the strokes of justice were about to fall, our blessed Saviour,
"_having loved His own, He loved them to the end_." He gathered
His little band of chosen ones about Him for the last time before His
crucifixion. He spoke to them His farewell words, uttered His
high-priestly prayer, instituted and administered to them this holy
sacrament. All the surroundings conspired to throw round it a halo of
heavenly mystery. Everything was calculated to impress that little
band that what He now ordained and made binding on the Church, till He
would come again, was something more than an empty sign or ceremony.
Thus the time, the circumstances, and all the surroundings of the
institution of this holy sacrament, prepare us in advance to believe
that there must be in it or connected with it some heavenly gift of
Grace that can be obtained nowhere else.

We notice thirdly the significant _term_ by which Jesus
designates this institution. When he administered the cup He said:
"This cup is the _New Testament_ in my blood." He calls it a
testament. A testament is a last _will_.

Jesus was about to go forth to die. Before he departed, He made
His will. He bequeathes to the Church an inheritance. The legacy that
He leaves is this sacrament. Before we undertake to study the words of
the institution, we wish to impress this thought. A will is the last
place where one would use ambiguous or figurative language. Every
maker or writer of a will strives to use the clearest and plainest
words possible. Every precaution is taken that there may be no
doubtful or difficult expression employed. The aim of the maker is to
make it so plain that only one meaning can be taken from it.

Neither is any one permitted to read into it any sense different