The Mass -Series on the parts of the Mass.
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Edited by the Love Crucified Community
Jesus insists on the importance of eating His flesh even when this causes many to abandon Him. The Church from the beginning has lived from the Eucharist. Yet it is still a scandal for some and is forgoten my most.
Vocation of the Love Crucified Community is to become one with Christ. Therefore Holy Mass is the center of our lives. We participate in Mass to enter the Sacrifice of Christ, to die with Him, to become one offering of love to the Father with Him, victims with the Victim, to be transformed to a new life in Him.
Jesus words to us:
Why I Remain in the Host 7/12/12Why did I choose to remain on earth in a host? In this way I am present to all, for you to contemplate and to receive Me as living Bread. I remained with you to nourish your life with Divine life. To prepare you, strengthen you and become one with you as you journey the path to eternal life in God. I remain in this hidden and ordinary way so that your hidden and ordinary life can be transformed into Divinity and thus participate here on earth in the unity and Divine life of the Most Holy Trinity. The Eucharist is the life of God that has the power to heal and transform you from within. In the smallness of the Host is revealed the grandeur, majesty and greatness of God. The Eucharist is the greatest miracle of God for humanity. The Eucharist reveals God's faithfulness to His people. The Eucharist reveals what each of you are called to become.
Blood Of Christ; His Living Chalice
Jesus gives us His Blood. Jesus is thirsty for our love. He said to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: "I so ardently thirst to be loved by men in the Most Blessed Sacrament that this thirst devours me." Ponder what this means! He makes us His chalices so that we may receive His Precious Blood and become ONE with Him. One blood, one love renewed in each Eucharist. How can we respond?
The Hidden Life and the Eucharist 7/5/12
The Eucharist is the power of God in the world. The love of God is the Eucharist and is transmitted through the Eucharist. Learn about the hidden life by contemplating My Eucharistic life. I am hidden from your human eye but completely present. I am verbally silent yet My soul speaks to your soul. I am humble, pure, simple, silent, generous, forgiving, merciful, patient, tender. I give Myself fully to the good and the bad, to the deserving and the undeserving, to those that love Me and to those that persecute Me, for when one is not obedient to the precepts of My Church I am persecuted. I continue to love those that do not love Me. I continue to love those that use Me. I continue to love the unfaithful. I continue to love those indifferent to My love. I am left alone in the Tabernacles of the world with few that come to be with Me, to adore Me and to give Me thanks. I cry but My tears are hidden. I intercede continuously before the throne of our Father for all. My hidden life in the Eucharist is seen by Abba and blessed by Him Who sees all.
Jesus in Our Hidden Life
Your ordinary and hidden life through the Cross becomes united to My Eucharistic life. Your hidden life takes on the same power as My hidden life because we are no longer two but ONE. These are My living hosts. In this union of love you enter and live in the realm of God. Through Me, with Me and in Me your most ordinary life is the power of God. Your thoughts, words, deeds, but most especially your tears and sorrows of heart, possess the power of God to bless the world. Your hidden life not seen by anyone is seen by God and through Me, with Me and in Me He blesses many. Your life as ONE with My Eucharistic life moves beyond time and space.
Ponder My Eucharistic life with the Holy Spirit and Mary. I desire for you to help Me form many living hosts to shine the light of God and to pierce the darkness. You grow in holiness as your hidden life is lived to greater perfection in My hidden life.
To Become L
Missionaries of the Eucharist "To evangelize the world there is need of apostles who are ‘experts’ in the celebration, adoration and contemplation of the Eucharist . . . . The Eucharist is the comfort and the pledge of final triumph for those who fight evil and sin; it is the ‘bread of life’ which sustains those who, in turn, become ‘bread broken’ for others, paying at times even with martyrdom their fidelity to the Gospel. At the end of every Mass … all should feel they are sent as ‘missionaries of the Eucharist’ to carry to every environment the great gift received.” St. John Paul II, Message for World Mission Day, 2004.
John 6.
33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world." 34 They said to him, "Lord, give us this bread always." 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. ...44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ...47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. ...54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ...60 Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, "Do you take offense at this?
Heb 9:14 "The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God."
Rev. 5:12 "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honor, glory and praise."
