Pope John Paul II: Testimony of Faith in the Eucharist

Allow me, dear brothers and sisters, to share with deep emotion, as a means of accompanying and strengthening your faith, my own testimony of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist. Ave verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine, vere passum, immolatum, in cruce pro homine! Here is the Church's treasure, the heart of the world, the pledge of the fulfilment for which each man and woman, even unconsciously, yearns. A great and transcendent mystery, indeed, and one that taxes our mind's ability to pass beyond appearances. Here our senses fail us: visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur, in the words of the hymn Adoro Te Devote; yet faith alone, rooted in the word of Christ handed down to us by the Apostles, is sufficient for us. Allow me, like Peter at the end of the Eucharistic discourse in John's Gospel, to say once more to Christ, in the name of the whole Church and in the name of each of you: “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68).

~ Pope John Paul II, from Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistica ~

Fr. Samuel Medley: Reparation to the Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

Beginning with the Epiclesis, this is the consecration of the bread at wine at a Roman Catholic Mass in Latin in which these elements become the living Victim, Jesus Christ's own Body and Blood. This video is offered in reparation for all the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which the Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus is offended.

This was the blessing I gave at the end of my first Mass in Robstown, TX. It was in Latin. The blessing in english is, "Through the intercession of the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, May Almighty God Bless you, + the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

St. Dominic Savio: Reverence for the Blessed Sacrament

"Do you want many graces? Go and visit the Blessed Sacrament often.
Do you want few graces? Visit the Blessed Sacrament rarely.
Do you want none at all? Then never pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament,"

~ St. Dominic Savio ~

Fr. Giovanni Zucca from Moriondo, who was then the chaplain at Murialdo when Dominic was five years old,[18] notes in a statement to John Bosco that he came to notice Dominic due to his regular church attendance with his mother, and his habit of kneeling down outside the church to pray (even in the mud or snow) if he happened to come to Church before it had been unlocked in the morning. The chaplain also notes that Savio made good progress at the village school not merely due to his cleverness, but also by working hard; he would not join the other boys in doing something that he believed to be morally wrong and would explain why he thought a particular deed was wrong;[19] At the age of five, he learned to serve Mass, and would try to participate at Mass every day as well as go regularly to Confession. Having been permitted to make his First Communion at an early age, he had much reverence for the Eucharist.[20].

First Communion
At that time, it was customary for children to receive their First Communion at the age of twelve.[21] (Pope Pius X would later lower this age to seven[22][23]) After initial hesitation, and subsequent consultation with other priests, the parish priest agreed to permit Dominic to receive his First Communion at the age of seven, since he knew the catechism and understood something of the Eucharist.[24] He spent much time praying and reading in preparation,[25] asking his mother's forgiveness for anything he might have done to displease her and then went to Church. In his biography of Dominic Savio, John Bosco devotes a chapter to tell of Dominic's First Communion. He says that several years later, whenever Dominic talked of the day of his First Communion, he said with joy:

"That was the happiest and most wonderful day of my life"[26]
John Bosco records that on the day of his First Communion, Dominic made some promises which he wrote in a "little book", and re-read them many times. John Bosco once looked through Dominic's book, and he quotes from it the promises that he made:[27]

Resolutions made by me, Dominic Savio, in the year 1849, on the day of my First Communion, at the age of seven.
1. I will go to Confession often, and as frequently to Holy Communion as my confessor allows.
2. I wish to sanctify the Sundays and festivals in a special manner.
3. My friends shall be Jesus and Mary.
4. Death rather than sin.[28]

~ Source ~

One American Priest's Perspective on Communion in the Hand

"Americans have the option of receiving the Holy Eucharist on the tongue or in the hand. The Vatican granted us the option of receiving on the hand in 1977. This was accomplished by an indult, a lifting of the law, so we may receive either way, on the tongue or in the hand. The indult was granted because the American Bishops told the Vatican that their parishioners were clamoring for it..."

"Communion on the hand is an option; it is not the primary way of receiving. Catholics must be catechized to understand this important point. No one is to be forced to receive on the hand.

"When receiving the Body of Christ on the hand, the faithful must be aware of the fact that each and every particle, no matter how small, is truly the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Therefore no particle should ever be discarded or treated with less than total respect due to the Body of Christ.

