The Value Of The Holy Eucharist In The Life Of Don Bosco

The Holy Eucharist is the centre of Catholic Worship, and so it was the centre of Saint John Bosco’s devotion.  As, a young man and later as a seminarian he was happy to assist at “Holy Mass” and when possible serve at it too. Very often, he received Our Lord Jesus Christ in “Holy Communion” and visited him in the Blessed Sacrament.  When, he was ordained a Priest, Saint John Bosco had many more opportunities of practicing this devotion, as he was able to celebrate “Holy Mass”. Don Bosco was a staunch believer in the “Real Presence” of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. His spiritual life was dominated by the “Real Presence”. 

His Priesthood gave him many opportunities to spread this devotion specially among the Youth. This is so true in the case of Saint Dominic Savio. He often spoke about Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament through Books that he wrote to help people to receive Jesus Christ worthily, to make reparation for injuries inflicted upon him, and to console him for the neglect he suffers. 

The following are interesting little titbits about today’s Saint of the Holy Eucharist, St. John Bosco: 1. Early in childhood our Lord and His blessed mother inspired him to rescue young boys from evil ways. 2. The boys under Don Bosco’s care learned about the Catholic faith “under a remarkable educational system based upon frequent confession and daily Mass.” 3. In 1862 Don Bosco had a vision of the dangers threatening the Church. Since everyone is familiar with the story I will skip to the end of the dream:

“Suddenly two marble columns surged from the depths of the stormy ocean, one surmounted by a monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament – “Salvation of Believers” and the other by a statue of Mary Immaculate “Help of Christians.”

The Eucharistic Dream:

For sixty years St. John Bosco received remarkable dreams which were almost visions. Probably his best-known dream-vision was that of the Church like a ship taking refuge between two pillars in the sea. In May 1862 he shared his experience of this dream. He could see a very big ship in the sea which he understood as the Church. There were many smaller ships drawn up to do battle against the big ship, they were the enemies of the Church and persecutions. Two pillars or columns were protruding from the sea a little distant from each other. 

On the top of one was a statue of Our Lady with Help of Christians written beneath. On top of the other pillar was a host (blessed sacrament) beneath which was written Salvation of the Faithful. The commander of the ship was the Pope. He was directing all his energies to steering the ship between those two columns or pillars. All the enemy ships moved to attack. 

Sometimes the large ship, the Church, got large, deep holes in its sides, but no sooner was the harm done than a gentle breeze blew from the two columns and the cracks closed up and the gaps were stopped immediately. In a battle the Pope fell gravely wounded. Immediately those who were with him helped him up. A second time the Pope was struck, this time he fell and died. The new Pope was so promptly chosen that the enemies begin to lose courage. 

The new Pope overcame all obstacles and enemies and guided the ship right between the two columns. He fastened a chain from the bow of the ship to the column on which stands the host, and fastened a chain from the ship’s stern to the column on which stands a statue of Our Lady. All the ships which had fought against the Pope’s ship were scattered and broken to pieces and other smaller ships which had fought for the Pope’s ship now bound themselves to the same two columns. 

In this remarkable dream-vision experienced by St. John Bosco the Church has two means to save itself in the midst of her persecutions; devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist and devotion to Our Lady.

Devotion to The Eucharist – One of the Pillars of Salesian Spirituality:

The second pillar of Don Bosco’s spirituality was devotion to Jesus in the
Eucharist, which he saw as the heart of every Salesian house. 

He used to remind young people: “If you want many graces, pay many visits to Jesus in the Sacrament; if you want few graces, pay him few”. Don Bosco was a “vir eucharisticus“, that is, a saint formed through and through by the Eucharist. He was so passionate about the Eucharist that he communicated his passion to the young people he carefully prepared for communion with the Lord through the sacrament of Reconciliation. 

For Don Bosco, Confession and the Eucharist were the two sacraments that inculcated in young people the Christian virtues and holiness. On this topic he wrote in 1877:

“Frequent Confession, frequent Communion and daily Mass are the pillars that must support an educational building that we desire to protect from threats and scourges. Never force youngsters to receive the holy sacraments, but only encourage them and make it easy for them to do so” (John Bosco, Il sistema preventivo nella educazione della gioventù [1877], n. 4).

The 15-year-old St Dominic Savio is a shining example of this sacramental pedagogy which strengthened his virtuous habits and his union with Jesus, witnessed by his Eucharistic ecstasies during Holy Communion.

Saint Peter Julian Eymard And His Relationship With The Blessed Sacrament

God is there, present in His Divine Son, on the altar, captured beneath the tangible appearances of bread and wine. This is the Mystery of our Faith: Christ truly present, body and blood, soul and divinity on the Catholic altars of the world. This is the Corpus Christi celebrated in centuries-old liturgies and neighborhood processions.  This reality of our Eucharistic Lord and God is the heart of Catholicism, the source of its divine fire, a source which is a stumbling block to an unbelieving world.

Unfortunately, many of the faithful fall prey to the world’s skepticism. That is when God chooses willing souls to reveal the divine fulfillment of man’s yearnings.  Such a chosen soul was Francis of Assisi, whose life of poverty revitalized a materialistic world.  Another was Margaret Mary who spread devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, battled the devil and touched souls in the confessional. Yet another was Peter Julian Eymard, the Saint of the Eucharist, who lived only for this Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Devoted to the Blessed Sacrament as a Little Boy

For Peter Julian Eymard, who was born in La Mure d’Isere, France, on Feb. 4, 1811, visits to the Blessed Sacrament were as much a daily necessity as food and drink. According to the book, St. Peter Julian Eymard, The Priest of the Eucharist by Rev. Albert Tesniere, SSS, (Eymard League, New York, l962), his mother had set aside frequent time with Christ in the tabernacle and Peter, first as infant, and soon as an active little boy, accompanied his mother without complaint.

Although there is no record of what the youngster thought about this, it is known that at age five, he was found praying while on a ladder behind the tabernacle at church. Why? “Because I can listen to Him better from here” (p.12). Soon he expressed the desire to be a priest and had written in his journal, “Holy Communion – the ambition of my eighth year – the goal of all my efforts” (p.15). He served Mass, read Saints’ lives, and visited the Blessed Sacrament while making deliveries for his father, who was an oil presser.