Catechism #1394
"As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins. By giving himself to us Christ revives our love and enables us to break our disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in him: Since Christ died for us out of love, when we celebrate the memorial of his death at the moment of sacrifice we ask that love may be granted to us by the coming of the Holy Spirit. We humbly pray that in the strength of this love by which Christ willed to die for us, we, by receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, may be able to consider the world as crucified for us, and to be ourselves as crucified to the world. . . . Having
St. John Paul II
Only through the Eucharist is it possible to live the heroic virtues of Christianity: charity, to the point of forgiving one's enemies; love for those who make us suffer; chastity in every age and situation of life; patience in suffering and when one is shocked by the silence of God in the tragedies of history or of one's own personal existence. You must always be Eucharistic souls in order to be authentic Christians.
Pope Benedict XVI
"In a special way I would like to remind all of you of the importance of the centrality of the Eucharist in personal and communal life." (Dec. 16, 12)
"The Church lives from this presence [the Holy Eucharist]] and has, as her raison d'etre and existence, the spread of this presence in the whole world." (April 15, 2010))
"In our prayer, let us fix our gaze on the Crucifiedd; let us remain in adoration more often before the Eucharist so as to allow our lives too enter into the love of God,,who humbly condescended in order to raise us to himself." (General Audience, June 27, 2012))
Pope Francis
The Mass is not just a way of remembering Christ’s sacrifice, it is a sharing in "the mystery of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. The Eucharist is the peak of the action of God’s salvation". AAt the Last Supper, "all Jesus’ words, all the signs he had made, were condensed into the gesture of breaking bread and offering the chalice in anticipation of the sacrifice of the Cross." Thus the Eucharist is "the extreme giving of thanks to the Father for His love and for His mercy."" (Feb 5, 2014. Public Audience)
"How precious is the chalice that quenches my thirst" (Comm. Antiphon II Sunday OT, Cf. Ps. 22:5).
"It is He who will guide our every step and direct our lives. Our mission will flow from our time in the Blessed Sacrament. He is our Beloved who will never abandon us!" -Lourdes Pinto, Jan 2010
.WHO IS THE EUCHARIST
"Jesus in the tabernacle is my God and my All! He is my Heaven on earth!" -St. Ignatius
"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.
"What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble Himself like this under the form of a little bread, for our salvation." -St. Francis of Assisi
"The Holy Eucharist is a fire that purifies and consumes all our miseries and imperfections. Do everything in your power to make yourself worthy of the Eucharist, and this Divine Fire will take care of the rest" -St. Hyacinth of Mariscotti.
"Our Lord so loved us that he could not separate himself from us, even in his state of glory. The Eucharist is his incarnation continued, multiplied, perpetuated to the end of time. . . . but how few there are for whom Jesus sacramental is the love of their life, their first love, their delight!" St. Peter Julian Eymard
"In the fullness of time, the Son of God was made man in order to give His life, to give salvation to each one of us, and He gives Himself as bread in the mystery of the Eucharist in order to make us enter into His covenant, which makes us His children." -Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, Oct. 19, 2011.
"How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment." -St. John Chrysostom.
O
ne 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?""Jesus is the Victim offered for our sins on the cross. Jesus is the sacrifice offered at holy Mass for the sins of the world and for mine. Jesus is the Word - to be spoken. Jesus is the Truth--to be told. Jesus is the Way--to be walked. Jesus is the Light--to be lit. Jesus is the Life--to be lived. Jesus is the Love--to be loved." -Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Faith "Because He cannot be seen by human eyes in the Eucharist, because His presence in the Eucharist is sacramental and mysterious, the Eucharist is a challenge to the faith of men. By believing the truth of this great mystery, by believing that He Who could feed five thousand men with a few loaves of bread, can feed millions of men with His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, men prove the strength, the splendor and the perfection of their faith." -St. Thomas Aquinas
We see Jesus
"If we approach with faith, we too will see Jesus . ..; for the Eucharistic table takes the place of the crib. Here the Body of the Lord is present, wrapped not only in swaddling clothes but in the rays of the Holy Spirit" -St. John Chrysostom.Prisoner of love "Oh! If man but understood the love of the Eucharist! During His Passion Jesus was bound; He lost His liberty. In the Eucharist He is the One that binds Himself. He has chained Himself with the unconditional and perpetual chains of His promises. He has chained Himself to the Sacred Species to which the sacramental words bind Him inseparably. In the Eucharist as on the Cross or in the Tomb He has no movement, no action of His own, although He possesses within Himself the fullness of the risen life. "He is fully dependent on man like a Prisoner of love. He cannot break His bonds, or leave His Eucharistic prison; He is our Prisoner to the end of time. He pledged Himself to this; His contract of love goes as far as that." -St. Peter Julian Eymard.
WHY IS HE THERE?
