|
St. Alphonsus Liguori Eucharistic Quotes:
This (Blessed) Sacrament above all inflames the soul with divine love. "God is love (1Jn.IV,8)". And He is the fire which consumes in our hearts all earthly affections: "The Lord thy God is a consuming fire (Dt.IV,24)". Now the Son of God came precisely to kindle this fire of love: "I am come to cast fire in the earth"; and He added that He did not desire other that to see ignited this holy fire in our hearts: "and what will I, but that it be kindled? (Lk.XII,49)". And oh what flames of divine love Jesus Christ ignites in each one who devoutly receives Him in this Sacrament! Revelation of the Sacred Heart A CONSUMING FIRE Saint Alphonsus
"Certainly amongst all devotions, after that of receiving the sacraments, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament holds the first place, is the most pleasing to God, and the most useful to ourselves. Do not then, O devout soul, refuse to begin this devotion; and forsaking the conversation of men, dwell each day, from this time forward, for at least half or quarter of an hour, in some church, in the presence of Jesus Christ under the sacramental species. Taste and see how sweet is the Lord." - St. Alphonsus Ligouri "My Jesus! What a lovable contrivance this holy Sacrament was - that You would hide under the appearance of bread to make Yourself loved and to be available for a visit by anyone who desires You!" - St. Alphonsus Ligouri "How beautiful she is, Our Lady of compassion! How dear! How utterly unselfish! How filled with joy for Him - and us - in the depths of her own agony and desolation!" -St. Alphonsus Ligouri "Before the coming of Jesus Christ, men fled away from God and, being attached to the earth, refused to unite themselves to their Creator. But the loving God has drawn them to Himself by the bonds of love, as He promised by the prophet Osee [Hosea]: "I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bonds of love" (11:4). These bonds are the benefits, the lights, the calls to His love, the promises of Paradise which He makes to us, but above all, the gift which He has bestowed upon us of Jesus Christ in the Sacrifice of the Cross and in the Sacrament of the Altar..." - St. Alphonsus Maria Ligouri "O God-Man present in this sacrament for me — what a comfort, what a privilege to know I kneel before God! And to think that this God loves me!... Mary, my mother, help me to love him in return," - St. Alphonsus Liguori You may be sure that of all the moments of your life, the time you spend before the divine Sacrament will be that which will give you more strength during life and more consolation at the hour of your death and during eternity," - St. Alphonsus "My Lord Jesus Christ, who, for the love You bear to mankind, do remain night and day in this Sacrament, full of pity and love, awaiting, calling, and receiving all who come to visit You; I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar; I adore You from the depths of my own nothingness; I thank You for the many graces You have given me, and especially for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament...," - St. Alphonsus Ligouri From the writings of St. Alphonsus Ligouri: Jesus Christ finds means to console a soul that
remains with a recollected spirit before the Most Blessed Sacrament, far
beyond what the world can do with all its feasts and pastimes. Oh, how
sweet a joy it is to remain with faith and tender devotion before an
altar, and converse familiarly with Jesus Christ, who is there for the
express purpose of listening to and graciously hearing those who pray to
him; to ask his pardon for the displeasures which we have caused him; to
represent our wants to him, as a friend does to a friend in whom he
places all his confidence; to ask him for his graces, for his love, and
for his kingdom; but above all, oh, what a heaven it is there to remain
making acts of love towards that Lord who is on the very altar praying
to the Eternal Father for us, and is there burning with love for us.
Indeed that love it is which detains him there, thus hidden and unknown,
and where he is even despised by ungrateful souls! But why should we say
more? "Taste and see." "The voice of my Beloved knocking: Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled" (Song 5:2). Such are the words which Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament speaks to those who love and desire him. Open to me, he says, O soul, thy heart, and there I will come to unite myself to thee; so that, being one with me, thou mayst become my sister by resemblance, my friend by participation in my riches, my dove by the gift of simplicity, my undefiled by the gift of purity, which I shall communicate to thee. And then he goes on to say, "Open to me, for my head is full of dew and my locks the drops of the night." As if he said: Consider, my beloved, that I have waited for thee all the night of the bad life thou has led in the midst of darkness and error. Behold, now, instead of bringing scourges to chastise thee, I come in the Blessed Sacrament, with my hair full of heavenly dew, to extinguish in thee all impure desires towards creatures, and to kindle in thee the happy fire of my love. Come, then, O my beloved Jesus, and work in me what Thou wilt. - St. Alphonsus Ligouri "The Most Holy Sacrament is a gift which has proceeded from pure love. For our salvation it was necessary, according to the decree of God, that the Redeemer should die, and, by the sacrifice of his life, satisfy divine justice for our sins; but what necessity was there that Jesus Christ, after having died for our redemption, should leave himself to us for our food? But this his love wished to do. He, says, St. Laurence Justinian, instituted the Eucharist for no other purpose than to show his great charity, for no other purpose than to make us understand the immense love which he bears us. This is precisely what St. John has written: Jesus, knowing that His hour was come that He should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved His own, He loved them to the end. (JN 13:1) Knowing that the time of his departure from this earth had arrived, he wished to give us the greatest proof of his love, by bequeathing to us this gift of the Most Holy Sacrament. This is the precise meaning of the words, He loved them to the end; that is, according to Theophilactus and St. John Chrysostom, 'he loved them with an extreme love.'" - St. Alphonsus De Ligouri "Loving souls can find no greater delight than to be in the company of those whom they love. If we, then, love Jesus Christ much, behold we are now in his presence. Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament sees us and hears us; shall we, then, say nothing to Him? Let us console ourselves in His company; let us rejoice in His glory, and in the love which so many enamoured souls bear Him in the Most Holy Sacrament. Let us desire that all should love Jesus in the Holy Sacrament, and consecrate their hearts to Him; at least let us consecrate our affections to Him. He should be all our love and our whole desire," - from St. Alphonsus Liguori's "The Holy Eucharist" "To
cast fire upon the earth—that is my mission! And how I wish it
|