At age five, St. Peter Julian was found praying while on a ladder behind the tabernacle at church. Why? “Because I can listen to Him better from here” 

At age ten, Peter Julian thought nothing extraordinary of making a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Laus in another town for a retreat. There he poured out his heart to his heavenly Mother and she, in turn, directed him in ways of grace, as she would later on in his life.

The Trials Begin To Test His Destiny As A Priest

As Peter Julian came of age, his father wished to set him up in business and arrange for a marriage. Peter, who usually obeyed his father willingly in all things, refused. He already had been studying Latin in preparation for the priesthood. But Mr. Eymard was adamant, refusing permission and funding for his son to go to school.

This was the first example of the opposition to what Peter Julian discerned to be God’s will for him. Such trials honed his perseverance and trust in Providence to a fine point. Peter Julian attained his education by becoming a scholarship student and doing janitorial duties.  To earn his tuition later on, he even worked as a secretary and servant to a chaplain at an insane asylum. After he finally entered the novitiate of the fledgling Oblates of Mary Immaculate, he was forced by illness to return home in six months: another setback to his priestly calling!

Powered by the Blessed Sacrament, Close to the Blessed Mother

It was only after Peter Julian’s father died the next year that he was able to enter the Major Seminary of Grenoble and resume his studies. It was like coming home at last and Peter Julian’s pursuit of holiness reached new levels. A fellow student wrote: “His love of God shone forth in all his actions; …visiting frequently the Blessed Sacrament caused his fervor to grow daily …His mere presence inspired us with love for virtue” (p. 26). He was considered “truly a model” (p. 27) by his counterparts, as they noted in their own writings.

Peter Julian saw himself in another light. He felt he did not pray enough. “I have not sufficiently shown my love for Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament” (p. 27), because of distractions during meditation. He strove for “greater interior silence in God’s presence” (p.27), greater humility.
On July 20, 1834, Peter Julian Eymard was ordained He offered his first Mass in a monastery dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, who had sustained him in his quest for the priesthood.

At the feet of the Tabernacled God

What happens to a parish with a saint-in-the-making for a pastor? In the five years Fr. Eymard served as  diocesan priest in Chatte and Monteynard, the spirituality of his congregations deepened. The poor, the sick, the sinful, were inspired by this humble servant: his preaching on the love of the Eucharistic Lord and his hours of adoration before this Love of his life drew them to him and fired their lives with the same love of God.

For Fr. Eymard, his outward labors were a “Calvary of obedience, of self-denial, and of crucifixion.”  He preferred to dwell “at the feet of (his) tabernacled God” (p.38).

In 1839, Fr. Eymard began his sojourn with the Society of Mary. Hardly had he learned of the Order’s existence than he knew it was the place for him. He sought and received – after prayer and much soul-searching – permission to leave the ranks of the diocesan priesthood and become a servant of his Blessed Lady as a Marist.

Like Father Ciszek, St. Peter Julian Eymard Found God’s Will in Obedience to Providence (Circumstance)

Peter Julian saw before him his life’s task: sanctity. He also saw that to accomplish this, he should be “in a state of perfect self-surrender and of abnegation” (p. 42), to let himself be guided to do the immediate good. Obeying the wishes of God as revealed by his religious superiors was one way to do this.

Thus Fr. Eymard humbly accepted the almost immediate appointment as spiritual director at the Order’s boarding school at Belley, where he became  a source of inspiration. He breathed new life into the students’ Sodality of the Blessed Virgin there and at a nearby cathedral. His influence was to such a degree that a student said, “When Fr. Eymard comes, how happy we are; we feel all afire” (p.46). Fr.  Eymard was afire as well, his dominant thought being His Lord and God in the Blessed Sacrament.

The Blessed Virgin has led me to Our Lord

It was while wearing the blue cape of Mary’s Society – soon as the Order’s Provincial, Assistant and Visitor Generals, Director of the soon revitalized Third Order of Mary, and later as superior at a boarding school – that Fr. Eymard made his total commitment to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He liked to say that “the Blessed Virgin has led me to Our Lord” (p.42). In fact, she provided a training ground for him as his thoughts became concentrated on spreading devotion to the Eucharistic Lord.

The pull of Christ on Fr. Eymard’s life was continuous and strong. Our Lord revealed to him that a congregation dedicated to adoring the Eucharistic Christ was going to be his life’s work (p.54) and then, in l853, while at prayer, Fr. Eymard was shown by Our Lord that the time had come for this work to begin, even if it meant leaving everything, including his home for 17 years, his beloved Marist Order.

From the Marists to the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

The decision to leave the Society of Mary met with great opposition from his Superiors and only Fr. Eymard’s conviction that he was doing God’s will sustained him. Eventually he was released from his vows as a Marist and with his friend, Fr. deCuers, set about the work of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. Property was leased from the Archbishop of Paris and on the Feast of Corpus Christi, June l, l856, the first house of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament opened on rue l’Enfer.

Just because a work of God is undertaken doesn’t mean things are destined to run smoothly. In fact, the opposite appears to occur. Vocations were slow in coming.  Priests who came did not persevere. Money donations were few – a constant worry to Fr. deCuers – so that the purchase of even so small an item as altar candles was at times questionable.  And hardly had enough vocations allowed Solemn Exposition to begin than notification came that the priests would have to move because the building would be needed by the new archbishop of Paris.

Trials Further Refine his Trust in Divine Providence

With characteristic trust in Divine Providence, Fr. Eymard depended on God to show him the place that would be suitable. And so it was. A scant few days before the eviction from rue l’Enfer, another home for the Congregation was found at rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques, destined to become, as Fr. Eymard called it, the “Chapel of Miracles” (p.99). From this location, the Order began to grow, the effects of their Eucharistic apostolate reaching deeply into the souls of all with whom they came into contact. No small part in this growth was played by Fr. Eymard himself who preached about his Eucharistic Lord at every chance.