1- Because He Loves Us and Wants to Draw Us to Love Him
He Loves Us
"Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you, for you alone. He is burning with the desire to enter your heart." -St. Therese of Lisieux
Gift of the Father and of Mary
“The Father of Mercies and the God of all consolation, in his exceedingly great and Fatherly love, gave us his well-beloved Son at the time of his Incarnation, and gives him to us daily in the most Blessed Sacrament. So, too, the most Blessed Mother of Mercy and Consolation, in the boundless charity of her maternal Heart, gave us her dear Jesus at his birth, and does so continually in the Holy Eucharist, because being one with him in spirit, in love, and in will, she wills all that he wills and does all that he does” -St. John Eudes
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?"
"Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you - for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart." -St. Therese of Lisieux
"The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life" -St. Thomas Aquinas
He Draws Us to Love Him: Our Response.
"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
"Becoming the Eucharist: let this be our constant desire and commitment! So that the offer of the Body and Blood of the Lord we make upon the altar may be accompanied by the sacrifice of our own lives. Every day we draw from the Body and Blood of the Lord the free and pure love that makes us worthy ministers of Christ and witnesses to His joy" -Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 11, 2009.
Share the Lord's passion
"Although failure to observe the paschal solemnity would be a very grave offense, it would be still more dangerous to take part in the liturgy without sharing in our Lord´s passion... We can give authentic worship to the suffering, dead, and risen Christ only if we ourselves suffer, die, and rise again with him." -Pope St. Leo the Great
We go to Mass to die and be born again
In order to be fully who God created us to be, we must be one with Him. This is why we were baptized. But we must be able to live accordingly. This is why we need the Mass: As one with Christ, at Mass we give our life to the Father as an oblation. With Christ we become one Victim of love, one Sacrifice. We hold nothing back. We die to be born to a new life in Christ. How few consciously do this, yet this is essential to allow God to transform us fully! This is why few become saints. Love gives Himself completely.
The Lord told our Community: "Suffer all with Me. We are no longer two but ONE in my sacrifice of love"
The Eucharist Incorporates Us into the Fullness of Christ
When we partake of the Eucharist, we experience the deifying spiritualization of the Holy Spirit that not only configures us with Christ, as it occurs in baptism, but it Christifies us entirely, incorporating us into the fullness of Christ Jesus. -St. Cyril of Jerusalem.
"We must understand that in order ‘to do’, we must first learn ‘to be’, that is to say, in the sweet company of Jesus in adoration." -Bl. Pope John Paul II
Living Chalices: "I am dwelling in your heart as you see me in this chalice" -Diary of St Faustina 1830
"Kneel down and render the tribute of your presence and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Confide all your needs to him, along with those of others. Speak to him with filial abandonment, give free rein to your heart, and give him complete freedom to work in you as he thinks best." -St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
"I want to shine like a little candle before His altar." -St. Therese of Lisieux.
"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 Joseph of Molokai, Apostle to the Lepers, (1840-1889)
"If you take part frequently in the Eucharistic celebration, if you dedicate some of your time to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the source of love which is the Eucharist, you will acquire that joyful determination to dedicate your lives to following the gospel." -Pope Benedict XVI
Divine Jesus, here is the ultimate extent of your love; having made visible to poor weak creatures that adorable Face of which even the seraphim cannot sustain the brilliance, You want to hide it behind a veil even thicker than human nature…. But, Jesus in the host I see the splendor of Your face shine forth. Your ravishing charms are not at all hidden from me….. I see Your ineffable look penetrating poor souls, inviting them to receive You…… Like the dove that hides in the hollow of a rock, so shall Your spouses seek Your Face. I see their hearts turning toward You, coming to take refuge by the tabernacle of Your love!" -From the play "The Angels at Jesus’ Manger, St. Therese.
Passionate Love "Until we have a passionate love for our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament we shall accomplish nothing." (St. Peter Julian Eymard)
True Happiness "When you are totally consumed by the Eucharistic fire, then you will be able more consciously to thank God, who has called you to become part of His family. Then you will enjoy the peace that those who are happy in this world have never experienced, because true happiness, oh young people, does not consist in the pleasures of this world, or in earthly things, but in peace of conscience, which we only have if we are pure of heart and mind." -Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Do not depart from the altar without shedding tears of sorrow and love for Jesus, crucified for your salvation. The Sorrowful Mother will accompany you and be your sweet inspiration. -San Pío de Pietrelcina.
My treasure always "The Tabernacle is my Treasure, and, far or near, my eyes never lose sight of it, for it contains the God of Love." -Ven. Concepcion Cabrera de Armida.
