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Read OnlineI am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” John 6:51Jesus was starting to stir up the emotions of some within the crowd. They began to ridicule Him because He had said that He was the “bread that had come down from heaven.” Thus, many of those who had sought Jesus out in hopes of another miraculous free meal began to murmur among themselves and ridicule Him. As a result, Jesus began to speak even more clearly and shockingly. He then went even further and said that He is not only the “living bread that came down from heaven” but that those who want to “live forever” must also eat His “Flesh.”How would you have reacted to such a statement if you were among those within the crowd? Consider the fact that you would have recently seen, with your own eyes, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Therefore, you would have realized that Jesus was someone special, to say the least. But how would you have reacted to this statement of Jesus, “and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world,” if you had heard it spoken at that time? Most likely, your reaction would have been the same reaction that you have right now to the teaching of the Most Holy Eucharist.Many who heard Jesus speak this way may have thought it was a bit of an unusual thing to say. Some would have reacted strongly, while others would have reacted with indifference. But some would have had an entirely different reaction. Some would have heard Jesus speak these new and shocking words, would have realized that they did not fully understand what He meant, but would have believed deeply on account of the gift of faith. Somehow they would have known, in the depths of their consciences, that they did indeed need to eat the Flesh of Him Who came down from Heaven since He was indeed the Bread of Life.Believing in the Eucharist, in the fact that these tangible and visible gifts of the Sacred Host and the Precious Blood are, in fact, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Eternal Son of God, can only happen through the interior and transforming gift of faith. How else can you believe such a teaching? How else could you believe that these words in today's Gospel have come true? And that the reception of the Most Holy Eucharist is the pathway to eternal life? The gift of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist is the one and only way to understand, accept and deeply believe what our Lord has spoken in this Holy Gospel. Reflect, today, upon Jesus speaking these most holy words for the first time: “...the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” As you prayerfully reflect upon these words, ponder how deeply you believe them. How deep is your faith in the Most Holy Eucharist? The Eucharist is the fulfillment of this passage, and our divine Lord invites you to not only believe in His holy words but to allow this truth to transform you in ways beyond what you could ever imagine. My Eucharistic Lord, You are truly the Bread of Life, and all those who eat Your Flesh and drink Your Blood will inherit eternal life. I do believe this, dear Lord. I believe that the Most Holy Eucharist is You, Your Soul and Divinity, given to me so that I can share in Your holy life. Give me the grace I need to deepen my faith in the Most Holy Eucharist so that I will be drawn more fully into the joys of Your Eternal Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: Christ Preaching By Rembrandt, public domain via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” John 6:51Jesus was starting to stir up the emotions of some within the crowd. They began to ridicule Him because He had said that He was the “bread that had come down from heaven.” Thus, many of those who had sought Jesus out in hopes of another miraculous free meal began to murmur among themselves and ridicule Him. As a result, Jesus began to speak even more clearly and shockingly. He then went even further and said that He is not only the “living bread that came down from heaven” but that those who want to “live forever” must also eat His “Flesh.”How would you have reacted to such a statement if you were among those within the crowd? Consider the fact that you would have recently seen, with your own eyes, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Therefore, you would have realized that Jesus was someone special, to say the least. But how would you have reacted to this statement of Jesus, “and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world,” if you had heard it spoken at that time? Most likely, your reaction would have been the same reaction that you have right now to the teaching of the Most Holy Eucharist.Many who heard Jesus speak this way may have thought it was a bit of an unusual thing to say. Some would have reacted strongly, while others would have reacted with indifference. But some would have had an entirely different reaction. Some would have heard Jesus speak these new and shocking words, would have realized that they did not fully understand what He meant, but would have believed deeply on account of the gift of faith. Somehow they would have known, in the depths of their consciences, that they did indeed need to eat the Flesh of Him Who came down from Heaven since He was indeed the Bread of Life.Believing in the Eucharist, in the fact that these tangible and visible gifts of the Sacred Host and the Precious Blood are, in fact, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Eternal Son of God, can only happen through the interior and transforming gift of faith. How else can you believe such a teaching? How else could you believe that these words in today's Gospel have come true? And that the reception of the Most Holy Eucharist is the pathway to eternal life? The gift of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist is the one and only way to understand, accept and deeply believe what our Lord has spoken in this Holy Gospel.Reflect, today, upon Jesus speaking these most holy words for the first time: “...the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” As you prayerfully reflect upon these words, ponder how deeply you believe them. How deep is your faith in the Most Holy Eucharist? The Eucharist is the fulfillment of this passage, and our divine Lord invites you to not only believe in His holy words but to allow this truth to transform you in ways beyond what you could ever imagine. My Eucharistic Lord, You are truly the Bread of Life, and all those who eat Your Flesh and drink Your Blood will inherit eternal life. I do believe this, dear Lord. I believe that the Most Holy Eucharist is You, Your Soul and Divinity, given to me so that I can share in Your holy life. Give me the grace I need to deepen my faith in the Most Holy Eucharist so that I will be drawn more fully into the joys of Your Eternal Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Featured images above: Christ Preaching (La Petite Tombe) By Rembrandt, via Wikimedia Commons
The world is beautiful and reveals the beauty of God, but spiritual realities, such as the Holy Eucharist, are far more beautiful. To see the beauty of God, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, you need eyes of faith. One of the best ways to sharpen your vision of this beauty is through adoration. Though receiving Holy Communion must be the ultimate union we experience with our Lord, adoration of Him, present in the Sacred Host, prepares you for this encounter by revealing His beauty. Seek to adore Him exposed in the monstrance on the altar and let the eyes of your soul become enthralled by His beauty (See Diary #1692).Do you ever participate in adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist? If you have adoration regularly at your church, you are blessed. If not, seek it out at a nearby church. Adoration feeds your soul and reveals to you the beauty of God. Reflect upon your experience of Eucharistic adoration and recommit yourself to a wholehearted participation in this glorious act.Lord, I adore You with the most profound adoration as You are present before me in the Most Holy Eucharist. I love You and seek to know Your hidden beauty and splendor. You are glorious, dear Lord. As I behold Your glory, draw me ever deeper into Your perfect Heart of Mercy. Jesus, I trust in You. Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2023 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
This is a special day for Redemptorists around the world. On this day, 291 years ago, our founder, St. Alphonsus Liguori and five companions; Fr. Giovanni Mazzini, Vincencio Mannarini, Fr. Piatro Romano, fifty-year old Giovanni Battista de Donato, and aspirant to the priesthood, Silvestro Tosquez, gathered around a humble altar with Bishop Falcoia presiding and began the Congregation of the Most Holy Savior. It was soon made known that there was another religious congregation with the name, Holy Savior, so the name was changed to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, commonly known as the Redemptorists. You can imagine the scene when thirty-six-year-old Alphonsus left his family behind in Naples. There were tears, of course, but he was determined to leave his Neapolitan gentleman's life behind. He left on a donkey with two companions by his side. They were headed for the mountain village of Scala on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. They did not stop at the beautiful cathedral of Scala that could hold 2,000 worshippers or more, but continued up the rough mountain pass to where the goats and the shepherds lived. There they stopped at a small monastery of nuns and met their other friends. The nuns gave them shelter and they prepared themselves for the founding of the Congregation on November 9th, intentionally selecting the date of the Dedication of the Church of Rome, the great Lateran Basilica, which was also called the Church of the Holy Savior. Tuesday, November 6th, Wednesday, November 7th, and Thursday, November 8th, were spent in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. On these three successive days they were blessed with a vision in the Sacred Host of a cross that first appeared black, then changed to blood red, and then to white. On the cross was Our Savior, Jesus Christ, with the instruments of his crucifixion by his side; the spear, sponge, and nails. If they had any doubt about the start of this new adventure, this sign from God dismissed all fears. The vision of our Lord in the Host led to the motto of the Redemptorists from Psalm 130: “Copiosa apud eum redemptio” (“With Him there is plentiful redemption”). The Congregation was approved by Pope Benedict XIV on February 25, 1749. From small beginnings, God has blessed the work and vision of St. Alphonsus. Today we number almost 5,000 men in over 80 countries. We are still reaching out to the poor and abandoned people of our world through parish missions, retreats, teaching moral theology, ministering in parishes, and in many other charitable works. The message of plentiful redemption has been enhanced by lay women and men who share their gifts with us and are aptly called, Partners in Mission. Together with the Redemptoristines, the marvelous contemplative order of nuns who share in all that we do, we look forward to future bright with promise. Every member, whether they be Partners in Mission, Redemptoristine nuns, or the religious brothers and priests of our Congregation - we all began our journey with a silent “yes” to the call of our Savior. There is work for you, too. Might God be leading you to a decision today?
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” John 6:51Jesus was starting to stir up the emotions of some within the crowd. They began to ridicule Him because He had said that He was the “bread that had come down from heaven.” Thus, many of those who had sought Jesus out in hopes of another miraculous free meal began to murmur among themselves and ridicule Him. As a result, Jesus began to speak even more clearly and shockingly. He then went even further and said that He is not only the “living bread that came down from heaven” but that those who want to “live forever” must also eat His “Flesh.”How would you have reacted to such a statement if you were among those within the crowd? Consider the fact that you would have recently seen, with your own eyes, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Therefore, you would have realized that Jesus was someone special, to say the least. But how would you have reacted to this statement of Jesus, “and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world,” if you had heard it spoken at that time? Most likely, your reaction would have been the same reaction that you have right now to the teaching of the Most Holy Eucharist.Many who heard Jesus speak this way may have thought it was a bit of an unusual thing to say. Some would have reacted strongly, while others would have reacted with indifference. But some would have had an entirely different reaction. Some would have heard Jesus speak these new and shocking words, would have realized that they did not fully understand what He meant, but would have believed deeply on account of the gift of faith. Somehow they would have known, in the depths of their consciences, that they did indeed need to eat the Flesh of Him Who came down from Heaven since He was indeed the Bread of Life.Believing in the Eucharist, in the fact that these tangible and visible gifts of the Sacred Host and the Precious Blood are, in fact, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Eternal Son of God, can only happen through the interior and transforming gift of faith. How else can you believe such a teaching? How else could you believe that these words in today's Gospel have come true? And that the reception of the Most Holy Eucharist is the pathway to eternal life? The gift of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist is the one and only way to understand, accept and deeply believe what our Lord has spoken in this Holy Gospel.Reflect, today, upon Jesus speaking these most holy words for the first time: “...the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” As you prayerfully reflect upon these words, ponder how deeply you believe them. How deep is your faith in the Most Holy Eucharist? The Eucharist is the fulfillment of this passage, and our divine Lord invites you to not only believe in His holy words but to allow this truth to transform you in ways beyond what you could ever imagine. My Eucharistic Lord, You are truly the Bread of Life, and all those who eat Your Flesh and drink Your Blood will inherit eternal life. I do believe this, dear Lord. I believe that the Most Holy Eucharist is You, Your Soul and Divinity, given to me so that I can share in Your holy life. Give me the grace I need to deepen my faith in the Most Holy Eucharist so that I will be drawn more fully into the joys of Your Eternal Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You. Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2023 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
