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St. Peter Julian Eymard said: "Let us never forget that an age prospers or dwindles in proportion to its devotion to the Holy Eucharist. This is the measure of its spiritual life and its faith, of its charity and its virtue." Pope John Paul II says in Dominicae Cenae: "The encouragement and the deepening of Eucharistic worship are proofs of the authentic renewal which the Council set itself as an aim and of which they are the central point." "When we ingest the Eucharist in reality we are ingesting the Godhead - St. Cyril of Alexandria God was not content with giving us His only Son once for all, willing Him to take flesh in the womb of a Virgin - flesh like ours, so that He might suffer and die for us on the Cross - but He wished Him to remain with us forever, perpetuating His real presence and His sacrifice in the Eucharist. Aided by the Gospel narrative we can reconstruct and relive in our heart the sweet mysteries of the life of Jesus. Had we nothing but the Gosepl, however, we would have only nostalgic memories; Jesus would no longer be with us, but only in heaven at the right hand of the Father, having definitively left the earth on the day of His Ascension. With what regret we would think of the thirty-three years of our Savior's earthly life passed centuries ago! Oh, how different the reality! The Eucharist makes the presence of Jesus with us a permanent one. - From Divine Intimacy by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. O Jesus, You are always with us, "yesterday and today, and the same forever!" (Heb 13, 8). Always the same in eternity by the immutablity of Your divine Person; always the same in time, by the Sacrament of the Eucharist. - From Divine Intimacy by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. "What Christ gives us is quite explicit if his own words are interpreted according to their Aramaic meaning. The expression 'This is my Body' means this is myself" -Karl Rahner In the consecrated Host we find the same Jesus whom Mary brought into the world, whom the shepherds found wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger; whom Mary and Joseph nurtures and watched over as He grew before their eyes; the Jesus who called the apostles to follow Him, who captivated and taught the multitudes, who performed the most startling miracles; who said He was the "light" and "life" of the world, who forgave Magdalen and raised Lazarus from the deas; who for love of us sweat blood, received the kiss of a traitor, was made one enormous wound, and died on the Cross; that same Jesus who rose again and appeared to the Apostles and in whose wounds Thomas put his finger; who ascended into heaven, who now is seated in glory at the right hand of His Father, and who, in union with the Father, sends us the Holy Spirit. - From Divine Intimacy by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. "Not as common bread or as common drink do we receive these.....We have been taught that the food that has been Eucharistized by the word of prayer, that food which by assimilation nourishes our flesh and blood, is the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus." - St. Justin Martyr "Since Christ is the only way to the Father, in order to highlight His living and saving presence in the Church and the world, the International Eucharistic Congress will take place in Rome, on the occasion of the Great Jubilee. The Year 2000 will be intensely Eucharistic: in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Savior, who took flesh in Mary's womb twenty centuries ago, continues to offer Himself to humanity as the source of Divine Life." - Pope John Paul II, - From Saint Peter Julian Eymard: Apostle of the Eucharist: "Father Col, an intrepid defender of the Faith during the French Revolution and the pastor of Bourg-d'Oisans where these good people were married [M/M Eymard], had foretold to them that they would have a son who would become a priest and founder of the Order of the Blessed Sacrament. During the months she bore Peter Julian, Mrs. Eymard used to visit the parish church and offer him to the hidden God of the tabernacle." "We discovered, like infants opening their eyes for the first time, that God's coming upon earth out of love for us had radically changed the world, because he had remained with us. "As we walked about the city, or traveled to different cities and countries, it was not the beautiful and interesting things around us that attracted us. Not even Rome's wonderful monuments and precious relics seemed so important. Rather, what gave a sense of continuity to our journeying through the world for Jesus, was His Eucharistic presence in the tabernacles we found wherever we went." - from May They All Be One, by Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movement "Upon reception of the Communion Host, we are in Christ and Christ is truly within us. Upon receiving Communion, we have all power over the enemy. As one of the documents from Vatican II proclaimed: 'From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the Priest and of His Body, which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others. No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree (SC 7). From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain, and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God to which all other activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, are achieved with maximum effectiveness' (SC 10)." - Michael H. Brown, Secrets of the Eucharist, p.46. "The temples of those who deny the Real Presence are like corpses. The Lord was taken away and we do not know where they have laid Him." - Francois Mauriac This begins a series of short letters written by Mother Agnes of Jesus (St. Therese of Lisieux's sister Pauline) to St. Therese in preparation for her First Communion. February 1884 Jesus! My Theresita,[1] This morning I promised Marie to give you the little note-book [2] by the beginning of March. I do hope that my Benjamin [one of St. Therese's nicknames] is also working hard at cultivating her little plot. If such lovely flowers as those in this note-book are to be sown in it, she must not leave a single blade of grass... Oh, to think that in three months Jesus will come and dwell in a child's heart, in my Theresita's heart... Darling, you must leave nothing undone to make your heart into a heaven where Jesus will want to stay forever! Even now let this beautiful Child be the King, the Love of your heart. What is there on this earth lovelier than Jesus? Jesus in His cradle, Jesus sleeping in Theresita's heart among the flowers! Your Agnes. [1] The Carmelites called Therese by this name in memory of a niece of the Great St. Teresa of Avila's, who had entered one of the first reformed monasteries at an early age. [2] A little collection of prayers and devotions composed by Mother Agnes of Jesus and called: Two months