Holy Spouses: St. Isidore and St. Maria, Married, Parents (A .D. 1160)—May 15
They were poor farmers from Spain. 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.
No time? "Do not say that you have no time. Rather, acknowledge that you do not love Him enough. If you did, you would leave everything in order to visit Him [in the Blessed Sacrament]." -Fr. Jose Guadalupe Trevino.
"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." -St. Faustina
"I ask Him about everything; I speak to Him about everything. Here I obtain strength and light." -St. Faustina
The mystery of insensibility
“How many among the best Catholics never pay a visit of devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament to speak with Him from the heart, to tell Him their love! But if in spite of knowing Him and His love and the sacrifices and desires of His Heart, they still do not love Him. What an insult! Yes, an insult! For it amounts to telling Jesus Christ that He is not beautiful enough, not good enough, not lovable enough to be preferred to what they love." -St. Peter Julian Eymard.
"There is a mystery, the greatest of all mysteries—not that my adored Lord is in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar—His word has said it, and what so simple as to take that word which is truth itself?—but that souls of His own creation, whom He gave His life to save, who are endowed with His choicest gifts in all things else, should remain blind, insensible, and deprived of that light without which every other blessing is unavailing!" -St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Convert, Widow, Mother, Religious.
"The Lord is present in the tabernacle in his divinity and in his humanity. He is not present for his own sake but for ours: it is his delight to be with the ‘children of men.’ He knows, too, that, being what we are, we need his personal nearness. In consequence, every thoughtful and sensitive person will feel attracted and will be there as often and as long as possible" -St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Give Him your whole heart as a sacrifice of love.
"He who makes Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament the center of his life directs all his thoughts, all his study, all his virtues toward him" --St. Peter Julian Eymard.
One heart to love
“Our Lord does not ask you to have two hearts, one for Him and one for those you love here below. Mothers, love our Eucharistic Lord with a mother's love. Love Him as your son. Wives, love Him as your husband. Children, love Him as your Father. There is only one faculty of love in us”
"The only time our Lord asked the Apostles for anything was the night He went into agony. Not for activity did He plead but for an Hour of companionship." -Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Empty Ourselves Like Jesus. In His Eucharistic form, Jesus teaches us to empty ourselves to become like Him: friendship requires equality of life and living conditions; to live of the Eucharist it is indispensable that we empty ourselves with Jesus (St. Peter Julian Eymard).
Strength to Live the Faith "From the Eucharist comes strength to live the Christian life and zeal to share that life with others," - St. John Paul II
I Don't Say Anything "There was a man who never passed the church without entering it. In the morning when he went to work, and in the evening when he returned, he left his spade and his pickaxe at the door, and remained a long time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament…. I asked him once what he said to our Lord during the long visits he paid him. Do you know what he answered? ‘Oh, I don’t say anything to him, Monsieur la Cure, I look at him and he looks at me.’" -St. John VianneyWhen You Have Received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence." -St. Francis de Sales.
Begin with Love! "Begin your worship with an act of love and you will open your soul deliciously to his divine action. It is due to the fact that you begin with yourselves that you stop on the road. If you start on another virtue other than love you are going in a false path ...... love is the only door of the heart. " --St. Peter Eymardd
Listen "Learn to pray daily, especially in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, listening attentively to the word of God and allowing heart to speak to heart." -Pope Benedict XVI, audience with the Venerable English College on the occasion of their 650th Anniversary.
Learn from Mary "In the Holy Mother's act of wrapping the Baby Jesus in swaddling clothes and adoring Him, we learn to treat the Most Holy Eucharist with an ineffable love". -Card Piacenza, 11/28/11
"The Lord whom the Mother bears and the Lord in the Host are the same, and this one Lord has only one thought: to give himself away, to share his very substance, in an infinite manner. The Mother understood this from the beginning and never bore anything in mind except giving the Son to the world." -Adrienne von Speyr
Praise "No one can live without breathing. The same is true for the Christian: without praise and without the mission he does not live as a Christian – and with praise, adoration. There is talk of adoration – there is little talk of it. 'What is done in prayer?' 'I ask God for things, I thank Him, I intercede …' Adoration, to adore God. This is part of breathing: praise and adoration." -Pope Francis, October 31, 2014, address.
Reparation. The Sacred Heart of Jesus said to St. Margaret Mary: "Make reparation for the ingratitude of men. Spend an hour in prayer to appease divine justice, to implore mercy for sinners, to honor me, to console me for my bitter suffering when abandoned by My Apostles, when they did not watch one hour with Me.