The Purpose of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament had a two-fold purpose in Fr. Eymard’s mind:

• First and foremost was perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
• The other mission of the Order was the promotion of Eucharistic devotion, not only through Eucharistic leagues for priests and laity but in bringing Christ to the unchurched. 

Those youth who had not received their First Communion or had not even been instructed in their Faith were Fr. Eymard’s targets.

Catechizing these stray sheep was an important job for the new religious order. Through the youth, the adults were reached, marriages validated. Fr. Eymard sponsored retreats, performed marriages, conducted First Communion celebrations for the poor families he sought out.

The following years were busy for Fr. Eymard. Three houses had to be established before formal canonical approbation could be given for the Order from Rome.  As the Congregation’s reputation grew, other cities wanted their presence. Marseilles, in 1859, saw the foundation of the second house of the Congregation, under the direction of Fr. deCuers. There, with Fr. Leroyer, the Congregation bore much fruit. Within two years, the People’s Eucharistic League — formed for lay adorers for the Blessed Sacrament – numbered 3000.

A third house came in 1862 in Angers. Fr. Eymard had spent a long time there trying to find a house. Everything seemed to work against him. Finally, he decided to stop at a Carmelite Monastery to beg for prayers. After telling the nuns what he needed, the Mother Superior said their church was available if the priests would be their chaplains.

With the third house established, the Order sought and received canonical approval, the letter arriving on the eve of Corpus Christi, June 3, 1863.

As the Congregation Grew, Eymard Establishes the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament

In addition to work with the men’s Order, Fr. Eymard established a religious order for women, the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. They were named for Our Blessed Lady who had likened herself to a Servant of God; their purpose was adoration and catechizing of young girls who had not been instructed in their Faith and/or who had not yet made their First Holy Communion.

Marguerite Guillot had come in contact with Fr. Eymard at one of the schools he had supervised. She placed herself under his spiritual direction and they kept up a correspondence for years. When the idea of a religious order for honoring the Blessed Sacrament was made known to Fr. Eymard, he knew it meant Orders for both men and women (p.172) and he had no doubts who would be the eventual superior of the women.

When Providence showed him that the time had come for official formation to begin, Fr. Eymard summoned Miss Guillot and on July l, 1858, the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament were officially established. As with the men’s Order, other houses followed, with canonical approval coming in 1885.

Amid all of this work, establishing religious houses preaching, travelling to Brussels, Jerusalem, and Rome, and the cares of running a religious order, Fr. Eymard continued his personal adoration of his Eucharistic Lord. His preaching drew crowds who saw him for the saint he was. Yet, it was not enough.

About a retreat in Rome, Fr. Eymard wrote, “Our Lord has given me to understand that I have hitherto limited myself to exterior manifestations of my love…I have been carried on by the enthusiasm of feverish activity, with the sad result that my piety became emotional, my union with God momentary, and my fervor nothing more than a passing sentiment…” (p.191).  His remedy? Immolation of personality.  “Our Lord does not ask for my gift but myself” (p.191). He felt he was inconstant in mind, heart and will, not yet concentrating on God enough. He felt he needed  greater personal self-denial.

Let us Bless the cross which God sends us…

With this attitude, Fr. Eymard wanted to become a mere member of his religious order. That way he could concentrate on remedying his own weakness. When he convoked the first formal General Chapter meeting, he instructed his brothers not to consider him for Superior General. His request was ignored and he saw in his election a Calvary. “Divine love, it is said, always enters one’s heart by a fresh wound. It takes pleasure in riddling the heart in order that its heavenly flame may penetrate it through and through. Let us bless the cross which God sends us…(p.209).

Further Trials Tempt Eymard’s Faith

The last years of Fr. Eymard’s life were heaped with sufferings. Rheumatism and neuralgia plagued him physically. Spiritually, he experienced great aridity; he described it in his journal: God “draws a veil over one’s mind and crushes one’s heart.  He plunges one’s soul into darkness and into temptations against faith and confidence in His goodness; no peace is left to it.

The Congregation suffered many setbacks which added deeply to Fr. Eymard’s grief. In l867, the houses on rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques and in Angers had to be relocated.

The unexpected necessity of razing the building found in Angers created a huge debt. The Sisters’ house in Nemours had to be closed as well.  In addition, Fr. deCuers, trusted first companion of Fr. Eymard, had requested leave from the Order to start a new one.  Fr.  Eymard urged him to work at this from within the ranks of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers, but never lived to see Fr. deCuers give up his project and return his whole attention to their Order.

Eventually, Fr. Eymard’s physical ailments reigned over him. He was pain-wracked and subject to paralysis. He was growing weaker, yet he preached Christ in the Eucharist as long as he was able. One of his last admonitions to the faithful was to strive for faith in the Holy Eucharist. “You have the Eucharist! What more do you want?”

The Incorrupt Body of St. Peter Julian Eymard

Peter Julian Eymard died Aug. 1, 1868 and was buried in the graveyard of his home parish in La Mure d’Isere. But even in death, he was a lesson to the faithful.  In l877, the grave was opened to take the remains to Paris. There it was found that while the coffin was falling to pieces, the body was not.
“There he is! It is indeed he!” witnesses exclaimed. Fr. Eymard was incorrupt, with no odor or sign of decay except a darkening of the body (The Incorruptibles, Cruz, TAN, l977, p. 280).

The body has since decayed and only bones remain which are now encased for veneration in the Corpus Christi Chapel (Tesniere, p. 245). Canonization of the Saint of the Eucharist came in 1962 at the Second Vatican Council.

The essence of Fr. Peter Julian Eymard’s life was Christ present in the Holy Eucharist. In Him all acts were to begin and end. With Him all life could be transformed.  But even so elemental a Catholic truth was not and is not universally accepted, even by priests.

Fr.  Eymard wrote, “There is no longer question of defending some truth of our Faith, but of defending the God of truth who is attacked everywhere; …of serving Our Lord abandoned in the Blessed Sacrament.  We must fight against the great evil of the day: religious indifference…” (p.122). Fr. Eymard burned to bring all to Christ. “Jesus is there! Everybody to Him!” he wrote (p. 127).

