St. Padre Pio and the Mass

"It would be easier for the world to exist without the sun than without the Holy Mass."

When You Miss One Holy Communion

When You Miss One Holy Communion has already been posted on one of my other blogs, Grateful for Purgatory, but its message is too important not to repeat it.

WHEN YOU MISS ONE HOLY COMMUNION

It is well for you to consider what you lose every time that you pass up Holy Communion.

1. You miss a personal visit with Jesus, Author of all spiritual energy and of all holiness;

2. You lose a special increase of sanctifying grace, which makes your soul more pleasing to God;

3. You lose a quota of sacramental grace which entitles you to special help in times of temptation and in the discharge of your daily duties;

4. You lose a precious opportunity of having all of your venial sins wiped away;

5. You miss the special preserving influence which each Holy Communion confers against the fires of passion;

6. You miss the opportunity of having remitted a part, or all, of the temporal punishments due to your sins;

7. You lose the spiritual joy, the sweetness and particular comfort that come from a fervent Holy Communion;

8. You lose a part of the glory that your body might enjoy at its resurrection on the Last Day;

9. You lose the greater degree of glory you would possess in Heaven for all eternity;

10. You may lose: a) complete victory over some fault or passion; b) some particular grace long prayed for; c) the conversion or salvation of some soul; d) deliverance of a relative or friend from Purgatory; e) many graces for others, both the living and the dead.

Will a few extra minutes of sleep repay you for all these losses?

What riches hundreds of thousands of Catholics deprive themselves daily by neglecting Mass. It in itself is the best preparation for Holy Communion. At the hour of death our greatest consolation will be the Masses we have heard and the Holy Communions received.

With Ecclesiastical Approval
Chicago, December 6, 1940

(Source)

~ Related post: Blessed Mother Leads Us To Jesus ~

Prayer of Consecration to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

Most Sacred, Eucharistic Heart of Jesus,

Eternal Victim, truly present in the tabernacles of the world,

to You I consecrate my entire being, body and soul.

I place in Your Heart, burning ember of Divine Love,

my every burden and petition.

Take me and use me according to Your need

to bring about the Glorious Reign of Your Eucharistic Heart on earth.

Amen.

The Example of the Saints: Thanksgiving After Holy Communion

"The saints chose, when possible, to set no time limit on thanksgiving after Communion, which consequently might last for them at least half an hour. St. Teresa of Jesus told her daughters, 'Let us entertain ourselves lovingly with Jesus and not waste the hour that follows Communion. It is an excellent time to deal with God and put before Him the matters that concern our soul… As we know that the good Jesus remains within us until our natural warmth has dissolved the breadlike qualities, we should take great care not to lose so beautiful an opportunity to treat with Him and lay our needs before Him.' "

"Let us, also, resolve to do everything possible so that thanksgiving after Holy Communion last at least fifteen minutes and nothing take precedence over it. These minutes during which Jesus is physically present to our souls and within our bodies are heavenly minutes in no wise to be wasted."

"The Apostle, St. Paul wrote, "Glorify and bear God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:20). There is no time in which these words, taken literally, apply so well as during the time immediately after receiving Holy Communion. How insensitive, then, for someone to receive Communion and leave church at once as soon as Mass is over, or as soon as he has received Our Lord! We may remember the example of St. Philip Neri, who had two altar boys with lighted candles go to accompany a man who had left the church right after his Communion. What a beautiful lesson! For the sake of good manners, if for no other reason, when a person receives a guest he pauses to give his attention to him and takes interest in him. If this guest is Jesus, then we will only have reason to be sorry that His bodily presence within us scarcely lasts fifteen minutes or a little more. In view of this, St. Joseph Cottolengo personally used to oversee the baking of hosts for Mass and Communion. To the sister assigned to this he gave the following instruction: 'Make the hosts thick so that I can linger a long time with Jesus. I do not want the Sacred Species to be quickly consumed.' "

"Are we not perhaps acting contrary to the example of the saints when we regard our period of thanksgiving as too long and perhaps feel impatient to get it over with? But, oh how we should watch ourselves here! For if it is true that at every Communion Jesus 'gives us a hundredfold for the hospitality we show Him,' as St. Teresa of Jesus declares, then it is also true that we must answer a hundredfold for neglecting this hospitality. A confrere of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina told how one day he went to Confession to the holy friar, and, among other things, confessed to omitting his thanksgiving after Holy Mass because, he said, some ministry impeded him. While Padre Pio was lenient in judging the other faults, when he heard him confess this omission, his countenance became stern and he said firmly, 'Let us see to it that our being unable is not just being unwilling. I always have to make my thanksgiving; otherwise I pay dearly.' "

~ Fr. Stefano Manelli: excerpts from his book, Jesus Our Eucharistic Love ~

St. Thomas Aquinas: The Powerful Sacrament of the Body of the Lord

"The Sacrament of the Body of the Lord puts the demons to flight,

defends us against the incentives to vice and to concupiscence,

cleanses the soul from sin,

quiets the anger of God,

enlightens the understanding to know God,

inflames the will and the affections with the love of God,

fills the memory with spiritual sweetness,

confirms the entire man in good,

frees us from eternal death,

multiplies the merits of a good life,

leads us to our everlasting home,

and re-animates the body to eternal life,"

~ St. Thomas Aquinas ~

Prayer of Love and Offering to Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament

“A God-Man present in this Sacrament for me!