Repair for evils of the world and bring about peace on earth. "Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Jesus and ready to make reparation for the great evils of the world. Let your adoration never cease." -Pope John Paul II, Dominicai Cenae
The Child Jesus to Bl. Mary of the Passion: "I am in the Eucharist to dispense graces and extend mercy, but I receive only ingratitude, profanity and sacrileges...My beloved one, you make reparation with your adoration done in my presence."
"Every good Christian must be grieved at the contempt which is so often shown Him (Christ), and must strive to make reparation to Him; and those Christians who have the good fortune of belonging to societies having for their object the adoration of Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist, they are in an especial manner bound to do this. I say those "who have the good fortune," for can there be a greater happiness than to undertake reparation to Jesus Christ for the insults which are offered to Him in the Sacrament of His love?" St. John Vianney.
We Are Transformed by the Eucharist "Eternal life" begins in us even now, thanks to the transformation effected in us by the gift of the Eucharist: "He who eats me will live because of me" (Jn 6:57). These words of Jesus make us realize how the mystery "believed" and "celebrated" contains an innate power making it the principle of new life within us and the form of our Christian existence. By receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ we become sharers in the divine life in an ever more adult and conscious way. -Sacramentum Caritatis
#70"Because His Body and Blood are diffused through our members we become partakers of the divine nature." -St. Cyril of Alexandria
Gives Desire for Union and Supernatural Understanding. Eucharistic souls are attracted instinctively, easily, and habitually to the Holy Eucharist. Therein is their happiness, their peace; there they find a supernatural knowledge of all things. That is why after holy Communion we often understand some things which before were incomprehensible to us. That is why some saints who were very ignorant spoke admirably of God. -St Peter Julian Eymard.
Changes Natural into Supernatural Life of Love.
There is only one means of changing a natural life into a supernatural one; that is the triumph of the Eucharist, in which Jesus Christ Himself sees to the education of man. The Eucharist develops faith in us. It elevates, ennobles, and purifies love in us. It teaches us to love. Love is the gift of self. Now, in the Eucharist Jesus gives Himself in His entirety. -St. Peter Julian EymardWithout the Eucharist the Church would simply cease to exist. In fact, it is the Eucharist which renders a human community a mystery of communion, capable of bringing God to the world and the world to God. The Holy Spirit, which transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, also transforms those who receive it with faith into limbs of Christ's Body, thus the Church truly is a Sacrament of men's unity, with God and with one another. In an increasingly individualistic culture such as that in which we live in western societies and which is tending to spread throughout the world, the Eucharist constitutes a kind of 'antidote', working on the hearts and minds of believers and continually infusing them with the logic of communion, service and sharing, the logic of the Gospel." -Pope Benedict XVI, June 26, 2011, Angelus
Tenderness and Grace. Jesus speaks to St. Gertrude the Great (1256-1302): "I have done My utmost to manifest the tenderness of My Heart in the Blessed Eucharist" Jesus revealed that by uniting ourselves to the Holy Eucharist we win graces for souls on earth and purgatory.
The four ends of Mass: Adoration, thanksgiving, petition and satisfaction, bring to fullness the four most important things we learned as children: "I love you", "Thank you", "Please" and "I'm sorry" >>>
2- Unity and Salvation of the World
"In the Eucharist Jesus makes us witnesses of God's compassion for every brother and sister. Around the Eucharistic mystery the service of charity towards neighbor is born "(Sacramentum Caritatis, 88).
Strength to Build a New Society "Communicate the hope of the Gospel and the strength to build a society that is more just and more worthy of man...from the source, from the Eucharist. Indeed it is from the Eucharist, in which Christ makes Himself present in His supreme act of love for us all, that we learn to live as Christians in society, so as to make it more welcoming, more united, richer in love, and more attentive to everyone's needs especially those of the weakest." -Pope Benedict XVI, Mar. 26, 2011
Makes Us Community "Christ is truly present among us in the Eucharist. His presence is not static. It is a dynamic presence that grasps us, to make us his own, to make us assimilate Him. Christ draws us to Him, He makes us come out of ourselves to make us all one with Him. In this way he also integrates us in the communities of brothers and sisters, and communion with the Lord is always also communion with our brothers and sisters. And we see the beauty of this communion that the Blessed Eucharistic gives us...He is the one same Christ who is present in the Eucharistic Bread of every place on earth" --Pope Benedict XVI. June 1, 2005, L'Osservatore Romano.