Is Adoration Still Possible Today?

Adoration. Not the trifling kind as tossed about in reference to music and movie idols, and even chocolate or perfume, but rather a true, humble bowing to something holy. Such a thing is foreign to our modern minds because of our immense human pride. To adore means to acknowledge One greater and worthy of this honor. Is this relevant in this day and age, when man has elevated himself to deity status?

Perhaps Eucharistic adoration is even more necessary now than in the centuries past. Love for God has grown more cold than ever before. Man is forever seeking purpose and place, a cause upon which to focus, but all of these are fleeting.

What he desires can be fulfilled in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. There the spark of the divine is waiting to be fanned into a wildfire of love to truly renew the face of the earth. All that is needed is a humbly bent knee and willing, open hearts. Corpus Christi – the Body of Christ Himself – is there to do the rest.

Credits : The Bellarmine Forum 

The Solid Like A Rock Devotion Of Saint Thomas Aquinas To The Person Of Jesus Christ

The Eucharistic theology of Thomas Aquinas is remarkable for its clarity and perception. But Thomas was not only able to set it out masterfully; his contemplation of the Eucharist was so intense that it tapped a poetic vein and enabled him to imbue with lyrical tones a dogmatic language so perfect and refined as to produce sequences and hymns that we all know and still sing.

Moreover, a very deep devotion to the Body and Blood of Christ was part of the Angelic Doctor's life, which was, as it were, sealed by passionate prayer to the Blessed Sacrament.

His biographer, William of Tocco, says that before receiving Viaticum in the guest room of the Cistercian Abbey of Fossanuova, where he had arrived exhausted and consumed by the effort of study and teaching, Thomas prayed: "I receive you, price of my soul's redemption, I receive you, Viaticum of my pilgrimage: for love of you I have studied, watched and toiled".

Passion for The Blessed Sacrament combined with scientific rigour:

It does not take long, however, for those who attentively study Thomas' texts on the Eucharist and become familiar with them, to realize that the precision of his concepts and the rigour of his analysis not only do not quench his passionate feeling for the Blessed Sacrament but, on the contrary, express it and are a perceptive and eloquent sign of it.

If the theological context with its debates and problems multiplies even the most subtle and, in our view today, superfluous points, it can be noted that after their ramifications and discussions, they are finally led back to the heart of Catholic Eucharistic theology, which is "the memorial of Christ's Passion" (cf. Summa Theologiae, III, 76, 2, 2m), just as they flowed from this heart.

In reviewing the writings of Thomas that are dedicated to this memorial and tracing its content, we realize that we have before us the most enlightening and complete synthesis of the Catholic faith concerning the mystery of the Eucharist.

We also see that there are no grounds for criticizing his prevalent reduction to philosophy, which was believed to impoverish Thomas' Eucharistic thought by abstracting it from the concreteness and the promptings of Scripture, the liturgy and Patristic tradition.

For an understanding of the Eucharist in Thomas Aquinas, it is important first of all to indicate where it is situated by the ordo disciplinae, or where he places it in the theological plan of his Summa Theologica.

Obviously, St Thomas places Eucharist among the sacraments, which in turn are considered after Christology and, significantly, after the theology of the mysteries of Christ: indeed, the sacraments "derive their efficacy from the Word Incarnate himself" (Summa, III, 60, Introduction), which it is their task to incorporate.

"Through the sacraments of the New Law man is incorporated with Christ" (Summa, III, 62, 1, 3m).
"The sacraments... flow from Christ himself, and have a certain likeness to him" (Summa, III 60, 6, 3m). Indeed, "the sacraments... obtain their effect through the power of Christ's Passion; and Christ's Passion is, so to say, applied to man (applicatur) through the sacraments" (Summa, III, 61, 1, 3m).
Thomas continues by stating: "The sacraments of the Church derive their power specially from Christ's Passion, the virtue of which is in a manner united to us (nobis copulatur) by our receiving the sacraments" (Summa, II, 62, 5, 1); "the power of Christ's Passion is united to us by faith and the sacraments", so that its "continuation" (continuatio) will result (Summa, II, 62, 6, c.).He was also to explain, in treating Baptism, that it "derives its efficacy from Christ's Passion and from the Holy Ghost" (Summa, III, 66, 12, c.).

Sacrament of the Eucharist: threefold significance:

This is what an interpretation of the whole of salvation history considers the most splendid of Thomas' affirmations: "A sacrament is a sign that is both a reminder of the past, that is, the Passion of Christ; and an indication of that which is effected in us by Christ's Passion, that is, grace; and a prognostic (precognosticum), that is, a foretelling (praenuntiativum) of future glory" (Summa, III, 60, 3, c.).

What Thomas says here of every sacrament he was to say, indeed to sing, for the Eucharist: "This sacrament has a threefold significance: one with regard to the past, inasmuch as it is commemorative of our Lord's Passion, which was a true sacrifice, as stated above, and in this respect it is called a Sacrifice.

"With regard to the present it has another meaning, namely, that of ecclesiastical unity, in which men are aggregated through this sacrament; and in this respect it is called Communion....
"With regard to the future it has a third meaning, inasmuch as this sacrament foreshadows the Divine fruition which shall come to pass in heaven; and according to this it is called Viaticum, because it supplies the way of winning thither" (Summa, III, 73, 4, c.).

We find the Christian event fully present in the Eucharist, which is also the perfect initiation to it. The fact that in the treatment of the sacraments the Holy Eucharist follows Baptism and Confirmation does not prevent it from being "the sacrament" par excellence, the "summit" or "completion of the sacraments" and the one to which all the other sacraments relate.

The Eucharist is, as it were, "the consummation of the spiritual life, and the end of all the sacraments" (Summa, III, 73, 3, c.).

The reason for this, St Thomas explains, lies in the fact that whereas the energy — "vis" or "virtus" — of the Passion of Christ is active in the other sacraments, the Eucharist contains "Christ's own Body" (Summa, III, 73, 1, 3m); in Scholastic language, Christ is present as "the common spiritual good of the whole Church... contained substantially in the sacrament itself of the Eucharist" (Summa, III, 65, 3, 1), in order to bring man to full communion with Christ in the Passion (cf. Summa, III, 73, 2, 3m).

