“Let all on earth worship and sing praise to You” (Ps 66:4). “The Eucharist, Gift of God for the Life of the World” INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN QUEBEC, JUNE 15 - 22, 2008 Excerpts from the theological document for the upcoming 49th Intl Eucharistic Congress:

Eucharistic adoration outside Mass prolongs the memorial by inviting the faithful to remain with the Lord who is present in the Blessed Sacrament: “The Teacher is here and is calling for you” (Jn 11.28). In Eucharistic adoration, the faithful recognize the Lord’s real presence and join themselves to his act of self-offering to the Father. Their adoration shares in his adoration because it is through Him, with Him and in Him that all prayer and adoration are given to God and accepted by God. “Living with Christ the Lord, they achieve a close familiarity with him and in his presence pour out their hearts for themselves and for those dear to them; they pray for peace and for the salvation of the world. Offering their entire lives with Christ to the Father in the Holy Spirit, they draw from this wondrous exchange an increase of faith, hope and love.” 28 [Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass, n. 80.] “It is pleasant to spend time with Him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13.25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the ‘art of prayer’, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament?” 29. [John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 25.]

FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI

“Oh, how Jesus seems continually to exclaim from the altar: Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matt. xi. 28). Come, He says, come, ye poor: come, ye infirm; come, ye just and ye sinners, and you shall find in me a remedy for all your losses and afflictions: such is the desire of Jesus Christ; to console every one who has recourse to Him, He remains day and night on our altars, that He may be found by all, and that He may bestow favors upon all. Hence the saints experienced in this world such pleasure in remaining in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, that days and night appeared to them as moments” (From the meditations of St. Alphonsus Liguori for the Octave of Corpus Christi).

ACT OF LOVE

Dear Jesus, I love You with my whole heart, my whole soul, and all my strength. May the love of Your own Sacred Heart fill my soul and purify it so that I may die to the world for love of You, as You died on the Cross for love of me. My God, You are all mine; grant that I may be all Yours in time and eternity. Heavenly Father, increase our faith in the Real Presence of Your Son, Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. We are obliged to adore Him, to give Him thanks and to make reparation for sins. We need Your peace in our hearts and among nations. We need conversion from our sins and the mercy of Your forgiveness. May we obtain this through prayer and our union with the Eucharistic Lord. Please send down the Holy Spirit upon all peoples to give them the love, courage, strength and willingness to respond to the invitation to Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. We beseech You to spread perpetual exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament in parishes around the world. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen. (From our D-11 “Come to Me” prayer card. Available through us).

START PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION IN YOUR PARISH TODAY!

The Ascension of The Lord—May 1 “He wished to remain among us even after His ascension into Heaven and, by a perpetual miracle, to continue in a mystical manner the mysteries of His earthly life and of His sacred Passion and death. This He accomplished by instituting the Most Blessed Sacrament. Oh, wondrous love, which compels the Son of God to remain continually with us on our altars! Truly, the mercy of our Redeemer has reached even to the depths of Divine love in order to give us this adorable Sacrament” (The Blessed Sacrament: God With Us).

Bl. Damien Joseph of Molokai, Apostle to the Lepers, Belgium (1840-1889)—May 10 “The Blessed Sacrament is indeed the stimulus for us all, for me as it should be for you, to forsake all worldly ambitions” (Bl. Damien Joseph of Molokai).

Pentecost Sunday—May 11 The Apostles were gathered around Our Blessed Mother Mary in prayer in the upper room when the Holy Spirit descended upon all of them in the form of tongues of fire! That same fire of Divine Love inflames Jesus in The Holy Eucharist where the love of God is poured into each of our hearts. We pray with Mother Mary that the Divine Love of God will bring help, healing, hope, mercy, reconciliation and peace to everyone in our whole world. Come Holy Spirit And Renew The Face Of The Earth!

Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady of Fatima—May 13 The three children fell on their knees and prayed with Our Lady: “O most Holy Trinity, I adore You! My God, my God, I love You in the Most Blessed Sacrament!” Mary said: “Pray the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of the war.” We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God and our Mother; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin!

