Prayer of St. Simeon the Metaphrastes

O You who graciously give your flesh to me as food,  who are a fire consuming the unworthy: consume me not, O my creator,

but rather pass through all the parts of my body, into all my joints, my heart, my soul.

Burn, O Good Lord, the thorns of my transgressions, cleanse my soul, and purify all my thoughts. Ever shelter, guard, and keep me in your love.

Chasten me, purify me, control all my passions. Adorn me, teach me, and enlighten me always.

Show me how to be a tabernacle of your Holy Spirit, and in no wise the dwelling-place of sin, so that from me, your habitation, and because of the communion of your holy Mysteries, every evil deed and passion may flee as from fire.

I bring to You all the saints, especially your pure and most holy Mother to intercede for me.

O my Christ and my God, accept their prayers in my favor. Make me your Child to be a child of light;

for You alone are the sanctification and the splendor of my soul, and to You, my God and my Master, I shall give glory and honor for ever and ever.  Amen.

"Would you like to honor the body of Christ you receive in the Eucharist?  Do not despise the poor when you see him clothed in rags...  He who said 'this is my body', has said also 'You have seen me hungry and you did not give me to eat!  Whatever you have refused to do for any of these little ones, you have refused it to me also!'" (St. John Chrysostom)

Of the Eucharist St. John of Damascus has written: "If union is in truth with Christ and with one another, we are assuredly voluntarily united with all those who partake with us."

"You have vouchsafed me, O Lord, that this corruptible temple (my human flesh), should be united to Your holy flesh, that my blood should be mingled with yours.

"Therefore I am your transparent and translucent member I am transported out of myself.

"O Marvel! I see myself such as I have become: Fearful and, at the same time, ashamed of myself;

"I venerate you and I fear you, And I know not where to shelter  now how to use these new, dreadful and divinized members ...

"I who am but straw, receive the fire and I am enflamed without being consumed, as of old the burning bush of Moses." (St. Simeon the New Theologian)

"How could our flesh not partake of eternal life: 'since it is nourished by the flesh and blood of the Lord and is a member of his body' (Adversus Haeres 5, 2). -St. Ireneus The First Procession of the Most Blessed Sacrament at Lourdes in 1888

    Since the National Pilgrimage of 1888, the great pilgrimages of Lourdes have presented a peculiar characteristic: it is a Eucharistic demonstration in which the Divine Sacrament causes Its glory and Its power to shine more strikingly.  Of course Jesus the Savior was never forgotten amidst the pious homage tendered by the crowds to His most holy Mother.  It must also be remembered that if Mary worked miracles upon souls and bodies, it was always through the omnipotent virtue of her Son, whose Real Presence dominates the blessed Grotto who is God the sole Author of all these wonders.  But that year, as the Journal de Lourdes remarks: "It has pleased our good Mother to efface herself that her Divine Son might shine forth in the Eucharist."

    The 21st of August, 1888, was for the National Pilgrimage a day of trial: there were few cures, and towards evening a terrible storm prevented the torch-light procession from taking place.  At the sight of the saddened, though not discouraged, pilgrims an inspiration from Heaven had suddenly dawned in the heart of a pious ecclesiastic.  Why should not the Blessed Sacrament receive a triumphant ovation?  And as the God of the Eucharist was being carried among the sick, why should not the multitude address Him with the same acclamations, the same prayers which in the days of yore had  obtained the miracles which occurred during the mortal life of the Savior?  This plan was, of course, favorably accepted.     The next day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus Hostia was leaving the Basilica preceded and followed by a great number of the Faithful bearing tapers in their hands.  After Benediction, given in the Grotto, the  invocations began, with an animation, a stress, an enthusiasm quite  indescribable.  A spirit of Heaven-sent rapture descended upon the crowd.  From all the pallets, from all the beds, from all the vehicles where human infirmity lay prone and suffering, something heart-rending, supplicating, came forth; and as though by a unanimous impulse, the crowd called upon the Son of the Immaculate, as of yore did the paralytic and the blind man of Jericho, "Lord!  If Thou wilt, Thou canst heal me!"     But now, behold! in front of the Grotto eight of the sick have arisen.  How describe such things?  When the Magnificat was intoned, triumphant, prodigious, no one could restrain his tears.  And ever since, every year in numberless processions that unwind themselves near the blessed Grotto, the same enthusiastic faith bursts forth; the same ardent prayer on the part of the Faithful, the same prodigies of merciful power on the part of Jesus

Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament take place.  It is Mary at Lourdes who has really prepared the Eucharistic triumph of her Son.  (Les Miracles historiques du Saint Sacrement, par le P. Eug. Couet.)

"When Christ gives us his Bread in the Eucharist he entirely changes us, and transforms us into his own divine state.  In his sacramental body we are incorporated into his mystical body and thus we become parts of his own body.   In receiving the Eucharist the symbiosis between two lives is completed.  Christ and the communicant are united; the head and the body are joined together into one.  The clay, which we are, is clay no more.  To describe this fusion the Fathers of the Church used the comparison of a flame alive in a body, or that of a spouse and his bride.  Christ and the recipient become one flesh, one body, one family." (Archbishop Joseph Raya)    

Thus Angels' Bread is made the Bread of man today: the Living Bread from heaven with figures dost away: O wondrous gift indeed! the poor and lowly may upon their Lord and Master feed.

Thee, therefore, we implore, O Godhead, One in Three, so may Thou visit us as we now worship Thee; and lead us on Thy way, That we at last may see the light wherein Thou dwellest aye.

(Panis Angelicus, St. Thomas Aquinas)

"Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist is Gods Living Love Letter; His Living Heart of Love, is a Valentine for all hearts.  Yet, this Message and Love waits to be given fully and personally to your heart. He waits to give His ove to you as if you were the only person in the whole world." (From the book Behold The Lamb)

"It is necessary to understand the wonder of this sacrament.  What it is, why it was given, and what is the profit of the action.  We become one body, and members, as it is said, of his flesh and of his bones...  This is effected by the food which he has given us...  He has mingled his body with ours that we may be one, as body joined to head." (St. John Chrysostom)

"By partaking of the body and blood of Christ you become one body and one blood with him.  In such a way you become bearers of Christ, his body and blood spread through your limbs.  In this way you become, in the words of St. Peter, 'partakers of the divine nature'." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)

"How much I love You, O my Jesus!  I wish to love You with my whole heart; yet I do not love You enough.  My lack of devotion and my negligence still haunt me.  I have one desire, that of being near You in the Blessed  Sacrament.  You are the sweet bridegroom of my soul.  My Jesus, my love, my all, gladly would I endure hunger, thirst, heat and cold to remain always with You in the Blessed Sacrament..." (St. John Neumann).

"I believe that You, O Jesus, are in the most holy Sacrament.  I love You and desire You.  Come into my heart.  I embrace You.  Oh, never leave me.  May the burning and most sweet power of Your love, O Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech You, absorb my mind that I may die through love of Your love, Who were  graciously pleased to die through love of my love." (St. Francis)

Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ, pierce the depths of my soul with the most joyous and life-giving wound of Your love, with true, serene, holy and apostolic charity, that my heart may ever yearn for You, and melt with genuine love, and long for You; that it may desire You, sigh for Your heavenly home, and earnestly yearn to become as nothing in order to be with You.     Grant that my soul may hunger for You, the Bread of Angels, the  Refreshment of holy souls, our daily and ever-satisfying Bread, which  contains all possible sweetness.  Let my heart ever hunger after You and feed upon You, upon whom the angels desire to gaze, and may my whole soul be filled with Your sweetness.  May it ever thirst for You, the Fountain of eternal light, the Torrent of pleasure, the Richness of the House of God.  May it ever yearn for You, seek You, find You, stretch towards You, reach You, meditate upon You, speak of You, and do all things for the praise and glory of Your holy Name, with humility and prudence, with love and delight, with willingness, affection and perseverance.     Be ever my hope and my whole confidence, my riches, my delight, my  pleasure, and my joy.  Be my rest, my peace, my sweetness and my delight.  Be my spiritual enjoyment, my food and refreshment.  Be my refuge and my help, my wisdom, my reward, my possession, and my treasure, in whom my mind and my heart may ever remain fixed and firm now and forever.  Amen.  (St. Bonaventure)

