“I desire that Adoration take place for the intention of imploring Mercy for the world.”

(Jesus to Saint Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament)

St. John Paul II and St. John the XXIII: Canonized April 27, 2014!

John Paul the Great began Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in 1981 at St. Peter’s in Rome. Throughout his papacy, our beloved Holy Father, encouraged parishes throughout the world to begin Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. John Paul II proclaimed,

“In order to evangelize the world, we need experts in celebration, adoration and contemplation of the Holy Eucharist.” (Message for World Mission Sunday, October 24 2004) “In a child’s single look fixed on the gentle Host I met the heavenly Father looking at me with love.” (“Song of the Inexhaustible Sun”) “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.” (Letter to the Bishop of Liege, 1996) “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.” (45th Intl. Eucharistic Congress, Seville, Spain, June 1993) St. John Paul II’s mission has just begun. Our Holy Father continues to lead us to the twin pillars of our faith: the merciful presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and the tender love of Mary, Our Mother. This is his true legacy to the world.

John XXIII began the Second Vatican council with the hope that a new era of Eucharistic piety would pervade the Church. His writings, especially Journal of a Soul, express his love of the Blessed Sacrament. “What matters most to the good Christian community, and what may be taken as the measure of true spiritual fervor, is the love of Jesus in His Sacrament, the faithful attendance at His tabernacle.” “O Jesus, present in the Sacrament of the altar, teach all the nations to serve you with willing hearts, knowing that to serve God is to reign. May your sacrament, O Jesus, be light to the mind, strength to the will, joy to the heart. May it be the support of the weak, the comfort of the suffering, the wayfaring bread of salvation for the dying and for all the pledge of future glory. Amen.” “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.” “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.”

Corpus Christi: God’s Feast Day!

“Corpus Christi is also the most lovable of feast days. We were not present at all the mysteries of our Savior’s life and death which we celebrate in the course of the year. We find joy in them because they are sources of grace. But on the feast of Corpus Christi we participate in the mystery itself, which takes place under our eyes. This mystery is for us. There is a relation of life between Jesus living in the Sacrament and ourselves living in the midst of the world: a relation of body to body. For that reason this feast is not called simply the feast of our Lord, but the Feast of the Body of our Lord: Corpus Christi. Through this Body we touch Him; through it He is our Food, our Brother and our Guest. Feast of the Body of Jesus Christ: a name as full of love as it is unpretentious and well adapted to our misery! Our Lord asked for this feast so as to draw still closer to us, just as a father is desirous of being wished a happy birthday by his child in order to have a reason for giving him a more ardent proof of his paternal affection, and for granting him some special favor....What magnificence in the processions as they pass by! What reverence in the faithful as they kneel down! The Church shows to everyone her Bridegroom in the radiant monstrance. Ah! Who today will presume to say she is widowed? Her friends are in adoration and her enemies tremble. Jesus shows Himself to all men; He gives His blessing to the good; He looks on sinners with compassion; He calls them and draws them to Himself....Come! Learn how to single out these days from all the others. Our Lord has His royal feast days; today is one of them. A king is a bounteous giver. Pay homage to our Lord, and He, in return, will give you everything; He will give you His very Self with a greater abundance of His graces.” (St. Peter Julian Eymard)

Palm Sunday—April 13

“Through perpetual [Eucharistic] adoration Jesus longs to open up the floodgates of His merciful love on a troubled world. He longs to heal a broken humanity. Otherwise, He continues to weep in spirit and say: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you slay the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I wanted to gather your children together as a mother bird collects her young under her wings, and you refused me! Your temple will be abandoned I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Luke 13:34-36). (From our A-5 pamphlet “Worthy Is the Lamb”)

Holy Thursday—April 17 “There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist.” (Gift and Mystery, John Paul II)“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 . to be near the altar is also a privileged opportunity to hear Christ's call to follow him more radically in the priestly ministry.”

Good Friday—April 18

“Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist nineteen hundred years ago; and I hold that, on that memorable occasion, the thought of you, dear Eucharistic souls, brought sweet consolation to His most Sacred Heart. This is what we should do during our adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Whether it is in the daytime or at night, the hour of adoration should reproduce the beautiful scene of the Cenacle: John reclining at Jesus’ bosom. The Eucharistic soul has two places of honor, then: at the foot of the cross and on the bosom of Jesus.One demands the other; both complement each other. They must remain loyal to Jesus, loyal to their vocation, loyal to their special mission, so that the divine Victim, looking down from the Sacred Host in the monstrance, as He looked down from the cross, might always see, at His feet, His chosen souls, of whom it may be said as it was of John ‘They were standing by the cross.’” (The Holy Eucharist, Rev. Jose Guadalupe Trevino)