"The faithful must also be reminded that their hands must be clean to receive our Lord, Jesus Christ.

"When ordained in 1986, I was a proponent of receiving Communion in the hand, but time has changed my thinking on this issue. Seeing so many abuses and forming a deeper respect for Jesus’ true Presence in the Holy Eucharist were the factors which forced me to rethink my position."

"In my twenty-four years as a priest, I have served in many parishes and witnessed many Eucharistic abuses caused by receiving in the hand. I have picked Jesus off the floor from under pews and picked Him out of hymnals. I have followed people back to their seats and asked if they would give me the host back (they bring it out of a clinched hand or out of their pockets) and have witnessed many other sacrilegious desecrations of the most Blessed Sacrament, far too many and varied to mention, some so shocking most people would simply not believe my words.

"As I began to see these desecrations of the Holy Eucharist, I began to understand how very sickening, disheartening and avoidable all of this actually has been. Many religious education programs teach the children how to receive on the hand, with at most a cursory mention of the traditional way of receiving on the tongue. Why? The Church documents do not support such teaching. It was the same with many American dioceses in the 1960’s when the faithful were being coerced into receiving on the hand a decade before being granted the indult."

"Our Holy Father, Benedict XVI leads by example. Since becoming Pope, anyone receiving Holy Eucharist from him must receive on the tongue and kneeling. He is not requiring a change throughout the world, but is giving us a profound message by example.

"Proper respect shown to the Holy Eucharist is primary. Please consider these thoughts before receiving Holy Communion this Sunday. Thank you."

~ Fr. Robert Lange: Excerpts from Respect for Christ in the Eucharist--One Priest's Perspective ~

Blessed Mother: Perfect Adorer of the Most Blessed Sacrament

"Mary's adoration was profound, interior, intimate.

It was the gift of herself.

She offered her whole self to the service of love of the Eucharistic God.

For love lays down no conditions, makes no reservations;

it thinks no longer of self, lives no longer for self;

it is a stranger to itself and lives only for the God which it loves.

Everything in Mary was directed to the Blessed Sacrament

as Its center and end.
A current of grace and love established itself

between the Heart of Jesus-Hostia and the heart of Mary-Adoratrix.

These hearts were like two flames blended into one.

God was then perfectly adored by His creature."

~ St. Peter Julian Eymard ~

St. Padre Pio: The Mystical Calvary of the Altar

"What great care she took to accompany me to the altar this morning. It seemed to me that she had nothing else to think about except myself as she filled my whole heart with sentiments of holy love."

Asked if the Madonna had been present at Mass, he answered: "Yes, she placed herself to the side, but I could see her, what joy! What paradise…" Has she attended only once, or is she always present? "How can the mother of Jesus, present on Calvary at the foot of the Cross, who offered her Son as victim for the salvation of souls, be absent at the mystical Calvary of the altar?" Is our Lady present at all of the Masses that are being celebrated in the world? "Yes." Do the angels also attend? "The whole celestial court is present."

"I cannot get tired, because when I celebrate Holy Mass I am not standing, but hanging on the cross together with Jesus, and I suffer inadequately all that Jesus suffered on the Cross, as much as is possible for a human creature. The Lord has deigned to associate me with the great work of human redemption, and this despite my every demerit, and only because of His supreme goodness."

~ St. Padre Pio ~

St. Catherine of Siena: The Excess of God's Love

"O inestimable charity! Even as You, true God and true Man, gave Yourself entirely to us, so also You left Yourself entirely for us, to be our food, so that during our earthly pilgrimage we would not faint with weariness, but would be strengthened by You, our celestial Bread.

"O man, what has your God left you? He has left you Himself, wholly God and wholly Man, concealed under the whiteness of bread. O fire of love!

"Was it not enough for You to have created us to Your image and likeness, and to have recreated us in grace through the Blood of Your Son, without giving Yourself wholly to us as our Food, O God, Divine Essence? What impelled You to do this? Your charity alone. It was not enough for You to send Your Word to us for our redemption; neither were You content to give Him us as our Food, but in the excess of Your love for Your creature, You gave to man the whole Divine essence..."

~ St. Catherine of Siena ~