May/June 2006
Newsletter No. 100
“Indeed, this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks upon the Son
and believes in Him
shall have eternal life. Him I will raise up on the
last day” (Jn 6:40).
POPE BENEDICT XVI ENCOURAGES PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
“I only wish to thank God, that following the [Second
Vatican] Council, after a period in which something of the meaning of
Eucharistic adoration was lacking, this adoration has been reborn everywhere in
the Church, as we saw and heard in the Synod on the Eucharist.”
“Certainly with the conciliar constitution on the liturgy, all the wealth of the
Eucharist was particularly rediscovered, the celebration where the Lord’s will
is fulfilled: He gives himself to us and we respond giving ourselves to him.”
“We have rediscovered” that “the ability to celebrate his sacrifice and in this
way enter into sacramental, almost corporal communion with him, loses its
profundity and human richness if adoration is lacking, adoration as the act that
follows receiving Communion.” “Adoration is to enter into profound heartfelt
communion with the Lord, who makes himself bodily present in the Eucharist”
(Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican City, March 2, 2006).
“O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!”
Pentecost, the descent of The Holy Spirit upon the apostles and Our
Lady (Acts 2:1-4)
The apostles were gathered around Mary in prayer when the Holy Spirit descended
upon them as tongues of fire! That same fire of Divine Love inflames Jesus in
The Eucharist, where the love of God is poured into each of our hearts. Let us
pray, “Come Holy Spirit and Renew The Face of The Earth!” (From our A-13 Rosary
Pamphlet)
“O Trinity, eternal Trinity! Fire, abyss of love . . .
Was it necessary that You should give
Even the Holy Trinity as food for souls? . . .
You gave us not only Your Word
Through the Redemption and in the Eucharist,
But You also gave Yourself
In Your fullness of love for Your creature” (St. Catherine of Siena).
Humbly Let Us Voice Our Homage
Tantum Ergo Sacramentum
Humbly let us voice our homage
Tantum ergo Sacramentum
for so great a Sacrament;
veneremur cernui;
let all former rites surrender
et antiquum documentum,
to the Lord’s New Testament;
novo cedat ritui;
what our senses fail to fathom
praestet fides supplementum,
let us grasp through faith’s consent
sensuum defectui.
Glory, honor, adoration,
Genitori, genitoque
let us sing with one accord.
laus et jubilatio,
Praised be God almighty Father;
salus, honor, virtus quoque
Praised be Christ, His Son, Our Lord;
sit et benedictio:
Praised be God the Holy Spirit;
procedenti ab utroque
Triune Godhead be adored. Amen.
compar sit laudatio. Amen.
-By St. Thomas Aquinas
START PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION IN YOUR PARISH TODAY!
A Prayer Before the Blessed Sacrament for the Increase of Priestly & Religious Vocations
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Eternal Father, Son of the Virgin
Mary, we thank you for offering your life in sacrifice on the Cross, and for
renewing this sacrifice in every Mass celebrated throughout the world. In the
power of the Holy Spirit we adore you and proclaim your living presence in the
Eucharist. We desire to imitate the love you show us in your death and
resurrection, by loving and serving one another. We ask you to call many young
people to religious life, and to provide the holy and generous priests that are
so needed in your Church today. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer Amen. (By Justin
Cardinal Rigali)
Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament—Feast Day, May 13
“This title, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament,
is perhaps the most meaningful of all.”
-Pope St. Pius X
St. Peter Julian
Eymard, of France, had a strong devotion to the Holy Eucharist and Our Lady and
began his priestly life in the Society of Mary. Our Blessed Mother drew St.
Peter Julian close to her Eucharistic Son. Jesus spoke these words to his
heart: “Ask permission to establish a religious society of Perpetual
Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament.” Our Lady told St. Peter Julian:
“All the mysteries of my Son have a religious order of men to honor them. The
Eucharist alone has none.” With the encouragement of Pope Pius IX, St.
Peter Julian founded the Congregation of the Most Blessed Sacrament on May 13,
1856.
The title of Our Lady of the
Blessed Sacrament was first given to Mary by St. Peter Julian Eymard in May
1868. A few years later he described what her statue should look like: “The
Blessed Virgin holds the Infant in her arms; and He holds a chalice in one hand
and a Host in the other.” He exhorted them to invoke Mary: “Our Lady of the
Blessed Sacrament, pray for us who have recourse to thee!”
Later, Pius IX enriched the invocation
with indulgences. Twice, St. Pius X did the same. On December 30, 1905, he
granted a 300 days indulgence to the faithful who pray: “Our Lady of the Most
Blessed Sacrament, pray for us.”