IntroductionWelcome back to the fifth and final session of Praying the Mass! If you have not yet read parts 1 - 4 of this series, I highly recommend starting there!The Fourth CupI want to pick up from last week's conversation on the Liturgy of the Eucharist with a discussion of the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, particularly the Passover. On the night before He was to suffer, our Lord Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His Apostles. He chose this time and meal to establish the New and everlasting Covenant in His Blood. At the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are not re-enacting the Last Supper. One of the major differences between the Mass and the Last Supper is that the Last Supper anticipated the Sacrifice of Jesus and the Mass makes this saving reality present once again.In fact, we cannot understand the Mass as the Last Supper only. The Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ spans His entire saving Action, from the entrance into Jerusalem until His glorious Ascension into Heaven forty days after His Resurrection. It is impossible to separate the suffering of Christ from the Last Supper. The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross was once and for all. God is outside of time. Therefore, the Holy Eucharist was established, along with Holy Orders, in the Upper Room before Jesus suffered and died. However, this is precisely because Jesus was making the Cross present in His Body and Blood offered in the first Eucharist.The key to understanding the unity of the Last Supper and the Cross is understanding the Jewish Passover meal. In the Passover, the father of the family would use the first-person perspective when recounting the narrative of the Exodus. The blessings are read by the father of the house and the first cup of wine is consumed: the cup of blessing.At the Passover meal, each adult at the dinner drinks four cups of wine. The four cups mark the journey of the Hebrew people. The four cups mark that 1) God will save His People from harsh labor, which He accomplished by the plagues 2) God will save His People from servitude to the Egyptians, 3) God will redeem His People, which the Jews saw in the crossing of the Red Sea, and finally 4) that God will take His People as a Nation, which happened at Sinai.In Jesus Christ, these four cups reveal their fulfillment. The first cup is fulfilled in various ways by Christ, and in the Book of Revelation, as the full manifestation of God to man. The ten plagues inflicted on Egypt were directed against the various false Egyptian gods. Jesus reveals to us everything that God wished to reveal about Himself and frees us from harsh labor or toiling without purpose in matters of Faith. The second cup is fulfilled by the Incarnation. By the God-man entering into our humanity, we are freed from the slavery of sin, in order to share in His divinity. The third cup is clearly fulfilled in Baptism, which is the definitive escape from the power of evil through the Red Sea.The fourth cup of the Passover meal marks the establishment of the People of God as a nation at Mount Sinai. As a nation, the Exodus from Egypt out of slavery was brought to completion. The New Exodus is the deliverance of men and women from the slavery of sin. The New Moses is our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him is the fullness of redemption. His Perfect Sacrifice on the Cross is begun at the Last Supper. Dr. Scott Hahn goes into exquisite detail about the relationship of the fourth cup, the Last Supper, and the Cross in his 2018 book “The Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross.” I would highly recommend purchasing this book for a deeper dive. The main theological point that is drawn is incredibly important: the fourth cup is absent from the Last Supper!The absence of the fourth cup from the Passover Meal would have been noticed by the Apostles. Certainly, they would have been wondering why Jesus left the Passover meal incomplete when He went out to the Garden of Olives to pray. Where then is the fourth cup consumed? It is on the Cross! The fourth cup in Passover marks the establishment of the People of God as a nation at Mount Sinai. In the New Passover, the fourth cup is consumed on the Cross when Jesus drinks wine mixed with gall and gives up His spirit saying, “It is finished (cf. Jn 19:30, Mk 15:37).” In Latin, the phrase is “consummatum est.” The fourth cup is called the cup of consummation.On the Cross, Jesus establishes the new and everlasting Covenant in His Blood. The Church is borne from the Cross. The People of God become such by entering into the death of Christ and thereby sharing in His Resurrection. All of this is possible because of the outpouring of Jesus to the Father. What we need to remember is that Mass is not a reenactment of the Last Supper. It is a coming present once again of the saving Mysteries of Jesus' Last Supper, Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.After Supper Was EndedLet us resume our walk through the Mass. The bread has been consecrated. Now, in a similar way, our Lord took the chalice in His holy and venerable hands. He gave thanks to the Father, blessed it, and shared the cup with His disciples. Why did our Lord do this? He could have consecrated the bread and wine together and given that model to the Apostles.As we have explored earlier, the Last Supper is not merely a symbolic meal, it is a real participation in the events to come of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord. God is the master of space and time, so this is not outside of the possibilities for Him. When Jesus says, “This is my body which will be given up for you,” we can hear that it is anticipating a future action. The mystery comes when we realize that even though He is talking about an action in the future, He is saying that the bread in His hands is His actual body. The Church has never believed these words to be metaphorical. That heresy did not appear until the second millennium.We know that the Holy Mass is a sacrificial meal. So too was the Last Supper a sacrificial meal, inseparable from the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. What is the logic to the double consecration: the consecration of bread and wine separately. Jesus was making the Cross present at the Last Supper in a real, sacramental way, and, in so doing, made the Mass a memorial of the whole of the Paschal Mystery. When He took the chalice and said the words of consecration: “For this is the chalice of my blood...” He was essentially separating His Body and His Blood. The result of the catastrophic separation of Body from Blood is death.At every single Mass, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are separately made present under what looks like bread and what looks like wine. The Cross becomes present. The Death of our Lord Jesus Christ comes present. At the Last Supper, this was in an anticipatory sense because the events of the Passion and Death of Jesus had not yet happened. And at the Holy Mass, these events become present once more.Of course, we know that the Death of Jesus Christ is not the end. Our God knows the way out of death's decay. On the third day, He rose from the dead. His glorious Resurrection becomes present at each and every single Mass in a sacramental way during the Fraction Rite. Later on in the Mass, we sing the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). However, just before this, the Priest breaks a piece of the Host over the paten and places it in the Chalice saying, “May this mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it.”Mysterium FideiAfter the bread and wine have been consecrated, the priest says the “mystery of faith” or mysterium fidei (in Latin), which is new to the 1970 Missal. Previously, the phrase mysterium fidei did not exist as an acclamation; rather, it was part of the formula of consecration spoken inaudibly by the priest. It was included just after “the new and everlasting covenant (novi et aeterni testamenti)” and just before “which will be poured out for you and for many... (qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur...).” However, it was only those two Latin words: mysterium fidei.Originally, the use of the term mysterium fidei referred to the mysterious goodness of the material of Christ's Blood being poured out. An early heretical sect, the Manicheans, held that the material order was bad and only the spiritual was good. So, adding the “mystery of faith” into the Canon further showed how important the Flesh and Blood of Christ was and is, His material humanity joined to His divinity.The 1970 addition to the Missal of “we proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again” seems to be more akin to the traditions of the Eastern liturgies. The Liturgy of St. James, a Byzantine form of liturgy, says, “This do in remembrance of me; for as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death, and confess His resurrection, till He comes.” This shows that the memorial acclamation may be new to the Roman Rite of the Church but it has been used for ages in the Eastern Catholic Churches.We are recognizing that the Mass is an anamnetic reality. By way of a quick review from last week, anamnesis in Greek literally means “bring to mind.” We could also translate it as a deliberate recollection. Anamnesis in the context of liturgy is more than just a memory or a calling to the mind in some abstract way. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the mediation of Jesus Christ, our High Priest, the One Sacrifice becomes present once again in an unbloody manner. The word anamnesis is what Jesus says in the words of consecration when He says, “Do this in remembrance of me.”So, the Mass is not a representation, it is a RE-presentation. It is the presenting once more the one and only Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His suffering, death, and resurrection. Anamnetically, we become present in these sacred events, outside of space and time. Through our prayers and intention, we take part in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We enter into the saving Action of Jesus Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.Borne By the Hands of Your Holy AngelThe priest is not only offering the Sacrifice of the Holy Victim, he is presenting an oblation or an offering. In the First Eucharistic Prayer, the ancient Roman Canon, the part which makes this explicit goes this way:“In humble prayer we ask you, almighty God: command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high in the sight of your divine majesty, so that all of us who through this participation at the altar receive the most holy Body and Blood of your Son may be filled with every grace and heavenly blessing.”As we mentioned last week, we recognize the Sacrifice of the Mass as the re-presentation of Jesus' suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. We acknowledge that He Himself is the Sacred Victim offered on our behalf. And now, we recognize the link between Heaven and Earth in the Holy Mass.What is offered here is not a request that the Body of Christ be locally transferred from the altar to Heaven. Jesus Christ is in Heaven already. Therefore, the meaning of this oblation is mystical. It is not a prayer invoking the power of God, like the epiclesis which calls down the power of the Holy Spirit on the gifts. Interestingly, the word used in the official Latin text for “these gifts” is more literally translated as “these Things.” God sees the gifts, He has commanded the Mass be offered in this way, and they are priceless and pleasing to Him.The word Angel that is used comes from the Greek word “angelos” which means “messenger.” Certainly all of the angels and saints are worshiping at the throne of God and are taking part in the Sacred and Divine Liturgy of the Mass. So, who is this Angel?St. Ambrose taught that an angel assists at Mass when Christ is sacrificed on the altar. From the text of the Roman Canon, there is little information as to the identity of this Angel. Is it the guardian angel of the Church? Is it St. Michael the Archangel, the guardian angel of the Eucharist? Is it Jesus Christ Himself, used in a metaphorical sense? Does the word Angel stand in for each and every angel and saint who takes part in the Mystical Supper of the Lamb?It seems clear to me that what is asked here is not possible to any angel or creature. Truly, what created being can accomplish what God has asked and what the Church presents once again here? Besides being a messenger, the Angel is the “One Sent” by the Father. So, it seems that the Angel is the Son of God, Jesus Christ: the One Sent by the Father. In fact, Jesus is the “Angel of Great Counsel” referenced in Isaiah 9:6. We also see the Word of God (albeit before the incarnation) active in creation in Genesis 1-2. We see the Word of the Lord coming to Noah (Genesis 5-6). There is also the mysterious passage in the Gospel of John where Jesus says that Abraham had seen Him (cf. Jn. 8:56).The point of this mystical prayer is to show that the Sacrifice of Heaven is the Sacrifice of Earth. The altar on high in the sight of the His divine majesty is the altar on which the Sacrifice of the Mass is being offered once more. Heaven and Earth meet by the power of the Holy Spirit and the mediation of the Angel of Great Counsel, our Lord Jesus Christ. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus... (1 Tim. 2:5).” So, the Holy Angel of the Mass's words is Jesus.The End of the Eucharistic PrayerThe priest ends the Eucharistic Prayer with a Final Doxology, a liturgical formula of praise to God, saying:“Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.”This entire Action, and truly the whole of the Holy Mass, is the action of God. The chief mover in the Liturgy is our High Priest, Jesus Christ. This final phrase given to us by the Church to close the Eucharistic Prayer might seem like a simple declaration of praise, but it is the key to understanding Catholic worship. “Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.” Do we go to Mass to receive the gifts that God wants to bestow upon us? This is the view that many within the Church hold. We go to Mass to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Of course, if we are in a state of grace, we have the honor and profound privilege of receiving our Lord in the Eucharist. But why do we go to Mass? Is it to receive or to give?The key is this: “all glory and honor is yours.” We recognize that we have come to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass with our full, conscious, and actual participation for one primary purpose: to give glory and honor to the Father. And through this cooperation with grace, God makes us holy. Almighty God does not need our worship, but He delights in it. We have freedom and the free self-gift of His son or daughter is His delight. If we come to Mass primarily to receive, we are not coming for the right reasons. If we say, “I did not get anything out of Mass today,” then we have a wrong understanding of the Sacred Liturgy. We should not say, “I did not get...” We should instead say, “Did I give my all to my Heavenly Father?”The Communion RiteFollowing the Eucharistic Prayer, we stand and pray the prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us: the “Our Father.” This perfect prayer, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, contains all five excellent qualities required for prayer. It is confident, ordered, suitable, devout, and humble. It is also clear here the priest is leading this prayer in the Person of Christ, Head of His Body, because his hands are in the orans posture of offering.Next, the priest offers the peace of Christ to us, just as Christ offered His peace to the Apostles on the day of the Resurrection. “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld (Jn. 20:19-20).”Then, it is optional for the deacon or priest to invite the gathered faithful to turn to those in their immediate vicinity and offer the peace of Christ. This is the action of one Member of the Body of Christ to another Member of the Body of Christ. So, we do not say the other person's name, give them a secret handshake, or anything like that. We remember that Christ is now present on the altar and we offer the peace of Christ, which the world cannot give, to those around us. We are also reminded here of the words of our Lord: “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Mt. 5:23-24).”The Fraction RiteAs I mentioned last week, the priest then takes a piece of the Sacred Host and breaks it. Then, he puts that piece into the Chalice, which makes the Resurrection of Jesus present in a powerful way. Body and Blood are reunited, never to be parted again! We, and the priest, do not receive dead flesh; we receive the whole Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity into our own bodies. Interesting to note here, as well, that our posture changed after the Final Doxology. Instead of kneeling in penitence and adoration at the foot of the Cross, we are standing in the joy and power of the Resurrection! Meanwhile, the priest is saying quietly: “May this mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it.”Then, quietly, he prays directly to Jesus in one of two ways:“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who, by the will of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit, through your Death gave life to the world, free me by this, your most holy Body and Blood, from all my sins and from every evil; keep me always faithful to your commandments, and never let me be parted from you.”Or: “May the receiving of your Body and Blood, Lord Jesus Christ, not bring me to judgment and condemnation, but through your loving mercy be for me protection in mind and body and a healing remedy.”Next, while facing the people, the priest raises the host and chalice echoing the words of St. John the Baptist,“Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.”The people and the priest then respond with the words of the centurion to Jesus who believed that He could save the centurion's daughter, despite being a Gentile pagan:“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”At this point, the priest then receives Holy Communion and then distributes our Blessed Lord, under the veil of a Sacrament, to the faithful gathered who are in a state of grace. Who Do We Say Amen?I think it is worth investigating: Why do we say Amen after receiving Holy Communion?In the Second Century, St. Justin Martyr writes in his Apologia that after the prayers of thanksgiving and consecration were finished by the priest, all responded by saying “Amen.” This is not simply a word found at the end of a conversation. It is not like saying, “Ok. Goodbye, God,” after a prayer is finished. St. Paul writes, “Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?” So, it would seem that the word Amen packs a punch. But what does it mean?Amen is a Hebrew word which means “so be it.” St. Augustine translated it as “it is true (Latin: verum est).” In a tract explaining the Mass from the Middle Ages, we read, “Amen is a ratification by the people of what has been spoken, and it may be interpreted in our language as if they all said: May it so be done as the priest has prayed (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907).”It is custom in most of the Rites of the Catholic Church, both East and West, to say “Amen” after receiving Holy Communion. In the 1962 Missale Romanum, the priest says, “Corpus Domini Nostri Iesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam, Amen (May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto life everlasting. Amen).” So, even though the communicant does not say “Amen” like in the Ordinary Form of the Mass, the priest has said “Amen” for them.The language of “Amen” seems to be like a contract. When two people enter into an agreement with one another, they may mark it with a handshake and say, “so be it” or “I agree.” Is that what is happening at Mass? Certainly, what we are entering into at Mass is far more important, meaningful, lasting, and beautiful. Perhaps more than a contract, the “Amen” shows us that the language of the Mass is that of a covenant. A contract can be broken. A covenant cannot be broken.When we approach our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, we are approaching the Bridegroom as the Bride. We are uttering our wedding vows to the King of Heaven each time we receive Holy Communion. We are saying, “I do” when we say “Amen.” The meaning of the word is very close to this understanding. We are using the language of marriage to show that we are accepting the Bridegroom into our body and soul to remain with us always. As husband and wife become one flesh in marriage, the communicant and our Lord become one in the Eucharist. “Communion” means “one with.” We are becoming more closely joined to the Lord in reception of Holy Communion.Every time we say “Amen” we should call to mind clearly what we are doing. We are giving our assent of Faith. We are not saying “Okay” or “Sure”, we are saying “so be it.” Do we know what we are saying “yes” to? Do we know what we entering into? Our “yes” to God cannot be half-hearted or wishy-washy. It must be sure and resolute, by His grace. Our Lord Jesus is a strong proponent of authenticity and resolution. We hear in the Book of Revelation: “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth (Rev. 3:16).” And in the Gospel of St. Matthew: “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes' or ‘No'; anything more than this comes from evil (Mt. 5:37).” Let our Amen mean Amen. Then, after Holy Communion, the priest or deacon purifies the Sacred Vessels, which is something only they can do. They quietly say:“What has passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may be our healing for eternity.”Next, the priest invites the people to pray and says the Prayer after Communion. This is a special prayer given for each liturgical day, like the Collect, which ends the Communion Rite and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, more broadly. Will Wright Catholic Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Concluding RitesGreeting, Blessing, and DismissalWe have just taken part in the Liturgy of the Eucharist in which Jesus Christ became substantially, truly, and really present. Having just received Him in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist, the faithful are living tabernacles. The word Eucharist actually means thanksgiving in Greek, and this is what we are doing during the Concluding Rites.Out of deep gratitude for what our good God has done, we spend some time in silence following the Communion Rite, reflecting on the gift of the Most Holy Eucharist. Then, the priest blesses the people assembled. There is great power in this blessing. The priest, acting in the Person of Christ the Head, is blessing the people. In other words, it is Christ Himself who blesses us at the end of Mass. During Mass, where the priest is, there is Christ.The priest, acting in the Person of Christ, blesses those gathered with the power and might of the Most Holy Trinity: “May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” By making the sign of the Cross and invoking the Trinity, the priest is sealing us with God's presence. We have been shown mercy in the Introductory Rites and we glorified God. We were fed with His adorable Word in the Liturgy of the Word. And we received Jesus Christ Himself in the Holy Eucharist in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This one, single act of worship began with the sign of the Cross and it ends with the sign of the Cross.Following the final blessing, the dismissal is given by the priest or deacon. This is, in fact, where the word Mass comes from. The words in Latin “Ite, missa est” literally means “Go, she (meaning, the Church) – has been sent”. This word is related to our English word “mission.” Fed by the Word and the Eucharist, Jesus fills us with Himself and we are strengthened to go out and share Him with the world. The Church exists to evangelize, and we are the hands and feet of Christ. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, in the Great Commission, Jesus says to the Apostles:“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Mt. 28:18-20).”Likewise, the deacon or priest is acting in the Person of Christ, telling us to “Go” as well! The dismissal makes the Ascension anamnetically present to us, because that is exactly what happened after the Great Commission.Then, the priest, still acting in the Person of Christ the Head, then processes down the center aisle towards the narthex as a recessional hymn is sung. Technically speaking, the one, single act of worship – the Mass – ends with the dismissal. Practically speaking, our celebration of the Sacred Mysteries ends when the priest reaches the narthex of the Church. This practice of waiting until the priest reaches the narthex highlights the reality that Christ is the presider at Mass, acting through the priest.ConclusionI hope that this series has been a blessing to you. I hope that we all will continue in our pursuit of the glory of God and the sanctification of man. I hope that the Mass comes alive to your senses in a powerful way. Thanks be to God for such a great gift!Thank you for reading Will Wright Catholic Podcast. 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It is impossible for us to love and adore Christ deeply enough as He is present in the Most Holy Eucharist. When we are before Him, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, we should see the Almighty God present in veiled form. He is: Mercy, Eternal Life, The Eternal God, The Savior of Sinners, The Living Water, The Fire of Pure Love, The Medicine for All Our Ills, All Sentiments of Love, The Hope of All, The Lifter of Burdens…and He is worthy of all our trust (See Diary #356).What do you see when you gaze upon the Sacred Host? With your eyes you see bread, but with your soul you should see God. You should see God in all His glory and power and you should adore Him with all your might. Think about how you relate to our Lord as He is present in the Holy Eucharist. Pray that God will flood your mind with a true knowledge of Him and inspire your heart with a burning love.Lord, help me to know and love You as You are present in the Most Holy Eucharist. Help me to understand the gift of Your Mercy made present through this Holy Gift. May I learn to adore You every time I am before Your presence in this Sacred Host. Jesus, I trust in You. Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2023 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
IntroductionWelcome back to session 4 of “Praying the Mass.” I am thrilled to share with you today the Liturgy of the Eucharist. With the Prayers of the Faithful completed, the Offertory begins. Presentation of the GiftsGiftsBread and wine are brought to the altar and prayers of offering and blessing are made. This presentation of the gifts, the bread and wine, and the preparation of the altar is getting us ready to enter into the most sacred part of the Holy Mass. The bread and wine, now present on the altar, are gifts because all created things come from God. Without the act of creation and the sustaining of being itself, we would not have bread and wine to offer in the first place. Even from the earliest days, humanity has offered the first fruits of their harvest or flock back to God in thanksgiving. Recognizing an abundant harvest or a healthy flock or even a child being born as a gift from the divine is not isolated to Christianity and Judaism. In the oldest pagan religions, armed only with God-given human reason, there is an understanding that there is a higher power which created and sustains all things. And, so, the bread and wine are gifts. But that is not all. Our own lives are gifts. The churches in which we worship are gifts. The vestments, sacred vessels, and artwork are gifts. Without God, there is nothing. Everything we have is a gift in a very real sense. As St. Therese of Lisieux said, “Everything is grace.” OfferingsThe bread and wine are offerings because they are being set aside for sacred use. Ordinary bread and wine are placed upon the altar with the full expectation of the miracle that is to come. These gifts are being offered for a specific purpose. Namely, to make Christ present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, under the veil of a sacrament. The bread and wine are not the only things being offered. We offer God, each day, our works, joys, sufferings, in union with the action of Jesus at the altar at Holy Mass. As St. Paul says in Romans 12: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rom. 12:1).”Everything we do throughout our day, which is intentionally united to Christ, is our spiritual offering. In offering ourselves, we are transformed to be more like Christ, just as the bread and wine become Christ. We can also offer all of the many requests and intentions that we have. We offer all we are next to the bread on the paten and in the chalice with the wine.Finally, the bread and wine are holy and unblemished sacrifices. When the bread and wine are set aside for sacred use, they can no longer be used as ordinary food. In a simple sense, this is a sacrifice. When we understand that we are uniting ourselves to this offering at Mass, we come to realize that the content of our day to day lives is the sacrifice that we are offering. These sacrifices are acts of love: cleaning the dishes so your spouse does not have to do it, practicing virtue rather than vice, setting aside time for prayer, or striving to live the commands of Jesus Christ each moment of the day. Then, at Holy Mass, we offer these actions, as well as our failings, alongside the bread and wine. We become a sacrifice offered to God in humility. Holy because we are set apart by God in our Baptism. Unblemished because we are set right with God by our Baptism, frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance, and by being transformed by our receiving of Holy Communion in a state of grace. Prayer Over the OfferingsDuring Sunday Mass, the collection is taken during the Prayers Over the Offerings. This is a chance for the assembly to make their tithing a liturgical action. Just as the gifts of bread and wine are offered, so too are our “first fruits.” During this preparation, you might see the Deacon or Priest pour wine into the chalice at the altar and then a bit of water as well. They are also quietly saying, “By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”Water, in most places of the world, is a fairly common thing. This is symbolic of humanity. Yet, wine is expensive and takes a long time to make; this is symbolic of divinity. And when the wine and water are mixed, can they be separated again? No! So, it is with the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. The Byzantine tradition takes the symbolism a step further. During Divine Liturgy, warm water is added to the wine during the preparatory prayers because the blood of a living Man is warm!Turning to the people after the Offertory Prayers, the priest says, “Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.” This is not a prayer. This is an invitation. This is a command. The people then respond, speaking to the priest saying, “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church.” This beautiful exchange is a call to action. The priest is about to enter into the Holy of Holies to offer the one Sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the Person of Christ, Head of His Body. The people offer sacrifice as well, but in a different way as members of the Body of Christ.Also, the people are acknowledging that the Sacrifice being offered is 1) primarily at the hands of the priest, 2) is for the praise and glory of God, and 3) is for the “making holy” (sanctification) of the people.It should be noted that after the priest says the Orate, Fratres and he is offering the Mass in the ad orientem posture, the Roman Missal does not direct him to turn back towards the people until the Ecce Agnus Dei (“Behold the Lamb of God…”). He is in the fight. His attention, and ours, should then be entirely fixed upon entering into the Sacred Action of the one Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, presented once more, outside of space and time. Attention entirely fixed upon the task at hand, the priest begins the Eucharistic Prayer by saying, “The Lord be with you.” (Latin: Dominus vobiscum) The people respond, “And with your spirit.” (Latin: Et cum spiritu tuo) This small exchange is not a greeting. The priest is acknowledging that, in our Baptism, we are members of the Body of Christ. And as members of the Body of Christ, we offer ourselves in union with the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We say, “And with your spirit” because we are acknowledging that by the power of the Holy Spirit, in his ordination, the priest is acting in the Person of Christ the Head of His Body. We are not speaking of “your spirit” as the priest's human spirit. We are acknowledging his priestly spirit, in Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Next the priest says, “Lift up your hearts.” (Latin: Sursum corda) The people respond, “We lift them up to the Lord.” (Latin: Habemus ad Dominum) Literally in Latin, this response means something like, “We hold towards the Lord.” This means we are lifting our hearts now or we have already been lifting them up and will continue to do so. God, ever-patient, is giving us another chance to clue in to the miracle in front of us before we charge into the breach in the battle of prayer. Then the priest says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” (Latin: Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro) And the people acclaim, “It is right and just.” (Latin: Dignum et iustum est) It is “right” for us to give thanks to God because that is why human beings were ultimately created. We are made to worship God. It is “just” because God alone deserves glory and praise. This ancient dialogue of the Preface Dialogue begins the Eucharistic Prayer. It reminds us of who we are as priest and people, Head and Members of the Body of Christ. It reminds us of our active internal role in entering into the Sacrifice of the Mass. It reminds us of the glory due to God and our role in offering Him praise. The PrefaceThe first essential part of the Eucharistic Prayer is the Preface for the day which is then offered by the priest. These prefaces change depending on the season of the Church liturgical year and the feast, solemnity, or memorial that is being celebrated. Directly following the Preface and just before the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer comes the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy). This ancient prayer was added to the Sacred Liturgy in the first half of the fifth century and is drawn from Isaiah 6:3 and Matthew 21:9. The Preface and the Sanctus specifically call to mind the angels and remind us that we are praising God, with all of the angels and saints in Heaven present with us. Heaven is touching Earth and we are present for this spectacular event.In the 1962 Roman Missal, there is a beautiful insight in the rubrics. At the word Sanctus, the priest joins his hands and bows in humble adoration of God. Then, at the words Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini (Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord), he stands fully and makes the Sign of the Cross. In the midst of the angels and the saints, the grace of God is pouring out upon us and blessing us as we enter into the great Action of Jesus Christ in the remainder of the Eucharistic Prayer.This is no longer called for in the rubrics of the 1970 Missal, but the spirit of the theological significance is no less for us!The Sanctus is one of the oldest congregational hymns in existence. In Greek it is the ton epinikion hymnon or “Hymn of Victory.” This the final part of the Eucharistic Preface and is said or sung at every single Mass in the Latin Rite. The hymn also exists in some form in all but one of the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church. Historically, in the Latin Church, the bells were rung at the start of the Sanctus to signal that the Roman Canon was coming imminently. Let us now walk through the Sanctus piece by piece. “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts.” (Latin: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.) There