and nine days of preparation for my First Communion. Letter from Mother of Agnes of Jesus to St. Therese (her sister) in preparation for First Communion: February 1884 Darling, I imagine you are still busy turning up the ground in your heart. You must, for we shall begin planting flowers in a few days. Just think, my Therese, barely three months and Jesus will come into your heart for the first time! And who is this little Jesus? The very same Child whom the Blessed Virgin held in her arms, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in the manger, cuddled on her lap! The same exquisitely beautiful Child who is now the delight of Heaven, the very same... A First Communion day is the best day in one's life, a day come down from Heaven! Just ask Celine [another of St. Therese's sisters]... But if you want to enjoy it to the full, you must make your heart like an angel's. Don't forget that, my Benjamin... Good-bye, darling. How lucky you are! I send you a hug. Your Agnes. - From Mother Agnes of Jesus to St. Therese in preparation for her First Holy Communion End of February 1884 Darling little Sister, This is just to tell you that the note-book is arriving this evening. Just think! on Saturday morning, my Theresita will be beginning her great preparation. In two and a half months, Jesus will come into your heart for the first time! What a lot of work there is to do, what a lot of flowers have to be sown, and how little time there is to do it in! But look at Nature: on almost the same day as you, she will be beginning to make herself beautiful; you can see buds already on the trees in the garden, and soon the flowers will be there; by May, all will be lovely to look at. Nature is only doing it to please us, but couldn't you do the same, Theresita of the Child Jesus, to welcome and delight the Beloved Child at His first awakening in your heart? But I hear your answer, and I know that a good little heart like my darling's has no need of urging. I feel that Jesus Himself is encouraging His little Sister from afar to work for Him, and beside Jesus' own persuasive words, what value have your poor Agnes's incitements?... Good-bye Theresita, if there are lots of flowers in your garden, if everything is ready for the great day, you may be quite sure that Jesus will not come empty handed either! If you only knew what treasures are hidden in the tiny Host for a well-prepared First Communion! Thousands of kisses. Excerpts from the Catholic Network's biography of Blessed Kateri's Tekakwitha: "Every morning, even in bitterest winter, she stood before the chapel door until it opened at four and remained there until after the last Mass." "Out from her Caughnawaga cabin at dawn and straight-way to chapel to adore the Blessed Sacrament, hear every Mass; back again during the day to hear instruction, and at night for a last prayer or Benediction. Her neighbors sought to be near her when she received Holy Communion, as her manner excited devotion." LITANY OF BLESSED KATERI TEKAKWITHA Lord, have mercy on us. Kateri, lily of purity, pray for us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, 0 Lord. LET US PRAY 0 Jesus, who gave Kateri to the Indians as an example of purity, teach Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us. "Like Mary, let us be full of zeal to go in haste to give Jesus to others. She was full of grace when, at the annunciation, she received Jesus. Like her, we too become full of grace every time we receive Holy Communion. It is the same Jesus whom she received and whom we receive at Mass. As soon as we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, let us go in haste to give Him to our sisters, to our poor, to the sick, to the dying, to the lepers, to the unwanted, and the unloved. By this we make Jesus present in the world today." - Mother Teresa of Calcutta Our Lady: Whosoever shall die wearing my Scapular shall not suffer the flames of Hell. The Soul: My Dear Mother of Carmel, I thank thee for thy holy Scapular. Flower of Carmel, "At the time of Holy Communion I sometimes picture my soul under the figure of a little child of three or four years, who at play has got its hair tossed and its clothes soiled. These misfortunes have befallen me in battling with souls. But very soon the Blessed Virgin hastens to my aid: quickly, she takes off my dirty little pinafore, smoothes my hair and adorns it with a pretty ribbon or simply with a little flower... and this suffices to render me pleasing and enables me to sit at the Banquet of Angels without blushing." - St. Therese of Lisieux, Counsels and Reminiscences "This God who, as the psalmist said, built His tabernacles in the sun, now establishes Himself in the very core of the flesh and the blood." - Francois Mauriac "The Bread of heaven puts an end to symbols." - Office for the Feast of Corpus Christi "I will not allow myself to be so absorbed in the whirlwind of work as to forget about God. I will spend all my free moments at the feet of the Master hidden in the Blessed Sacrament. He has been tutoring me from my most tender years." - From Blessed Faustina Kowlaska of the Blessed Sacrament's Diary Divine Mercy in My Soul As St. Gertrude was about to receive the Sacred Host, she asked "O Lord, what gift are You going to grant me?" And Jesus answered, "The gift of My Whole Being with My Divine nature, as formerly my Virgin Mother received it." "O Lord, how clear, how precise, how strong, how powerful are Your words. Hardly are the words pronounced: 'Woman, you are cured' - and she is cured immediately. 'This is My Body' - and it is His Body. 'This is My Body' - and it is His Body. 'This is My Blood' - and it is His Blood." "Who can speak in that manner if not the One Who holds everything in His hand? Who can be trusted if not the One for Whom doing and speaking are one and the same thing? My soul, accept these words without reservation: believe as firmly as the Lord spoke. Believe with as much humility as He shows authority and power. The Lord wants to find in your faith the same simplicity which He put in His words." - Bousset - From The Ideals of St. Francis by: Fr. Hilarion Felder, O.M. Cap.: "The faith of Francis beholds behind the crystal of the monstrance, on the linen of the altar, and on the tongue of the communicant, the hands and feet, the eyes and mouth, the flowing blood and throbbing heart, the majestic personality and the saving grace of Him who once walked the fields of Galilee and Judea, and to whom he himself had sworn allegiance as a knight of the cross." "I remember the devotion of your youth, how you loved Me as a bride, following Me in the desert, in a land unsown." - Jeremiah 2:2 Remember when you first fell in love with Jesus? Remember what a joy it was to pray? How you loved to be with God and with His people! How you would praise Him!... Remember when... Many, however, have lost their first love (Rv 2:4). They still believe; they still pray and