Quotations from the Saints on the Eucharist

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In this final month of the Year of the Eucharist, proclaimed by Pope John Paul II, here are some quotations from Saints on the Blessed Sacrament:

Before you receive Jesus Christ, you should remove from your heart all worldly attachments which you know to be displeasing to Him. -St. Augustine

He is generous even to exhaustion; and what is most wonderful is, that He gives Himself thus entirely, not once only, but every day, if we wish it. Every fresh Communion is a new gift which Jesus Christ makes of Himself. -St. Ignatius Loyola

God in his omnipotence could not give more, in His wisdom He knew not how to give more, in His riches He had not more to give, than the Eucharist. -St. Augustine

The Blessed Sacrament is the first and supreme object of our worship. We must preserve in the depths of our heats a constant and uninterrupted, profound adoration of this precious pledge of Divine Love. -St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven. -Pope St. Pius X

As two pieces of wax fused together make one, so he who receives Holy Communion is so united with Christ that Christ is in him and he is in Christ. -St. Cyril of Alexandria

As by the Word of God, Jesus our Savior was Flesh and had both Flesh and blood for our salvation, so also the food which has been blessed by the word of prayer instituted by Him is both the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Incarnate. -St. Justin Martyr

The Holy Eucharist is the perfect expression of the love of Jesus Christ for man, since It is the quintessence of all the mysteries of His Life. -St. Peter Julian Eymard

This is the Bread of everlasting life which supports the substance of our soul. -St. Ambrose

Do you realize that Jesus us there in the tabernacle expressly for you, for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart. -St. Therese of Lisieux

The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord’s Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion. -St. Thomas Aquinas

He loves, He hopes, He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep him waiting an instant. The Holy Eucharist is the perfect expression of the love of Jesus Christ for man, since it is the quintessence of all the mysteries of His life. I can no longer live without Jesus. How soon shall I receive Him again?? -St. Maria Goretti

In all He did from the Incarnation to the Cross, the end Jesus Christ had in mind was the gift of the Eucharist, his personal and corporal union with each Christian through Communion. He saw in It the means of communicating to us all the treasures of His Passion, all the virtues of His Sacred Humanity, and all the merits of His Life. -St. Peter Julian Eymard

Our Lord does not come down from Heaven every day to lie in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to Him - the heaven of our souls, created in His Image, the living temples of the Adorable Trinity. -St. Therese of Lisieux

This is our daily Bread; take It daily, that It may profit thee daily. Live, as to deserve to receive It daily. -St. Augustine

Humility was extolled by Christ; and surely in this Sacrament He preaches an unrivaled humility, which disdains no dwelling, but consents to come like a guest to any heart, even one that is defiled. -St. Thomas Aquinas

A soul can do nothing that is more pleasing to God than to communicate in a state of grace. -St. Alphonsus Liguori

Love tends to union with the object loved. Now Jesus Christ loves a soul that is in a state of grace with an immense love; He ardently desires to unite Himself with it. This is what Holy Communion does. -St. Alphonsus Liguori

Whereas in the Lord’s Prayer, we are bidden to ask for ‘our daily bread,’ the Holy Fathers of the Church all but unanimously teach that by these words must be understood, not so much that material bread which is the support of the body, as the Eucharistic bread, which ought to be our daily food. -Pope St. Pius X

(continued)
 
Once you have learned these things, be fully assured that what appears as bread is not bread, even if your sense of taste says so. Rather, it is the body of Christ. And what appears to be wine is not wine even though your taste tells you it is. Rather, it is the blood of Christ. Concerning this David the Psalmist said, “bread strengthens man’s heart to gladden his face with oil.” Strengthen your heart because you partake of it as something spiritual. Gladden the face of your soul. Let that which is unveiled make you as one who has a pure conscience, beholding (or reflecting) the glory of the Lord. Move from glory to glory in our Lord Christ Jesus, to whom be honor, power, and glory forever and ever. Amen. -St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem and Doctor of the Church (315-386)

Do not think of the bread and wine as mere bread and wine for they constitute the body and blood of Christ by the Lord’s own declaration. For even if your sense experience suggests this to you, let your faith rather confirm it for you. Do not judge the matter from taste. Rather, from your faith become fully persuaded without a doubt because you have been made worthy of the body and blood of Christ.
-St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem and Doctor of the Church (315-386)

In this dark vale of tears, I wish solely to feed upon this secret manna, this delicious substance. -St. Cajetan

Consider now which of the two foods is the more sublime… The manna came down from heaven, it [the Eucharist] is to be found higher than heaven; the manna belonged to heaven, (the Eucharist) to the Lord of heaven; the manna rotted away if it was kept for
another day, (the Eucharist) knows no corruption because whoever tastes it with the right dispositions will never experience corruption. For them [the Israelites] the water sprang up from the rock; for you blood flows from Christ. The water quenched the (Israelites’) thirst for a short while; the blood cleanses you forever. The Jews drank and were thirsty; you, once you have drunk, can no longer feel thirst. In their case everything that happened was symbolic; in yours it is real. If you are amazed by it and yet it was no more than a shadow, how much more awesome must that reality be whose mere shadow amazes you. –St. Ambrose

