Carl Emil Doepler, Corpus Christi Procession
Lord, you have given your people the food
of angels, from heaven untiringly sending them bread already prepared,
containing every delight, satisfying every taste. (Wisdom 16:20)
This is what I received from the Lord,
and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the
Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said,
‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same
way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my
blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ (1 Cor 11:23-25)
Bl Titus Brandsma:
In speaking of Carmelites' tender devotion to the Sacrament of the Altar...They have always seen a symbol of the sacred host in the wonderful food which the angels pointed out to Elijah and which strengthened the prophet in finding the way that he was able to cross the desert. The Eucharist is the power which permits them to arrive at contemplation...St Peter Thomas who died in 1365 was prior general at the time of the Avignon popes....He was not hindered by the many occupations of his busy life from spending several hours each night before the Blessed Sacrament, oftentimes he was found lost in adoration...Blessed John Soreth...a great reformer of the Carmelites in fifteenth century, his life imperiled, grasped the Blessed Sacrament from a burning church...Bl Bartholomew Fanti, who counted Bl Baptist Spignola among his disciples, taught his novices that it was not possible to be a good Carmelite without special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. What determined St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi to enter the Carmel of Florence was the practice of daily Communion observed in this convent - a thing rare for the times. The Carmelites are rightly numbered among the mendicant orders, for their constitutions demand the greatest simplicity in their monasteries. BUT for their churches and the cult of the Eucharist, grandeur was always permitted. (from the teaching on the Blessed Sacrament given during retreat)
St Mary Magdalen de Pazzi:
1. When you are to receive Communion, think that you are about to perform the greatest and most worthy action that can be done, which is to receive the Lord God within yourself.
2.Guard against going to Communion through habit or by chance, but go with actual devotion.
3 If you realize that as long as the sacramental species continue, you have within yourself the entire Most Holy Trinity, you would not go to Communion only occasionally; you would also think about it before you left off Communion, in order not to be deprived of so great a good.
4. Take care lest, on account of your little desire and disposition, you may be the cause of closing that little window of heaven.
5. One cannot find a more effective means of perfecting a soul than to approach this divine table; and if you knew how to use this well, in a short time you would become filled with the love of God, for only one Communion is enough to make a soul holy.
6. Never of your own will deprive yourself of Communion, because you do not know if that Communion might be the very time when God has determined to give you some grace and particular gift. (Teaching on the Most Holy Communion in Complete Works of St Mary Magdalen de Pazzi)
St Teresa of Avila:
Receiving Communion is not like picturing with the imagination. as when we reflect upon the Lord on the cross or in other episodes of the Passion, when we picture within ourselves how things happened to him in the past. In Communion, the event is happening now, and it is entirely true. Since we know that Jesus is with us as long as the natural heat doesn't consume the accidents of bread, we should approach him. Now, then, if when he went about in the world the mere touch of his robes cured the sick, why doubt, if we have faith, that miracles will be worked while He is within us and that he will give what we ask of him since he is in our house? His Majesty is not accustomed to paying poorly for his lodging if the hospitality is good. (The Way of Perfection)
Augustin-Marie of the Blessed Sacrament, OCD (Hermann Cohen):
My well-Beloved when all are asleep
And seem to forget your love
Do permit me to watch
Alone with you in this abode
(Canticle from his music collection 'Love of Jesus Christ')
Blessed Mary of Jesus Cricified:
...To fly to my Beloved
Hail, hail, blessed tree;
Thou bearest the fruit of life
Under Thy shade, I wish to sigh;
At thy feet, I wish to die.
(Mariam, the Little Arab)
St Therese of Child Jesus:
Living Bread, Bread of Heaven, Divine Eucharist,
O touching mystery produced by Love,
Come dwell within my heart, Jesus, my white Host...
Deign to unite me unto Thee, O holy and sacred Vine,
That my feeble branch may yield its fruit to Thee;
And I will offer Thee a gilded cluster...
This cluster of love of which the grapes are souls.
(Poems)
Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity:
Every Sunday, we have the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the oratory. When I open the door and contemplate the divine prisoner who has made ma a prisoner in this dear Carmel, it seems to me rather like the gate of heaven opening! Then I present to Jesus all those who are in my heart, and there, close to him, I find them again. (Light, Love, Life)
St Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein):
Communion delivers us from evil, because it cleanses us of sin and gives us peace of heart that takes away things of all other 'evils'. It brings us the forgiveness of past sins and strengthens us in the face of temptations. It is itself the bread of life that we need daily to grow into eternal life. It makes our will into an instrument at God's disposal. Thereby, it lays the foundation for the kingdom of God in us and gives us clean lips and a pure heart to glorify God's holy name. participation in the sacrifice and in the sacrificial meal actually transforms the soul into a living stone in the city of God - in fact, each individual soul - into a temple of God. (Essential Writings)
Servant of God, Pere Jacques de Jesus Bunel:
Our participation at Mass, our grace filled actions, our Communions must be religious acts stamped with prayer and love. Our material work of the day must be a work bathed in prayer. (Resplendent in Victory).
St Teresa of Jesus of the Andes:
Thank God, we have always had Mass and we've had the Blessed Sacrament. Since Eli, Gorda, and I are the sacristans, we've spent moments of heaven by our Lord's side. (Letters).
Posts