The Eucharist, sign of supreme love and hope:

In other words, if every sacrament is rooted in Christ's Passion, the Eucharist is the perfect sign of this. As the Angelic Doctor wrote: The Eucharist "is perfective of all the other sacraments, in which Christ's virtue is participated" (Summa, III, 75, 1, c.).

"When Christ was going to leave his disciples in his proper species, he left himself with them under the sacramental species". Jesus instituted the sacrament so that "there should be at all times among men something to show forth our Lord's Passion", given that "without
faith in the Passion there could never be any salvation" (Summa, III, 73, 5, c.).

St Thomas also writes that "in our pilgrimage, [Christ] does not deprive us of his bodily presence, but unites us with himself in this sacrament through the truth of his Body and Blood" (Summa, III, 75, 1, c.), always seen in their sacrificial condition".

"Hence, this sacrament is the sign of supreme charity, and the uplifter of our hope, from such familiar union of Christ with us" (Summa, III, 75, 1, c.).

Thomas often uses the terms "sacrament", "representation" (repraesentatio) and representative (repraesentativus), "memory" or "memorial". This is not to indicate a simple, transient reminder of a reality that in any case has passed, but the truth of a real, substantial presence of the Passion event in the person of Christ who suffered.

Theology, starting with Casel in particular, was to affirm that the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Passion "event".

I believe that Thomas' theology, in different language and exempt from the later explicit classification by theme, says the same thing; in other words, Thomas teaches that in the modality of the signs, by attaining and receiving "Christ who suffered", we enter into real communion with that event.

"The sacrifices of the Old Law contained only in figure that true sacrifice of Christ's Passion", whereas, "it was necessary that the sacrifice of the New Law instituted by Christ should have something more, namely, that it should contain Christ himself crucified, not merely in signification or figure, but also in very truth" (Summa, III, 75, 1, c.).

The Eucharist represents the Passion of Christ:

This is like saying that Christ's sacrifice is truly and effectively active in the Eucharist. The value and efficacy of Christ's Passion converge in the Eucharist on the basis of the presence, precisely, of "Christ who suffered".

For Thomas, as we have seen, Christ's Passion "comes alive" in every sacrament. This happens in the Eucharist because it is the Christ of the Passion in person or the Christ who suffered and is "available" to you, who institutes its actuality. The anti-Berengarian profile is clearly evoked by Thomas and, precisely in the language of "representation", is realistically recapitulated in that of "representation".

To emphasize further the realism of the presence of the Passion, Thomas writes: "What is represented by this sacrament... is Christ's Passion ('Quod repraesentatur est passio Christi'). And therefore this sacrament works in man the effect which Christ's Passion wrought in the world.

"Hence, Chrysostom says", commenting on the words of John, "'Immediately there came out blood and water (19:34). Since the sacred mysteries derive their origin from thence, when you draw nigh to the awe-inspiring chalice, so approach as if you were going to drink from Christ's own side"' (Summa, III, 79, 1, c.).

Thomas' words, borrowed from the Greek Father, could not be more perceptive and moving as they are when he repeats: "There is but one victim, namely, that which Christ offered, and which we offer" (Summa, III, 83, 1, 1m); and this explains the reason that "by this sacrament, we are made partakers of the fruit of our Lord's Passion".

"Hence, in one of the Sunday Secrets we say: 'Whenever the commemoration of this sacrifice is celebrated, the work of our redemption is enacted'" (Summa, III, 83, 1, c.); thus, "it is proper to this sacrament for Christ to be sacrificed in its celebration", for the Old Testament contains only figures of his sacrifice (Summa, III, 83, 1, c.).

From The Biggest Persecutor Of Christians To The Best Missionary On Planet Earth -- Saint Paul, Apostle Of The Gentiles

One feast day that often slips by without notice is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. This miraculous event, which has been part of the Church calendar for more than 1,500 years, is an unmovable feast — that is, it is always on the same calendar date, Jan. 25.

(Some years, the feast day falls on a Sunday, and because only a Solemnity or a feast of Our Lord can trump the Sunday liturgy, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul is not always widely commemorated then.)

But these calendar circumstances in no way diminish the importance of Paul’s conversion, as he was among the greatest of the missionaries spreading the words of Jesus Christ. Further, he is an example that anyone, even the most hardened unbeliever or the vilest heretic, can be created anew by our loving Savior.

Road to Damascus:

Saul, which is Paul’s given name, was born into a Jewish family in Tarsus (Turkey) around the year A.D. 8; he was also a Roman citizen, a fact that would play a large role later in his life. Schooled as a Pharisee, he was a tent maker by trade, but was most noted for his hatred of Christians. He believed the teachings of Jesus violated Mosaic Law and zealously harassed, and even jailed, anyone who followed those teachings.

The first scriptural mention of Saul is found in Acts 7:58, as he is a bystander watching his fellow Jews stone St. Stephen to death. An aggressive persecutor of Christians in Jerusalem, Saul sought and received permission from the high priest to proceed to Damascus for the purpose of imprisoning more followers of Christ.

Most Christians know the story of what happened on the Damascus road: the bright light that knocked Saul down, the voice of Jesus, Saul’s blindness and immediate response to the calling of Christ. In the manner of the first Apostles who, when beckoned by Christ, gave up their lifestyles to follow him, Saul too doesn’t hesitate. He says yes, just as the Blessed Mother said yes. Blinded from his encounter with Jesus, he allowed himself to be led into Damascus where he was baptized, after which he set out to spread the news of Jesus. Paul would repeat the story of his conversion again and again throughout his life, including to the different magistrates and kings who judged his activities. The book of Acts, in three places, tells the story of Saul’s experience on the Damascus road.

Impact of his conversion:

Saul’s sudden change confused those around him, because he was known as one who hated Christians, who went about seeking them out to eliminate those individuals he genuinely considered as breaking Jewish law. Suddenly he was transformed from despising the followers of Jesus into fervently espousing the Gospel of that same Jesus.