serve the Lord. But it's not the way it was... The Spirit is quenched (1 Thes 5:19). The flame is no longer burning bright. Repent! Return! Revive! Renew! "The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, His mercies are not spent; they are renewed each morning, so great is His faithfulness" (Lam 3:22-23). There's so much more, and eternity of "more" with Jesus. The Lord is saying to you: "I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart." "She shall respond there as in the days of her youth" (Hos 2:16-17). Give in, fall into His arms, let Him love you as of old. "Greater will be the future glory...than the former" (Hg 2:9). He calls: "Arise, My beloved, My beautiful one, and come! (Sg 2:10) Will you love Him again? Will you feel the touch of His nail-scarred hands? "There is no greater love than this" (Jn 15:13). Live in His love (Jn 15:10). - Excerpts from Presentation Ministries, "One Bread, One Body" "O Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I would like to be filled with love for You; keep me closely united with You, may my heart be near to Yours. I want to be to You like the apostle John. O Mary of the Rosary, keep me recollected when I say these prayers of yours; bind me forever, with your rosary, to Jesus of the Blessed Sacrament. Blessed be Jesus, my love, blessed be the Immaculate Virgin Mary." - Pope John XXIII, Journal of a Soul "Being for every man the touchstone of faith and love, the Eucharist, like on the Cross, divided the minds as soon as it was announced... Nothing engages a man as much as does the Eucharist"... ..."The man who partakes in the breaking of the bread dares to build his house on the very core of love. He becomes, as it were, Godlike, but regardless of the strength he derives from it, his free will remains. We are always free to disown this immense grace, to abuse it. The Greatest Love may be betrayed. Fed on the Living Bread, we nevertheless conceal a part of ourselves which longs for swine's food." "The Eucharist engages us unreservedly; it is a pact of love, an alliance signed in the deeper recesses of our being. All our potentialities are called upon to warrant the protection and fulfillment of this pact." - from Francois Mauriac's Holy Thursday: An Intimate Remembrance "Why did Jesus not limit His Eucharistic Presence to the solemn moments of Holy Mass? Why does He not continue it only during those hours when, amid lights and flowers, He receives the adoration and homage of His sons? Why does He remain also during the nights, even in tabernacles where He is abandoned and forgotten and sometimes subjected to sacrilegious profanation?" "It would seem that this persistent miracle of the Real Presence of Jesus under the appearances of the consecrated bread, even in times of profanation, is an excessive prodigality, both useless and incompatible with the Divine Majesty." "And yet, this is the very reason why Jesus chose to do so; to love with a love that knows no measure and does not shrink from excess. This was the purpose for which He invented and instituted the Holy Eucharist as we have it: 'He loved to the end.'" - from The Holy Eucharist, by Jose Guadalupe Trevino "At last there dawned the most beautiful day of all the days of my life. How perfectly I remember even the smallest details of those sacred hours! The joyful awakening, the reverent and tender embraces of my mistresses and older companions, the room filled with white frocks, like so many snowflakes, where each child was dressed in turn." - St. Therese "Lord, I shall see you no more with the eyes of the flesh..." - St. John of the Cross (to the Host which had been brought to him) "As a man must be born before he can begin to lead his physical life, so he must be born to lead a Divine Life. That birth occurs in the Sacrament of Baptism. To survive, he must be nourished by Divine Life; that is done in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist." - Bishop Fulton J. Sheen "We do not sin when we adore Christ in the Eucharist; we do sin when we do not adore Christ in the Eucharist." - St. Augustine "Certainly amongst all devotions, after that of receiving the sacraments, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament holds the first place, is the most pleasing to God, and the most useful to ourselves. Do not then, O devout soul, refuse to begin this devotion; and forsaking the conversation of men, dwell each day, from this time forward, for at least half or quarter of an hour, in some church, in the presence of Jesus Christ under the sacramental species. Taste and see how sweet is the Lord." - St. Alphonsus Ligouri Thirty years later, Father Eymard had tears in his eyes as he spoke of his first Holy Communion. "When I pressed Jesus to my heart, I said to Him: 'I will be a priest. I promise You!' ...Oh, what graces Our Lord gave me then! Yes, I believe my conversion at that time was sincere and perfect." - from Saint Peter Julian Eymard: Apostle of the Eucharist "Let us give ourselves to the Immaculata. Let her prepare us, let her receive Him in Holy Communion. This is the manner most perfect and pleasing to the Lord Jesus and brings great fruit to us." - St. Maximilian Kolbe "How happy I will be if I keep my heart free from attachment to anyone, and chained to Jesus, my God, alone... I will devote all my efforts to this end... I will go before the Blessed Sacrament, and there sign these resolutions with my blood." - St. Peter Julian Eymard - From The Cure of Ars: Patron Saint of Parish Priests, by Father Bartholomew O'Brien: A man who lived near the church wondered what the new Cure was doing in there so very early each morning. One morning, long before dawn, when the man saw a tiny candle making it way from the rectory through the darkness across the cemetery, he sneaked over to the church and peeked in to find out for himself. There was the pastor, pouring out his heart to Jesus hidden in the Blessed Sacrament! "Ah," said the man, "he is not like other men!" What did the Cure say to his blessed Jesus? Henri Ghoen has given us his version of the Cure's prayer. Prostrate on the floor or kneeling with outstretched hands, the Cure thus prayed or groaned or wept out his heart: "My God, my all, You see how I love You, and I do not love You enough. My God, You have given me all; behold the little that I give You. Give me the strength to give more. My God, here is all - take all; but convert my parish. If You do not convert it, it will be because I have not deserved it. My God, I count my merits as nothing, but Yours are infinite. May they win for me the grace of suffering. My God, I consent to suffer all that You may wish for all my life...for a hundred years...and the most bitter suffering, but convert them..." (The Secret of the Cure D'Ars, Henri Gheon, p. 53) "The Eucharist is the heart of the Church. Where Eucharistic life flourishes, there the life of the church will blossom." - Pope John Paul II "And since so few people now hear the words, 'Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened,' let each of us, when he approaches the Holy Table, look upon himself as the delegate of all those he loves or has loved, living or dead. When God makes His way into our souls, He does not find us alone. All those from whom we proceed and who have gone to sleep before us may receive, in Purgatory, some benefit of grace pervading us, their living children, when we pray for them. And all our friends who are kept away from the Source of grace by sin, indifference, ignorance, and incredulity - those who have helped us and those we have harmed - are present in our thoughts in this ineffable instant." - Francois Mauriac "When I give way to the kindness of My Heart," said Christ to St. Gertrude, "When I humble Myself in the Sacrament of Life to be united to a soul which is free from mortal sin, all those who dwell in heaven, on earth, and in Purgatory receive inestimable favors." "I want to shine like a little candle before His altar." - St. Therese of Lisieux It pleases me to consider Mary Magdalen, the divinely enamored of the Gospels, as the precursor of Eucharistic souls who are daily increasing in number and becoming more and more select and inflamed with love. Did not Magdalen, in utter disregard of scorn and criticism, feel and follow a special attraction to honor the Body of Christ, the same body we venerate under the sacramental species? It happened the first time in Galilee, on the day of her conversion, at the dining hall of a wealthy Pharisee, amid the noise and merriment of a banquet. Wrapped in folds of luxurious cloak, she made her way through the guests to the feet of Jesus, who was "reclining at table." Kneeling down, she embraced and kissed those sacred feet, and wiped them with the mass of her loosened hair. To express her profound contrition and obtain forgiveness, her lips uttered not one word: she spoke only with the silent language of the heart, so well understood by my beloved Christ, namely, her tears. - The Holy Eucharist, Fr. Jose Guadalupe Trevino "When the army of Frederick II was devastating the valley of Spoleto some of the soldiers placed a ladder against the convent wall. St. Clare caused herself to be carried to a window, and holding the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament in sight of the enemies, she prostrated herself before the Eucharistic God. Her prayer was heard, and the enemies, struck with a sudden panic, fled in terror." - Hoever "The brothers and sisters who would like to work for the conversion of souls, should try to participate every day in the sacrifice of the Mass. Let them remember that Mass is both Christmas and Calvary. A single Mass gives more glory to God than the martyrdom of the whole of humanity, united with the praises of all the angels and the saints. Where you have the Blessed Sacrament, there you have the living God, the Saviour, as really as when he was living in Galilee and Judea, as really as when he is now in heaven. Never lose a Communion by your own fault. Communion is more than life, more than all the goods of this world, more than the entire universe. It is God Himself, it is Jesus. Can you prefer anything else? If you love Jesus sincerely, can you willfully lose the grace of his coming within you? Jesus asks you to love him with all the energy and the simplicity of your heart." - Charles de Foucauld "Sister Briege McKenna, O.S.C. speaks about a young priest who had cancer of the throat and expected to have his voice box removed in three weeks. "Father," she told him, "every single day at Mass... when you take the sacred Host, you meet Jesus.. you ask Jesus to heal you." He followed Sister's advice. Three weeks later he did not need surgery. The doctors realized the cancer had gone and that the young priest had brand new vocal cords." - Roland Huot, S.S.S. - From the writings of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe: "Niepokalanow is a home like Nazareth. The Father is God the Father, the mother and mistress of the home is the Immaculata, the firstborn son and our brother is Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the altar. All the younger brothers try to imitate the elder Brother in love and honor towards God and the Immaculata, our common parents, and from the Immaculata they try to love the divine elder Brother, the ideal of sanctity who deigned to come down from heaven to be incarnated in her and to live with us in the tabernacle... "The whole world is a large Niepokalanow where the Father is God, the mother the Immaculata, the elder brother the Lord Jesus in all the tabernacles of the world, and the younger brothers the people." "My aim is to institute perpetual adoration," he said, for this is the "the most important activity." Our Lady and the Eucharist A critic once said, "One cannot look at the Mother of God, with her pure, restful and happy countenance, without feeling impelled to fall down and join her in Adoration." "Each morning at Holy Mass, the Bread of Life will help the body as well as the soul, if we have faith. If we but touch the hem of His garment...and how much more have we than that! We can find Him, at every moment, on the altar. Be with Him there. Better than all books! Thank the Trinity over and over again for this Gift. Rest in His presence, and my guardian angel will adore Him for me. Silence." - Edel Quinn "This Food which no hunger can expel, - Matthew of Riveaulx "We cannot separate our lives from the Eucharist; the moment we do, something breaks. People ask, 'Where do the sisters get the joy and the energy to do what they are doing?' The Eucharist involves more than just receiving; it also involves satisfying the hunger of Christ. He says, 'Come to Me.' He is hungry for souls." - Mother Teresa of Calcutta "A short time after his birth it became clear that a baby suffered from septicaemia. The doctors felt nothing could be done. The grandmother of the child attended the Mass offered at her request "for a special intention" in the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal in Paris. The following day she found out that at the very moment when she received Holy Communion her son and his wife stood dumbfounded before the child who had been so thoroughly cured that the disease left no trace." - From "The Healing Power of the Eucharist", Roland Huot, S.S.S. "Every act of reverence, every genuflection that you make before the Blessed Sacrament is important because it is an act of faith in Christ, and act of love for Christ. And every sign of the cross and gesture of respect made each time you pass a church is also an act of faith." - Pope John Paul II, Phoenix Park, Sept. 29, 1979 "If we did not have the adorable Eucharist here below, Jesus our God-with-us, this earth would be much too sad, this life too hard, and time too long. We must be grateful to the divine goodness for having left us this hidden Jesus, this pillar of cloud and fire in this desert," - St. Peter Julian Eymard "Jesus asked, 'Who touched me? I felt the power going out from Me.' In the same way, because Christ is present on the earth in the Eucharist, He radiates grace. Grace emanates from Him - grace goes out from Him," - Fr. John Hardon, SJ. "We cannot please God unless we resemble Jesus Christ, and the Blessed Sacrament [was] instituted for the very purpose of perfecting in us this likeness." - Edward Leen, CSSp. "It is not the man who is responsible for the offerings as they become Christ's Body and Blood; it is Christ Himself who was crucified for us. The standing figure belongs to the priest who speaks these words. The power and the grace belong to God. 