THE HOLY EUCHARIST

"I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and my soul shall not cast you off. I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people." (Lev. 26:11,12. Cf Ez 37:27)

"Adoro te devote, latens Deitas, | quae sub his figuris vere latitas; | tibi se cor meum totum subiicit, | quia te contemplans totum deficit. (Prostrate I adore Thee, Deity unseen, | Who Thy glory hidest 'neath these shadows mean; | Lo, to Thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed, | Tranced as it beholds Thee, shrined within the cloud.)
...
Iesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio, | oro fiat illud quod tam sitio; | ut te revelata cernens facie, | visu sim beatus tuae gloriae. Amen. (Jesu, whom now veiled I by faith descry, | What my soul doth thirst for, do not Lord, deny: | That Thy Face unveiled I at last may see, | With the blissful vision blest, my God, of Thee. Amen.) (St Thomas Aquinas, Hymn Adoro te devote)

"Et ideo hoc est memoriale totius dilectionis suae, et quasi compendium quoddam omnium beneficiorum suorum." (St Bonaventure)

"[I]t is advisable that during the day, the faithful do not omit making the visit to the Blessed Sacrament. The Blessed Sacrament must be kept in a most deserving place, with maximum honor in the churches, according to the liturgical laws. The visit is a proof of gratitude, a sign of love and a duty of adoration to Christ our Lord who is present there." (Pope Paul VI, Encyclical Mysterium Fidei, 3 September 1965)

"Go perseveringly to the Tabernacle, either bodily or in your heart, so as to feel safe and calm: but also in order to feel loved...and to love." (St Josemaria, The Forge, 837)

"When the center of the thoughts and hopes of a house is the Tabernacle, how abundant are the fruits of sanctity and apostolate!" (St Josemaria)

"Lord, you make us share in the miracle of the Eucharist. We beg you not to hide away. Live with us. May we see you, may we touch you, may we feel you. May we want to be beside you all the time, and have you as the King of our lives and of our work." (St Josemaria, The Forge, 542)

"Don't you feel glad to tell Him: peto quod petivit latro poenitens--I ask of you what the penitent thief asked?" (St Josemaria)

"Jesus made himself the bread of life to give us life. That's where we begin the day, with Mass. And we end the day with the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I don't think I could do this work for even one week if I didn't have four hours of prayer everyday." (Blessed Teresa of Calcutta)

"But Jesus told them It is I who am the bread of life; he who comes to me will never be hungry, he who has faith in me will never know thirst" (Jn 6:35, Knox translation)
      "It is I who am the bread of life. Your fathers, who ate manna in the desert, died nonetheless; the bread which comes down from heaven is such that he who eats of it never dies. I myself am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And now, what is this bread which I am to give? It is my flesh, given for the life of the world." (Jn 6:48-52, Knox translation)
      "Then the Jews fell to disputing with one another, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Whereupon Jesus said to them, Believe me when I tell you this; you can have no life in yourselves, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood. The man who eats my flesh and drinks my blood enjoys eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. My flesh is real food, my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, lives continually in me and I in him." (Jn 6:53-58, Knox translation)
      "But there are some, even among you, who do not believe. Jesus knew from the first which were those who did not believe, and which of them was to betray him." (Jn 6:65, Knox translation)

"My children, every creature in the universe requires food that it may live; for this purpose God has caused the trees and plants to grow. It is a well-appointed table to which all the animals come for food that suits them. But the soul must also be fed. Where, then, is its food? ... My children, when God resolved to provide food for our soul so as to sustain her on the pilgrimage of life, he examined the whole of creation, but found nothing that was worthy of her. So he looked at himself and resolved to give himself.... O my soul, how great thou art! God alone can satisfy thee! The food of the soul! What is it but the body and blood of God! O beautiful food! God alone can be the food of the soul! God alone can suffice her! God alone is able to fill her! God alone can allay her hunger! How happy are pure souls that unite themselves to our Lord in Holy Communion! In heaven they will sparkle like beautiful diamonds because God will shine through them. O blessed life! To feed on God! O man, how great thou art! Nourished and refreshed as thou art with the flesh and blood of God! Go then to Holy Communion, my children!" (St John Mary Vianney)

"All those who receive [the Eucharist] are not saints, but the saints are always taken from the ranks of those who receive them frequently." (St John Mary Vianney)

