Answer Thou Me
Today’s Feast of Reparation for offenses committed against Our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love was instituted in the 17th century when, particularly in a France ravaged by the Thirty Years War (1618—1648), churches were desecrated and burned, the Most Blessed Sacrament was thrown to the ground, trampled, and even fed to animals. Bands of mercenary soldiers descended from the Protestant countries of Northern Europe to pillage and destroy everything that represented the Catholic Faith. Two things, in particular, became the object of their fanatical wrath: images of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
At the same time, in certain ostensibly Catholic circles, there was a surge of interest in black magic and in engagement with the powers of darkness. Not infrequently, Sacred Hosts were stolen from churches, or taken away surreptitiously after a sacrilegious communion. Too many priests were seen to offer Holy Mass hurriedly and with scant reverence. Tabernacles were neglected. Churches were forsaken. The King of kings and Lord of lords (Apocalypse 19:16), the Thrice–Holy God before whom the Angels veil their faces and adore, hidden beneath