are two main points of interest I would like to draw out here: the repetition of Holy and the word “hosts.” In English, and many other languages, there are words called comparatives and superlatives. For example, we have the word “good,” the comparative “better,” and the superlative “best.” In Hebrew, this construction does not exist. To say “better,” you would say “good, good.” And to say “best,” you would say, “good, good, good.” Therefore, to say Holy, Holy, Holy is saying that God is the Most Holy. It is also a call to worship, often done in threes. Think, for example, of the popular Christmas chant where “O come, let us adore Him (Venite adoremus)” is repeated three times. And, of course, the repetition of three refers also to the Trinity. Like most things in the Church, there are multiple levels of meaning.The word “hosts” refers to the heavenly hosts of angels, which St. Luke refers to in his account of the birth of Jesus. These legions of angels do the will of God and bring Him glory. They are with us in the fight and they join us in worship of Him. As Dr. Scott Hahn wrote so eloquently, “When we go to Mass, the congregation is never small, even if it is nonexistent in terms of human attendance. The angels are there, as is evident even in the words of the Mass: ‘And so with all the choirs of angels we sing: Holy, holy, holy…' The Mass itself cries out for us to be aware of our angels (Hahn, Signs of Life).” “Heaven and earth are full of your glory.” (Latin: Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria tua) Of course, here we are giving God praise, acclaiming the truth that for those with the eyes of Faith, He is recognizable all around. All things are directed ultimately to Him. “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” (Latin: Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.) This refers to the cry of the people as Christ entered Jerusalem to the sight of palm branches being waved, reminiscent of Solomon's entrance into Jerusalem. The people exclaimed of Christ, “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!' (Mt. 21:9)” Hosanna means “Praise to the Lord!” And so, we are offering praise to the Father for the gift of the Son. In this hymn, the coming of Christ in the Nativity is called to mind. We know that Christ will come again. The Sanctus reminds us that Christ comes to us now. At the Mass, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus become present under the veil of a sacrament on the altar. The Sanctus, with its mention of the angels and the triumph of Christ, is like a bridge between Heaven and earth. The Lord of Heaven and earth is drawing us deep into His heart. The eternal self-offering of the Son to the Father in the Spirit is veiled before us by signs and symbols. But there is no doubt that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, especially in the Eucharistic Prayer is a foretaste of Heaven. Epiclesis and Institution NarrativeThere are currently a few different options for the Eucharistic Prayer, proper. However, they all contain two more essential parts: the Epiclesis (Greek: Epiklesis, Latin: Invocatio) and the Institution Narrative. The Epiclesis is the calling down of the Holy Spirit upon the gifts of bread and wine that they may become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Every Western and Eastern liturgy contains this essential prayer. The Institution Narrative is the full narrative of the Last Supper in which Christ instituted the Eucharist as the New Covenant, including the words of consecration (This is My Body… This is My Blood…).In the Catholic Church, there has always been an understanding that this invocation of the Holy Spirit was essential, along with the words of consecration.We may be tempted to ask exactly when does the bread and wine actually become Jesus' Body and Blood? Is it at the Epiclesis or is it at the Institution Narrative? This has been a source of tension through the history of discussions between the East and the West in the Church. The important thing is to recognize the essential nature of both. Without the words of consecration, there is no Eucharist. But without the power of the Holy Spirit, there is no Eucharist. This is absolutely not to say that the Holy Spirit waits for the priest to call on Him. The entire Holy Mass is the prayer and working of Almighty God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But God has designed that His creatures should cooperate with His sacred Action. Therefore, the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the words of consecration of the Son are both to the glory of the Father and the making holy of the people, which hopefully we will remember are the two main ends of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.We take our cue of the importance of both elements, the Institution Narrative and the Epiclesis, from the posture of the people at the Holy Mass. Following the Preface and the Sanctus, the people kneel. In the Roman Rite, the posture of kneeling is twofold: humility and adoration. We kneel in humble adoration because God is sending His Holy Spirit in power to consecrate the bread and wine to become the Most Holy Eucharist, at the hands of the priest. We are humble because we understand who God is and who we are in relationship to Him. We adore Him because it is right and just, especially given the miracle that is taking place in front of us.During the Epiclesis, the priest's posture changes as well. He extends his hands, palms facing down, over the gifts to show the calling down of the Holy Spirit. The bells are also rung at this time to draw our sense's attention to what is happening. During the Institution Narrative, the priest is engaged in the Sacred Action of Jesus Christ. When speaking the words of consecration, he bows and speaks in a straight tone. This is to show that the words are not his own, rather Jesus Christ is speaking through him at that moment. Back in ancient times, a messenger would visit a foreign king and speak the words of his own master. The foreign king would know that the words did not belong to the messenger because the messenger would speak them while bent at the waist. Then, the priest genuflects before the King of kings now present on the altar. Here, in the climax of the Mass, the bells are rung three times as if to say Holy, Holy, Holy. As I mentioned earlier, in Hebrew, there are no grammatical comparatives and superlatives. To say holier, you would say “holy, holy,” and to say holiest, you say “holy, holy, holy.”AnamnesisThe fourth essential part of the Eucharistic Prayer is Anamnesis.During the Institution Narrative, the bread and wine are consecrated separately, first the bread then the wine, and they become the Body and Blood of Jesus. The result of separating blood from a body is death. In this way, the Institution Narrative makes present the Passion and Death of Jesus. Is this just a metaphor? Is it symbolic? Far from being merely a symbol, this means the Holy Cross is made present to us in the here and now, outside of time, by the power of God. Rather, we could say that we are transported to the foot of the Holy Cross where the Son of God shed His blood and life for our sake. When we begin to see with the eyes of faith that this is a reality and not simply symbolic, we begin to understand anamnesis.Anamnesis in Greek literally means bring to mind. We could also translate it as a deliberate recollection. Anamnesis in the context of liturgy is more than just a memory or a calling to the mind in some abstract way. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the mediation of Jesus Christ, our High Priest, the One Sacrifice becomes present once again in an unbloody manner. The word anamnesis is what Jesus says in the words of consecration when He says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Anamnesis makes present the Sacred Action of Jesus Christ to our senses through external signs and symbols. It is a reminder on the surface level. But if we push past the veil, God allows us to see and to receive the full power of His saving Mysteries which were so powerful that they cannot be contained in a single moment of history. The Cross was two thousand years ago, but it comes present once again at every single Mass. What we see as signs and symbols are made truly present to us, in reality.Of course, after the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest puts a piece of the Sacred Host into the Sacred Chalice in the Fraction Rite. In this action, anamnesis makes the reunion of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Resurrection, present to us once more. He who died will not die again. The whole Christ is risen. This is why the faithful receive the full risen Christ in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in every particle of the Host or every drop from the Chalice.IntercessionsThe fifth main part of the Eucharistic Prayer is the Intercessions. Intercession means to intervene on behalf of another. From the outset, it should be clear that the Eucharistic Prayer must essentially be intercessory because it makes present the Saving Mysteries of Jesus Christ who suffered, died, and rose to redeem all mankind. St. Paul says to St. Timothy: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus… (1 Timothy 2:5).” Jesus Christ is our mediator. He is the Pontifex Maximus (the “Greatest Bridge-Maker“). He stands in the gap between mankind and the Father, a gap which was caused by Adam's first sin and perpetuated by each personal sin of every sinner. He is the only Way to the Father. He is the Bridge. And so, in the Eucharistic Prayer, we see this reality take form especially with the Intercessions. The Sacred Liturgy is a priestly action. It is the prayer of our High Priest, Jesus Christ, active in a special way through the instruments of the ordained minister and the baptized faithful as Head and Members. The Sacred Liturgy is the work of God for His glory and for the sanctification (making holy) of His people and the whole world. As the Eucharistic Prayer begins, the priest asks in the confidence of Jesus Christ for what we need, in and through Jesus Christ. The priest asks for the gifts of bread and wine, and the personal intentions and sacrifices of those gathered, to be accepted and blessed by God. In this way, our own personal sacrifices and intentions are being offered to the Father, in the Son, and through the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is interceding for us to the Father. He intercedes for the whole world, beginning with the Church. We ask that God may give the Church peace, guidance, union, and governance throughout the world. Then we offer intercessory prayer for the Pope and for our local bishop. In the first Eucharisitic Prayer, there are prayers of intercession for “all those who, holding to the truth, hand on the catholic and apostolic faith.” This means, firstly, the whole college of bishops who are the successors of the Apostles. But, it also means all those throughout the entire Church. The Church exists in order to evangelize. She exists in order to bring glory to God and full, abundant life to all men and women. This happens by fidelity to the catholic and apostolic faith which must be handed on without change or lessening.We should not forget the saints, as well!Since it has been established by the Church that we have recourse to the saints, to the glory of God, then we ought to exercise it. We have previously discussed the one perfect Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. On the Cross, Jesus Christ earned superabundant merit. His perfect, eternal Sacrifice was sufficient to redeem all of mankind. But God has given us the ability to unite our own actions with His perfect Action. The merits of those who have come before us, the saints, are united to the Cross of Jesus Christ. Their cooperation with God's grace is what allowed them to accept the invitation to eternal life. No human action is done in isolation. Our actions have consequences, and they affect other people. Therefore, our good actions, our good works, create a ripple effect that positively affects the souls of others. When applied to the Cross of Jesus Christ, these good works share in the superabundant merit of Jesus Christ. This is the essence of what Catholics mean when they say, “offer it up.”It is not only the past merits and prayers of saints that have efficacious power in God's grace. The saints, alive in Heaven, pray for the good of those still below on Earth. The Church investigates alleged miracles, wrought by God's grace through the intercession of a specific person. If the miracle is found to be legitimate, then it confirms that the person is in Heaven. This is part of the official canonization process of the Church. By the merits and prayers of the saints, we are defended from temptation and evil. The genius of the saints is found in their fidelity to and love of God. The example of their lives and the fervor of their preaching is a testament to God's goodness and an acclamation of His glory. Even in the midst of suffering, we can claim the joy of Jesus Christ. Even if we feel utterly alone, we know that we are never alone. As the author of Hebrews writes: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:1).”The Words of ConsecrationLet us finish today by looking at the gems of the Holy Mass: the words of consecration. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is one prayer of our High Priest Jesus Christ from beginning to end. But even in that one prayer, the Words of Consecration are precious jewels. These holy words, spoken after Jesus has taken ordinary bread in His holy and venerable hands, make His own Body present in a mystical way. Mystical, however, does not mean “less real.” The physical is brought up into the spiritual and transcendent in a way that is hidden to our senses but very much real. We have to remember the power of the speech of God. When God speaks, things come into being. Think back to Genesis: God said “Let there be light” and there was light. So, when the God-man Jesus Christ says, “This is my Body,” He means it. The bread is no more. The characteristics remain, but the substance underneath the appearances has transformed or shifted. This is the miracle of transubstantiation. Ordinary bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.The miracle of the Eucharist is a mystery. Though, we should be careful to take Jesus at His Word and to understand that God who made all things visible and invisible can make this reality present to us. When the priest elevates the Host, after the Words of Consecration, we are adoring our Eucharistic Lord, fully present under the veil of the Sacrament. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Sacraments. Baptism orients us towards Holy Communion, as does Confirmation. Penance restores us to union with God, to partake worthily of the Blessed Sacrament. Holy Orders and Matrimony are at the service of Communion. Finally, the Anointing of the Sick is healing for soul and body and can be followed by reception of Holy Communion. Each of these outward showings of God's inner-life, His grace, draw from the source of the Eucharist and are oriented to the summit which is the Eucharist. The Holy Body of Jesus Christ was “pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed (Is 53:5).” His Body was given up for you and for me. He went to the Cross for you and for me. But that was not enough for the gratuitous and superabundant love of God. He also established for us the everlasting memorial of His suffering and death by which the Holy Eucharist is made present for us to receive. The Byzantine traditions contain a remarkably beautiful prayer before Holy Communion which is said every single day at Divine Liturgy. This is a prayer of the heart, packed with meaning, gratitude, and seeking healing for soul and body. We will end today with this prayer and then pick up with the words of consecration over the chalice next week!“O Lord, I believe and profess that You are truly Christ, the Son of the living God, Who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. Accept me as a partaker of Your mystical supper, O Son of God, for I will not reveal Your mystery to Your enemies, nor will I give you a kiss as did Judas, but like the thief I confess to You: Remember me, O Lord, when You shall come into Your kingdom. Remember me, O Master, when You shall come into Your kingdom. Remember me, O Holy One, when You shall come into Your kingdom. May the partaking of Your Holy mysteries, O Lord, be not for my judgment or condemnation, but for the healing of my soul and body.O Lord, I also believe and profess that this, which I am about to receive, is truly Your most precious body and Your life-giving blood, which, I pray, make me worthy to receive for the remission of all my sins and for life everlasting. Amen. O God, be merciful to me a sinner. O God, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy on me. O Lord, forgive me for I have sinned without number.” Get full access to Will Wright Catholic Podcast at www.willwrightcatholic.com/subscribe