"The most excellent of all the sacraments is the bread of angels, the flesh of Christ, which is the Body of Life... Before the benediction and the words of consecration, a different substance is there; after the consecration, the Body of Christ is present." (St Ambrose, On the Mysteries)

"Holy Communion and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass are the two most efficacious actions for obtaining the conversion of hearts." (St John Mary Vianney)

"When you receive him, tell him: Lord, I hope in you; I adore you, I love you, increase my faith. Be the support of my weakness: You, who have remained defenseless in the Eucharist so as to be the remedy for the weakness of your creatures." (St Josemaria, The Forge, 832)

"Jesus, the madness of your love has stolen my heart. You are small and helpless, so that those who eat you can become great." (St Josemaria, The Forge, 825)

"Do not give to dogs what is holy, neither cast your pearls before swine." (Mt 7:6)

We become living embers in the Eucharist. "For a live ember is not simply wood, but wood united to fire." (St John Damascene)

"Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn?" (Prov 6:27)

"God is a consuming fire." (Deut 4:24)

"The authentic sense of the Eucharist becomes of itself the school of active love for neighbor." (John Paul II, Dominicae Coenae, 6)

We find in the Eucharist the best school of charity because it is within this sacrament where our Lord shows us what it is to love opere et veritate, in deed and in truth (I Jn 3:18). Nothing compares with his example!

"Soul of Christ, sanctify me! | Body of Christ, save me! | Blood of Christ, inebriate me! | Water from the side of Christ, wash me! | Passion of Christ, strengthen me! | O good Jesus, hear me! | Hide me in Thy wounds that I may never leave Thy side. | From all the evil that surrounds me, defend me. | And when the hour of death arrives, bid me come to Thee that I may praise Thee with Thy saints forever."

"Sacrificium eucharisticum, totius vitae christianae fontem et culmen..." (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 11)

"The Mass is the center and root of the Christian life." (St Josemaria)

"All good works put together are not equivalent to the Sacrifice of the Mass, because they are the works of men and the Holy Mass is the work of God." (St John Mary Vianney)

"All the honors that the angels by their homages, and men by their virtues, penances and martyrdoms, and other holy works, have ever given to God could not give him as much glory as a single Mass. For all the honors of creatures are finite honors, but the honor given to God in the sacrifice of the altar, because it proceeds from a Divine Person, is an infinite honor." (St Alphonsus de Liguori, Dignity and Duties of the Prieste)

"A priest is worth what his Eucharistic life is worth, especially his Mass. Mass with no love, priest with no fruit. Fervent Mass, priest conqueror of souls." (John Paul II, Address to Priests in Chile, 1987. Cf also Address on 16 February 1984.)

"Even if one is a Bishop, a Cardinal, a Pope, the most important thing is to celebrate the Eucharist everyday. And also the fact that you can hear confessions. This is very important." (John Paul II, Address to Seminarians of the Roman Major Seminary, 17 February 1996)

"In these years I have always started my day with the celebration of the Eucharist, the pivot and heart of every priestly life, discovering each time with immense gratitude that it is the mysterious and essential bond which ties every priest to Christ the Redeemer. At the school of Jesus, Priest and Victim, I came increasingly to understand that the priest does not live for himself, but for the Church and for the People of God. To Mary, Mother of Christ, who has always accompanied me with her protection, I renew my thanksgiving and my entrustment: Totus tuus." (John Paul II, Address on 30 October 1996, two days before the 50th Anniversary of his Priestly Ordination)

"We should dwell on those words of Jesus, and make them our own: 'Desiderio desideravi hoc Pascha manducare vobiscum': I have longed and longed to eat this Passover with you. There is no better way to show how great is our concern and love for the Holy Sacrifice than by taking great care of the least detail of the ceremonies which the wisdom of the Church has laid down.
"This is for Love: but we should also feel the need to become like Christ, not only inside ourselves, but also in what is external...." (St Josemaria, The Forge, 833)

"The Sacrifice of the Redemption, made sacramentally present in the Holy Mass, is prolonged in some way in our personal lives, also through our voluntary and intimate sharing of the Lord's via crucis, that royal road that the Incarnate Word has opened for us through his Passion and Death." (Alvaro del Portillo, 1 September 1992)

"Let me offer you in sacrifice the service of my thoughts and my tongue, but first give me what I may offer you." (St Augustine)