In 1921 the Sacred Congregation of
Rites authorized the Blessed Sacrament Congregations to celebrate each year, on
the 13th of May, a “solemn commemoration of the Blessed Virgin,” with the
intention of honoring Mary under the title of “Our Lady of the Most Blessed
Sacrament.” And of course this Feast is still celebrated today with great
joy by all the spiritual sons and daughters of St. Peter Julian Eymard.
Pope Bl. John XXIII codified the
title of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament when he declared St. Peter
Julian Eymard a saint on December 9, 1962, at the end of the last session of the
Second Vatican Council.
Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament—Our Lady of the Sacred Heart!
Mother and Model of all adorers of the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us who seek
thy protection.
Intentions: Please remember my loved ones and intentions in your prayers
before The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament
and St. Joseph.
______________________ ______________________ ______________________
______________________ ______________________ ______________________
Help bring the Risen Jesus’ Presence to others through Perpetual Eucharistic
Adoration.
Your monthly prayers and donations of $10, $25, $100 or more help us continue
our work.
We need your help, please be generous! Thank you! Visa and
Mastercard accepted.
Contact us to schedule a Missionary or to obtain materials and information on
Adoration.
M.B.S., P.O. Box 1701, Plattsburgh, NY 12901 (518) 561-8193 www.ACFP2000.com
Copyright, Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament. All rights reserved.
St. Joseph the Worker—May 1
“Our great saint has a part to play in the Sacred Mystery which the Church
presents to us. It was the bread gained by him that formed, or at least
increased, the Blood which was shed on Calvary and which today we receive at the
altar. This bread, transformed into the Flesh of the Son of Man, gives us life.
The Sacred Host comes to us sweetened by the thought of the guardianship which
Saint Joseph exercised over it; and the chalice of the Divine Blood carries with
it sacred memories of the sufferings and trials of the carpenter of Nazareth”
(Bishop Peter Anastasius Pichenot).
Bl. Damien Joseph of Molokai, Apostle to the Lepers, Belgium
(1840-1889)—May 10
Born in Belgium, Damien became a priest and volunteered for the Hawaiian
missions. When Damien arrived at Molokai, he built a Perpetual Eucharistic
Adoration Chapel, where the lepers spent hours with Jesus experiencing His love,
joy and peace. Speaking of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, Bl. Damien of Molokai
said, “I find my consolation in my one Companion Who never abandons me.” “Were
it not for the constant presence of our divine Master in our humble chapel I
would have found it impossible to persevere in sharing the lot of the lepers in
Molokai . . . The Eucharist is the bread that gives strength.”
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady of Fatima—May 13
"Every Catholic devotion, when stripped down to its bare elements, is
directly or indirectly aimed at finding the Child with Mary his mother
(cf. Lk 2:12). These two are inseparable, the two hearts are intimately allied.
This explains why Our Lord, as Lucia of Fatima was instructed to tell us, wishes
his own Eucharistic Heart and that of his mother to be placed alongside each
other and jointly honoured. In this way it comes about that we meet the alliance
of hearts in all Marian sanctuaries. There, along with God's mother, we offer
our homage and adoration to him who was the fruit of her shining faith as much
as of her womb. . For she is called blessed because she believed (Lk. 1:45). And
now in turn Mary helps pilgrims to believe ever more strongly—especially in the
sacrament of her Son’s loving presence” (Fr. Richard Foley, S.J.).
St. Rita of Cascia, Wife, Mother, Nun, Ptn. of Impossible Cases,
Italy(1381-1457)—May 22
“Christ Jesus had stolen the heart of Rita—He alone possessed it. He made her
heart His heart; and under the white veils of the Eucharist He was for her soul,
as He is for all loving hearts, heaven upon earth. How sweet is the moment in
which poor humanity, wearied and afflicted, may remain alone, with Jesus alone,
in the Sacrament of Love; for there the Lord, with His flaming heart open, calls
unto all, ‘You that are burdened and heavy laden, come unto Me and I will
refresh you.’ Happy are those hearts that know how to satisfy the unquenchable
hunger and thirst in this heavenly banquet! And in truth our Rita had such a
heart” (Fr. M. J. Corcoran, OSA).
The Ascension of The Lord—May 25
“Ascending once again to the Inaccessible Light . . . You remain still in the
‘valley of tears,’ hidden beneath the appearances of a white host” (St.
Therese). “When he ascended into heaven the majestic flow of the Blood of Jesus
did not cease on this earth; it still flows in an ever-widening stream through
untold centuries of grace . . . in the Blessed Sacrament” (Pope Bl. John XXIII).
St. Philip Neri, Priest, Patron of Rome, Oratory Founder, Italy
(1515-1595)—May 26
Promulgator of the 40 Hours of Eucharistic Adoration Devotion, St. Philip wrote:
“Our Sweet Jesus, through the excess of His love, has left Himself to us in the
Most Holy Sacrament.”
