Blessed Virgin Mary's Sentiments About Receiving Holy Communion

I wish thee also to hear, my dearest daughter from my own mouth, what were my sentiments when in mortal life I was about to receive holy Communion. In order that thou mayest better understand what I say, reflect on all I have commanded thee to write about my gifts, merits and labors in life.

 

I was preserved from original sin and, at the instant of my Conception, received the knowledge and vision of the Divinity, as thou hast often recorded. I knew more than all saints; I surpassed the highest seraphim in love; I never committed any fault; I constantly practiced all the virtues in a heroic degree and in the least of them I was greater than all the saints in their highest perfection; the intention and object of my actions were most exalted and my habits and gifts were noble without measure; I imitated my most holy Son most closely; I labored faithfully; I suffered with eagerness and co-operated with the doings of the Lord exactly as was becoming to me; I ceased not to exercise my love and gain new supereminent merits of grace.

 

Yet I thought myself to have been fully repaid by being allowed to receive Him even once in the holy Eucharist; yea, I did not consider myself worthy of this one favor.

 

Reflect then what should be thy sentiments, and those of the rest of the children of Adam, on being admitted to the reception of this admirable Sacrament.

 

And if for the greatest of saints one holy Communion is a superabundant reward, what must the priests and the faithful think, when they are allowed to receive it so frequently?

 

Open thy eyes in the deep darkness and blindness which overwhelm men around thee, and raise them up to the divine brightness in order to understand these mysteries.

 

Look upon all thy works as insufficient, all thy sufferings as most insignificant, all thy thanksgiving as falling far short of what thou owest for such an exquisite blessing as that of possessing in the holy Church, Christ my divine Son, present in the holy Sacrament in order to enrich all the faithful.

 

If thou hast not wherewith to show thy thanks for this and the other blessings which thou receivest, at least humiliate thyself to the dust and remain prostrate upon it; confess thyself unworthy in all the sincerity of thy heart. Magnify the Most High, bless and praise Him, preserving thyself at all times worthy to receive Him and to suffer many martyrdoms in return for such a favor.
 

~  Virgin Mother of God to Venerable Mary of Agreda, from  City of God ~

Gloria Polo Testimony: Even the Demons Adore Our Lord

Gloria Polo died after being terribly burned by a lightning bolt on May 5, 1995 in Bogotá, Colombia; she was judged, and then came back to life. This is her testimony.

But first I must tell you something, brothers: I was a “dietetic (cafeteria) Catholic”, I was for my whole life, because my relationship with God was taken care of in a 25 minute Sunday Mass, and that’s all. I went to the Mass where the priest spoke less, because I got tired! What anguish I felt, with those priests who spoke a lot! This was my relationship with God! For this all the worldly currents drug me along: I lacked the protection of prayer well done with faith, even in the Mass!

...When I cried out again that I was Catholic, brothers, I heard a Voice, so sweet, but so sweet… So beautiful, that it filled everything with peace and love, and made my soul jump. Those horrible creature that were clinging to me, at hearing it, immediately prostrated themselves in adoration, and asked permission to withdraw themselves, because they could not stand the sweetness of that Voice: then something was opened, like a mouth hanging down, and they fled with fear. Just imagine this! When I see those beings, those horrific demons, there prostrated… At the mere hearing the Voice of the Lord, (notwithstanding the pride of Satan, and thus they hear it as something very unpleasant), they throw themselves on their knees!

Then, I saw the Most Blessed Virgin prostrated, when the priest elevated Our Lord in the Host, during the Mass that was celebrated for the soul of my cousin. The Virgin Mary interceded for me! Prostrated at the feet of Our Lord, she gathered all the prayers that the people of my earth made for me, and she presented them to Him.

You know, at the moment of the elevation, when the priest lifts up the Host, one feels the presence of Jesus, everyone prostates themselves on their knees, even the demons! … And I, who went to the Mass without the least of respect, without giving any attention, with gum to chew in my mouth, sometimes dozing off, looking around, lost in a thousand banal thoughts…! And then I had the guts to complain, full of pride, that God did not listen to me when I asked something from Him!

Believe me, it was staggering to see how, at the passing of Our Lord, all those creatures, all those frightening beings, threw themselves on the ground, in an impressive adoration.

I saw the Virgin Mary, graciously prostrate at the feet of the Lord, praying for me, in adoration before Him. … And I, a sinner, with my rubbish, treating Him without any respect, and saying that I was good… Yes, miserably good! Denying and blaspheming the Lord!

Imagine what a sinner I was, when even the demons prostrated themselves on the ground, at the passing of the Lord Jesus Christ…!