The Most Holy Trinity—May 18 “The veil of mystery has been torn asunder. He is there, my God, infinite Unity, adorable Trinity, under the appearance of a small piece of bread. Jesus is there, in His sacred Humanity, His Heart, His precious Blood, His Soul, His eternal Divinity; He is there, whole and entire, in each Host consecrated throughout the world and in each fragment of consecrated Host” (Bl. Dina Belanger).

St. Rita of Cascia, Wife, Mother, Nun, Ptn. of Impossible, Italy (1381-1457)—May 22 St. Rita lived on the Holy Eucharist alone for four years. She is known for many miracles.

Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ—May 25 “Corpus Christi expounds the meaning of our whole life, of the whole history of the world: marching toward the promised land, a march that can keep on in the right direction only if we are walking with Him who came among us as bread and Word . . . . It offers the measure, for our wandering through this world, of Jesus Christ, who became man, the Eucharistic Lord, who shows us the way” (God is Near Us, Pope Benedict XVI, written as Joseph Ratzinger).

St. Philip Neri, Priest, Patron of Rome, Oratory Founder, Italy (1515-1595)—May 26 “Can you feel the fragrance of Paradise which diffuses Itself from the Tabernacle?” (St. Philip).

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus—May 30 “To keep me from sin and straying from Him, God has used devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. My life vows destined to be spent in the light irradiating from the tabernacle, and it is to the Heart of Jesus that I dare go for the solution of all my problems” (Pope Bl. John XXIII).

The Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth—May 31 “The first Corpus Christi procession occurred in a certain sense when Mary, bearing the newly conceived Jesus in her womb, left Nazareth to visit her cousin Elizabeth” (Pope J. P. II).

St. Norbert, Archbishop, Norbertines Founder, Germany (c. 1080-1134)—June 6 “The eminent virtues of Saint Norbert led to his being chosen bishop in spite of his reluctance. In this position he could not tolerate vice, and he denounced it boldly in all those who were scandalously abandoning themselves to its practice. On this account some people were offended and looked for a chance to kill him. How true it is that the impious and the dissolute cannot tolerate anyone who opposes their disorderly life. Saint Norbert escaped this danger; then he fought a heretic who denied the presence of the body of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, and he destroyed the error. Is this not the function of a bishop, to oppose vice and to maintain the faith in its vigor and strength?” (St. John Baptist de la Salle).

St. Ephrem of Syria, Deacon, Doctor of the Church, Iraq (d. 373)—June 9 St. Ephrem helped evangelize Mesopotamia. When a persecution of Christians began he led the faithful to Edessa (modern Iraq). St. Ephrem fought heresies and introduced hymns into the liturgy. He is known as the “Harp of the Holy Spirit.” He wrote, “Go with Him, as His inseparable companion, to the wedding feast of Cana, and drink of the wine of His blessing. Let you have ever before you the Face of the Lord, and look upon His beauty, and let your earnest gaze turn nowhere away from His most sweet countenance.”

St. Anthony of Padua, Church Doctor, Miracle worker, Italy (1195-1231)—June 13 St. Anthony was devoted to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and Our Lady from his childhood, when he served Mass for his uncle who was a priest. St. Anthony is known for his defense of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, miracles and conversions. Before his death, St. Anthony received the last Sacraments and said “I see my Lord.”

St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Patron of Youth, Jesuit Seminarian, Italy (1568-1591)—June 21 “Beloved child of Christ, The delight of the Blessed Virgin, Most chaste youth, Angelic youth, Most humble youth, Model of young students . . . Most desirous of the salvation of souls, Perpetual adorer of the Holy Eucharist” (Litany of St. Aloysius).

The Birth of St. John the Baptist—June 24: “Behold the Lamb of God!” Adore Him! “As a representative of the past, he is born of aged parents; as a herald of the new era, he is declared to be a prophet while still in his mother’s womb. For when yet unborn, he leapt in his mother’s womb at the arrival of blessed Mary. In that womb he had already been designated a prophet, even before he was born; it was revealed that he was to be Christ’s precursor, before they ever saw one another” (St. Augustine).