'This is My Body,' he says. And these words transform the offerings." - St. John Chrysostom "We should never again use the expression, 'When Jesus was on earth' or think of Him as being only in heaven, Jesus is still on earth." "While all the sacraments confer grace, the Eucharist contains the author of grace, Jesus Christ Himself." - Fr. John Hardon, SJ. "The day's food for the day's march...that is what Holy Communion is meant to be." - Mgr. Ronald Knox "In one day the Eucharist will make you produce more for the glory of God than a whole lifetime without it." - St. Peter Julian Eymard "Were it not for the constant presence of our divine Master in our humble chapel, I would not have found it possible to persevere in sharing the lot of the lepers in Molokai...The Eucharist is the bread that gives strength... It is at once the most eloquent proof of His love and the most powerful means of fostering His love in us. He gives Himself every day so that our hearts as burning coals may set afire the hearts of the faithful," - Fr. Damien, Apostle of the Lepers "Our own belief is that the renovation of the world will be brought about only by the Holy Eucharist." - Pope Leo XIII In 1859, at the request of the Bishop, Bl. Eugene Mazenod, St. Peter Julian [Eymard] established Perpetual Adoration in a church entrusted to his congregation in the city of Marseilles. Shortly after returning to Paris, he wrote to the priest in charge of the Church. "Do pursue the work we have inaugurated. You know that beginnings are accompanied with more abundant grace and light. There is a greater fervor in the beginning and then enthusiasm is apt to wane. But it should be different in our case: we must keep on growing and ascending like the noonday sun, because we are always exposed to the rays of the Eucharistic Sun." - from The Link "The bread that you see on the altar is the Body of Christ as soon as it is sanctified by God's word. The chalice, or better what is contained in the chalice, is the Blood of Christ as soon as it is sanctified by God's word," - St. Augustine. "To speak of the Blessed Sacrament is to speak of what is most sacred. How often, when we are in a state of distress, those to whom we look for help leave us; or what is worse, add to our affliction by heaping fresh troubles upon us. He is ever there waiting to help us." - St. Euphrasia Pelletier, Foundress of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd "Lourdes, where non-Catholics imagine that we accord Mary undue eminence, is no doubt that place in the world where Christ in the Eucharist is most glorified. It is the only place in the world where, under the veil of the Host, Christ mingles in the midst of so many rich people and is as closely pressed by them as He was during His mortal life. His mother prays for these bodies and these souls, and Christ cures them. The procession of the Blessed Sacrament in Lourdes starts from the Grotto to show that Jesus was given to us by the Virgin. And she who stood on Golgotha, at the foot of the Cross a condemned Man, stands here by the side of the King of eternal glory." - Francois Mauriac, Holy Thursday "As I read the sad statistics... that only 30% believe what the church teaches on the Real Presence of Christ, my mind went back to an earlier heresy - the Protestant Revolt. It was not the so called "selling of indulgences" that caused the painful break in our family. It was... [those] who no longer believed in the Real Presence..." "When Catholics are asked, 'Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?' they should answer a resounding YES! There is no closer union with Jesus than when you receive Him in the Eucharist. You too can say with St. Paul, '...and the life I now live is not my own CHRIST IS LIVING IN ME.' (Gal 2:20)" - Rev. Msgr. Richard L. Carroll, V.F. "The devotion to the Eucharist is the most noble because it has God as its object; it is the most profitable for salvation, because It gives us the Author of Grace; it is the sweetest, because the Lord is Sweetness Itself," - St. Pius X. The King Of Love My Shepherd Is The King of Love my Shepherd is, Where streams of living water flow Perverse and foolish I have strayed In death's dark vale I fear no ill You spread a table in my sight, And so through all the length of days "After Communion, he felt the Presence inside himself as a radiant fire of such exceeding sweetness that all sense of time and every sensation of anxiety disappeared... Eventually all articulate words subsided into a current of communication flowing like a river of love between Lord and servant, between Creator and creature, between Friend and friend, Lover and lover. The union was so utterly complete that the old priest sat immobile in perfect recollection for a time that existed beyond time," - Eclipse of the Sun, by Michael O'Brien "O God, O Creator, O Spirit of Life overwhelming Your creatures with ever new graces! You grant to Your chosen ones the gift which is ever renewed: the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ! "O Jesus, You instituted this Sacrament, not through any desire to draw some advantage from it for Yourself, but solely moved by love which has no other measure than to be without measure. You instituted this Sacrament because Your love exceeds all words. Burning with love for us, You desired to give Yourself to us and took up Your dwelling in the consecrated Host, entirely and forever, until the end of time. And You did this, not only to give us a memorial of Your death which is our salvation, but You did it also, to remain with us entirely and forever." - St. Angela of Foligno "Jesus took His flesh from the flesh of Mary," - St. Augustine. "We know, too, that united to the Divinity in the Eucharist there is Jesus' Body and Blood taken from the body and blood of the Blessed Virgin. Therefore at every Holy Communion we receive, it would be quite correct, and a very beautiful thing, to take notice of our Holy Mother's sweet and mysterious presence, inseparably united with Jesus in the Host. Jesus is always the Son She adores. He is Flesh of Her flesh and Blood of Her blood. If Adam could call Eve when she had been taken from his rib, 'bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh,' (Gen. 2:23), cannot the holy Virgin Mary even more rightly call Jesus 'Flesh of my flesh and Blood of my blood'? Taken from the 'intact Virgin' as says St. Thomas Aquinas, the flesh of Jesus is the maternal flesh of Mary, the blood of Jesus is the maternal blood of Mary. Therefore it will never be possible to separate Jesus from Mary." - Fr. Stefano Manelli, O.F.M. Conv., S.T.D. Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love "To virginity is awarded the tribute of the highest beauty," - St. Thomas Aquinas. "You Yourself, O Christ are my all. For you I keep myself chaste, and holding aloft my shining lamp I run to meet You, my Spouse," - St. Methodius, Bishop of Olympus. "The more pure and chaste is a soul, the more it hungers for this Bread [Jesus in the Eucharist], from which it derives strength to resist all temptations to sins of impurity, and by which it is more intimately united with the Divine Spouse; - Pope Pius XII, Sacra Virginitas, On Consecrated Virginity. Of Jesus, St. Augustine says, "Look upon the beauty of your Lover." "There is a school in Heaven, and there one has only to learn how to love. The school is in the Cenacle; the Teacher is Jesus; the matter taught is His Flesh and His Blood," - St. Gemma Galgani. Recently, I heard a story about Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR. He was traveling with a Protestant minister in a car and when they passed a Catholic Church, Fr. Benedict made the sign of the Cross. The minister asked him why he did this. Fr. Benedict explained that it was out of reverence for Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. The minister told him, if I believed what you believe, I would get out of the car, run inside the Church, fall on my knees and never get up again. "When St. John Mary Vianney arrived at the obscure little village of Ars, someone said to him with bitterness, 'Here there is nothing to do.' 'Therefore there is everything to do,' replied the Saint. "And he began immediately to act. What did he do? He arose at 2:00am in the morning and went to pray near the altar in the dark church. He recited the Divine Office and prepared himself for Holy Mass. After the Holy Sacrifice, he made his thanksgiving; then he remained at prayer until noon. He would be always kneeling on the floor without any support, with a Rosary in his hand and his eyes fixed on the tabernacle." - from Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love, Fr. Stefano Manelli, OFM "My Jesus! What a lovable contrivance this holy Sacrament was - that You would hide under the appearance of bread to make Yourself loved and to be available for a visit by anyone who desires You!" - St. Alphonsus Ligouri "To be possessed by Jesus and to possess Him - that is the perfect reign of Love." - St. Peter Julian Eymard "When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now," - Mother Teresa of Calcutta. "It was love that motivated His self-emptying, that led Him to become a little lower than angels, to be subject to parents, to bow His head beneath the Baptist's hands, to endure the weakness of the flesh, and to submit to death even upon the cross," - St. Bernard. "We adore Thee most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here in all Thy Churches, which are in the whole world, because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world," - St. Francis of Assisi. "Christ underwent His passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of the Church's preaching to proclaim the Cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows," - Vatican Council II. "Each time we accept to bear that cross and be nailed to it, believing against all believing - when it's impossible any longer to believe because of our pain - that's when we defeat him [satan]. - By the Blood of THE LAMB [Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament]," Fr. Elijah, Michael O'Brien. "How beautiful she is, Our Lady of compassion! How dear! How utterly unselfish! How filled with joy for Him - and us - in the depths of her own agony and desolation!" -St. Alphonsus Ligouri "Moreover, on Calvary, men had become her children; she loved them with all the tenderness of a mother, and wanted their sovereign good as much as her own. That is why she was so eager to make Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament known to all, to enkindle all hearts with His love, to see them all bound and chained at His loving service, to group them into a Eucharistic Guard of Honor, a court of faithful and devoted adorers. To obtain that grace, Mary carried out a perpetual mission of prayer and of penance in the presence of the Most Holy and Adorable Eucharist, pleading for the salvation of a world redeemed by Divine Blood and, in her boundless zeal, including the needs of the faithful of every age and place who would ever share in the heritage of the Divine Eucharist," - St. Peter Julian Eymard "We must visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a hundred thousand times a day." - St. Francis de Sales One day St. Teresa of Avila heard someone say: "If only I had lived at the time of Jesus... If only I had seen Jesus... If only I had talked with Jesus..." To this she responded: "But do we not have in the Eucharist the living, true and real Jesus present before us? Why look for more?" "I love so much a soul's desire to receive Me, that I hasten to it each time it summons Me by its yearnings," - Words of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. "Every Consecrated Host is made to burn Itself up with love in a human heart," - St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars. "Jesus has prepared not just one Host, but one for everyday of our life. The Hosts for us are ready. Let us not forfeit even one of them," - St. Peter Julian Eymard "Love cannot triumph unless it becomes the one passion of our life. Without such passion we may produce isolated acts of love; but our life is not really won over or consecrated to an ideal. "Until we have a passionate love for our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament we shall accomplish nothing," - St. Peter Julian Eymard Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II's 1996 letter to the Bishop of Liege titled The letter was written on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the first celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi. To Bishop Albert Houssiau 1. In 1246, Robert of Thourotte, your distant predecessor in the see of Liege, instituted in his Diocese the Eucharistic feast now known as Corpus Christi, at the request of Juliana of Cornillon, who had already composed an office for Corpus Christi, Eve of St. Martin and other women of Liege. A few years later in 1264, Pope Urban IV made this feast of the Body of Christ a holy day of obligation for the universal Church, thereby expressing the importance of venerating the