Center of Life and Community "Eucharist and mission are two inseparable realities. There is no authentic celebration and adoration of the Eucharist that does not lead to mission. At the same time, the mission presupposes another essential Eucharistic element: union of hearts....Never tire of celebrating and adoring it, together with the whole Christian community, especially on Sunday. Know how to put it at the center of your personal and community life so that communion with Christ will help you to undertake courageous options" --Pope St. John Paul II, Oct. 11, 2004, Address to Young People, Rome.
"The spread of the Eucharistic Kingdom of Christ is necessary for the salvation of society. The Eucharist is the life not only of the individual Christian, but of nations as well. We know well that an age flourishes or degenerates in accordance with its worship of the divine Eucharist. It is the life and measure of its faith, charity, and virtue. The Eucharist is not only for personal piety; it is essential to social life, for it is the very life of the world. We must take Christ from the solitude of His tabernacle, so that He may place Himself at the head of Christian society, to guide and save it." -St. Peter Julian Eymard
Give Yourself to All. "We should also, mentally, say to our brothers, Take, eat; this is my body. Take my time, my abilities, my attention. Take also my blood, that is, my sufferings, all that humbles me, that mortifies me, that limits my strength, my own physical death. I want my whole life to be like that of Christ, broken bread and wine poured out for others. I want to make all of my life a Eucharist." -Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, Third preaching Lent to papal household 2014
Power to Give Life to Others. "I went at once before the Blessed Sacrament and offered myself with Jesus, present in the Most Holy Sacrament, to the Everlasting Father. Then I heard these words in my soul: Your purpose and that of your companions is to unite yourselves with Me as closely as possible; through love you will reconcile earth with heaven, you will soften the just anger of God, and you will plead for mercy for the world. I place in your care two pearls very precious to My Heart: these are the souls of priests and religious. You will pray particularly for them; their power will come from your diminishment. You will join prayers, fasts, mortifications, labors (9) and all sufferings to My prayer, fasting, mortifications, labors and sufferings and then they will have power before My Father.
Power to Evangelize "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." -Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Testimony of apostle to the lepers: "
Without the constant presence of our Divine Master upon the altar in my poor chapels, I never could have persevered casting my lot with the lepers of Molokai; the foreseen consequence of which begins now to appear on my skin, and is felt throughout the body. Holy Communion being the daily bread of a priest, I feel myself happy, well pleased, and resigned in the rather exceptional circumstances in which it has pleased Divine Providence to put me." -St. Damien, Apostle of the Lepers."What will convert America and save the world? My answer is prayer. What we need is for every parish to come before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Hours of prayer." -Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Find Jesus in the poor "Do you wish to honor the Body of Christ? Do not ignore him when he is naked. Do not pay him homage in the temple clad in silk, only then to neglect him outside where he is cold and ill-clad. He who said: 'This is my Body' is the same who said: 'You saw me hungry and you gave me no food,' and 'Whatever you did to the least of my brothers you did also for me.' What good is it if the Eucharistic table is overloaded with gold chalices when your brother is dying of hunger? Start satisfying his hunger and then with what is left you may adorn the altar as well." -St. John Chrysostom
"The Holy Hour before the Eucharist should lead us to a 'holy hour' with the poor." -St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
When Exhausted. "When the Sisters are exhausted, up to their eyes in work; when all seems to go awry, they spend an hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. This practice has never failed to bear fruit: they experience peace and strength." -Mother Teresa of Calcutta
"All love tends to become like that which it loves. God loved man; therefore He became man. For nine months her own body was the natural Eucharist, in which God shared communion with human life, thus preparing for that greater Eucharist when human life would commune with the Divine. Mary’s joy was to form Christ in her own body; her joy now is to form Christ in our souls. In this Mystery, we pray to become pregnant with the Christ spirit, giving Him new lips with which He may speak of His Father, new hands with which He may feed the poor, and a new heart with which He may love everyone, even enemies." -Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
Eucharist adored since the beginning "The Sacred Councils teach that it is the Church's tradition right from the beginning, to worship 'with the same adoration the Word Incarnate as well as His own flesh,' and St. Augustine asserts that, 'No one eats that flesh, without first adoring it,' while he adds that 'not only do we not commit a sin by adoring it, but that we do sin by not adoring it.' It is on this doctrinal basis that the cult of adoring the Eucharist was founded and gradually developed as something distinct from the [Eucharistic]. ...[The Church] manifests living faith in her divine Spouse who is present beneath these veils, she professes her gratitude to Him and she enjoys the intimacy of His friendship." -Pope Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 1947 A.D.