What a comfort! What privilege to know that I kneel before God!

And to think that this God loves me!

Lovers of God, wherever you are, love Him for me too.

Mary, my Mother, help me to love Him.

And You, my lovable Lord, become the goal of my heart's desires.

Become the sole owner of my will.

Possess me completely.

I offer You my mind; may it think only of how good You are.

I offer You my body; may it always please You.

I offer You my soul; may it be Yours forever.

O divine Lover, I wish all men knew how tenderly You love each one of them.

Then surely they would worship You and live to please You, as You desire and deserve.

Let me at least live only to love You."

~ Author Unknown ~

St. John Chrysostom: Believe the Word of God!

"Let us submit to God in all things and not contradict Him, even if what He says seems contrary to our reason and intellect; rather let His words prevail over our reason and intellect. Let us act in this way with regard to the (eucharistic) mysteries, looking not only at what falls under our senses but holding on to His words. For His word cannot lead us astray. . . When the word says, `This is My Body', be convinced of it and believe it, and look at it with the eyes of the mind. . . How many now say, `I wish I could see His shape, His appearance, His garments, His sandals.' Only look! You 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 ~

St. Jean Vianney: "If we really loved the good God..."

"If we really loved the good God,
we should make it our joy and happiness
to come and spend a few moments to adore Him,
and ask Him for the grace of forgiveness;
and, we should regard those moments as the happiest of our lives."

~ St. Jean Vianney ~

Prayer in Reparation for Sin

Fr. Lou Guardiola: Nourished and Healed by the Blessed Sacrament

“Through Mary the cause of our joy you discover that

nowhere on earth are you more welcomed,

nowhere on earth are you more loved,

than by Jesus, living and truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament . . .

He is really there in Person waiting just for you.”

~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta ~

The Highest Catholic Chapel in the World

February 08, 2010
The Archbishop of Madrid blessed the newest chapel in the city this week. The chapel is on the 33rd floor of Madrid "Space Tower."

St. Ody of Cluny Stressed the Need for Worthy Reception of the Eucharist

The "devotion" to the Body and Blood of Christ which Odo in the face of a widespread neglect of them which he himself deeply deplored always cultivated with conviction deserves special mention. Odo was in fact firmly convinced of the Real Presence, under the Eucharistic species, of the Body and Blood of the Lord, by virtue of the conversion of the "substance" of the bread and the wine. He wrote: "God, Creator of all things, took the bread saying that this was his Body and that he would offer it for the world, and he distributed the wine, calling it his Blood"; now, "it is a law of nature that the change should come about in accordance with the Creator's command", and thus "nature immediately changes its usual condition: the bread instantly becomes flesh, and the wine becomes blood"; at the Lord's order, "the substance changes" (Odonis Abb. Cluniac. occupatio, ed. A. Swoboda, Leipzig 1900, p. 121). Unfortunately, our abbot notes, this "sacrosanct mystery of the Lord's Body, in whom the whole salvation of the world consists", (Collationes, XXVIII: PL 133, 572), is celebrated carelessly. "Priests", he warns, "who approach the altar unworthily, stain the bread, that is, the Body of Christ" (ibid., PL 133, 572-573). Only those who are spiritually united to Christ may worthily participate in his Eucharistic Body: should the contrary be the case, to eat his Flesh and to drink his Blood would not be beneficial but rather a condemnation (cf. ibid., XXX, PL 133, 575). All this invites us to believe the truth of the Lord's presence with new force and depth. The presence in our midst of the Creator, who gives himself into our hands and transforms us as he transforms the bread and the wine, thus transforms the world.

~ Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, September 2, 2009 ~

Jesus in the Eucharist Meets With Sacrilege, Indifference and Ingratitude

franciscanfriars June 19, 2009
Jesus allowed His Sacred Heart to be pierced so that we can be saved. But so often this greatest of gifts is met with Sacrilege, Indifference and Ingratitude. Listen as Father explains how great a tragedy this is and why we should love Our Lord ever more. Ave Maria!
To Download Audio go to http://airmaria.com?p=5356