My French cathedral - the Real Presence of Christ

[Angelina5]

I JUST realized something. Another “DUH” moment amidst the thousands I’ve had since coming back to the Holy Roman Catholic church.
Throughout my childhood and teenage years, whenever I would feel lonely or sad, I would always go spend time in my Catholic cathedral in my hometown.
I felt so much comfort & love there. I just realized why I always felt this tremendous warmth and peace: the REAL PRESENCE of CHRIST.

 

[Trebor135]

I JUST realized something. Another “DUH” moment amidst the thousands I’ve had since coming back to the Holy Roman Catholic church.
Throughout my childhood and teenage years, whenever I would feel lonely or sad, I would always go spend time in my Catholic cathedral in my hometown.
I felt so much comfort & love there. I just realized why I always felt this tremendous warmth and peace: the REAL PRESENCE of CHRIST.

I’m reminded of what Patty Bonds, the sister of Reformed Baptist apologist James White, wrote in this extended account of her conversion to Catholicism (PDF format) about the reaction of Bonds’ daughter Esther on the first day of the Easter Triduum to the removal of the consecrated elements in the tabernacle (emphasis added):

Holy Thursday came and Esther and I were awestruck at the solemnity of the Mass. At the end, our parish priest took the Eucharist in the ciborium in his arms, wrapped it carefully in his vestments and carried it from the sanctuary. A sense of emptiness swept over me. My daughter looked up at me and whispered, “Mom, now it feels like a Protestant church in here.” Indeed, it did feel like the churches I had been accustomed to attending before God called us home. I ached for the Presence of Christ to return to the Tabernacle.

 

[OraLabora]

I’m reminded of a personal experience. Like in most Benedictine monasteries, the Blessed Sacrament is in kept in a tabernacle in a side chapel. I always like to stop in and sit in front of my Lord before Mass. One Holy Thursday I stopped in before the Mass of the Last Supper. I felt a huge emptiness. Then I realized the sanctuary lamp was extinguished. A monk later confirmed that they had removed the Blessed Sacrament earlier in preparation for its transfer to the altar of repose after Mass.

As I like to tell people, the absence confirmed the Presence!