The Eucharistic Meditations of the Cure d'Ars (St. John Mary Vianney)
#13
MEDITATION 13: THE BLESSED EUCHARIST THE SOURCE OF JOY


What must have been the joy of the aged Simeon when pressed to his heart, overflowing with
love, the Infant Jesus who still more inflamed his love so that he cried out:

“Now Lord, let me die.” Assuredly, he was in an ecstasy. it we, are we not more happy than
Simeon? He could only keep Jesus for a short time, we can keep Him always we will. He comes not
only into our arms, but into our art.

1. THE EUCHARIST, SOURCE OF JOY AND SWEETNESS.

Oh, who will ever understand the happiness of the Christian who receives Jesus Christ into his
heart, who us becomes a little heaven. He alone is as rich as all heaven put together.
Qh! happy home where these Christians live. What reverence ought we to have for them
during the whole Ly! To have in this house a second tabernacle where the good God has been
present in Body and Soul.

O Man, how happy thou art, but how little thou dost understand this happiness. Didst thou
but understand it, you could not live. Oh! no. Truly you would not be able live! You would die of
love! That God gives Himself thee, thou canst carry Him away with thee if thou wilt, whither thou
wilt. He is one with thee. Ah! a heart that is once been seized in the holy embrace of its Saviour can
never find happiness out of Him.

One Easter Sunday, after Holy Communion, St. Teresa is rapt in God. Having come to herself,
she found her mouth full of the precious Blood of Our Lord, which communicated so much
sweetness to her that she thought she would die of love. I saw my divine Saviour, she writes, who
said to me: “My daughter, I wish that this adorable Blood which causes thee so much love, may be
employed save you. Never fear that My mercy will be wanting to you. When I shed this previous
Blood, I only experienced pain and bitterness, but to you it will only bring sweetness and love.”

Several times when she had the great happiness of receiving Holy Communion, the Angels
came down in a crowd from heaven, and seemed to delight in uniting with her to praise Our Lord
whom she bore in her heart.

2. EFFECTS OF THIS SPIRITUAL SWEETNESS.

It repairs the strength and appeases the hunger of the soul, and enables it to carry out joyfully
and with fervour all the duties of the Christian life.

When you have had the happiness of receiving the good God, you feel, for some time, a joy
and comfort in your heart. Pure souls are always in that state, this union is their strength and their
happiness. Oh! how sweet is this life of union with the good God! It is heaven on earth. There are
no more troubles, no longer any crosses!

Without the Blessed Eucharist there would no longer be any happiness in this world, life
would be unbearable. When we receive Holy Communion we receive our joy and all our good.
O, my children! the Blessed Victoire used to say why do you crawl along in the way salvation?
Why have you so little courage to work to merit the great happiness of going to the Holy Table, and
to eat there the Bread of Angels, which gives such strength to the weak. Oh! if you knew how this
heavenly Bread sweetens the sorrows of life! Oh! If once you had tasted how kind and generous
Jesus Christ is to those who receive Him in Holy Communion! . . . Go, my children, eat this Bread
of the strong and you will return filled with joy and courage, you will desire more sufferings, pains
and combats in order to please Jesus Christ.

When Our Lord comes to a pure soul, He is pleased. He fills it with joy and gladness. He
bestows on it this generous love which makes it do and suffer all to please Him. If one could
understand all the blessings contained in Holy Communion nothing else would content the heart
of man. The miser would no longer run after his treasures, nor the ambitious after glory. Everyone
would shake the dust of earth from their feet and would fly towards heaven.
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RE: The Eucharistic Meditations of the Cure d'Ars (St. John Mary Vianney) - by Hildegard of Bingen - 03-26-2021, 01:52 PM

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