03-21-2021, 01:50 PM
MEDITATION 9: THE EUCHARIST UNITES US TO JESUS CHRIST
A saint used to say that we were God-bearers. It is really true because at the moment of
receiving the Blessed Eucharist, and as long as the Sacred Species subsist, Jesus Christ is
substantially present with His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in our body and our soul. We are
thus tabernacles, living ciboria of Jesus Christ. What are You doing, O my Saviour, during this
quarter of an hour, when You deign to dwell in me; when You are in contact with my body and my
soul? I cure you of your spiritual laziness, strive to draw you into My Heart; I set you on fire with
flames of love for God and for your brethren. O mystery of condescension and of divine love! Give
me O Jesus, an understanding and relish of it.
1. UNION OF SPIRIT WITH CHRIST.
Jesus, whilst He remains after Holy Communion under the Eucharistic Species, unites Himself
intimately to the Christian soul, by animating it with the most lively sentiments of love and
fervour; this is the chief end for which He comes into our hearts. The union of the Flesh of Christ
with our flesh has its consummation and its perfection only in this union of spirit which it brings
about and symbolises. In the Eucharist, the Flesh of Our Lord is in some way the instrument by
which the Divinity touches us even to the most intimate depths of our being in order to give us life.
Let us listen to the servant of God telling us, after the manner of the saints, this wonderful
effect of this adorable Sacrament.
One Communion is to the soul what a breath of wind is to a fire that is dying out, but where
there are still many embers. It blows on them and the fire is rekindled.
One Communion well made is sufficient to inflame a soul with the love of God and to make
him disregard the world.
A great personage of this world not long since came here to Holy Communion: he had a
fortune of 300,000 francs. He gave 100,000 to build a church, 100,000 to the poor, and 100,000 to
his parents, and he entered La Trappe. A lawyer came after him; he made a good Communion, and
set out determined to put himself under the direction of Père Lacordaire. Oh! One Holy
Communion, one only, it is enough to given man a distaste for earth and to give him a foretaste of
heavenly delights.
When one has received Communion, the soul revels in the embraces of love as a bee in the
flowers. He who communicates loses himself in God as a drop of water in the ocean. They cannot
be separated.
He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, said Jesus Christ, abides in Me and I in him. My
Flesh is meat indeed and My Blood is drink indeed; so that by Holy Communion, the adorable
Blood of Jesus Christ flows in our veins, His Flesh is truly mingled with ours. We are united to His
Person as food is to our flesh.
St. Paul expressed this union very well when he says: “It is no longer I that live, but Jesus
Christ Who lives in me.” It is no longer I who act, who think, but it is Jesus Christ who acts and
thinks in me. If we communicate often and worthily, our thoughts, our desires, and also all our
actions and our proceedings have the same end as Jesus Christ had whilst He was on earth. We
love God, we do not attach ourselves to any of the things here below. Our hearts and minds aspire
only for heaven. O what happiness! No, no, it will only be in heaven that we shall understand it. O
my God! a creature enriched by such a gift.
He, says St. Cyril, who receives Jesus Christ in Holy Communion, is so united to Him that
they are like to two pieces of wax that are melted together, and end by becoming only one.
When you have received Our Lord, you feel your soul purified and bathed in the love of God.
When we have the good God in our heart, it ought to be on fire. The hearts of the disciples on
the way to Emmaus were burning, and they only heard Him speak.
What does Our Lord do in the Sacrament of His love? He has taken His good Heart in order
to love us. There goes out from this Heart a flood of tenderness and mercy to cleanse the sins of
the world. O Heart of Jesus, loving Heart! Flower of love! If we do not love the Heart of Jesus what
then will we love? There is only love in this Heart. How is it possible not to love what is so lovable.
2. HOLY COMMUNION IS THE SIGN OF UNITY AND THE BOND OF CHARITY.
Jesus, whilst He remains after Holy Communion under the Sacred Species, unites us
intimately to our neighbours by charity.
It is at this moment that He says again His prayer. “Holy Father, that all these may be one as
Thou Father in Me and I in You, that they may be one in Us.” “This Sacrament is the sign of unity,
the bond of charity, the symbol of concord,” says the Council of Trent. What it signifies, that it
effects. He is generous to us with Actual Graces, to help us to love our brothers sincerely, and
generously, and to make with them one body with Jesus Christ. That is why this sacrament is called
by the name Supper and Table of the Lord. These names express the union of a family, the union
of friends who gather at the same feast, around the same table.
But this union is the fruit of the sacrament. One can tell, said one saint, when a soul has
worthily received the Eucharist. It is so bathed in love, penetrated and changed, that one no longer
recognises it by its actions, in its words. It is charitable it is on good terms with everyone.
If you communicate often and worthily, you will be touched by the spiritual and temporal
miseries of your neighbour. Do not suffer any ill-will or bitterness in your heart against your
neighbour. This would be contrary to the work of Jesus in you. But this is not enough. At the
moment of Communion, and during the time after receiving, pray for the conversion of sinners,
for fervour for the tepid, the salvation of the dying, and the relief of the dead. When infinite love
comes to you, He can refuse you nothing for the souls He loves so dearly.
