Faith. Because of the Protestant Reformation, there was very much a tendency to treat the Most Blessed Sacrament with indifferentism. Yet, because of the Reformation, God allowed the Council of Trent to decree and formalize the rite of worship, and the strict adherence to the norms for all the Sacraments.

St. Clare: In my time it was not an every-day occurrence to receive Our dear Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. As the Franciscan Order grew and priests were ordained, then the frequency of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was guaranteed, and with that an ardent desire and longing for Holy Communion.

St. John Baptist Vianney: How I had to fight against the indifferentism toward religion in my own time, and in my own parish in Ars. Indifferentism can easily become a part of the fallen human nature. However, never was indifferentism sanctioned as it has been these last decades within Holy Mother Church.

St. Joseph: Tell us, dear Archbishop Charles and dear Pere Jean, as priests, did you encounter among your peers a lack of respect for the Blessed Sacrament, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

St. Charles Borromeo: There have always been, since the institution of Holy Mother Church by Our Lord, those renegade priests who have denied belief in the Most Blessed Sacrament, in the words of Consecration. One of the major points of the Council of Trent was to reinforce the sacredness of the priesthood, and to educate both priest and layman on the nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Consequently, it was in my time, a lack of proper knowledge being imparted through sound teaching.

St. John Baptist Vianney: As Charles has stated, there have always been a few priests who chose of their own free will to despoil their Sacrament of Holy Orders. Yet, on the whole, I can say that again it was a matter of the general laity not having been instructed sufficiently on the tenets of the Faith.

St. Joseph: Saint Claire, please share with us your consuming love for the Holy Eucharist, and your undying belief in the Real Presence.

St. Clare: Our Lord Himself drew me to His Real Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I thirsted for Him. The Poor Clares that Francis and I founded were devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, desirous of perpetual adoration. As foundress I was given the authority and the words to teach and instruct the sisters. I can assure you that not one of them was left with any doubt as to the Real Presence. By God's grace it was infused into our souls.

St. John Baptist Vianney: Yes, faith cannot be fruitful if it is left in dormition. I encountered this slumbering faith in my parishioners at Ars. I labored there the majority of my humble life. But, as priest, I was always aware of the power of Our Lord working in and through me at each Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and with what awe did I pronounce the words of Consecration in the Canon of the Mass.

St. Joseph: We of the Church Triumphant are truly aware of the plight of Holy Mother Church, in all of her churches throughout the world, of the lack of respect, dignity, proper attire and so forth toward Mass and the Most Blessed Sacrament, for the two must always go together. To what do you attribute this decline, and where did this decline begin.

St. Charles Borromeo: It began at the moment that John XXIII announced an Ecumenical Council. It began with renegade priests, of whatever rank of prestige they may have been honored. It began with liberal theologians who thought they knew better than any theologian who had come before them, and who wanted to scale back the dogmatic and doctrinal aspects of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith in favor of a Protestant version so as to appeal to the separated brethren.

St. Clare: When the faith has been deliberately tampered with, how can one expect the regular laity in each parish to respond with due reverence to the Most Blessed Sacrament. There are many priests today who do not believe in the Real Presence. This is what has happened since the revolution within the Church at Vatican Council II.

St. John Vianney: Heaven weeps over those ordained to the priesthood who no longer believe, nor even know why they are saying a 'new' Mass, which is more "celebration and meal" than a true knowledge of the Sacrificial Nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. When the priest himself does not believe, this becomes apparent to his flock, and in a very short time, both priest and flock are headed for the abyss.

St. Joseph: Saint Claire, what would you advise the faithful to do in order to revive their Faith and Belief in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament?

St. Clare: Fervent prayer from the heart. A sincere desire to know and believe in the One, True Faith. A thirst for knowledge regarding the true tenets of the Faith. And, it would not hurt the Church Militant to renew its honor of the saints. If the saints were role models, which is why God chose those among us to be raised to the altar of Holy Mother Church, then the faithful would read and study and seek to emulate us. I claim no merit of my own, but I would point the faithful to the Most Blessed Sacrament within the Monstrance for Adoration. In my time, as Assisi was under attack, I took the Monstrance and held It high over my head in the sight of my enemies. It did not take long for the army of the enemy to pack up and leave. I cannot emphasize enough the need for Perpetual Adoration in every parish.

St. John Baptist Vianney: Pray for priests! Pray for those who are consecrated by Ordination. Pray for Bishops everywhere that they, too, intend the right thing at the moment of ordination. Pray for the Holy Father, for he is very much weighed down by insurmountable problems. Then, pray for the restoration of the true sacrificial nature of the Mass. If the proper knowledge and attitude toward the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is restored, then all honor and reverence, respect and adoration will once again be given to Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

St. Charles Borromeo: Let the faithful take up the study of their precious Faith. I would ask them to read the decrees and documents of the Council of Trent. I would ask them to remember that this Council was convoked to counter the Protestant revolution. I would then ask them to compare the 'new' church of Vatican Council II to the church which Martin Luther desired. In doing this, the faithful will clearly see what has been lost, and what has been adopted in its place. I recommend much prayer, sacrifice, penance and conversion of heart. Prayer and study.

St. Joseph: This subject is so dear to all in Heaven that we must reconvene again, at another time, to discuss this topic further. We must beseech the Triune Divinity to off-set the negative results of Vatican Council II, and to bring forth the Fullness of Truth once again in the spotless bride that Holy Mother Church is.

St. John Baptist Vianney: I pray all will search their consciences and the Mystical Body of Christ will once again be united as it truly should be.

St. Charles Borromeo: Always through conversion, never compromise of the principles of Truth.

St. Clare: May the song of praise given to God in Heaven, resound with one voice on Earth. Amen.

St. Joseph: Thank you for coming to discuss this subject with our readers in the Church Militant. I sincerely pray that all the dear readers will come to our discussions each time, and ask them to allow us who art in Heaven to assist them through our prayers and intercession. We will meet again on this topic, I assure you. Until then, may Our Dear Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ bless you abundantly, and rekindle in you the Fire of His Love through the working of the Holy Spirit.