    "There is joy when we know that He whom we love loves us, and that our Lover does not make us wait for union.  Forever He stands at our door,  waiting for us to open to Him.  At every moment we can meet with Him ...     "At the Eucharist Christ takes us to Himself and brings us with Him into the secret heart of God.  Tenderly He places us with Himself in the bosom of the Father.  At the Eucharist we rise from earth to live in the very Source of our origin.  We who came from the hand of Love now return to our  beginnings, the heart of the Father.

    "At the Eucharist Christ feeds our hunger with Himself.  In truth, we do receive Him who is our Beloved and the Lover of our souls.  We receive Him in His immense fullness, body, blood, souls, and divinity.  This is the greatest moment of union, the greatest union on earth.  It is, therefore, the greatest moment of joy; we possess and are possessed.  The All is with us and we are in the All, one with Him and with each other in Him.  This is our greatest joy on earth.  We thirst for love and Love has come to us."  (Fr. Emile Briere)

 "You also realize, Venerable Brothers, that the Eucharist is reserved in churches or oratories to serve as the spiritual center of a religious community or a parish community, indeed of the whole Church and the whole of mankind, since it contains, beneath the veil of the species, Christ the invisible Head of the Church, the Redeemer of the world, the center of all hearts, 'by whom all things are and by whom we exist'."  (Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, Art. 68)

"The essential commitment and, above all, the visible grace and source of supernatural strength for the Church as the People of God is to persevereand advance constantly in Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and to develop spiritually in the climate of the Eucharist."  (Pope JPII, RedemptorHominis, Art. 20)

"For He is in the midst of us day and night [in the Blessed Sacrament]; He dwells in us with the fullness of grace and truth.   He raises the level of morals, fosters virtue, comforts the sorrowful, strengthens the weak and stirs up all those who draw near to Him to imitate Him, so that they may learn from his example to be meek and humble of heart, and to seek not their own interests but those of God."  (Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, Art. 67)

"Almighty and Eternal God, behold I come to the Sacrament of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  As one sick, I come to the Physician of life; unclean, to the Fountain of mercy; blind, to the Light of eternal splendor; poor and needy, to the Lord of heaven and earth.  Therefore, I beg of You, through Your infinite mercy and generosity, heal my weakness, wash my uncleanness, give light to my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness.  May I thus receive the Bread of Angels, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, with such reverence and humility, contrition and devotion, purity and faith, purpose and intention, as shall aid my soul's salvation ..." (St. Thomas Aquinas).

"Here in the tiny Host I find the fruit of love." (St. Therese)

"Beloved souls, in suffering and in joy, go to Jesus hidden in the Sacred Host and let the sweetness of His loving gaze fill you.

"Like the sick who expose their diseased bodies to the healing rays of the sun, expose your miseries, no matter what they are, to the beams of light streaming forth from the Sacred Host.

"Why dilute your love in an unceasing flow of words?  Why destroy the charm of intimate communings with Him by childish loquacity?  May the silence of the Eucharist teach you silent recollection!  But, while your lips are still, let your eyes speak.

"Yes, tell it all to Jesus with a long gaze full of adoration, love, and pleading.  Put all your tenderness in that look, all your desires, your sorrows, your disillusions in a word, your whole soul.