Holy Saturday—April 19

“But it was my wish to make “But behold my little bridges. many small bridges across the divide My beloved bridges are falling down. that would carry me through my Sacrament Go and repair them by making to satiate the hunger of man my sadness your sadness, whom I love so madly my passion your passion, that I made myself helpless my pain your pain, and hidden in bread and in wine my loneliness, yours.” to be carried to all by my bridges. (Catherine Doherty, Servant of God)

Easter Sunday—April 20

You loved me from all eternity, therefore you went to prepare a place for me. therefore you created me. You loved me after you had gone to prepare a place for me, You loved me after you had made me, therefore you came back to me. therefore you became man for me. You loved me after you came back to me, You loved me after you became man for me, therefore you desired to enter into me and be united to me. therefore you lived and died for me. This is the meaning of the Blessed Sacrament. You loved me after you had died for me, The mystery of love. therefore you rose again for me. (Archbishop Goodier) You loved me after you had risen for me,

St. Louis Mary de Montfort, Priest, Missionary, France (1673-1716)—April 28

“Faithful child of the Blessed Sacrament, what profit, what wealth, what pleasure is yours kneeling at the feet of the generous and inestimable Lord of lords.Be brave,takecourage, enrich yourself and rejoice as you burn yourself out each day like a lamp.The more you give of yourself, the more God will give of Himself to you!” (From a letter to his sister, Louise)

St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin, Church Doctor, Ptn. of Italy (1347-1380)—April 29

St. Catherine of Siena was a lay woman and third order Dominican who lived at a time when there was great corruption and division within the Church. Catherine spent her life praying and working to help bring about the true renewal and restoration of the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church that she loved so much. St. Catherine received the grace, strength, wisdom and knowledge to have such an important and profound effect on the entire Church from Jesus Himself in the Blessed Sacrament, in daily Mass, Communion and Adoration. Jesus gave her all of the strength and courage she needed towork tirelessly in bringing about the restoration of our Church!

St. Joseph the Worker—May 1

“Saint Joseph believed unhesitatingly in the mystery of the Incarnation, in the fruitful virginity and in the divine maternity of Mary. He believed without seeing the miracles that were to fill Judea with his glory and renown of his holy name. We too should recognize Jesus in the frail Host that is offered to us at the altar. Here he is even smaller than at Bethlehem, more hidden than in Saint Joseph's workshop. Still it is he, ‘I believe all the Son of God has spoken, than Truth's own word there is no truer token.’” (Bishop Pichenot)

St. 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.” (St. Damien)

World Day of Prayer for Vocations—May 11

“Every vocation, even within the variety of paths, always requires an exodus from oneself in order to centre one’s life on Christ and on his Gospel. Both in married life and in the forms of religious consecration, as well as in priestly life, we must surmount the ways of thinking and acting that do not conform to the will of God. It is an ‘exodus that leads us on a journey of adoration of the Lord and of service to him in our brothers and sisters’ (Address to the International Union of Superiors General, 8 May 2013). Therefore, we are all called to adore Christ.” (Pope Francis, Message for the 51st World Day of Prayer for Vocations, to be celebrated May 11, 2014)

St. Isidore and St. Maria, Married, Parents, Spain (A .D. 1160)—Feast, May 15 This married couple were poor farmers from Spain, with a great love of God which was passed on to them by their parents. They rose early to attend daily mass and spend time with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration. They continued their faithful love of God even after their only son died young. They devoted their lives to God through prayer and service to the poor! Sts. Isidore and Maria, ardent lovers of the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us!

St. Cristobal Magallenes, Priest, and Companions, Mexican Martyrs—Feast, May 21 Between 1926 and 1929, 90,000 people were killed during a Catholic persecution in Mexico. 35 martyrs were canonized, and 15 others recently declared blessed. The martyrs included several priests, Knights of Columbus, and a 15 year old boy, Jose Sanchez del Rio—who was tortured and killed. St. Cristobal Magallenes was arrested on his way to offer Mass at a farm. He gave his possessions to his executions and provided them with absolution. St. Cristobal and St. Agustin Caloca were martyred together, without trial. St. Crisobal’s last words were “I die innocent, and ask God that my blood may serve to unite my Mexican brethren.” The martyrs drew their strength to give witness from Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, in Mass and Adoration, and devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary.

St. Rita of Cascia, Wife, Mother, Nun, Patroness of the Impossible, Italy(1381-1457)—May 22

Many prayers invoking the intercession of St. Rita extol her love of Our Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament. One of the prayers in her litany says, “St Rita, in ecstasy before the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us.” St. Rita lived on the Holy Eucharist alone for four years. She became a widow and, soon after, her two sons died. Rita became an Augustinian nun and spent hours with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration daily.She was a stigmatist and suffered Christ’s passion for the last 15 years of her life. St. Rita’s incorrupt body is preserved in a shrine in Italy. She is a powerful intercessor and many miracles are attributed to her patronage.

