« MIRAE CARITATIS ». - Words with which begins the encyclical of Leone XIII, issued on 28 May 1902, on the Eucharist (Acta Leonis XIII, 22 [1903], pp. 115-36).
The Pontiff, now on the eve of death, concentrates his manifold teachings in the mystery that sums them all up. The Eucharist is considered under its three aspects—real presence, Sacrifice, and Sacrament—whose close relation to faith, hope, and charity is shown; the three virtues, nourished in the heavenly banquet, abolishing social differences, unite men in a divine solidarity and raise their spirits from ephemeral goods to immortal hopes.
The encyclical, composed in vigorous and pregnant Latin, constitutes a masterly synthesis of the ordinary teaching of the Church on the Eucharistic dogma.