No one could have anticipated this conversion; it is one of the great miracles of mankind.

After his baptism, Saul, who would be called Paul in the 13th chapter of Acts, went to the desert of Arabia to pray and contemplate his calling.

He then returned to Damascus and into the synagogue, where he attested to the divinity of Jesus.

While he had no Christian training, God infused words in his heart and in his mouth.

The Jews in Damascus would eventually connive against him. The threat grew so severe that other Christians assisted Paul in an escape that included lowering him over the city walls in a basket. This was only the beginning of the threats and attacks on Paul. Henceforth, he was often regarded as a social undesirable, an agitator and a leader of a dangerous sect.

From Damascus, he traveled to Jerusalem, where his reputation as a persecutor of Christians preceded him and Christians there were unsure and confounded by his appearance. Here he met and spent time with Peter, becoming even more determined to serve his Savior.

At the Council of Jerusalem, in the year 49, Paul successfully argued against the widespread belief that non-Jews seeking to become Christians would first have to convert to Judaism, which means comply with Mosaic Law, be circumcised and observe all Jewish dietary customs. Because of Paul’s persuasion, Christianity would become even more widespread.

Like the most fervent convert, Paul simply couldn’t get enough of Christ. With faith and courage inflamed by the Holy Spirit, Paul would spend the rest of his life going from country to country and town to town proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, organizing and encouraging Christians to be resolute followers of Jesus, and nonbelievers to open their hearts to Christ, repent and be baptized. He would become known as the Apostle of the Gentiles (non-Jews) and his travels, letters and teaching changed the world.

Often in trouble, Paul was confronted, jailed (though angels rescued him), physically abused and repeatedly endangered and harassed for preaching the message he previously attacked. Despite all the dangers he encountered, Paul never faltered or failed his God. In the end, he would be taken to Rome as a prisoner and be beheaded for his teachings.

Why Paul?

Why would Jesus select the likes of Paul? There were certainly other devoted followers of Jesus available in those early days of the Church — followers ready to give their lives to proclaim Jesus Christ as savior of the world. But Jesus picked and converted this Pharisee, known as Saul, saying, “This man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings and Israelites” (Acts 9:15).

God selected this man who had a strong hatred of all Jesus stands for, a man who went into the houses of Christians and “dragging out men and women,” then “handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts 8:3). This man became God’s chosen instrument to spread the message of Jesus across the Middle East and parts of Europe. Certainly, our Lord works in mysterious ways.

Credits : Our Sunday Visitor 

The Baptism Of The Messiah

This Sunday we celebrate the fact that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan River in the Holy Land. John calls the sinners to be washed in the river before doing penance.

Jesus comes to John to be baptized. Did He therefore confess himself a Sinner? Certainly not.

Then, why did Christ, the Innocent, go to the Jordan to be baptized?

We can answer this question with St. Jerome: “For a threefold reason the Savior was baptized by John. First, because being born man like others, He must respect the law with justice and humility.

Second, to demonstrate with his baptism the effectiveness of John’s baptism. Third to show, by sanctifying the waters of Jordan through the descent of the dove, the advent of the Holy Spirit in the washing of the believers “(Jerome, Commentary on Matthew 1, 3, 13).

Another question arises. Why do we celebrate and live this mystery of the Baptism of Jesus?

To express our gratitude to Jesus. In his Baptism Christ, the sinless, took upon him all our sins, showing the closeness of God to man’s journey of conversion, and came in solidarity with us.

This act of extraordinary humility was dictated by the wish to establish a full communion with each one of us, and by the desire to achieve genuine solidarity with us in our human condition.

This act of Jesus anticipated the Cross, the acceptance of death for our sins and those of all humanity.

Jesus takes upon his shoulders the burden of guilt of all humanity and begins his mission putting himself in the place of sinners, in the perspective of the cross.

With this act of belittling himself Jesus wanted to conform totally to the loving plan of God the Father.

If, then, we wanted to revisit the questions expressed just above in another way “Why, then, did the Father desire this? Why did He send his only Son into the world as the Lamb to take upon himself the sins of the world (cf. Jn 1:29)? “, the answer is: to give to humanity the life of God and his spirit of love so that every man can draw from this inexhaustible source of salvation. This is why Christian parents bring their children as soon as possible to the baptismal font, knowing that the life which they have given to them calls for a fullness and a salvation that only God can give. Parents therefore become collaborators of God, transmitting to their children not only physical but also spiritual life.

2) Our baptism. 

Certainly Jesus’ baptism was a baptism different from the one we, as children or adults, have received, but not without a profound connection to it. Basically the whole mystery of Christ in the world can be summed up by the word, “baptism”, which in Greek means “immersion”. The Son of God, who from eternity shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit the fullness of life, was “immersed” in our reality of sinners to make us participating in his own life. He became man, was born like us, grew up like us and, on reaching adulthood, manifested his mission which began precisely with the “baptism of conversion” administered by John the Baptist. His first public act, as the Gospels tell us, was to go down to the Jordan, mingling among repentant sinners, to receive baptism. John was naturally reluctant, but Jesus insisted, because that was the will of the Father (cf. Mt 3, 13-15).

Finally, to the question “What does it mean for us to live this feast of the Baptism of Jesus?” the answer is “It means to live in the baptism of Jesus up to the point when he has taken everything from each of us and has given us everything.” How does He take all from us? Through our Baptism.

Therefore, since Jesus Christ, the only Son of the Father, was baptized, the sky is truly open and continues to open up, and we can entrust every new life that blossoms or that, already adult, wants to immerse itself in the true God, in the hands of one who is more powerful than the dark powers of evil. This is Baptism: to give back to God what came from him.

Baptism, in fact, is more of a washing and a purification. It’s more than becoming part of a community. It is a new birth. It is a new beginning of life. In Baptism we give ourselves over to Christ – he takes us unto himself so that we no longer live for ourselves, but through Him, with Him and in Him. We live with Him and thus for others.