Eucharistic Body of our Saviour. On the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the institution of this feast, as I join all the pilgrims who will be participating in the jubilee ceremonies and the faithful all over the world who ceaselessly pray before the Blessed Sacrament, I raise a fervent prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord. 2. Christ whom we adore is really present Jesus is no longer present to men in the same way that he was on the roads of Palestine. After the Resurrection, he appeared in his glorious body to the women and to his disciples. Then he took the Apostles and "led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. ...He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven" (Lk 24:50-51). But in ascending to the Father, Christ did not distance himself from men. He dwells forever in the midst of his brethren and, just as he promised, he accompanies them and guides them with his Spirit. Henceforth, his presence is of another kind. Indeed, "at the Last Supper, after celebrating the Passover with his disciples and when he was about to pass from this world to his Father, Christ instituted this sacrament as the perpetual memorial of his Passion..., the greatest of all his miracles; and he left this sacrament to those whom his absence filled with grief, as an incomparable consolation" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Office of Corpus Christi, 57, 4). Every time we celebrate the Eucharist in the Church, we recall the death of the Saviour, we proclaim his Resurrection as we await his return. Thus no sacrament is greater or more precious than that of the Eucharist; and when we receive Communion, we are incorporated into Christ. Our life is transformed and taken up by the Lord." 3. Outside the Eucharistic celebration, the Church is careful to venerate the Blessed Sacrament, which must be "reserved...as the spiritual centre of the religious and parish community" (Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, n. 68). Contemplation prolongs Communion and enables one to meet Christ, true God and true man, in a lasting way, to let oneself be seen by him and to experience his presence. When we contemplate him present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, Christ draws near to us and becomes more intimate to us than we are to ourselves. He grants us a share in his divine life in a transforming union and, in the Spirit, he gives us access to the Father, as he himself said to Philip: 'He who has seen me has see the Father' (Jn 14:9). Contemplation, which is also a Communion of desire, intimately associates us with Christ, and in a very special way associates those who are prevented from receiving it. Remaining in silence before the Blessed Sacrament, it is Christ totally and really present whom we discover, whom we adore and with whom we are in contact. However, it is not through the senses that we perceive him and are close to him. Under the appearance of bread and wine, it is faith and love which lead us to recognize the Lord, he who fully communicates to us 'the blessings of Redemption which he accomplished, he, the Master, the Good Shepherd, the Mediator of most pleasing to the Father' (Leo XIII, Mirae caritatis). As the Livre de la foi of the Belgian Bishops recalls, prayer of adoration in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament unites the faithful 'with the paschal mystery; it enables them to share in Christ's sacrifice, of which the Eucharist is the 'permanent sacrament.'" 4. In honouring the Blessed Sacrament, we also offer a profound thanksgiving to the Father, for in his Son he visited us and redeemed his people. Through the sacrifice of the Cross Jesus gave his life to the world and made us his adoptive children, in his image, establishing a particularly intimate relationship that enables us to call God by the beautiful name of Father. As Scripture reminds us, Jesus spent nights in prayer, especially at the moments when he had to make important decisions. In his prayer, by an act of filial trust and in imitation of his Lord and Master, the Christian opens his heart and his hands to receive God's gift and to thank him for his freely offered blessings. 5. It is invaluable to converse with Christ, and leaning against Jesus' breast like his beloved disciple, we can feel the infinite love of his Heart. We learn to know more deeply the One who gave Himself totally, in the different mysteries of his divine and human life, so that we may become disciples and in turn enter into this great act of giving, for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. 'Following Christ is not an outward imitation, since it touches man at the very depths of his being' (Veritatis splendor, n. 21). We are called to learn from him, gradually to be conformed to him, to let the Spirit act within us and to fulfil the mission entrusted to us. In particular, Christ's love spurs us to work constantly for the unity of his Church, to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and to serve men, 'we who are many are one body, for we all partake of one bread' (1 Cor 10:16) such is the Good News which gladdens man's heart and shows him that he is called to take part in the blessed life with God. The Eucharistic mystery is the source, the centre and the summit of the Church's spiritual and charitable activity (cf. Presbyterorum ordinis, n. 6). Model your life on the mystery of the Lord's Cross Closeness to Christ in silence and contemplation does not distance us from our contemporaries but, on the contrary makes us attentive and open to human joy and distress and broadens our heart on a global scale. It unites us with our brothers and sisters in humanity and particularly with children, who are the Lord's dearly beloved. Through adoration, the Christian mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the sowing of the Gospel. Anyone who prays to the Saviour draws the whole world with him and raises it to God. Those who stand before the Lord are therefore fulfilling an eminent service. They are presenting to Christ all those who do not know him or are far from him; they keep watch in his presence on their behalf. 6. On the occasion of this jubilee, I encourage priests to revive the memory of their priestly ordination, by which Christ called them to take part in a particular way in his one priesthood, especially in the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice and in building up his Mystical Body which is the Church. May they remember the words spoken by the Bishop at their ordination liturgy: "Know what you are doing, and imitate the mystery you celebrate: model your life on the mystery of the Lord's Cross"! In drawing from the source of the sacred mysteries by faithful and regular periods of contemplation, they will derive spiritual fruit for their personal life and their ministry, and, in turn, they will be able to make the Christian people entrusted to their care capable of understanding the greatness "of their own particular sharing in the priesthood of Christ" (Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 1996, n. 2; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 27 March 1996, p. 3). 