The Blessed Sacrament is truly sacred. It is revered and treated with the greatest respect. We would never throw our Lord away or discard Him on the floor or in some irreverent place. And yet we often fail to treat others with the same respect we show Jesus present in the Sacred Host (See Diary #285). Do you realize that each person is a tabernacle? Each person is an image of God and is precious and sacred beyond imagination. We must see all people this way and we must seek to treat them with the greatest reverence and respect. In doing so, we honor our Divine Lord more than we could ever know. Reflect upon how you treat others this day. Reflect upon whether or not you treat them with the same love and respect you would show our Lord in the Sacred Host. Ask Jesus to help you to see His divine presence in everyone you meet.Lord, may I love You always in all people. May I see You in every soul and honor Your divine presence within them. You, oh Lord, are alive in the heart of every creature. I love You and desire to love You more as I encounter Your divine presence in everyone I meet. Jesus, I trust in You. Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2023 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
The world is beautiful and reveals the beauty of God, but spiritual realities, such as the Holy Eucharist, are far more beautiful. To see the beauty of God, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, you need eyes of faith. One of the best ways to sharpen your vision of this beauty is through adoration. Though receiving Holy Communion must be the ultimate union we experience with our Lord, adoration of Him, present in the Sacred Host, prepares you for this encounter by revealing His beauty. Seek to adore Him exposed in the monstrance on the altar and let the eyes of your soul become enthralled by His beauty (See Diary #1692).Do you ever participate in adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist? If you have adoration regularly at your church, you are blessed. If not, seek it out at a nearby church. Adoration feeds your soul and reveals to you the beauty of God. Reflect upon your experience of Eucharistic adoration and recommit yourself to a wholehearted participation in this glorious act.Lord, I adore You with the most profound adoration as You are present before me in the Most Holy Eucharist. I love You and seek to know Your hidden beauty and splendor. You are glorious, dear Lord. As I behold Your glory, draw me ever deeper into Your perfect Heart of Mercy. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2022 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. In response, He taught them the “Our Father” prayer. There is much that can be said about this prayer. This prayer contains all we need to know about prayer. It is a catechetical lesson about prayer itself and contains seven petitions to the Father. Let's look at the first three of these as found in Chapter 11 of My Catholic Worship!Hallowed be Thy Name: “Hallowed” means to be holy. As we pray this part of the prayer we are not praying that God's name will become holy, for His name already is holy. Rather, we pray that this holiness of God will be recognized by us and all people. We pray that there will be a deep reverence of God's name and that we will always treat God with the proper honor, devotion, love and awe to which we are called.It's especially important to point out how often God's name is used in vain. That is a strange phenomenon. Have you ever wondered why, when people get angry, they would curse God's name? It's strange. And, in fact, it's demonic. Anger, in those moments, invites us to act in a contrary way to this prayer and to the proper use of God's name.God Himself is holy, holy, holy. He is thrice holy! In other words, He is the Holiest! Living with this fundamental disposition of heart is key to a good Christian life and to a good life of prayer. Perhaps a good practice would be to regularly honor God's name. For example, what a wonderful habit it would be to regularly say, “Sweet and precious Jesus, I love You.” Or, “Glorious and merciful God, I adore You.” Adding adjectives like these before we mention God is a good habit to get into as a way of fulfilling this first petition of the Lord's Prayer.Another good practice would be to always refer to the “Blood of Christ” we consume at Mass as the “Precious Blood.” Or the Host as the “Sacred Host.” There are many who fall into the trap of just referring to it as the “wine” or the “bread.” This is most likely not malicious or even sinful, but it's much better to enter into the practice and habit of honoring and revering anything that is associated with God, especially the Most Holy Eucharist!Thy Kingdom Come: This petition of the Lord's Prayer is a way of acknowledging two things. First, we acknowledge the fact that Jesus will, one day, return in all His glory and establish His permanent and visible Kingdom. This will be the time of the Final Judgment when the current Heaven and Earth will pass away and the new order will be established. So, praying this petition is a faith-filled acknowledgment of this fact. It's our way of saying we not only believe this will happen, we also look forward to it and pray for it. Secondly, we must realize that the Kingdom of God is already here among us. For now, it's an invisible Kingdom. It's a spiritual reality that must become an all-consuming and present reality in our world. To pray that God's “Kingdom come” means we desire that He first take greater possession of our souls. The Kingdom of God must be within us. He must reign on the throne of our hearts and we must allow Him. Therefore, this must be our constant prayer. We also pray that the Kingdom of God become present in our world. God wants to transform the social, political and cultural order right now. So we must pray and work for that. Our prayer for the Kingdom to come is also a way for us to commit ourselves to God to allow Him to use us for this very purpose. It's a prayer of faith and courage. Faith because we believe He can use us, and courage because the evil one and world will not like it. As the Kingdom of God is established in this world through us, we will meet with opposition. But that's ok and should be expected. And this petition is, in part, to help us with this mission.Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven: Praying for the Kingdom of God to come means, also, that we seek to live the will of the Father. This is done as we enter into union with Christ Jesus. He fulfilled the will of His Father with perfection. His human life is the perfect model of the will of God and it is also the means by which we live the will of God.This petition is a way of committing ourselves to live in union with Christ Jesus. We take our will and entrust it to Christ so that His will lives in us. By doing this we begin to be filled with all virtue. We will also be filled with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which are necessary for living the will of the Father. For example, the Gift of Knowledge is a gift by which we come to know what God wants of us in particular situations in life. So praying this petition is a way of asking God to fill us with knowledge of His will. But we also need the courage and strength necessary to then live out that will. So this petition also prays for those Gifts of the Holy Spirit that enable us to live out what God reveals as His divine plan for our lives. It is, of course, also an intercession for all people. In this petition we pray that all will come to live in unity and harmony with God's perfect plan.Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2022 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
“Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” Mark 14:22a-24 (Year B Gospel)Happy Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God! What a Gift we celebrate today!The Eucharist is everything. It's all things, the fullness of life, eternal salvation, mercy, grace, happiness, etc. Why is the Eucharist all this and so much more? Simply put, the Eucharist IS God. Period. Therefore, the Eucharist is all that God is.In his beautiful traditional hymn, Adoro te Devote, St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “I devoutly adore You, O hidden Deity, truly hidden beneath these appearances. My whole heart submits to You, and in contemplating You, it surrenders itself completely. Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of You, but hearing suffices firmly to believe…” What a glorious statement of faith in this wondrous gift.This statement of faith reveals that when we worship before the Eucharist, we worship God Himself hidden under the appearance of bread and wine. Our senses are deceived. What we see, taste and feel do not reveal the reality before us. The Eucharist is God.Throughout our lives, if we were raised Catholic, we were taught reverence for the Eucharist. But “reverence” is not enough. Most Catholics revere the Eucharist, meaning, we genuflect, kneel, and treat the Sacred Host with respect. But it's important to ponder a question in your heart. Do you believe the Eucharist is God Almighty, the Savior of the world, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity? Do you believe deeply enough to have your heart moved with love and profound devotion every time you are before our divine Lord present before us under the veil of the Eucharist? When you kneel do you fall down prostrate in your heart, loving God with your whole being?Perhaps this sounds like it's a bit excessive. Perhaps simple reverence and respect is enough for you. But it's not. Since the Eucharist is God Almighty, we must see Him there with the eyes of faith in our soul. We must profoundly adore Him as the angels do in Heaven. We must cry out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” We must be moved to the deepest of worship as we enter into His divine presence.Ponder the depth of your faith in the Eucharist today and strive to renew it, worshiping God as one who believes with your whole being.I devoutly adore You, O hidden Deity, truly hidden beneath these appearances. My whole heart submits to You, and in contemplating You, it surrenders itself completely. Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of You, but hearing suffices firmly to believe. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2022 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
Reflection 84: The Blessed HostIt is impossible for us to love and adore Christ deeply enough as He is present in the Most Holy Eucharist. When we are before Him, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, we should see the Almighty God present in veiled form. He is: Mercy, Eternal Life, The Eternal God, The Savior of Sinners, The Living Water, The Fire of Pure Love, The Medicine for All Our Ills, All Sentiments of Love, The Hope of All, The Lifter of Burdens…and He is worthy of all our trust (See Diary #356).What do you see when you gaze upon the Sacred Host? With your eyes you see bread, but with your soul you should see God. You should see God in all His glory and power and you should adore Him with all your might. Think about how you relate to our Lord as He is present in the Holy Eucharist. Pray that God will flood your mind with a true knowledge of Him and inspire your heart with a burning love.Lord, help me to know and love You as You are present in the Most Holy Eucharist. Help me to understand the gift of Your Mercy made present through this Holy Gift. May I learn to adore You every time I am before Your presence in this Sacred Host. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2022 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
Reflection 75: Encountering Christ in OthersThe Blessed Sacrament is truly sacred. It is revered and treated with the greatest respect. We would never throw our Lord away or discard Him on the floor or in some irreverent place. And yet we often fail to treat others with the same respect we show Jesus present in the Sacred Host (See Diary #285). Do you realize that each person is a tabernacle? Each person is an image of God and is precious and sacred beyond imagination. We must see all people this way and we must seek to treat them with the greatest reverence and respect. In doing so, we honor our Divine Lord more than we could ever know. Reflect upon how you treat others this day. Reflect upon whether or not you treat them with the same love and respect you would show our Lord in the Sacred Host. Ask Jesus to help you to see His divine presence in everyone you meet.Lord, may I love You always in all people. May I see You in every soul and honor Your divine presence within them. You, oh Lord, are alive in the heart of every creature. I love You and desire to love You more as I encounter Your divine presence in everyone I meet. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2022 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
The world is beautiful and reveals the beauty of God, but spiritual realities, such as the Holy Eucharist, are far more beautiful. To see the beauty of God, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, you need eyes of faith. One of the best ways to sharpen your vision of this beauty is through adoration. Though receiving Holy Communion must be the ultimate union we experience with our Lord, adoration of Him, present in the Sacred Host, prepares you for this encounter by revealing His beauty. Seek to adore Him exposed in the monstrance on the altar and let the eyes of your soul become enthralled by His beauty (See Diary #1692).Do you ever participate in adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist? If you have adoration regularly at your church, you are blessed. If not, seek it out at a nearby church. Adoration feeds your soul and reveals to you the beauty of God. Reflect upon your experience of Eucharistic adoration and recommit yourself to a wholehearted participation in this glorious act.Lord, I adore You with the most profound adoration as You are present before me in the Most Holy Eucharist. I love You and seek to know Your hidden beauty and splendor. You are glorious, dear Lord. As I behold Your glory, draw me ever deeper into Your perfect Heart of Mercy. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2021 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
Don't forget to follow or subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform to be notified when new prayers are released! If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit theprayerpodcast.fm/support or patreon.com/theprayerpodcast. May God bless you! -------- Find great Catholic gifts at TheCatholicCompany.com. Free Shipping on orders over $75! (*affiliate) Find Catholic books worth reading at TANBooks.com. Free Shipping on orders over $50! (*affiliate) Find your Catholic match on CatholicMatch.com! (*affiliate) -------- from St. Faustina Kowalska's Diary Divine Mercy, gushing forth from the bosom of the Father, I trust in You. Divine Mercy, greatest attribute of God, ... Divine Mercy, incomprehensible mystery, ... Divine Mercy, fountain gushing forth from the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity, ... Divine Mercy, unfathomed by any intellect, human or angelic, ... Divine Mercy, from which wells forth all life and happiness, ... Divine Mercy, better than the heavens, ... Divine Mercy, source of miracles and wonders, ... Divine Mercy, encompassing the whole universe, ... Divine Mercy, descending to earth in the Person of the Incarnate Word, ... Divine Mercy, which flowed out from the open wound of the Heart of Jesus, ... Divine Mercy, enclosed in the Heart of Jesus for us, and especially for sinners, ... Divine Mercy, unfathomed in the institution of the Sacred Host, ... Divine Mercy, in the founding of the Holy Church, ... Divine Mercy, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, ... Divine Mercy, in our justification through Jesus Christ, ... Divine Mercy, accompanying us through our whole life, ... Divine Mercy, embracing us especially at the hour of death, ... Divine Mercy, endowing us with immortal life, ... Divine Mercy, accompanying us every moment of our life, ... Divine Mercy, shielding us from the fire of hell, ... Divine Mercy, in the conversion of hardened sinners, ... Divine Mercy, astonishment for Angels, incomprehensible to Saints, ... Divine Mercy, unfathomed in all the mysteries of God, ... Divine Mercy, lifting us out of every misery, ... Divine Mercy, source of our happiness and joy, ... Divine Mercy, in calling us forth from nothingness to existence, ... Divine Mercy, embracing all the works of His hands, ... Divine Mercy, crown of all God?s handiwork, ... Divine Mercy, in which we are all immersed, ... Divine Mercy, sweet relief for anguished hearts, ... Divine Mercy, only hope of despairing souls, ... Divine Mercy, repose of hearts, peace amidst fear, ... Divine Mercy, delight and ecstasy of holy souls, ... Divine Mercy, inspiring hope against all hope, ... Let us pray: Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/litany-to-the-divine-mercy-263 *We may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases through links in this post at no additional cost to you.