St. Irenaeus, Bishop, Church Father, Apologist, France (2nd century)—June 28 St. Irenaeus was a disciple of St. Polycarp, who was said to be a disciple of St. John the Evangelist. He is considered the first great Catholic theologian who emphasized Scripture, Tradition and magisterium. He fought the Gnostic heresy and affirmed the Canon of the Scriptures, guarded by the Church. St. Irenaeus upheld the true presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist several times in his writings, as well as the virginity of Mary: The womb of Our Immaculate Mother Mary is “wholly untouched, not dug nor sown, from heaven’s dew alone, it brings forth a Savior, and provides mortal men with the Bread of angels and the food of eternal life.”

Sts. Peter and Paul—June 29 Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen explains, “When I stand up to talk, people listen to me; they will follow what I have to say. Is it any power of mine? Of course not. St. Paul says, ‘What have you that you have not received and you who have received, why do you glory as if you had not?’ But the secret of my power is that I have never in fifty-five years missed spending an hour in the presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That’s where the power comes from. That’s where sermons are born. That’s where every good thought is conceived.”

THE HOLY EUCHARIST AND THE ASCENSION

“When Jesus Christ went up to heaven on the day of His Ascension, He went to take possession of His throne of glory and prepare a place for us . . . However, in order to keep the hope of heaven in us and make it more efficacious, in order to have us wait patiently for the heaven of glory and lead us there, our Lord has created the beautiful heaven of the Eucharist. For the Eucharist is a beautiful heaven; it is heaven begun. Is it not Jesus glorified coming from heaven to earth, and bringing heaven with Him? Is not heaven wherever our Lord is? His state there, although hidden from our senses, is one of glory, triumph, and blessedness. He has done away with the miseries of this life” (St. Peter Julian Eymard).

COME HOLY SPIRIT!

O Holy Spirit, Divine Paraclete, Father of the poor, Consoler of the afflicted, and Sanctifier of souls, behold us prostrate in Your presence. We adore You with deepest submission and we repeat with the seraphim who stand before Your throne: “Holy, holy, holy!” You filled the soul of Mary with immense graces and inflamed the hearts of the apostles with holy zeal; enkindle our hearts with Your love. You are a supernatural light; enlighten us that we may understand eternal things. You appeared as a dove; grant us purity of life. You came as a wind full of sweetness; disperse the storms of passion that rise in us. You appeared as a tongue; teach us to sing Your praises without ceasing. You came forth in a cloud; cover us with the shade of Your protection. O Bestower of heavenly gifts, vivify us by Your grace, sanctify us by Your love, and govern us by Your infinite mercy, so that we may never cease blessing, praising, and loving You now during our earthly lives and later in heaven for all eternity.

VATICAN ASKS FOR SPIRITUAL MOTHERS FOR PRIESTS

“We have proposed to bishops that they promote in their dioceses authentic ‘cenacles’ in which consecrated and laity are dedicated —united in a spirit of true communion —to prayer in the form of continuous Eucharistic adoration.” “From every corner of the earth, prayer of adoration, thanksgiving, praise, petition and reparation will always be lifted to God—an incessant prayer in order to raise up a sufficient number of holy vocations to the priesthood, and together with this, to accompany them spiritually, with a type of spiritual motherhood” (Cardinal Cleudio Hummes, L'Osservatore Romano). Mary, Mother of God & Our Mother, pray for us! Lord Jesus Christ, our King and our God, who are true God and true Man in the Bread of the Eucharist, we beg of You, that, in venerating so great a mystery, we may be mindful of Your Blessed Mother, in whose body You were conceived by the Holy Spirit. Grant also that we may imitate her manner of worshiping You in the Sacred Host, her adoration, her thanksgiving, her reparation, her prayer, so that we may see Your Eucharistic Kingdom spread and flourish throughout the whole world. Amen. (St. Peter Julian Eymard)

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