All That Matters
All That Matters
What the Saints tell us about the Mystery of the Eucharist
I love reading about the Saints.
I didn't set out to. It just sort of happened.
Most days, I wake up around 4:00 a.m. and grope through the dark halls into my cramped office, where I have a huge cup of black coffee and the Magnificat.
And sandwiched between the Daily Mass and Prayer sections are these little one-page vignettes that paint a portrait of a particular saint. Generally, it is related to a certain theme for each month, such as founders of religious orders, saints whose bodies are incorrupt, etc.
It's incredible to read about what 'Heroic Virtue' looks like, and it's inspiring to see what mere mortals can aspire to when empowered by Grace.
I recently read a reflection about the Eucharist by Blessed Honoratus Kozminski, a Franciscan Capuchin Friar. He wrote about the Blessed Sacrament.
What he wrote was so clearly stated, so spiritually profound…and SO timely—riding on the heels of the Eucharistic Revival in the Brooklyn Diocese and on the eve of the Eucharistic Pilgrimages and Congress slated to begin in only a few weeks.
His words haunted me throughout the day, and I wondered what insights other saints had said about this ultimate Gift of Gifts…
And down the rabbit hole I went.
Of course, devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is at the heart of every Saint. But a few quotes stood out. And as we're on the brink of the Eucharistic Congress, I thought I'd share a few with you.
St. Thomas Aquinas on the Blessed Sacrament
But first, here's a short primer from St. Thomas Aquinas on the Blessed Sacrament:
"Christ's followers know by faith that bread is changed into His flesh and wine into His Blood. Man cannot understand this, cannot perceive it, but a lively faith affirms that the change, which is outside the natural course of things, takes place.
Under the different species, which are now signs only and not their own reality, hidden wonderful realities lie. His Body is our food, His Blood our drink. And yet Christ remains entire under each species.
The communicant receives the complete Christ - uncut, unbroken, and undivided. Whether one receives or a thousand, the one receives as much as the thousand.
Nor is Christ diminished by being received. The good and the wicked alike receive Him, but with the unlike destiny of life or death.
To the wicked, it is death, but life to the good.
See how different is the result, though each receives the same.
Last of all, if the sacrament is broken, have no doubt. Remember, there is as much in a fragment as in an unbroken host.
There is no division of the reality, but only a breaking of the sign; nor does the breaking diminish the condition or size of the One hidden under the sign." - St. Thomas Aquinas
And now, without further ado…
"If men only appreciated the value of a Holy Mass, they would need traffic officers at church doors every day to keep the crowds in order." - St. Padre Pio
"If you took all of the good works done by all of the humans who have ever lived in all of history and stacked them all up and multiplied them by a million, they wouldn't equal the merit, the virtue and the worth of one Mass. The Eucharistic sacrifice is Christ's infinite merit, infinite value." - St. Teresa of Avila
"In one day, the Eucharist will make you produce more for the glory of God than a whole lifetime without it." - St. Peter Julian Eymard
"If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion." - St Maximilian Kolbe
"The Eucharist is the full realization of the worship which humanity owes God, and it cannot be compared to any other religious experience." - St. John Paul II
"Do you want many graces? Go and visit the Blessed Sacrament often. Do you want a few graces? Visit the Blessed Sacrament rarely. Do you want none at all? Then never pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament," - St. John Bosco
"All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men, but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man." - St. John Vianney, Cure d'Ars
"When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now," Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
"The devotion to the Eucharist is the most noble because it has God as its object; it is the most profitable for salvation, because It gives us the Author of Grace; it is the sweetest, because the Lord is Sweetness Itself," - St. Pius X
"It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass." - St. Padre Pio
"I heard a story about Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR. He was traveling with a Protestant minister in a car and when they passed a Catholic Church, Fr. Benedict made the sign of the Cross. The minister asked him why he did this. Fr. Benedict explained that it was out of reverence for Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. The minister told him, if I believed what you believe, I would get out of the car, run inside the Church, fall on my knees, and never get up again." - Unknown
"The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross." - St. Teresa of Avila
"How sweet, the presence of Jesus to the longing, harassed soul! It is instant peace, and balm to every wound." - St. Elizabeth Seton
"Nowhere does Jesus hear our prayers more readily than in the Blessed Sacrament,"- Blessed Henry Suson
"Ask Jesus to make you a saint. After all, only He can do that. Go to confession regularly and to Communion as often as you can," - St. Dominic Savio
"The Eucharist is everything, because from the Eucharist, everything is," - St. Peter Julian Eymard
"You come to me and unite Yourself intimately to me under the form of nourishment. Your Blood now runs in mine, Your Soul, Incarnate God, compenetrates mine, giving courage and support. What miracles! Who would have ever imagined such!" - St. Maximilian Kolbe
"A thousand years of enjoying human glory is not worth even an hour spent sweetly communing with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament." - St. Padre Pio
"To speak of the Blessed Sacrament is to speak of what is most sacred. How often, when we are in a state of distress, those to whom we look for help leave us, or what is worse, add to our affliction by heaping fresh troubles upon us. He is ever there waiting to help us."- St. Euphrasia Pelletier, Foundress of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
"The Eucharist is the supreme proof of the love of Jesus. After this, there is nothing more but Heaven itself," - St. Peter Julian Eymard
"Lord Jesus Christ, pierce my soul with your love so that I may always long for you alone, who are the bread of angels and the fulfillment of the soul's deepest desires. May my heart always hunger for you so that my soul may be filled with the sweetness of Your Presence." - Saint Bonaventure
"From the Eucharist comes strength to live the Christian life and zeal to share that life with others," - Saint John Paul II
"The devotion to the Eucharist is the most noble because it has God as its object; it is the most profitable for salvation, because It gives us the Author of Grace; it is the sweetest, because the Lord is Sweetness Itself," - St. Pius X
"Since Christ Himself has said, 'This is My Body,' who shall dare to doubt that it is His Body?" - St Cyril of Jerusalem
In Conclusion
I'll leave it at this.
If we truly grasped what takes place in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we'd race there every day, waiting for the doors to be unlocked.
A priest once said, "The most important thing you will ever do on any given day is attend Mass and receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament."
He's right, and those are words to live by.
He also said, "Whatever you struggle with, pray for the Grace to overcome it."
To that end, I suggest praying for Grace to know of His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
It will not only change your life.
It will fulfill it.
I'll leave you with a few words from Blessed Honoratus Koźmiński, who inspired this article…
"This is the bread that came down from heaven," says the Lord Jesus, and he assures us that whoever eats him will not die forever. This means that whoever receives Jesus in this Sacrament of Love with dignity will not only maintain spiritual life on earth but also their souls will never die but live forever.
Communion gives immortal life to the soul and Body. It is, therefore, the pledge of the future resurrection and eternal life.
There is no measure for the effectiveness of Holy Communion for our souls.
Communion is for the spiritual world what food is for the natural world.
As fleshly food renews our nature, so does the Divine Food, which renews and purifies our nature to make it consistent and joined with him.
The Lord Jesus will fortify your souls, he will cleanse them, he will slowly change them in him, so that you may be perfectly one with him, that love may change you here in him.
He helps us grow more and more in God's Love and in all Christian virtues. He helps us overcome ourselves for more and more frequent and perfect deeds.
Receive Holy Communion; put fire in your heart, which alone will do the work of conversion and your sanctification; warm up your cold hearts, and light them with love, and change the worldly man into a saint." Blessed Honoratus Koźmiński
With grateful appreciation to the following sites that curated many of the quotes:
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