Talks on the Sacramentals, by Msgr Arthur Tonne - Sacramentals of Industry

 "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it."

A German prince, so the story goes, was showing a foreign ambassador through his palace. The owner was particularly proud of its sturdy walls. its firm foundation, its classic architecture, and tasty decorations. With pride he pointed these out to his distinguished visitor.

In that day it was the custom for the court fool to accompany his master everywhere. This official jester was allowed perfect freedom of speech even to the point of correcting and criticizing his master. This particular court fool was far from being a fool.

"Your Highness," he remarked quietly, "please do not boast too much about your palace. It may stand sturdy and strong. Its foundations may be firmly fixed. Its lines of beauty may stir our admiration. But--take a look at the heavens. The Lord needs neither stones nor timbers to hold up the limitless dome He has erected. He holds it up by His almighty power alone. One has to respect such power."

Truly, the most magnificent works of man are weak and unsteady compared to the works of God. The most excellent edifice in the world pales before the edifice of the universe. And the best built structure on earth is erected in vain unless the Lord be one of the builders, nay, the Chief Builder.

This is one reason Mother Church has a blessing for almost every modern invention, especially for those used in industry. She wants these creations to be used for the glory of God. She wants these things built with human hands and brains to have God as their Chief Engineer and Chief Mechanic. She calls down God's favor upon machinery of all kinds. She blesses typewriters, libraries, fishing-boats, railroads, automobiles, airplanes, bridges, fire engines, seismographs, dynamos, printing presses, and blast furnaces, to mention merely a few of her sacramentals of industry. We might describe some of these blessings:

1. The printing press is one of the greatest forces for good and evil. In the blessing of Mother Church Christ is asked "to fill the writers, managers, and workmen with the spirit of knowledge, counsel and fortitude, and imbue them with the spirit of Thy fear, so that . . . they may properly serve Thee . . . Bless this place and grant that all dwelling therein may happily arrive at the imperishable crown of glory."

2. In her prayer for libraries Mother Church asks God to protect them from fire and other dangers and to increase their stock of books "that all who gather here . . . may grow in the knowledge of both human and divine things and by the same measure in Thy love."

3. In blessing a telegraph instrument we pray:

"O God, who walkest upon the wings of the wind . . . grant that, when by the power given to this metal in the flash of an eye Thou dost transmit most swiftly things absent to this place and things present to another place, we, instructed by new inventions, may by the help of Thy grace more promptly and easily come to Thee."

4. The Church blesses the seismograph, an instrument for recording earthquakes:

"Almighty, eternal God, who regardest the earth and makest it to tremble, flood this seismograph with Thy blessing: and grant that the signs of the trembling earth be properly registered in it and correctly understood for the benefit of Thy people and for the greater glory of Thy name."

5. The blessing for an automobile is beautiful and expressive:

"O God, vouchsafe to hear our prayers and bless this car with Thy right hand; bid Thy angels to stand by it; save and protect from all danger those who travel in it. Just as, through Thy levite, Philip, Thou didst grant faith and grace to the Ethiopian who was sitting in his chariot and reading Thy sacred words, show likewise to Thy servants the way of salvation, that, helped by Thy grace and ever striving to do good, they may, after all the changes of fortune in their life and journey here below, rejoice forever."

6. In blessing a railroad we ask God to help us also travel speedily and happily in the way of His law.

7. The ocean liner is compared to Noah's ark in its blessing. God is asked to protect it.

8. Airplanes are blessed by asking God to remove injury and danger, and to foster heavenly desires in those using this machine.

9. The dynamo reminds us of the light eternal.

I have given you only a few of the Church's blessings of machines and instruments. We call them the sacramentals of industry, because they raise our minds to the true purpose of every new discovery in God's wonderful world. They make us remember that the power of these machines comes first and also finally from God.

In our day of industrial progress, our day when men are inclined to forget the One who put the power into the machines we use, it is well to recall these sacramentals, to understand the spirit behind them, and whenever possible to use them.

We don't want to build a house without God, however sturdy and splendid. We don't want to print books or send messages or travel on planes and trains or embark on a boat or travel in an automobile without the protecting and strengthening hand of God guiding and leading us. Amen.