...Jesus continued to show me how I was in no way grateful in regard to Him, and the laziness that I had in going to Mass. When I still lived with my parents, and my mother obliged me to go, I said to her: “But, Mom, if God is everywhere, what need do I have to go to church for the Mass?” Clearly, for me it was very convenient to talk like this… And Jesus showed this to me. I had the Lord twenty-four hours a day for me, all my life God took care of me, and I so lazy to dedicate to Him a little time on Sunday, to show Him my gratitude, my love for Him… But the worst thing was to know that, to frequent the church, meant to nourish my soul. I, instead, dedicated myself totally to the care of my body, I became a slave to my flesh, and I forgot this particular: that I had a soul! And never did I take care of it.

~ Gloria Polo:  excerpts from here ~

Ask for the Gift of Adoration

The practice of adoration is not difficult.
It is a gentle abiding in My presence,
a resting in the radiance of My Eucharistic Face,
a closeness to My Eucharistic Heart.

Words, though sometimes helpful, are not necessary,
nor are thoughts.
What I seek from one who would adore Me in spirit and in truth
is a heart aflame with love,
a heart content to abide in my presence,
silent and still,
engaged only in the act of loving Me
and of receiving My love.

Though this is not difficult,
it is, all the same,
my own gift
to the soul who asks for it.

Ask, then, for the gift of adoration.

~ Excerpt from Vultus Christi blog ~

Fr. Robert Barron: The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

"When the priest effects the Eucharistic change...he's not speaking his own puny words, but rather at the consecration the priest speaks in persona Christi, in the very person of Christ...He speaks with the full authority of Christ which is why his words have the power to change the elements...that's why for Catholics the only proper response when you're in the presence of those transformed elements is to bow down and worship."

~ Fr. Robert Barron ~

Visit to Our Lady After Holy Communion

Mother, upon my lips today,

Christ's Precious Blood was laid;

That Blood which centuries ago,

Was for my ransom paid.

And half in love, and half in fear

I seek for aid from thee,

Lest what I worship, wrapt in awe,

Should be profaned by me.

Wilt thou vouchsafe, as Portress dear,

To guard those lips today?

Lessen my words of idle worth

And govern all I say.

Keep back the sharp and quick retort

That rise so easily;

Soften my speech with gentle art,

To sweetest charity.

Check thou the laugh or careless jest,

That others harsh may find;

Teach me the thoughtful words of love,

That soothe the anxious mind.

Put far from me all proud replies,

And each deceitful tone,

So that my words at length may be

Faint echoes of thine own.

Oh Mother, thou art mine today,

By more than double right:

A soul where Christ reposed must be

Most precious in thy sight.

And thou canst hardly think of me

From thy dear Son apart;

Then give me from myself and sin,

A refuge in thy heart.

~ From an old prayer card ~

Capuchin Franciscans: A Public Invitation to Kneel Before Jesus in the Eucharist

A Eucharistic flash mob in the centre of Preston, organised by the Capuchin Franciscans on Ascension Thursday 2011.

Lack of Love and Indifference Toward Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament

"Is Jesus well-loved in Heaven?

"In Heaven they love Him very much, there He is compensated. But Jesus wants more than that. He wants to be loved on earth, on that earth where He annihilates Himself in every Tabernacle, in order to be approached more easily and yet He is refused. People pass before a church with more indifference than they would before any public monument. If by chance, they go into the holy place, it is only to insult still more the Divine Captive who dwells there, namely, by their coldness and their irreverence. Their prayers are said hurriedly and without attention, instead of speaking to Him from their hearts and saying words of friendship and gratitude for all His favors to them.

"Tell Father P— that God expects from him this love which He so rarely meets with. He expects it from him who comes each day so close to Jesus, whom he receives into his heart. Oh, tell him that in those blessed moments he may repair by his tender love the indifference of so many ungrateful souls. His heart must melt with love before Jesus in the Host and intercede for those priests who enjoy the same privilege that he does, yet treat the sacred mysteries with a frozen heart which remains as cold as marble to Jesus. Every day let his union with God become closer, in order to prepare himself worthily for the great graces which Jesus has in store for him.

"I have told you there are some souls who do their Purgatory at the foot of the altar. They are not there for faults they have committed in church, because those faults which attack Jesus directly, Jesus present in the Tabernacle, are punished with terrible severity in Purgatory. The souls that are there in adoration are there as a reward for their reverent behavior in the Sacred Presence. They suffer less than if they were in Purgatory itself, and Jesus, whom they contemplate with the eyes of their soul and of faith, softens their pains by His invisible Presence."

~ Sr. M.G., a nun soul from Purgatory; excerpt from An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory ~ 

~ Related posts from Grateful for Purgatory blog ~