7. "When the faithful adore Christ present in the sacrament, they should remember that his presence derives from the sacrifice and is directed towards both sacramental and spiritual communion" (Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, n. 50). I therefore encourage Christians regularly to visit Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, for we are all called to abide in the presence of God, thanks to him who is with us until the end of time. In contemplation, Christians will perceive ever more profoundly that the paschal mystery is at the heart of all Christian life. This practice leads them to join more intensely in the paschal mystery and to make the Eucharistic sacrifice, the perfect gift, the centre of their life in accordance with their specific vocation, for it "confers and incomparable dignity upon the Christian people" (Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, n. 67); in fact, during the Eucharist, we are welcomed by Christ, we receive his forgiveness, we are nourished by his word and his bread, we are then sent out on mission in the world; thus each one is called to witness to what he has received and to do the same for his brethren. The faithful strengthen their hope by discovering that with Christ suffering and distress can be transfigured, for with him we have already returned from death to life. As a result, when they offer the Lord of history their own life, their work and all creation, their days are illumined by him. 8. I urge priests, religious and lay people to continue and redouble their efforts to teach the younger generations the meaning and value of Eucharistic adoration and devotion. How will young people be able to know the Lord if they are not introduced to the mystery of his presence? Like the young Samuel, by learning the words of the prayer of the heart, they will be closer to the Lord who will accompany them in their spiritual and human growth, and in the missionary witness which they must give throughout their life. The Eucharistic mystery is in fact the "summit of evangelization" (Lumen gentium, n. 28), for it is the most eminent testimony to Christ's Resurrection. All interior life needs silence and intimacy with Christ in order to develop. This gradual familiarity with the Lord will enable certain young people to be involved in serving as acolytes and to taking a more active part in Mass; for young boys, to be near the altar is also a privileged opportunity to hear Christ's call to follow him more radically in the priestly ministry. 9. As I commend you to the intercession of the Mother of God, St. Juliana, and also St. Lambert and St. Hubert, zealous evangelizers of your country, and all the saints of your land, I cordially grant my Apostolic Blessing to you, to all the members of the diocesan community and to the faithful who during the year will take part in the various events of the jubilee. From the Vatican, 28 May 1996. Joannes Paulus II (Signed) Following is an excerpt from Therese and Lisieux by Pierre Descouvemont and Helmuth Nils Loose: "On her return to Lisieux [from her pilgrimage to Rome to see the Pope regarding her entrance to the Carmel], she sent her gold bracelet to the chaplains of Montmarte so it could be melted into part of a great monstrance - a gesture that clearly expressed Therese's desire to keep watch day and night close to Jesus in the Eucharist." Note: The monstrance containing the gold of Therese's bracelet is at Le Sacre Coeur in Paris, France where Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament is perpetually adored to this day. "My mission (is) to make God loved...," - St. Therese of Lisieux. "One Sunday in July 1887, Therese received a great Eucharistic grace at Saint-Pierre cathedral. At the end of the Mass, a picture of the Crucified Christ stuck out of her missal. She was struck by the idea that His Blood was falling to the ground without anyone thinking of collecting it. She decided to remain at the foot of the cross for the rest of her life to receive this precious Divine dew for the sake of sinners. In her heart sounded the cry of Jesus, I thirst. It was her thirst for love," - Therese and Lisieux, Pierre Descouvemont and Helmuth Nils Loose. The following quotation is from the Most Reverend Thomas Daily, Bishop of Brooklyn: "The Power of One Hail Mary can change the world. In all our efforts and endeavors, we can never underestimate the power of prayer, and must always rely upon the help of God. In a special way we commend our efforts to the Mother of God and our own Blessed Mother." "The Rosary, especially prayed in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, is a powerful means of spiritual grace. In all of our efforts to promote the sanctity of human life, prayer is our first and strongest resource. May we rely upon the power of our Lord's presence in the Blessed Sacrament and the intercession of His Blessed Mother to guide and help us in fostering a greater respect for human life and an end to abortion in our society..." "God does not despise these hidden struggles with ourselves, so much richer in merit because they are unseen: The patient man is better than the valiant and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh cities. (Prov. xvi. 32). By our little acts of charity practiced in the shade we convert souls far away, we help missionaries, we win for them abundant alms, and by that means build actual dwellings both spiritual and materials for our Eucharistic Lord." - St. Therese "I hope that this form of Adoration, with permanent exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, will continue into the future. Specifically, I hope that the fruit of this Congress results in the establishment of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in all parishes and Christian communities throughout the world," - Pope John Paul II, at the 45th International Eucharistic Congress, Seville, Spain, June 1993. "The message of all the Marian apparitions, both past and present, is that the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will culminate in the Eucharistic reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Eucharistic reign will come through perpetual adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament," - Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration - Fire from Heaven. "We need... not just devotion to the Eucharist, but profound union with Him in the Eucharist," - Eclipse of the Sun, Michael O'Brien If you would like to be on a mailing list to receive a quote on the Blessed Sacrament by E-mail each day, please write toinfo@ACFP2000.com |
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