On April 23, 1912, at the age of 10, St. Josemaria Escriva made his First Communion. In this podcast, on the anniversary of St. Josemaria’s First Communion, Fr. Leo Agustina reflects on Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, and how the Eucharist shows us Jesus as he is and ourselves as we are. As we pray and contemplate the presence of Christ in the silence of our heart, we see that Christ seeks to redeem us and to transform our hearts so that we may imitate his presence in the world today. His presence in the Eucharist teaches us how to love— not only how to love God but also how to love others and how to love ourselves. As each of us remembers the first time we received Christ in the Eucharist, we can ask him to increase our desire to receive him better and to believe more in the reality of his love. St. Josemaria explains: “Jesus has remained in the Sacred Host for us! So as to stay by our side, to sustain us, to guide us. And love can only be repaid with love. How could we not turn to the Blessed Sacrament each day, even if it is only for a few minutes, to bring him our greetings and our love as children and as brothers?” (Furrow, no. 686). ––––– Transcript: https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Encountering-Jesus-in-the-Eucharist-Transcript.pdf ––––– THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please leave a rating or review here on SoundCloud and on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/st.-j…id966458405?mt=2 Don’t miss new podcasts from the St. Josemaria Institute! Subscribe at: stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” John 6:51Jesus was starting to stir up the emotions of some within the crowd. They began to ridicule Him because He had said that He was the “bread that had come down from heaven.” Thus, many of those who had sought Jesus out in hopes of another miraculous free meal began to murmur among themselves and ridicule Him. As a result, Jesus began to speak even more clearly and shockingly. He then went even further and said that He is not only the “living bread that came down from heaven” but that those who want to “live forever” must also eat His “Flesh.”How would you have reacted to such a statement if you were among those within the crowd? Consider the fact that you would have recently seen, with your own eyes, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Therefore, you would have realized that Jesus was someone special, to say the least. But how would you have reacted to this statement of Jesus, “and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world,” if you had heard it spoken at that time? Most likely, your reaction would have been the same reaction that you have right now to the teaching of the Most Holy Eucharist.Many who heard Jesus speak this way may have thought it was a bit of an unusual thing to say. Some would have reacted strongly, while others would have reacted with indifference. But some would have had an entirely different reaction. Some would have heard Jesus speak these new and shocking words, would have realized that they did not fully understand what He meant, but would have believed deeply on account of the gift of faith. Somehow they would have known, in the depths of their consciences, that they did indeed need to eat the Flesh of Him Who came down from Heaven since He was indeed the Bread of Life.Believing in the Eucharist, in the fact that these tangible and visible gifts of the Sacred Host and the Precious Blood are, in fact, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Eternal Son of God, can only happen through the interior and transforming gift of faith. How else can you believe such a teaching? How else could you believe that these words in today’s Gospel have come true? And that the reception of the Most Holy Eucharist is the pathway to eternal life? The gift of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist is the one and only way to understand, accept and deeply believe what our Lord has spoken in this Holy Gospel.Reflect, today, upon Jesus speaking these most holy words for the first time: “...the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” As you prayerfully reflect upon these words, ponder how deeply you believe them. How deep is your faith in the Most Holy Eucharist? The Eucharist is the fulfillment of this passage, and our divine Lord invites you to not only believe in His holy words but to allow this truth to transform you in ways beyond what you could ever imagine.My Eucharistic Lord, You are truly the Bread of Life, and all those who eat Your Flesh and drink Your Blood will inherit eternal life. I do believe this, dear Lord. I believe that the Most Holy Eucharist is You, Your Soul and Divinity, given to me so that I can share in Your holy life. Give me the grace I need to deepen my faith in the Most Holy Eucharist so that I will be drawn more fully into the joys of Your Eternal Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2021 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
It is impossible for us to love and adore Christ deeply enough as He is present in the Most Holy Eucharist. When we are before Him, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, we should see the Almighty God present in veiled form. He is: Mercy, Eternal Life, The Eternal God, The Savior of Sinners, The Living Water, The Fire of Pure Love, The Medicine for All Our Ills, All Sentiments of Love, The Hope of All, The Lifter of Burdens…and He is worthy of all our trust (See Diary #356).What do you see when you gaze upon the Sacred Host? With your eyes you see bread, but with your soul you should see God. You should see God in all His glory and power and you should adore Him with all your might. Think about how you relate to our Lord as He is present in the Holy Eucharist. Pray that God will flood your mind with a true knowledge of Him and inspire your heart with a burning love.Lord, help me to know and love You as You are present in the Most Holy Eucharist. Help me to understand the gift of Your Mercy made present through this Holy Gift. May I learn to adore You every time I am before Your presence in this Sacred Host. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2021 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
The Blessed Sacrament is truly sacred. It is revered and treated with the greatest respect. We would never throw our Lord away or discard Him on the floor or in some irreverent place. And yet we often fail to treat others with the same respect we show Jesus present in the Sacred Host (See Diary #285). Do you realize that each person is a tabernacle? Each person is an image of God and is precious and sacred beyond imagination. We must see all people this way and we must seek to treat them with the greatest reverence and respect. In doing so, we honor our Divine Lord more than we could ever know. Reflect upon how you treat others this day. Reflect upon whether or not you treat them with the same love and respect you would show our Lord in the Sacred Host. Ask Jesus to help you to see His divine presence in everyone you meet.Lord, may I love You always in all people. May I see You in every soul and honor Your divine presence within them. You, oh Lord, are alive in the heart of every creature. I love You and desire to love You more as I encounter Your divine presence in everyone I meet. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2021 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
A little girl in China was beaten to death for love of the Eucharist. Catholics receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin. Satanists and witches steal the Eucharist and do unthinkable things to the Sacred Host. Christ wants people to love Him in the Eucharist. Will you? Come May 31, 2021 we will launch Perpetual Adoration in Baltimore. We need help, though. Will you pray for an HOUR? Click here to sign up: https://adorationpro.org/baltimorebasilica
The world is beautiful and reveals the beauty of God, but spiritual realities, such as the Holy Eucharist, are far more beautiful. To see the beauty of God, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, you need eyes of faith. One of the best ways to sharpen your vision of this beauty is through adoration. Though receiving Holy Communion must be the ultimate union we experience with our Lord, adoration of Him, present in the Sacred Host, prepares you for this encounter by revealing His beauty. Seek to adore Him exposed in the monstrance on the altar and let the eyes of your soul become enthralled by His beauty (See Diary #1692).Do you ever participate in adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist? If you have adoration regularly at your church, you are blessed. If not, seek it out at a nearby church. Adoration feeds your soul and reveals to you the beauty of God. Reflect upon your experience of Eucharistic adoration and recommit yourself to a wholehearted participation in this glorious act.Lord, I adore You with the most profound adoration as You are present before me in the Most Holy Eucharist. I love You and seek to know Your hidden beauty and splendor. You are glorious, dear Lord. As I behold Your glory, draw me ever deeper into Your perfect Heart of Mercy. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2020 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. In response, He taught them the “Our Father” prayer. There is much that can be said about this prayer. This prayer contains all we need to know about prayer. It is a catechetical lesson about prayer itself and contains seven petitions to the Father. Let’s look at the first three of these as found in Chapter 11 of My Catholic Worship!Hallowed be Thy Name: “Hallowed” means to be holy. As we pray this part of the prayer we are not praying that God’s name will become holy, for His name already is holy. Rather, we pray that this holiness of God will be recognized by us and all people. We pray that there will be a deep reverence of God’s name and that we will always treat God with the proper honor, devotion, love and awe to which we are called.It’s especially important to point out how often God’s name is used in vain. That is a strange phenomenon. Have you ever wondered why, when people get angry, they would curse God’s name? It’s strange. And, in fact, it’s demonic. Anger, in those moments, invites us to act in a contrary way to this prayer and to the proper use of God’s name.God Himself is holy, holy, holy. He is thrice holy! In other words, He is the Holiest! Living with this fundamental disposition of heart is key to a good Christian life and to a good life of prayer. Perhaps a good practice would be to regularly honor God’s name. For example, what a wonderful habit it would be to regularly say, “Sweet and precious Jesus, I love You.” Or, “Glorious and merciful God, I adore You.” Adding adjectives like these before we mention God is a good habit to get into as a way of fulfilling this first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.Another good practice would be to always refer to the “Blood of Christ” we consume at Mass as the “Precious Blood.” Or the Host as the “Sacred Host.” There are many who fall into the trap of just referring to it as the “wine” or the “bread.” This is most likely not malicious or even sinful, but it’s much better to enter into the practice and habit of honoring and revering anything that is associated with God, especially the Most Holy Eucharist!Thy Kingdom Come: This petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a way of acknowledging two things. First, we acknowledge the fact that Jesus will, one day, return in all His glory and establish His permanent and visible Kingdom. This will be the time of the Final Judgment when the current Heaven and Earth will pass away and the new order will be established. So, praying this petition is a faith-filled acknowledgment of this fact. It’s our way of saying we not only believe this will happen, we also look forward to it and pray for it. Secondly, we must realize that the Kingdom of God is already here among us. For now, it’s an invisible Kingdom. It’s a spiritual reality that must become an all-consuming and present reality in our world. To pray that God’s “Kingdom come” means we desire that He first take greater possession of our souls. The Kingdom of God must be within us. He must reign on the throne of our hearts and we must allow Him. Therefore, this must be our constant prayer. We also pray that the Kingdom of God become present in our world. God wants to transform the social, political and cultural order right now. So we must pray and work for that. Our prayer for the Kingdom to come is also a way for us to commit ourselves to God to allow Him to use us for this very purpose. It’s a prayer of faith and courage. Faith because we believe He can use us, and courage because the evil one and world will not like it. As the Kingdom of God is established in this world through us, we will meet with opposition. But that’s ok and should be expected. And this petition is, in part, to help us with this mission.Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven: Praying for the Kingdom of God to come means, also, that we seek to live the will of the Father. This is done as we enter into union with Christ Jesus. He fulfilled the will of His Father with perfection. His human life is the perfect model of the will of God and it is also the means by which we live the will of God.This petition is a way of committing ourselves to live in union with Christ Jesus. We take our will and entrust it to Christ so that His will lives in us. By doing this we begin to be filled with all virtue. We will also be filled with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which are necessary for living the will of the Father. For example, the Gift of Knowledge is a gift by which we come to know what God wants of us in particular situations in life. So praying this petition is a way of asking God to fill us with knowledge of His will. But we also need the courage and strength necessary to then live out that will. So this petition also prays for those Gifts of the Holy Spirit that enable us to live out what God reveals as His divine plan for our lives. It is, of course, also an intercession for all people. In this petition we pray that all will come to live in unity and harmony with God’s perfect plan.Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2020 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
“Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” Mark 14:22a-24Happy Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God! What a Gift we celebrate today!The Eucharist is everything. It’s all things, the fullness of life, eternal salvation, mercy, grace, happiness, etc. Why is the Eucharist all this and so much more? Simply put, the Eucharist IS God. Period. Therefore, the Eucharist is all that God is.In his beautiful traditional hymn, “Adoro te Devote,” St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “I devoutly adore You, O hidden Deity, truly hidden beneath these appearances. My whole heart submits to You, and in contemplating You, it surrenders itself completely. Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of You, but hearing suffices firmly to believe…” What a glorious statement of faith in this wondrous gift.This statement of faith reveals that when we worship before the Eucharist, we worship God Himself hidden under the appearance of bread and wine. Our senses are deceived. What we see, taste and feel do not reveal the reality before us. The Eucharist is God.Throughout our lives, if we were raised Catholic, we were taught reverence for the Eucharist. But “reverence” is not enough. Most Catholics reverence the Eucharist, meaning, we genuflect, kneel, and treat the Sacred Host with respect. But it’s important to ponder a question in your heart. Do you believe the Eucharist is God Almighty, the Savior of the world, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity? Do you believe deeply enough to have your heart moved with love and profound devotion every time you are before our divine Lord present before us under the veil of the Eucharist? When you kneel do you fall down prostrate in your heart, loving God with your whole being?Perhaps this sounds like it’s a bit excessive. Perhaps simple reverence and respect is enough for you. But it’s not. Since the Eucharist is God Almighty, we must see Him there with the eyes of faith in our soul. We must profoundly adore Him as the angels do in Heaven. We must cry out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” We must be moved to the deepest of worship as we enter into His divine presence.Ponder the depth of your faith in the Eucharist today and strive to renew it, worshiping God as one who believes with your whole being.I devoutly adore You, O hidden Deity, truly hidden beneath these appearances. My whole heart submits to You, and in contemplating You, it surrenders itself completely. Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of You, but hearing suffices firmly to believe. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2020 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
Rediscovering our Eucharistic faith is key to evangelisation. The Sacred Host is God present among us, without Whom we can do nothing, let alone evangelise. The deeper our Eucharistic faith, the more fruitful our witness to the world. The Church grows from the Eucharistic Sacrifice, Presence and Communion. Committed Eucharistic adorers will foster lasting evangelisation.