"Our communal worship at Mass must go together with our personal worship of Jesus in Eucharistic adoration in order that our love may be complete." (Pope John Paul II, Redeemer of Man)
"Regarding the Eucharist: It is a mistake to oppose celebration and adoration, as if they were in competition. Benedict XVI >>>
Go to daily mass and adore the Eucharist. “The Eucharist is the ‘treasure’ of the Church, the precious heritage that her Lord has left to her. And the Church preserves it with the greatest care, celebrating it daily in holy Mass, adoring it in churches and chapels, administering it to the sick, and as viaticum to those who are on their last journey . . . . “On this feast day, the Christian Community proclaims that the Eucharist is its all, its very life, the source of life that triumphs over death. From communion with Christ in the Eucharist flows the charity that transforms our life and supports us all one our journey toward the heavenly Homeland. -Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 11, 2009.
Adoration is a prayer that prolongs Eucharistic celebration and communion, during which the soul continues to nourish itself: it feeds on love, on truth, on peace. It feeds on hope, because he before whom we bow does not judge us, does not crush us, but who liberates and transforms us. -Benedict XVI, Homily for Corpus Christi, May 22, 2008.
"Concentrating all our relationship with the Eucharistic Jesus into only the moment of the Holy Mass runs the risk of emptying His presence during the rest of existential time and space. In that way, one perceives the constant presence of Jesus in our midst much less. A Presence that is concrete, close, between our homes like the "beating heart" of the city, of the place, and the territory with its various expressions and activities. The sacrament of Christ’s charity must penetrate all our daily lives" -Pope Benedict XVI, Homily 7 June 2012.
"God is indeed ever-present. But again, the physical presence of the risen Christ is something different, something new. The risen Lord enters into our midst. And then we can do no other than say, with Saint Thomas: my Lord and my God! Adoration is primarily an act of faith – the act of faith as such. God is not just some possible or impossible hypothesis concerning the origin of all things. He is present. And if he is present, then I bow down before him. Then my intellect and will and heart open up towards him and from him. In the risen Christ, the incarnate God is present, who suffered for us because he loves us. We enter this certainty of God’s tangible love for us with love in our own hearts. This is adoration, and this then determines my life. Only thus can I celebrate the Eucharist correctly and receive the body of the Lord rightly." -Pope Benedict XVI, Christmas Address to Curia, Dec. 22, 2011.
"The Hour of Adoration prepares one for Holy Mass and Holy Communion. Frequent encounters and familiar conversation with Jesus produce friendship, resemblance, and identity of thought, of feeling and of willing with Jesus." -Bl. James Alberione
"Outstanding among the forms of prayer fervently recommended by St. Alphonsus is the visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament or, as we would say today, adoration--brief or prolonged, personal or in community--of the Eucharist. 'Certainly,' wrote Alphonsus, 'among all the devotions this one of adoration of the sacramental Jesus is the first after the sacraments, the dearest to God and the most useful to us. O, what a beautiful delight to be before an altar with faith and to present to him our needs, as a friend does to another friend with whom one has full confidence!'" -Pope Benedict XVI, March 30, 2011, General Audience.
"Jesus could have limited his presence only to the celebration of Mass, but no! He wanted to make a permanent dwelling among us. Night and day he awaits us and offers himself to us at all times. Like a most tender mother, he opens his arms to us. He is there generously to give us his gifts. He is there to draw us to him and lead us to paradise with him. Oh! Let us go visit him often." -St. John Bosco.
Adore Jesus + Offer Mind, Heart, Will "Adore Jesus in the Divine Host by offering the sovereign homage of your mind to Him who is its sovereign truth, of yourr heart to him who is its God, of your will to Him who is its Lord." -St. Peter Julian Eymard.
Visit Him Often “We ought to visit Him often. How dear to Him is a quarter of an hour spared from our occupations or from some useless employment, to come and pray to Him, visit Him, and console Him for all the ingratitude He receives! When He sees pure souls hurrying to Him, He smiles at them” -St. John Vianney, Patron of Priests.
The Eucharistic apostolate to which you dedicate your efforts is very precious. Persevere in it with commitment and passion, encouraging and spreading Eucharistic devotion in all its expressions. Enclosed in the Eucharist is the treasure of the Church, namely, Christ himself, who on the Cross immolated himself for the salvation of humanity" -Pope Benedict XVI, Nov. 11, Audience.
"Adoration leads to compassion for all human beings, and from this compassion comes the thirst to evangelise.... I exhort you to develop your spiritual life, giving pride of place to the personal meeting with Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. An authentically Eucharistic life is a missionary life." -Pope Benedict XVI, Feb. 3, 2011, address to Emmanuel Community.