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary—May 31
“Our best life, all our spiritual life, is nothing but a succession of
Visitations, Visitations from Mary bringing Jesus with her. But nowhere is the
similitude so faithful as it is in the Blessed Sacrament. How often when we come
near to the tabernacle, a secret fire comes forth, and our hearts burn within us
without apparent cause. Cares fall off, tears are dried, doubts melt away,
temptations are paralyzed, anxieties are allayed, our soul is bathed in quiet
sudden jubilee. Joy, exultation, praise, delight, and the sense of forgiveness,
the spirit of worship, these are exactly the fruits produced within us, as they
were produced in [John] the Baptist’s soul” (Fr. Faber).
Pentecost Sunday—June 4
“The Eucharist thus appears as the culmination of all the sacraments in
perfecting our communion with God the Father by identification with his
only-begotten Son through the working of the Holy Spirit” (Pope John Paul II,
Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 34).
The Most Holy Trinity—June 11
“In the consecrated Host we find . . . that same Jesus who rose again and
appeared to the Apostles and in whose wounds Thomas put his finger; who ascended
into heaven, who now is seated in glory at the right hand of His Father, and
who, in union with the Father, sends us the Holy Spirit” (Divine Intimacy, Fr.
Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.). “To engage in Eucharistic contemplation
means then, concretely, to establish a heart to heart contact with Jesus really
present in the Host and, through him, to be raised to the Father in the Holy
Spirit . . . . Eucharistic contemplation is to look at one who is looking at
me.” “Not only is the entire history of salvation present in the Eucharist, but
also the Trinity which is its author. The Father so loved the world that he gave
his Only-begotten Son to save it; the Son so loved men as to give up his life
for them; Father and Son willed to unite men so intimately to themselves that
they infused the Holy Spirit in them, so that their own life would dwell in
their hearts” (Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa).
St. Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church, Miracle worker, Italy
(1195-1231)—June 13
A man named Bonvillo did not believe in the Eucharist and mocked people who did.
St. Anthony challenged him, saying, “If the mule you often ride were to adore
the true Body of Christ under the appearance of bread, would you believe in the
truth of the Lord’s Sacrament?” Bonvillo said “Yes.” In a few days they placed
the Blessed Sacrament and hay in front of the mule. Bonvillo didn’t give the
mule food for two days. On the day of the test Bonvillo led the mule before a
crowd. When they were a few steps away from the Eucharist, Bonvillo placed a bag
of hay under the mule’s nose, but the mule turned his head and knelt in
Adoration! Even Bonvillo saw that the Eucharist is Jesus—Body, Blood, Soul and
Divinity—and believed.
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ—Corpus Christi, June 18
“In the feast of Corpus Christi we repeat the procession (of Holy Thursday), but
in the joy of the Resurrection. The Lord is risen and He goes before us . . . .
Jesus goes before us to the Father, He ascends to the heights of God and invites
us to follow Him . . . . The true goal of our journey is communion with God.”
“We bring Christ, present in the form of the bread, along the streets of our
city. We entrust these streets, these houses, our daily lives, to His goodness.
May our streets be Jesus’ streets! May our houses be for Him and with Him! May
our daily lives be penetrated by His presence. With this gesture we place the
suffering of the sick, the solitude of the young and the old, temptations and
fears, all our lives, under His gaze. This procession seeks to be a great and
public blessing for our city. Christ in person is the divine blessing for the
world —may the rays of His blessing extend over us all” (Pope Benedict XVI,
Corpus Christi 2005).
Sts. John Fisher (1469-1535) and Thomas More (1478-1535), Martyrs,
England—June 22
Devoted to the Eucharist, Sts. John and Thomas gave their lives for Christ and
the faith. “Let us with Mary [Magdalene] also sit in devout meditation [with
Jesus in the Holy Eucharist], and hearken well what our Savior, being now our
guest, will inwardly say unto us” (St. Thomas More).
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus—June 23
“Jesus [in the Holy Eucharist] wishes to save us from our present trials and
from discouragement, which is truly the greatest of all evils. We desire
particularly to draw your attention to the manifestation of his Sacred Heart,
which serious reflection will show us, is not merely a shining revelation but
the sweetest encouragement, since in it we can clearly see the beginning of an
era of mercy, of tenderness and love for poor humanity” (St. Peter Julian Eymard).
The Birth of St. John the Baptist—June 24
“Lord, may we always recognize with joy the presence of Christ in the Eucharist
we celebrate, as John the Baptist hailed the presence of our Saviour in the womb
of Mary” (Visitation liturgy).