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 ~

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 ~ 

Saint Faustina: Prayer of Adoration and Consolation to Jesus in the Eucharist

O Jesus, Divine Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your love and how You emptied Yourself for me, my senses fail me. You hide Your inconceivable majesty and lower Yourself to miserable me. O King of Glory, though You hide Your beauty, yet the eye of my soul rends the veil. I see the angelic choirs giving You honor without cease, and all the heavenly Powers praising You without cease, and without cease they are saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.

Oh, who will comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy toward us! O Prisoner of Love, I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle, that it may adore You without cease night and day. I know of no obstacle in this adoration, and even though I be physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for You. No obstacles exist for me. O my Jesus, I will console You for all the ingratitude, the blasphemies, the coldness, the hatred of the wicked, the sacrileges. O Jesus, I want to burn as a pure offering and to be consumed before the throne of Your hiddenness. I plead with You unceasingly for poor dying sinners.

~ St. Faustina; excerpt 80 from The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska ~

Prayer to Jesus Abandoned in the Most Blessed Sacrament

To Jesus Abandoned

With Mary Immaculate

let us adore, thank, implore and console,

the Most Beloved and Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

O Divine Jesus, lonely tonight in so many Tabernacles,

without visitor or worshiper,

I offer Thee my poor heart.

May its every throb be an act of love for Thee.

Thou art always watching beneath the Sacramental Veils;

in Thy Love Thou dost never sleep

and Thou art never weary of Thy vigil for sinners.

O lonely Jesus,

may the flame of my heart burn and beam always in company with Thee.

(From Holy Hour of Reparation prayer book)

St. Jose Maria Rubio, S.J.: Making an Effort to Adore God in the Sacred Host

"Are you truly making an effort to adore God? In this Sacred Host lies the whole of His omnipotence, all His wisdom, the perfect goodness of Jesus Christ, since therein rests His living heart as it is also in heaven. When we adore in this way, we adore in spirit and in truth.

"But after we have adored, the heart must be open to the other sentiments; for you well know that we are taught a diversity of forms of adoration in the Gospels; and we express them sometimes by profound acts of bodily reverence, sometimes by silence of the mind. From time to time, we also link with this type of adoration, tears, groans, and sighs; or words, expressions of interior feelings, prayers accompany the same. All these forms of adoration before Jesus hidden in the sacrament are so powerful that there are times when the spirit can do nothing better than bow low in Jesus' presence.

"Someone asks me: "What am I to do if I can think of nothing to say?" It is enough if you show reverence and hope. "But I am unable to say anything." I ask you not to be sad on that account; the very silence suffices. However great your experience of a heart which is dried up and empty, and for all that you may be very aware of its trials and confusion, fear not; continue your act of adoration; for that is enough, and it is to be considered a splendid deed in God's eyes. If subsequently, however, a thankful feeling of the soul towards God is aroused, if you desire to endure some greater sacrifices for His sake, foster those sentiments which the Holy Spirit is arousing in you, and offer them as a bouquet in Jesus presence. And would that this were the chief and daily form of our prayer."  (Source)

Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa: Our Lord Pleads for Eucharistic Reparation

Our Lord pleads for Eucharistic Reparation. An excerpt from the full-length documentary on Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004 and has been proposed by the universal church as a patron for the youth. Blessed Alexandrina's great love of Our Lord's Real Presence in the Eucharist is very relevant for today.

Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa jumped from a window in her home so as to protect her purity from three attackers. It was the result of this fall that saw her eventually bedridden for life and her incredible mission of offering her life of suffering as a Victim Soul.

Taken from the full length documentary on the life of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa produced by Mary's Dowry Productions, this excerpt shows the incredible phenomenon of the Cross that mysteriously appeared at Balasar. Many hundreds of people have taken earth from this Cross over the years but it still remains and defies all attempts to erradicate it. Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa's life and mission was linked closely to this phenomenon.