 "Stir up your faith and seek the eyes of Jesus through the Eucharistic veils.  May His gaze and yours meet, be united, and form together one and the same light and one and the same fire of love.

"Why do you look for more? "Ask Him only to deign to look upon you.  Tell Him with entire confidence: 'Look upon me and have mercy on me' (Ps 118:132).

"Remembering that, as soon as Jesus had looked on that young man who came to Him, He loved him, fear not to tell Him also: 'Look upon me and ... love me!'" (From The Holy Eucharist, by Jose Guadalupe Trevino)

"What is that love in which we ought to believe?  It is the love of Jesus Christ, the love which He testifies to us in the Eucharist, the love which is Himself, living and infinite love. "Happy they who believe in the love of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist!  They love, for to believe is to love ... "We believe an honorable man on his word.  Why should we put less faith in that of Our Lord? "When a friend desires to prove to his friend that he loves him, he tells him so, and he presses his hand affectionately.  "When Our Lord wants to show His love for us, He does so in person, discarding the intervention of any third person, whether angelic or human. Love suffers no intermediate agents. "He remains in the Holy Eucharist that He may repeat to us incessantly: I love you!  You must see that I love you!'" (St. Peter Julian Eymard)

"A mortal man, a creature, feeds himself, satiates himself, with his God, taking him for his daily bread, his drink...  O miracle of miracles!...  O love of loves!... O joy of joys!" (St. John Vianney)

"Give me the grace to long for Your holy sacraments, and especially to rejoice in the presence of Your body, sweet Savior Christ, in the holy sacrament of the altar."(St. Thomas More)

Of the Jubilee year Bishop Thomas V. Daily writes: "It is a time to renew our adoration of the one Lord, Jesus Christ, in the Eucharist.  Jesus has loved us so much that every day, all day, he makes himself available in his Real Presence, under the appearance of bread and wine.  Can you love anyone more totally than to give yourself completely to the beloved?  Only God can do that, and we are his beloved."

"You are my Love, O my Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.  My first thought on waking is of You, beloved of my soul, and my last before closing my eyes in sleep is of that consecrated Host, with an ardent longing for the dawn of another day when I can approach You and receive You again in the Holy Communion....     "I think of You before dawn... even before the birds have begun to salute You with their morning song.  I think of You in the midday heat; and when the shades of night surround me the remembrance of You and of Your love afford me the brightest of lights.     "O Jesus of the Eucharist!  O consecrated Host!  O envied Monstrance!  O blessed Ciborium, beloved of my heart!  The Tabernacle is my Treasure, and, far or near, my eyes never lose sight of it, for it contains the God of Love." (Concepcion Cabrera de Armida)

"Jesus, my God, I adore You, here present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, where You wait day and night to be our comfort while we await Your unveiled presence in heaven.  Jesus, my God, I adore You in all places where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved and where sins are committed against this Sacrament of Love.  Jesus, my God, I adore You for all time, past, present and future, for every soul that ever was, is or shall be created. Jesus, my God, who for us has endured hunger and cold, labor and fatigue, I adore You. Jesus, my God, who for my sake has deigned to subject Yourself to the humiliation of temptation, to the perfidy and defection of friends, to the scorn of Your enemies, I adore You.  Jesus, my God, who for us has endured the buffeting of Your passion, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the heavy weight of the cross, I adore You.  Jesus, my God, who, for my salvation and that of all mankind, was cruelly nailed to the cross and hung there for three long hours in bitter agony, I adore You.  Jesus, my God, who for love of us did institute this Blessed Sacrament and offer Yourself daily for the sins of men, I adore You.  Jesus, my God, who in Holy Communion became the food of my soul, I adore You.

    "Jesus, for You I live.  Jesus, for You I die.  Jesus, I am Yours in life and death." (From Reflections and Prayers for Visits with our Eucharistic Lord, by John J. Cardinal Carberry)

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