Love Him like Mary "With how much faith and love the Virgin must have received and adored the Blessed Eucharist in her heart. For her, each time was like reliving the entire mystery of her Son Jesus, from conception to resurrection" -Pope Benedict XVI, June 14, 2008.
Mary can guide us toward this most holy sacrament because she herself has a profound relationship with it." (Blessed Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia)
Trust in Despair "When tempted to despair, I have only one resource: to throw myself at the foot of the tabernacle like a little dog at the foot of his master." -St. John Vianney
At Fatima, prostrated before the Sacred Host, the Angel of Peace taught the children a prayer of Adoration.
"If you have this Eucharistic spirit, if your thoughts are tuned continually toward the Eucharist, the presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament will never leave you." St. Peter Julian Eymard.
Filial Relation with God "[Through] Eucharistic adoration, [we] were filled with profound gratitude to God for the great love He has given us, the love with which He binds us to Himself in a filial relationship." (Pope Benedict XVI, March 3, 2012)
It is a Personal Invitation to You from Jesus. "Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love." -Pope John Paul II, Dominicae Canae.
"Look upon the hour of adoration assigned to you as an hour in Paradise. Go to your adoration as one would go to Heaven, to the divine banquet. You will then long for that hour and hail it with joy. Take delight in fostering a longing for it in your heart. Tell yourself, ‘In four hours, in two hours, in one hour, our Lord will give me an audience of grace and love. He has invited me; He is waiting for me; He is longing for me.’" -St. Peter Julian Eymard
This is a Great Need for All . "The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic Adoration." -Pope John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae.
To Be Like Him. "He proposes His own example to those who come to Him, that all may learn to be like Himself, gentle and humble of heart, and to seek not their own interest but those of God." -Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei.
To be one with Him
Receiving the Eucharist means adoring the One Whom we receive. Precisely in this way and only in this way do we become one with Him." -Pope Benedict XVI.
Our dignity "The Divine Eucharist bestows upon the Christian people the incomparable dignity." -Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei.
Center of the Church and of all hearts. "Christ is reserved in our churches as the spiritual center of the heart of the community, the universal Church and all humanity, since within the veil of the species, Christ is contained, the Invisible Heart of the Church, the Redeemer of the world, the center of all hearts, by Him all things are and of whom we exist." -Pope Paul IV, Mysterium Fidei.
"Our essential commitment in life is to preserve and advance constantly in Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and to grow spiritually in the climate of the Holy Eucharist." -Pope John Paul II, Redeemer of Man
.Conversing with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament leads to holiness.
"How great is the value of conversation with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, for there is nothing more consoling on earth, nothing more efficacious for advancing along the road of holiness!" -Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei."(Eucharistic Jesus
) restores morality, nourishes virtue, consoles the afflicted, strengthens the weak." -Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei.Most meritorius act "Here on earth it is impossible to perform a more meritorious act than visiting Jesus often in the Holy Eucharist." -St. Teresa of Avila
To be consumed by love
"Loving souls can find no greater delight than to be in the company of those whom they love. If we, then, love Jesus Christ much, behold we are now in his presence. Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament sees us and hears us; shall we, then, say nothing to Him? Let us console ourselves in His company; let us rejoice in His glory, and in the love which so many enamoured souls bear Him in the Most Holy Sacrament. Let us desire that all should love Jesus in the Holy Sacrament, and consecrate their hearts to Him; at least let us consecrate our affections to Him. He should be all our love and our whole desire." -St. Alphonsus Liguori
How to Pray: "Whenever I go to the chapel, I put myself in the presence of our good Lord, and I say to Him, ‘Lord, I am here. Tell me what you would have me to do.’ And then, I tell God everything that is in my heart. I tell him about my pains and my joys, and then I listen. If you listen, God will also speak to you." -St Catherine Laboure
"Lord Jesus Christ, pierce my soul with your love so that I may always long for you alone, who are the bread of angels and the fulfillment of the soul’s deepest desires. May my heart always hunger for you, so that my soul may be filled with the sweetness of your presence." -St. Bonaventure
"Frequently, only silence can express my prayer. However, this Divine Guest of the tabernacle understands all, even the silence of a child's soul filled with gratitude. When I am before the tabernacle, I can say only one thing to Our Lord: 'My God, you know that I love you' and I feel my prayer does not tire Jesus." (St. Therese of Lisieux)
Processions
St. Therese: "I especially loved the processions in honor of the Blessed Sacrament. What a joy it was for me to throw flowers beneath the feet of God!... I was never so happy as when I saw my roses touch the sacred Monstrance."