St. Philip Neri, Priest, Patron of Rome, Oratory Founder, Italy(1515-1595)—May 26

St. Philip believed that spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was the most powerful means to convert souls. As a lay person and then a priest, St. Philip spent much of his time promoting forty hours of Eucharistic Adoration. “Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and devotion to the Blessed Virgin are not simply the best way, but in fact the only way to keep purity. At the age of twenty nothing but Communion can keep one’s heart pure . . . Chastity is not possible without the Eucharist.” (St. Philip Neri)

The Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth—May 31

“As John the Baptist recognized Jesus hidden in the womb of Mary, the first tabernacle of the Lord, so now we recognize Jesus hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, the mystery of our faith. Elizabeth leaped for joy in His presence then, as we rejoice in His presence now for here Jesus pours out His Spirit upon us in this Sacrament of infinite love.” (From our book Come to Me in the Blessed Sacrament)

The Ascension of The Lord—June 1

“Eucharistic Adoration is an expression of our love for Jesus, who loves us so much that He never wants to leave usand so stays with us day and night in the Blessed Sacrament. For He says: “Behold I am with you always,” because “I have loved you with an everlasting love. And constant is my affection for you.” (Mt 28: 20; Jer31:3) (From our A-11 pamphlet, “What is the Eucharist?”)

Pentecost Sunday—June 8

“That we might live no longer for ourselves but for Him, He sent the Holy Spirit from You, Father, as His first gift to those who believe, to complete His work on earth and bring them the fullness of grace. Father, may this Holy Spirit sanctify these offerings. Let them become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.” (Mass Canon IV) The power of the Holy Spirit makes Jesus present in Mary and at the altar. John offered Mass in their home and Mary adored Jesus in the Eucharist daily.” (“A Second Pentecost With Mary,” Rev. August P. Bosio)

St. Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church, Patron of the Poor, Italy (1195-1231)—June 13 “Anthony was a friend of St. Francis and became a Franciscan priest. He was a great preacher on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and told everyone he met about his love for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. St. Anthony was also known as a great miracle worker who loved the poor and sick people very much. Wherever he went, St. Anthony performed many miracles to help feed the poor, heal the sick, and care for the needy. He is known as a great Doctor of the Church, patron of the poor, and finder of the lost.” (From our book Adoration for Children)

The Holy Trinity—June 15

“The Eucharistic gift assumes even more awesome proportions when we reflect that the Son of God present herein is ever united, intimately and indivisibly, with his co-Persons in the Trinity—his Eternal Father and their mutual Spirit of Love; which means that they, too, are mysteriously yet really with him, and consequently with us no less. In effect, then, the total Eucharistic mystery includes the presence of both the Father and the Holy Spirit as an inseparable concomitant. That is, the Blessed Sacrament embraces the Trinitarian mystery within its compass.” (Mary and the Eucharist, Fr. Richard Foley, S.J.)

St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Patron of Youth, Jesuit Seminarian, Italy (1568-1591)—June 21 St. Aloysius came from a wealthy family in Italy.He longed to become a religious so much that he ran away from boarding school, and journeyed many miles to the monastery. He had fervent devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and visited Jesus frequently every day, communing with Him for hours. The litany to St. Aloysius invokes his intercession as: “Perpetual Adorer of the Holy Eucharist.” St. Aloysius had a great love of the sick, and often cared for them, imagining that he was tending to the wounds of Jesus.He had an ardent desire to become a priest. St. Aloysius was a Jesuit seminarian when he died, of the plague,on the Eve of Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ), at the age of 23. St. Therese of Lisieux was so inspired by his life that she wrote a play about his devotion.

Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ—June 22: Adore, Praise & Thank Jesus in the Holy Eucharist!

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus——June 27

“We come here to meet the Heart of Jesus pierced for us, from which water and blood gush. It is the redeeming love, which is at the origin of salvation, of our salvation, which is at the origin of the Church. Now still, today, the living Christ loves us and presents his heart to us as the source of our redemption... We are called not only to meditate and contemplate on this mystery of Christ’s love; we are called to take part in it. It is the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, the center of our faith, the center of our worship of Christ’s merciful love manifested in his Sacred Heart, a mystery which is adored here night and day. In the Holy Eucharist--this is also the meaning of perpetual adoration--we enter the movement of love from which all interior progress and all apostolate efficacy springs.” (St. John Paul II’s address at the Basilica of Montmartre in 1980, where he spoke of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament Who has been perpetually adored there for more than one hundred years.)

The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary—June 28

Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with your heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father, pleading for the coming of His kingdom.

Please receive this humble offering of myself.Use me as you will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls.

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and tender Mother of all people, I consecrate myself to your Immaculate Heart, and recommend to you my family, my country, and the whole human race. Please accept my consecration, dearest Mother, and use me as you wish, to accomplish your designs upon the world.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Heaven and earth, rule over me, and teach me how to allow the Heart of Jesus to rule and triumph in me and around me, as it has ruled and triumphed in you.Amen.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, Immaculate Heart of Mary, protect us!