It is impossible for us to love and adore Christ deeply enough as He is present in the Most Holy Eucharist. When we are before Him, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, we should see the Almighty God present in veiled form. He is: Mercy, Eternal Life, The Eternal God, The Savior of Sinners, The Living Water, The Fire of Pure Love, The Medicine for All Our Ills, All Sentiments of Love, The Hope of All, The Lifter of Burdens…and He is worthy of all our trust (See Diary #356).What do you see when you gaze upon the Sacred Host? With your eyes you see bread, but with your soul you should see God. You should see God in all His glory and power and you should adore Him with all your might. Think about how you relate to our Lord as He is present in the Holy Eucharist. Pray that God will flood your mind with a true knowledge of Him and inspire your heart with a burning love.Lord, help me to know and love You as You are present in the Most Holy Eucharist. Help me to understand the gift of Your Mercy made present through this Holy Gift. May I learn to adore You every time I am before Your presence in this Sacred Host. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2020 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
The Blessed Sacrament is truly sacred. It is revered and treated with the greatest respect. We would never throw our Lord away or discard Him on the floor or in some irreverent place. And yet we often fail to treat others with the same respect we show Jesus present in the Sacred Host (See Diary #285).Do you realize that each person is a tabernacle? Each person is an image of God and is precious and sacred beyond imagination. We must see all people this way and we must seek to treat them with the greatest reverence and respect. In doing so, we honor our Divine Lord more than we could ever know. Reflect upon how you treat others this day. Reflect upon whether or not you treat them with the same love and respect you would show our Lord in the Sacred Host. Ask Jesus to help you to see His divine presence in everyone you meet.Lord, may I love You always in all people. May I see You in every soul and honor Your divine presence within them. You, oh Lord, are alive in the heart of every creature. I love You and desire to love You more as I encounter Your divine presence in everyone I meet. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2020 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29bThese familiar words of St. John the Baptist offer us a beautiful meditation. They are spoken every time we attend Mass when the priest holds up the Sacred Host. These words, spoken first by John as Jesus came to Him to be baptized, are words that can be prayerfully meditated upon throughout our lives.Think about that statement: “Behold the Lamb of God…” It’s good to start by imagining John speaking these words of Jesus. But from there, we apply them to the Eucharist and to countless other moments in our daily lives.When John first spoke these words, the “Lamb of God” was seen in a very ordinary way. The eyes of all present saw only an ordinary man approaching the scene. But the eyes of faith saw He who would give His life for the salvation of the world as the Sacrificial Lamb.And when we look at the Sacred Host, as it is held up at Mass for all to see, we see Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb, in an even more veiled way. We see, with our eyes, a piece of bread. But with the eyes of faith, once again we behold the Savior.The Sacrificial Lamb of God is continually coming to us throughout our day. He is all around us, coming to us in veiled form, revealing Himself in faith. Do you see Him? How is it that you are being called, this day, to behold His divine and sacrificial presence? How is He present in acts of selfless charity? How does He come to you each day and how does He desire you to bring Him to others each day?Reflect, today, upon those sacred words. “Behold the Lamb of God.” Seek Him out, expecting His divine presence to be veiled but real. Discover Him with the eyes of faith and rejoice as He draws near.Lord, I behold Your divine presence today and every day. I seek You and love You. Give me the eyes of faith to discover Your real but hidden presence at all times. You are all around me every day. Help me to rejoice in how near You always are. Jesus, I trust in You.
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. In response, He taught them the “Our Father” prayer. There is much that can be said about this prayer. This prayer contains all we need to know about prayer. It is a catechetical lesson about prayer itself and contains seven petitions to the Father. Let’s look at the first three of these as found in Chapter 11 of My Catholic Worship!Hallowed be Thy Name: “Hallowed” means to be holy. As we pray this part of the prayer we are not praying that God’s name will become holy, for His name already is holy. Rather, we pray that this holiness of God will be recognized by us and all people. We pray that there will be a deep reverence of God’s name and that we will always treat God with the proper honor, devotion, love and awe to which we are called.It’s especially important to point out how often God’s name is used in vain. That is a strange phenomenon. Have you ever wondered why, when people get angry, they would curse God’s name? It’s strange. And, in fact, it’s demonic. Anger, in those moments, invites us to act in a contrary way to this prayer and to the proper use of God’s name.God Himself is holy, holy, holy. He is thrice holy! In other words, He is the Holiest! Living with this fundamental disposition of heart is key to a good Christian life and to a good life of prayer.Perhaps a good practice would be to regularly honor God’s name. For example, what a wonderful habit it would be to regularly say, “Sweet and precious Jesus, I love You.” Or, “Glorious and merciful God, I adore You.” Adding adjectives like these before we mention God is a good habit to get into as a way of fulfilling this first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.Another good practice would be to always refer to the “Blood of Christ” we consume at Mass as the “Precious Blood.” Or the Host as the “Sacred Host.” There are many who fall into the trap of just referring to it as the “wine” or the “bread.” This is most likely not malicious or even sinful, but it’s much better to enter into the practice and habit of honoring and revering anything that is associated with God, especially the Most Holy Eucharist!Thy Kingdom Come: This petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a way of acknowledging two things. First, we acknowledge the fact that Jesus will, one day, return in all His glory and establish His permanent and visible Kingdom. This will be the time of the Final Judgment when the current Heaven and Earth will pass away and the new order will be established. So, praying this petition is a faith-filled acknowledgment of this fact. It’s our way of saying we not only believe this will happen, we also look forward to it and pray for it.Secondly, we must realize that the Kingdom of God is already here among us. For now, it’s an invisible Kingdom. It’s a spiritual reality that must become an all-consuming and present reality in our world.To pray that God’s “Kingdom come” means we desire that He first take greater possession of our souls. The Kingdom of God must be within us. He must reign on the throne of our hearts and we must allow Him. Therefore, this must be our constant prayer.We also pray that the Kingdom of God become present in our world. God wants to transform the social, political and cultural order right now. So we must pray and work for that. Our prayer for the Kingdom to come is also a way for us to commit ourselves to God to allow Him to use us for this very purpose. It’s a prayer of faith and courage. Faith because we believe He can use us, and courage because the evil one and world will not like it. As the Kingdom of God is established in this world through us, we will meet with opposition. But that’s ok and should be expected. And this petition is, in part, to help us with this mission.Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven: Praying for the Kingdom of God to come means, also, that we seek to live the will of the Father. This is done as we enter into union with Christ Jesus. He fulfilled the will of His Father with perfection. His human life is the perfect model of the will of God and it is also the means by which we live the will of God.This petition is a way of committing ourselves to live in union with Christ Jesus. We take our will and entrust it to Christ so that His will lives in us.By doing this we begin to be filled with all virtue. We will also be filled with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which are necessary for living the will of the Father. For example, the Gift of Knowledge is a gift by which we come to know what God wants of us in particular situations in life. So praying this petition is a way of asking God to fill us with knowledge of His will. But we also need the courage and strength necessary to then live out that will. So this petition also prays for those Gifts of the Holy Spirit that enable us to live out what God reveals as His divine plan for our lives.It is, of course, also an intercession for all people. In this petition we pray that all will come to live in unity and harmony with God’s perfect plan.Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Jesus, I trust in You.
SUPREMI APOSTOLATUS OFFICIO ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON DEVOTION OF THE ROSARY Venerable Brethren, Health and the Apostolic Benediction. The supreme Apostolic office which we discharge and the exceedingly difficult condition of these times, daily warn and almost compel Us to watch carefully over the integrity of the Church, the more that the calamities from which she suffers are greater. While, therefore, we endeavour in every way to preserve the rights of the Church and to obviate or repel present or contingent dangers, We constantly seek for help from Heaven - the sole means of effecting anything - that our labours and our care may obtain their wished for object. We deem that there could be no surer and more efficacious means to this end than by religion and piety to obtain the favour of the great Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, the guardian of our peace and the minister to us of heavenly grace, who is placed on the highest summit of power and glory in Heaven, in order that she may bestow the help of her patronage on men who through so many labours and dangers are striving to reach that eternal city. Now that the anniversary, therefore, of manifold and exceedingly great favours obtained by a Christian people through the devotion of the Rosary is at hand, We desire that that same devotion should be offered by the whole Catholic world with the greatest earnestness to the Blessed Virgin, that by her intercession her Divine Son may be appeased and softened in the evils which afflict us. And therefore We determined, Venerable Brethren, to despatch to you these letters in order that, informed of Our designs, your authority and zeal might excite the piety of your people to conform themselves to them. 2. It has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in her maternal goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice, put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God. And truly the Immaculate Virgin, chosen to be the Mother of God and thereby associated with Him in the work of man's salvation, has a favour and power with her Son greater than any human or angelic creature has ever obtained, or ever can gain. And, as it is her greatest pleasure to grant her help and comfort to those who seek her, it cannot be doubted that she would deign, and even be anxious, to receive the aspirations of the universal Church. 3. This devotion, so great and so confident, to the august Queen of Heaven, has never shone forth with such brilliancy as when the militant Church of God has seemed to be endangered by the violence of heresy spread abroad, or by an intolerable moral corruption, or by the attacks of powerful enemies. Ancient and modern history and the more sacred annals of the Church bear witness to public and private supplications addressed to the Mother of God, to the help she has granted in return, and to the peace and tranquillity which she had obtained from God. Hence her illustrious titles of helper, consoler, mighty in war, victorious, and peace-giver. And amongst these is specially to be commemorated that familiar title derived from the Rosary by which the signal benefits she has gained for the whole of Christendom have been solemnly perpetuated. There is none among you, venerable brethren, who will not remember how great trouble and grief God's Holy Church suffered from the Albigensian heretics, who sprung from the sect of the later Manicheans, and who filled the South of France and other portions of the Latin world with their pernicious errors, and carrying everywhere the terror of their arms, strove far and wide to rule by massacre and ruin. Our merciful God, as you know, raised up against these most direful enemies a most holy man, the illustrious parent and founder of the Dominican Order. Great in the integrity of his doctrine, in his example of virtue, and by his apostolic labours, he proceeded undauntedly to attack the enemies of the Catholic Church, not by force of arms; but trusting wholly to that devotion which he was the first to institute under the name of the Holy Rosary, which was disseminated through the length and breadth of the earth by him and his pupils. Guided, in fact, by divine inspiration and grace, he foresaw that this devotion, like a most powerful warlike weapon, would be the means of putting the enemy to flight, and of confounding their audacity and mad impiety. Such was indeed its result. Thanks to this new method of prayer-when adopted and properly carried out as instituted by the Holy Father St. Dominic-piety, faith, and union began to return, and the projects and devices of the heretics to fall to pieces. Many wanderers also returned to the way of salvation, and the wrath of the impious was restrained by the arms of those Catholics who had determined to repel their violence. 4. The efficacy and power of this devotion was also wondrously exhibited in the sixteenth century, when the vast forces of the Turks threatened to impose on nearly the whole of Europe the yoke of superstition and barbarism. At that time the Supreme Pontiff, St. Pius V., after rousing the sentiment of a common defence among all the Christian princes, strove, above all, with the greatest zeal, to obtain for Christendom the favour of the most powerful Mother of God. So noble an example offered to heaven and earth in those times rallied around him all the minds and hearts of the age. And thus Christ's faithful warriors, prepared to sacrifice their life and blood for the salvation of their faith and their country, proceeded undauntedly to meet their foe near the Gulf of Corinth, while those who were unable to take part formed a pious band of supplicants, who called on Mary, and unitedly saluted her again and again in the words of the Rosary, imploring her to grant the victory to their companions engaged in battle. Our Sovereign Lady did grant her aid; for in the naval battle by the Echinades Islands, the Christian fleet gained a magnificent victory, with no great loss to itself, in which the enemy were routed with great slaughter. And it was to preserve the memory of this great boon thus granted, that the same Most Holy Pontiff desired that a feast in honour of Our Lady of Victories should celebrate the anniversary of so memorable a struggle, the feast which Gregory XIII. dedicated under the title of "The Holy Rosary." Similarly, important successes were in the last century gained over the Turks at Temeswar, in Pannonia, and at Corfu; and in both cases these engagements coincided with feasts of the Blessed Virgin and with the conclusion of public devotions of the Rosary. And this led our predecessor, Clement XL, in his gratitude, to decree that the Blessed Mother of God should every year be especially honoured in her Rosary by the whole Church. 5. Since, therefore, it is clearly evident that this form of prayer is particularly pleasing to the Blessed Virgin, and that it is especially suitable as a means of defence for the Church and all Christians, it is in no way wonderful that several others of Our Predecessors have made it their aim to favour and increase its spread by their high recommendations. Thus Urban IV, testified that "every day the Rosary obtained fresh boon for Christianity." Sixtus IV declared that this method of prayer "redounded to the honour of God and the Blessed Virgin, and was well suited to obviate impending dangers;" Leo X that "it was instituted to oppose pernicious heresiarchs and heresies;" while Julius III called it "the glory of the Church." So also St. Pius V., that "with the spread of this devotion the meditations of the faithful have begun to be more inflamed, their prayers more fervent, and they have suddenly become different men; the darkness of heresy has been dissipated, and the light of Catholic faith has broken forth again." Lastly Gregory XIII in his turn pronounced that "the Rosary had been instituted by St. Dominic to appease the anger of God and to implore the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary." 6. Moved by these thoughts and by the examples of Our Predecessors, We have deemed it most opportune for similar reasons to institute solemn prayers and to endeavour by adopting those addressed to the Blessed Virgin in the recital of the Rosary to obtain from her son Jesus Christ a similar aid against present dangers. You have before your eyes, Venerable Brethren, the trials to which the Church is daily exposed; Christian piety, public morality, nay, even faith itself, the supreme good and beginning of all the other virtues, all are daily menaced with the greatest perils. 