On this earth, when we receive an important person, we bring out the best–lights, music, formal dress. How should we prepare to receive Christ into our soul? Have we ever thought about how we should behave if we could only receive Him once in a lifetime?
–St Josemaria Escriva

Keep close to the Catholic Church at all times, for the Church alone can give you true peace, since she alone possesses Jesus, the true Prince of Peace, in the Blessed Sacrament. –St. Padre Pio

Trust all things to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary, Help of Christians, and you will see what miracles are. –St. John Bosco

God dwells in our midst, in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. --St. Maximilian Kolbe

Receive Communion often, very often…there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing. –St. Therese of Lisieux

And just as he appeared before the holy Apostles in true flesh, so now he has us see him in the Sacred Bread. Looking at him with the eyes of their flesh, they saw only his flesh; but regarding him with the eyes of the spirit, they believed that he was God. In like manner, as we see bread and wine with our bodily eyes, let us see and believe firmly that it is his most holy Body and Blood, true and living. For in this way our Lord is ever present among those who believe in him, according to what he said: “Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world.” (Mt 28:20) --St. Francis of Assisi

If I can give you any advice, I beg you to get closer to the Eucharist and to Jesus…We must pray to Jesus to give us that tenderness of the Eucharist. –Bl. Mother Theresa of Calcutta

When you have received him, stir up your heart to do him homage; speak to him about your spiritual life, gazing upon him in your soul where he is present for your happiness; welcome him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of his presence. –St. Francis de Sales

One thing alone sustains me, and that is Holy Communion…Jesus concealed in the host is everything to me. From the tabernacle I draw strength, power, courage, and light. Here, I seek consolation in time of anguish. I would not know how to give glory to God if I did not have the Eucharist in my heart. –St. Faustina Kowalska
 
Thanks for sharing that! I’m going to share with my family.
 
Saint Basil the Great
*To communicate every day and to receive the Holy Body and Blood of Christ is both good and beneficial. For who can doubt that to continuously participate in life is nothing else than to live in many ways. *

St. Cyprian of Carthage
(250 A.D.) He says that whoever will eat of His Bread will live forever. So it is clear that those who partake of His Body and receive the Eucharist by the right of communion one living. On the other hand, we must fear and pray lest anyone who is separated from Christ’s body - being barred from communion - should remain at a distance from salvation. For He Himself warns and says, “Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you.

The next three are from:
St. Ignatius of Antioch
(105 A.D.) *Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is celebrated either by the bishop, or by the presbyter to whom he has entrusted it.

I desire the Bread of God, the heavenly Bread, the bread of life - which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. … And I desire the drink of God, namely His Blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life.

Take heed, then, to have only one Eucharist. For there is one Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to the unity of His Blood.*
 
Can I consider Thomas à Kemphis a saint? 🙂

“With arms outstretched upon the cross, I hung stripped and naked, with nothing remaining in Me which was not turned into a complete sacrifice; I willingly offered Myself to God the Father, to appease the divine wrath and to satisfy for many sins. Should you not willingly, therefore, daily offer yourself to Me in the Mass, with all the strength and the devotion of your heart, as a pure and holy ablation?
I ask nothing more of you than this: your efforts to surrender yourself wholly to Me. I care for nothing else that you can give besides yourself; for it is not your gift but you that I seek”. (Imitation of Christ.)
 
Not a saint (yet) but a great and influential Catholic:

The only cure for sagging of fainting faith is Communion. Though always Itself, perfect and complete and inviolate, the Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals…

Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament… There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth, and more than that: Death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man’s heart desires.
  • The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
 
Prelude, by St. Francis of Assisi

Let everyone be struck with fear, and the whole world tremble, and the heavens exult when Christ, the Son of the Living God, is present on the altar in the hands of a priest!

O wonderful loftiness and stupendous dignity! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity!

The Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that He hides Himself for our salvation under an ordinary piece of bread!

See the humility of God, brothers, and pour out your hearts before Him. Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by Him! Hold back nothing of yourselves, that He Who gives Himself totally to you, may receive you totally!
 
“After you have received Holy Communion, offer the Divine Wealth you then possess to pay the debt of souls… Souls that eat My flesh possess God, the Author of life and of life eternal. That is how they become My heaven. Nothing can compare with their beauty. The angels are in admiration and, as God is with them, they fall down in adoration. O souls, if you only knew your dignity!… Your soul is in My heaven; every time you receive Me in Holy Communion. My grace augments both your dignity and your beauty.” - Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez
 
I found this Site with extensive quotes:
therealpresence.org/eucharst/tes/a7.html

Put your sins in the chalice for the precious blood to wash away. One drop is capable of washing away the sins of the world. “The Eucharist is connected with the Passion. If Jesus had not established the Eucharist we would have forgotten the crucifixion. It would have faded into the past and we would have forgotten that Jesus loved us. There is a saying that to be far away from the eyes is to be far away from the heart. To make sure that we do not forget, Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a memorial of his love,”
- Blessed Mother Teresa
 
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