This is a trailer for a 56 minute documentary on the life and message of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa who is also known in Portugal as the Fourth Seer of Fatima. This film has been produced by Mary's Dowry Productions to promote the life and message of this Blessed, closely linked to the message of Fatima, strong advocate of the First Saturday devotions and Fatima message. A victim soul, she suffered mystically the Passion of Christ every Friday although paralized from the age of 14 having jumped from a high window to escape intruders and protect her purity. More information at http://www.marysdowryproductions.org/

~ Related post on Blessed Alexandrina da Costa ~

Pope John Paul II: Love, Adore, and Celebrate the Eucharist

"Set the Eucharist at the center of your personal life and community life:

love the Eucharist, adore the Eucharist, and celebrate the Eucharist."

~ Pope John Paul II on the occasion of World Youth Day, Rome, 2000 ~

Lamb of God

"You will never know God's will in your life unless you're a man or woman of prayer...

...the first best place to listen to God in prayer is in front of the Blessed Sacrament...

...if you can stop every day and give time to God in front of the Blessed Sacrament, your life will change."

~ Fr. Larry Richards ~

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) and Fr. Robert Barron Comment on Eucharistic Adoration

"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. And the practice of the Church, which has instituted perpetual adoration, is just as clear."

~ St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross ~

Pope John Paul II: Eucharistic Adoration--Fulfilling an Eminent Service

"It is invaluable to converse with Christ, and leaning against Jesus' breast like his beloved disciple, we can feel the infinite love of His Heart. We learn to know more deeply the One who gave Himself totally, in the different mysteries of His divine and human life, so that we may become disciples and in turn enter into this great act of giving, for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. 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 Savior 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."

~  Pope John Paul II, 1996 ~

Graces From Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament for Those Who Ask

"Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament has His hands full of graces,

and He is ready to bestow them on anyone who asks for them."

~ St. Peter of Alcantara ~

St. Teresa of Avila and Cardinal Arinze: Personal Prayer From the Heart

"Vocal prayer . . . must be accompanied by reflection. A prayer in which a person is not aware of Whom he is speaking to, what he is asking, who it is who is asking and of Whom, I don't call prayer-----however much the lips may move."

"Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us."

~ St. Teresa of Avila ~

St. John Bosco: The Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Protect the World

"Were it not for the Blessed Virgin and the Blessed Sacrament, the world would now be in ruins. Those who want to work in the light - that is, along the way to heaven – must draw closer to these two sources of light, or at least one of them. Those who walk away from them move in darkness and in the shadow of death."

"Trust all things to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary Help of Christians and you will see what miracles are."

~ St. John Bosco ~

~ St. John Bosco:  Related post ~

Pope John Paul II: Kneel Before Jesus in the Eucharist to Make Reparation

"Let us take the time to kneel before Jesus present in the Eucharist,

in order to make reparation by our faith and love for the acts of carelessness and neglect,

and even the insults which our Saviour must endure in many parts of the world."

~ Pope John Paul II ~

St. Alphonsus Liguori: A Prayer for Eucharistic Adoration

Eucharistic Devotion: Consecrating Ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

"...I urge you to draw close to the Heart of Jesus opened wide for you in the Holy Eucharist, by your faithful participation in the Sunday Mass and in weekday Mass, when possible, and by your Eucharistic devotion, especially Eucharistic visits and adoration.

"Placing our hearts within the Sacred Heart of Jesus through participation in the Holy Eucharist and Eucharistic devotion, let us enthrone the image of His Sacred Heart in our homes and places of work and recreation, consecrating ourselves and all that we do to His service. The Sacred Heart devotion is a most fitting and efficacious way of extending Eucharistic worship and devotion into every moment of our lives and every aspect of our lives. Christ must reign in us for the salvation of the world. Sharers in Christ’s own Spirit, we must more and more turn over our lives completely to Him."

~ Archbishop Raymond Burke, Installation Mass Homily, St. Louis, Misssouri, 2004 ~ 

Tantum Ergo

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

"Love keeps Him there [in the Blessed Sacrament] as a victim completely and perpetually delivered over to sacrifice for the glory of the Father and for our salvation. Unite yourself with Him, then, in all that you do. Refer everything to His glory. Set up your abode in this loving Heart of Jesus and you will there find lasting peace and the strength both to bring to fruition all the good desires He inspires in you, and to avoid every deliberate fault. Place in this Heart all your sufferings and difficulties. Everything that comes from the Sacred Heart is sweet. He changes everything into love."

~ St. Margaret Mary Alacoque ~