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has made Himself, at the same time, our divine Food.
In the Postcommunion, we learn what understanding
and what purity are necessary in order that this su
pernatural gift of faith may bear fruit.
Benefits of faith. Faith is a heavenly light which
illuminates the supernatural world, as the sun illumi
nates the world of nature. As during the absence of
the sun the earth remains plunged in darkness, so the
nations, deprived of the light of faith, also dwell in the
shadow of death. They have eyes and they see not ;
they are reduced to the condition of savages. The
earth which they inhabit is dominated by slavery, idol
atry, all kinds of corruption, the sad consequences of
the darkness in which they live. God, who in the be
ginning created the visible light, also from the beginning
gave to the world the light of faith. Before the Fall
a revelation was made to our first parents, and to enable
them to grasp its meaning, their minds were divinely
enlightened. Sin came to obscure this light and to
cover it with a veil of darkness, becoming more and more
dense as the generations succeeded one another on the
earth. When the Messias appeared, the light seemed
almost extinguished. But with the appearance of Jesus,
the light of faith became visible again and dissi
pated the darkness of error. By the preaching of the
Gospel, idolatry and barbarism were driven back to the
uttermost parts of the world. The nations were con
verted, transformed, civilized.
Divinely called by means of the star, the Magi suc
ceeded in reaching Bethlehem. For a brief while God
permitted the darkness again to enshroud them, that
they might thus learn to have recourse to those whose
mission it was to instruct in His name. Docile to the
teachings of the Scriptures which were explained to