A saint used to say that we were God-bearers. It is really true because at the moment of
receiving the Blessed Eucharist, and as long as the Sacred Species subsist, Jesus Christ is
substantially present with His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in our body and our soul. We are
thus tabernacles, living ciboria of Jesus Christ. What are You doing, O my Saviour, during this
quarter of an hour, when You deign to dwell in me; when You are in contact with my body and my
soul? I cure you of your spiritual laziness, strive to draw you into My Heart; I set you on fire with
flames of love for God and for your brethren. O mystery of condescension and of divine love! Give
me O Jesus, an understanding and relish of it.
1. UNION OF SPIRIT WITH CHRIST.
Jesus, whilst He remains after Holy Communion under the Eucharistic Species, unites Himself
intimately to the Christian soul, by animating it with the most lively sentiments of love and
fervour; this is the chief end for which He comes into our hearts. The union of the Flesh of Christ
with our flesh has its consummation and its perfection only in this union of spirit which it brings
about and symbolises. In the Eucharist, the Flesh of Our Lord is in some way the instrument by
which the Divinity touches us even to the most intimate depths of our being in order to give us life.
Let us listen to the servant of God telling us, after the manner of the saints, this wonderful
effect of this adorable Sacrament.
One Communion is to the soul what a breath of wind is to a fire that is dying out, but where
there are still many embers. It blows on them and the fire is rekindled.
One Communion well made is sufficient to inflame a soul with the love of God and to make
him disregard the world.
A great personage of this world not long since came here to Holy Communion: he had a
fortune of 300,000 francs. He gave 100,000 to build a church, 100,000 to the poor, and 100,000 to
his parents, and he entered La Trappe. A lawyer came after him; he made a good Communion, and
set out determined to put himself under the direction of Père Lacordaire. Oh! One Holy
Communion, one only, it is enough to given man a distaste for earth and to give him a foretaste of
heavenly delights.
When one has received Communion, the soul revels in the embraces of love as a bee in the
flowers. He who communicates loses himself in God as a drop of water in the ocean. They cannot
be separated.
He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, said Jesus Christ, abides in Me and I in him. My
Flesh is meat indeed and My Blood is drink indeed; so that by Holy Communion, the adorable
Blood of Jesus Christ flows in our veins, His Flesh is truly mingled with ours. We are united to His
Person as food is to our flesh.
St. Paul expressed this union very well when he says: “It is no longer I that live, but Jesus
Christ Who lives in me.” It is no longer I who act, who think, but it is Jesus Christ who acts and
thinks in me. If we communicate often and worthily, our thoughts, our desires, and also all our
actions and our proceedings have the same end as Jesus Christ had whilst He was on earth. We
love God, we do not attach ourselves to any of the things here below. Our hearts and minds aspire
only for heaven. O what happiness! No, no, it will only be in heaven that we shall understand it. O
my God! a creature enriched by such a gift.
He, says St. Cyril, who receives Jesus Christ in Holy Communion, is so united to Him that
they are like to two pieces of wax that are melted together, and end by becoming only one.
When you have received Our Lord, you feel your soul purified and bathed in the love of God.
When we have the good God in our heart, it ought to be on fire. The hearts of the disciples on
the way to Emmaus were burning, and they only heard Him speak.
What does Our Lord do in the Sacrament of His love? He has taken His good Heart in order
to love us. There goes out from this Heart a flood of tenderness and mercy to cleanse the sins of
the world. O Heart of Jesus, loving Heart! Flower of love! If we do not love the Heart of Jesus what
then will we love? There is only love in this Heart. How is it possible not to love what is so lovable.
2. HOLY COMMUNION IS THE SIGN OF UNITY AND THE BOND OF CHARITY.
Jesus, whilst He remains after Holy Communion under the Sacred Species, unites us
intimately to our neighbours by charity.
It is at this moment that He says again His prayer. “Holy Father, that all these may be one as
Thou Father in Me and I in You, that they may be one in Us.” “This Sacrament is the sign of unity,
the bond of charity, the symbol of concord,” says the Council of Trent. What it signifies, that it
effects. He is generous to us with Actual Graces, to help us to love our brothers sincerely, and
generously, and to make with them one body with Jesus Christ. That is why this sacrament is called
by the name Supper and Table of the Lord. These names express the union of a family, the union
of friends who gather at the same feast, around the same table.
But this union is the fruit of the sacrament. One can tell, said one saint, when a soul has
worthily received the Eucharist. It is so bathed in love, penetrated and changed, that one no longer
recognises it by its actions, in its words. It is charitable it is on good terms with everyone.
If you communicate often and worthily, you will be touched by the spiritual and temporal
miseries of your neighbour. Do not suffer any ill-will or bitterness in your heart against your
neighbour. This would be contrary to the work of Jesus in you. But this is not enough. At the
moment of Communion, and during the time after receiving, pray for the conversion of sinners,
for fervour for the tepid, the salvation of the dying, and the relief of the dead. When infinite love
comes to you, He can refuse you nothing for the souls He loves so dearly.