In Baptism we surrender ourselves, we place our lives in his hands so that we can say with St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

Baptism implies this news: our life now belongs to Christ, no longer to ourselves. For this reason we are not alone even in death, but we are with Him who lives forever. Greeted by Christ in his love, we are free from fear and we live in and of the love of the One Who is Life.

3) The Baptism of the Author of Baptism. 

The Gospel passage, proposed in this Sunday commemorating the baptism of the Lord, opens with two statements by John the Baptist: “After me comes he who is mightier than I” “ I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit “(Mk 1,7-8). The preaching of John the Baptist is encapsulated in the function of drawing attention to Jesus. In its extreme simplicity the story of the baptism of Jesus is full of important meanings.

First: Jesus – in Mark 1: 7-11 – is presented in two dimensions of his mystery: a man from humble beginnings (“came from Nazareth of Galilee”) and the beloved Son of God. 

Second: the opening of the heavens, the descent of the Spirit, the heavenly voice, everything converges in indicating that, with the manifestation of Jesus on the banks of the Jordan, the Messianic times begins. The heartfelt invocation of Isaiah 63:19 (“you would rend the heavens and come down”) has been heard.

After remaining closed for a long and silent time, the sky opens, the Spirit is back among the people and the word of the Lord returns to resonate.

In Baptism it is the movement of Christmas that repeats itself: God descends again, enters in each of us, is born in us so that we are born in God and Christ becomes the center of all Christian life.

Credits : Zenit News Service From Rome 

The Epiphany

The Feast of the Epiphany has traditionally been considered more theologically important than almost any other Feast Day, including Christmas. The early Christians had only Scripture, not the wealth of tradition we have today, to guide them in marking the great events of the life of Christ. So Holy Week and Easter, the Baptism of the Lord, Pentecost, and Epiphany jumped off the pages of Scripture as great events which merited celebration. These few dates became fixed points on the calendar and were later surrounded over the centuries with numerous other feasts and saints’ days.

Two lessons from the visit of the Magi are worth considering. The first is that the wise mens’ gifts were given after Christmas. Many Catholic cultures preserve the ancient tradition of giving gifts on the Epiphany, not on Christmas itself. This tradition separates the birth of Christ from gift giving. When these two things—the birth of Christ and the giving of gifts—are collapsed into the same day, it causes some confusion of priorities, and the birth of Christ never wins. 

Waiting to exchange gifts until January sixth lets the Child God have the stage to Himself for a day. It makes people, especially children, wait, a modern day rarity in the Western world. Gift giving postponed until January sixth makes for a long, leisurely Christmas season and has the benefit of tradition and good theology as well.

Another great lesson from the Magi is more theological—that a true religion must be true for everyone, not just for some people. Truth is not geographical or confined to borders. Truth by its nature conquers untruth. The Magi are the first non Jews, or Gentiles, to worship Christ. They tell us that the mission field of Christ is the whole world, not just the Holy Land. The Church is forever bound, then, to teach, preach, and sanctify the world over. 

The true God and His Church must light a fire in Chinese souls, Arab souls, African souls, and South American souls. This may take until the end of time, but Christianity has time on its side. The Magi give personal testimony to the universality of the Church, one of its four marks. The Epiphany is the start of the multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and faith-united society the Catholic Church envisions as the only source of true human unity. Catholicism started multiculturalism and diversity without sacrificing unity and truth.  

Balthasar, Caspar, and Melchior, your minds were prepared to receive a greater truth. Let us see in you an example of holy curiosity, of pilgrimage by light to light. When you discovered your treasure, you laid your gifts in homage. May our search also find. May our pilgrimage also end in truth followed by love.

The Divine MotherHood Of Mary

The Gospels, which carefully recount the life of our Savior, provide few details on the Blessed Virgin.

They tell us nothing of her spotless conception, nothing of her nativity, and nothing of her childhood in the Temple of Jerusalem. Although the Evangelists develop at length the admirable scenes of the Annunciation and the Visitation, these are the only two mysteries in which Mary appears as a central figure.

Subsequently, we find only extremely brief allusions in the Gospel as to her role. We see her presenting her newborn Son to be adored by the poor shepherds and the three kings. Then we see her bearing the Child Jesus to Egypt in hurried flight. Passing references alone indicate her long life of intimacy with the divine Master in the little house of Nazareth.

When Our Lord finally begins his public ministry, the figure of Mary almost disappears into discreet shadows. We see her only for a moment at the wedding in Cana. Here and there the sacred writers mention her humbly listening to her Son teaching the crowds. We find her at last on Calvary, standing at the foot of the cross during the tragic hours of the Passion. That is all the Gospels tell us of Mary. Does it not seem that our piety would gain much from knowing more about so moving a subject?

The Fathers of the Church asked themselves the reason for this strange silence.

They unanimously responded that, in establishing the Savior’s genealogy, Saint Matthew sums up Our Lady’s greatness and glory in a single line. “Jacob,” he writes, “begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

Thus, if you desire a more profound knowledge of Mary’s role, study with pious attention the most incomparable of her privileges, her divine Motherhood.

I will not conceal from you the almost insurmountable difficulties presented by such a sublime topic. Before broaching the subject, I reread several passages from the many discourses devoted to her by the Doctors of the Church. I was not surprised to see that in the presence of such greatness, they felt overwhelmed by great discouragement. What words would be strong enough to convey their thoughts? What comparisons true enough to communicate such a mystery?

Saint Epiphanius, one of the most brilliant of the Eastern Church Fathers, recounts one by one all the glories of Heaven. He examines the choirs of angels and the different categories of saints. He then adds: “But the Mother of the Word far surpasses them all. Save for God, she is superior to all. No human tongue can worthily sing her praises.”

Saint Thomas Aquinas, the uncontested master of Catholic Tradition, tells us that divine Maternity confers an infinite dignity upon Mary.

He shows us Our Lady reaching the boundaries of the divinity in her ascent to God.
An abyss separates us from the Most High. While we are nothing, He lives in all eternity in light inaccessible to our mortal eyes. Though we can do nothing of ourselves, He created the universe by the power of a single word.