7. Nor are you only spectators of the difficulty of the situation, but your charity, like Ours, is keenly wounded; for it is one of the most painful and grievous sights to see so many souls, redeemed by the blood of Christ, snatched from salvation by the whirlwind of an age of error, precipitated into the abyss of eternal death. Our need of divine help is as great today as when the great Dominic introduced the use of the Rosary of Mary as a balm for the wounds of his contemporaries. 8. That great saint indeed, divinely enlightened, perceived that no remedy would be more adapted to the evils of his time than that men should return to Christ, who "is the way, the truth, and the life," by frequent meditation on the salvation obtained for Us by Him, and should seek the intercession with God of that Virgin, to whom it is given to destroy all heresies. He therefore so composed the Rosary as to recall the mysteries of our salvation in succession, and the subject of meditation is mingled and, as it were, interlaced with the Angelic salutation and with the prayer addressed to God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We, who seek a remedy for similar evils, do not doubt therefore that the prayer introduced by that most blessed man with so much advantage to the Catholic world, will have the greatest effect in removing the calamities of our times also. Not only do We earnestly exhort all Christians to give themselves to the recital of the pious devotion of the Rosary publicly, or privately in their own house and family, and that unceasingly, but we also desire that the whole of the month of October in this year should be consecrated to the Holy Queen of the Rosary. We decree and order that in the whole Catholic world, during this year, the devotion of the Rosary shall be solemnly celebrated by special and splendid services. From the first day of next October, therefore, until the second day of the November following, in every parish and, if the ecclesiastical authority deem it opportune and of use, in every chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin - let five decades of the Rosary be recited with the addition of the Litany of Loreto. We desire that the people should frequent these pious exercises; and We will that either Mass shall be said at the altar, or that the Blessed Sacrament shall be exposed to the adoration of the faithful, Benediction being afterwards given with the Sacred Host to the pious congregation. We highly approve of the confraternities of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin going in procession, following ancient custom, through the town, as a public demonstration of their devotion. And in those places where this is not possible, let it be replaced by more assiduous visits to the churches, and let the fervour of piety display itself by a still greater diligence in the exercise of the Christian virtues. 9. In favour of those who shall do as We have above laid down, We are pleased to open the heavenly treasure-house of the Church that they may find therein at once encouragements and rewards for their piety. We therefore grant to all those who, in the prescribed space of time, shall have taken part in the public recital of the Rosary and the Litanies, and shall have prayed for Our intention, seven years and seven times forty days of indulgence, obtainable each time. We will that those also shall share in these favours who are hindered by a lawful cause from joining in these public prayers of which We have spoken, provided that they shall have practiced those devotions in private and shall have prayed to God for Our intention. We remit all punishment and penalties for sins committed, in the form of a Pontifical indulgence, to all who, in the prescribed time, either publicly in the churches or privately at home (when hindered from the former by lawful cause) shall have at least twice practiced these pious exercises; and who shall have, after due confession, approached the holy table. We further grant a plenary indulgence to those who, either on the feast of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary or within its octave, after having similarly purified their souls by a salutary confession, shall have approached the table of Christ and prayed in some church according to Our intention to God and the Blessed Virgin for the necessities of the Church. 10. And you, Venerable Brethren, - the more you have at heart the honour of Mary, and the welfare of human society, the more diligently apply yourselves to nourish the piety of the people towards the great Virgin, and to increase their confidence in her. We believe it to be part of the designs of Providence that, in these times of trial for the Church, the ancient devotion to the august Virgin should live and flourish amid the greatest part of the Christian world. May now the Christian nations, excited by Our exhortations, and inflamed by your appeals, seek the protection of Mary with an ardour growing greater day by day; let them cling more and more to the practice of the Rosary, to that devotion which our ancestors were in the habit of practicing, not only as an ever-ready remedy for their misfortunes, but as a whole badge of Christian piety. The heavenly Patroness of the human race will receive with joy these prayers and supplications, and will easily obtain that the good shall grow in virtue, and that the erring should return to salvation and repent; and that God who is the avenger of crime, moved to mercy and pity may deliver Christendom and civil society from all dangers, and restore to them peace so much desired. 11. Encouraged by this hope, We beseech God Himself, with the most earnest desire of Our heart, through her in whom he has placed the fulness of all good, to grant you. Venerable Brethren, every gift of heavenly blessing. As an augury and pledge of which, We lovingly impart to you, to your clergy, and to the people entrusted to your care, the Apostolic Benediction. Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, the 1st of September, 1883, in the sixth year of Our Pontificate. LEO XIII It would mean a lot to me if you could leave a review on iTunes; The podcast has been downloaded over 30,000 times and we now have listeners in over 100 Countries. Ratings helps others find this podcast and I would love you to not only help share it by rating it but also by recommending it to your families and friends and also by sharing it on social media. Follow me on twitter @dylandrego or on instagram @dylan.drego and do not hesitate to drop me a line. We are living in dark times (in and outside of the Church) which now more than ever requires you and me, ordinary men and women to fight with all our might for the salvation of souls and our own sanctity. Prayer is the foundation that grounds us as well as the wings that draw us close to God. It is the beginning. Pope St. Pius X's reach was limited by the technology of his day, but what about us? What if we could gather, inspire and call upon a 1,000,000 families to pray the rosary everyday? If you have any prayers you'd like to request, or comments and/or suggestions - please email me at dylandrego@me.com. Know that if you are listening to this, I am praying for you. Please continue to pray with me and for me and my family. May everything you do be Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. God Love You! Valete (Goodbye) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-latin-prayer-podcast/id1202522527?mt=2 http://dylandrego.podbean.com
To fully engage in the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, or better known as the feast of Corpus Christi, one must first delve into a fuller understanding of the mystery of the Incarnation.
“Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” Mark 14:22a-24Happy Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God! What a Gift we celebrate today!The Eucharist is everything. It’s all things, the fullness of life, eternal salvation, mercy, grace, happiness, etc. Why is the Eucharist all this and so much more? Simply put, the Eucharist IS God. Period. Therefore, the Eucharist is all that God is.In his beautiful traditional hymn, “Adoro te Devote,” St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “I devoutly adore You, O hidden Deity, truly hidden beneath these appearances. My whole heart submits to You, and in contemplating You, it surrenders itself completely. Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of You, but hearing suffices firmly to believe…” What a glorious statement of faith in this wondrous gift.This statement of faith reveals that when we worship before the Eucharist, we worship God Himself hidden under the appearance of bread and wine. Our senses are deceived. What we see, taste and feel do not reveal the reality before us. The Eucharist is God.Throughout our lives, if we were raised Catholic, we were taught reverence for the Eucharist. But “reverence” is not enough. Most Catholics reverence the Eucharist, meaning, we genuflect, kneel, and treat the Sacred Host with respect. But it’s important to ponder a question in your heart. Do you believe the Eucharist is God Almighty, the Savior of the world, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity? Do you believe deeply enough to have your heart moved with love and profound devotion every time you are before our divine Lord present before us under the veil of the Eucharist? When you kneel do you fall down prostrate in your heart, loving God with your whole being?Perhaps this sounds like it’s a bit excessive. Perhaps simple reverence and respect is enough for you. But it’s not. Since the Eucharist is God Almighty, we must see Him there with the eyes of faith in our soul. We must profoundly adore Him as the angels do in Heaven. We must cry out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” We must be moved to the deepest of worship as we enter into His divine presence.Ponder the depth of your faith in the Eucharist today and strive to renew it, worshiping God as one who believes with your whole being.I devoutly adore You, O hidden Deity, truly hidden beneath these appearances. My whole heart submits to You, and in contemplating You, it surrenders itself completely. Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of You, but hearing suffices firmly to believe. Jesus, I trust in You.
“Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” Mark 14:22a-24Happy Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God! What a Gift we celebrate today!The Eucharist is everything. It’s all things, the fullness of life, eternal salvation, mercy, grace, happiness, etc. Why is the Eucharist all this and so much more? Simply put, the Eucharist IS God. Period. Therefore, the Eucharist is all that God is.In his beautiful traditional hymn, “Adoro te Devote,” St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “I devoutly adore You, O hidden Deity, truly hidden beneath these appearances. My whole heart submits to You, and in contemplating You, it surrenders itself completely. Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of You, but hearing suffices firmly to believe…” What a glorious statement of faith in this wondrous gift.This statement of faith reveals that when we worship before the Eucharist, we worship God Himself hidden under the appearance of bread and wine. Our senses are deceived. What we see, taste and feel do not reveal the reality before us. The Eucharist is God.Throughout our lives, if we were raised Catholic, we were taught reverence for the Eucharist. But “reverence” is not enough. Most Catholics reverence the Eucharist, meaning, we genuflect, kneel, and treat the Sacred Host with respect. But it’s important to ponder a question in your heart. Do you believe the Eucharist is God Almighty, the Savior of the world, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity? Do you believe deeply enough to have your heart moved with love and profound devotion every time you are before our divine Lord present before us under the veil of the Eucharist? When you kneel do you fall down prostrate in your heart, loving God with your whole being?Perhaps this sounds like it’s a bit excessive. Perhaps simple reverence and respect is enough for you. But it’s not. Since the Eucharist is God Almighty, we must see Him there with the eyes of faith in our soul. We must profoundly adore Him as the angels do in Heaven. We must cry out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” We must be moved to the deepest of worship as we enter into His divine presence.Ponder the depth of your faith in the Eucharist today and strive to renew it, worshiping God as one who believes with your whole being.I devoutly adore You, O hidden Deity, truly hidden beneath these appearances. My whole heart submits to You, and in contemplating You, it surrenders itself completely. Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of You, but hearing suffices firmly to believe. Jesus, I trust in You.
"You owe such a great debt to your Father—God! He has given you life, intelligence, will... He has given you his grace: the Holy Spirit; Jesus, in the Sacred Host; divine sonship; the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God and our Mother. He has given you the possibility of taking part in the Holy Mass; and he grants you forgiveness for your sins. He forgives you so many times! He has given you countless gifts, some of them quite extraordinary... Tell me, my son: how have you corresponded so far to this generosity? How are you corresponding now?" - St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 11 1. Reflect on your past year in the light of four categories: - Physical - Spiritual - Mental - Emotional 2. Begin with general goals (e.g. reach heaven, I want to eat better, I want to be in better shape). Cassian relates that the Abbot Moses, one day, in a spiritual conference, asked his religious, What was it they aimed at by alt their praying, fasting, watching, and other austerities? When they answered, That it was the kingdom of heaven: he replied, I know very well that heaven is your last and great end; but what is the immediate and particular object by which you mean to attain your last end? (Cassian Col. V. cap. iii. and iv.) A certain man, says he, having a field, which was all overrun with briers and thorns, sent his son to stub and clear it. The young man, perceiving the laborious task imposed on him by his father, lost courage, and fell asleep the first day, and the second day he did the same, for which his father reprehended him, saying, Son you must not look upon this work all together, and in the gross, as if you were to do it all at once; but you must undertake every day as much as you can easily perform. The son followed the father's advice, and in a short time the whole field was cleared. 3. Break the general goal down into small, specific pieces. 4. Schedule in your tasks, especially with prayer and exercise. 5. Move toward the goal every single day. Other example areas of growth: - Exercise - Eating right and well - Prayer time, specifically mental prayer, but also other devotions like the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Liturgy of the Hours - Sacrament Participation - Reading the Bible - Spiritual Reading - Daily Journaling - Nightly Examination of Conscience - Morning Offering "Be definite. Don’t let your resolutions be like fireworks that sparkle for a moment, to leave behind as hard reality a blackened, useless stub that one throws disgustedly away." - St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 247 "Make few resolutions. Make them definite. — And fulfil them with the help of God." - St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 249 "I listened in silence as you said, ‘Yes, I want to be a saint.’ Though usually such a vague and general statement seems nonsense to me." - St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 250 Recommended Spiritual Reading for Beginning a Habit of Prayer - The Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition (My Favorite Bible) https://amzn.to/2SvAuTx - Searching for and Maintaining Peace by Fr. Jacques Philippe (My Favorite) https://amzn.to/2RiZUX9 - Interior Freedom by Fr. Jacques Philippe https://amzn.to/2BQGnDA - Time for God by Fr. Jacques Philippe https://amzn.to/2LIsL1I Song Credit: Star Visions Of A Champ (KieLoKaz ID 103) by KieLoBot Website: https://wedaretosay.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wedaretosay/
The world is beautiful and reveals the beauty of God, but spiritual realities, such as the Holy Eucharist, are far more beautiful. To see the beauty of God, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, you need eyes of faith. One of the best ways to sharpen your vision of this beauty is through adoration. Though receiving Holy Communion must be the ultimate union we experience with our Lord, adoration of Him, present in the Sacred Host, prepares you for this encounter by revealing His beauty. Seek to adore Him exposed in the monstrance on the altar and let the eyes of your soul become enthralled by His beauty (See Diary #1692).Do you ever participate in adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist? If you have adoration regularly at your church, you are blessed. If not, seek it out at a nearby church. Adoration feeds your soul and reveals to you the beauty of God. Reflect upon your experience of Eucharistic adoration and recommit yourself to a wholehearted participation in this glorious act.Lord, I adore You with the most profound adoration as You are present before me in the Most Holy Eucharist. I love You and seek to know Your hidden beauty and splendor. You are glorious, dear Lord. As I behold Your glory, draw me ever deeper into Your perfect Heart of Mercy. Jesus, I trust in You.
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