Deserving our adoration, He reminds us that our homage serves Him no purpose. “To what purpose do you offer Me the multitude of your victims? saith the Lord. I am full; I desire not holocausts or rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and goats.

Nevertheless, while this God is sovereignly independent from His creatures, He chose to have recourse to the Immaculate Virgin to accomplish the great designs of His Infinite Mercy. To solicit her consent in the work of the Incarnation, He sent the Archangel Gabriel.

This God, so distant from our smallness, chose to establish such a profound relationship with Mary that I dare say she enters, as no other, into the very intimacy of the adorable Trinity.

The Holy Ghost miraculously fructified her incomparable virginity, becoming her Spouse. Secondly, the Eternal Word drew from her flesh His most holy body and infinitely precious blood. After His birth in the grotto of Bethlehem, He was nourished for many months by Our Lady. This truth so charms and delights us that we exclaim with Saint Augustine, “The flesh of Christ is the flesh of Mary!”—Car Christi, car Mariae. Since children’s traits are often similar to those of their mothers, the Savior, the most beautiful of children, most probably wanted to resemble Mary.

Finally, the Queen of Heaven shares in the Father’s glory. He, Who eternally begets the Son, says to Him at the moment of His baptism: “Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased.”

 Mary did not give Our Lord His divine nature, but clothed His divinity with a mortal body similar to our own.

Together with the Father, she can say of Jesus, the immortal King of ages, the Word that fills the blessed in Heaven with awe: “Thou art truly my Son. I gave Thee Thy human life and surrounded Thee with the entire strength of my tenderness, O Beloved of my heart.”

By her divine Motherhood, the Blessed Virgin possesses indisputable rights over the Savior.

In the first place, she has rights over His will. The Child Jesus had to obey His mother.
The Evangelists clearly call this to our attention by showing Him submissive to both His mother and adopted father: “And He went down with them…and was subject to them.”

Nevertheless, we must not exaggerate this fact. The Savior received from the Most High a mission beyond the authority of Our Lady.

Indeed, at the age of twelve He remained in the Temple among the doctors without informing His parents. In so doing, He wanted us to fully understand that while His mother could not command Him in all things, she had a great influence over His adorable will. Was it not also at her request that He worked His first miracle at Cana?

The Blessed Virgin also has rights over the heart of her Son, and these are inalienable.
On earth as in Heaven, Jesus pays His mother the entire respect and tenderness of a son. It is therefore impossible that He would refuse to fulfill her wishes.

It is likewise impossible that He would reject our prayers if we present them in the name of the love which is and always will be due His mother.

What should we conclude about this privilege that elevates the Blessed Virgin so high above all other creatures?

First of all, it should inspire us with gratitude. We live amid an abundance of supernatural blessings that souls did not possess in ancient times. Right after our births, we were taken to church, where the sacred water of Baptism made us children of God. When the weight of our sins burdens our conscience too heavily, we relieve the burden of our scruples and remorse at the foot of the altar. We depart with lightened souls and the certitude of having received pardon. When tempted, we can seek strength or consolation amid our labors by kneeling in prayer before the altar. Jesus is truly present, waiting to open His heart to us. In the Tabernacle He anxiously awaits the offer of the hospitality of our fragile and wretched souls. These graces, running in unceasing torrents upon the world, are at our disposition. We need only take a step to be engulfed by them.

Have you ever supposed you might somehow be indebted to the divine Motherhood of the Virgin Mary? Have you ever thought to express your gratitude to her? One day Our Lord cured ten lepers. These miraculously healed and blessed men immediately presented themselves to the priests as prescribed by the Mosaic Law. Only one returned to thank his Benefactor. “Were not ten made clean? Where are the nine?” asked the Savior sadly.

 Could not the Blessed Virgin say the same? “I gave Jesus to souls and they forget that they received Him through me.”

Therefore, let us thank Our Lady today. Indeed, let us thank her often for what she has done for us! This simple practice will call down upon us abundant blessings.    

Once again, Divine Motherhood should inspire us to unlimited confidence. Mary is all good and her prayers are “all-powerful” with God. Let us frequently invoke her.

When Saint John the Apostle reached a very old age he would have his disciples carry him among the faithful whose pastor he was. He often addressed them with the same words: “My children,” he pleaded, “love one another.” His listeners eventually grew weary of hearing the same teaching and asked him: “Why do you always repeat these same words?”

The beloved disciple, who had learned charity from the bosom of the Savior, responded: “to love one another is the Master’s command.”

If you are surprised that I should insist in telling you to pray without ceasing to your Mother in Heaven, I shall answer: “It is the great means of perseverance and salvation.” God entrusted to us this precious key which opens the Heart of Jesus, the richest of all treasures. We would be remiss in not drawing from it the abundant consolation, illumination, and strength we need for the journey.
We hear much talk about efficacious prayers.

There are very efficacious prayers to Saint Expeditus, for example. There are efficacious novenas to other saints who, with the Church, I profoundly venerate. Yet, there is one saint who far surpasses the other elect in glory and power.

And there is one prayer that is the most perfect of all after the one taught us by Our Lord Himself.

With this prayer and with the humility that is so pleasing to God, we ask for the necessary graces for the present moment as well as for our final hour. “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”

The whole prayer is really quite ingenious, for it includes the Blessed Virgin’s magnificent privileges—her Immaculate Conception and her sublime Motherhood.

It also contains within it an act of praise addressed to the divine Son she so dearly loves: “And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” Our Lady cannot help but hear this prayer and be moved!
Saint Bernard habitually greeted a statue of the Madonna in his monastery. Each time he passed by he recited a Hail Mary. A legend says that one day the statue came to life and Our Lady’s face lit up with a smile. She graciously inclined her head to the saint and said, “And I greet you, Bernard.”

Let us be devoted to the Hail Mary. Let us often recite it with attention and piety. The Blessed Virgin may not miraculously greet us as she did Saint Bernard, but she will protect us during our lifetime. She will come to our aid at the hour of our need with maternal love and will lead our souls to the Paradise of which she is the Queen.