God in His wonderment has prefigured most of His teachings in the Old Testament and the teaching of the Blessed Sacrament is seen as being prefigured by the manna in the desert, for this heavenly food is similar to the manna in its properties and in its name. (Exod. 16;15)
If we loved our Lord, we should have the Tabernacle, that dwelling place of God, always before the eyes of our mind. - Faith of M. Vianney
The Holy Eucharist is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ under the outward appearances of bread and wine.
This sacrament surpasses inexcellence all the other sacraments, because under the appearances of bread and wine, and under each of these appearances, or species, that is to say, under the species of bread, and under the species of wine, this Most Blessed Sacrament contains truly, really, and substantially, through not perceptibly to our senses, nor with their natural accidents, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with His soul and divinity, which can never be separated from His body and blood.
Our Saviour said: "My flesh is meat indeed; and My blood is drink indeed." (John vi.56) And when He instituted this sacrament He said: "This is My body which is GIVEN for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me." "This is the chalice , the new testament in My blood, which shall be shed for you." (Luke xxii. 19-20)
The words: "Do this in commemoration of Me,"should not be taken as though at variance with the real presence of our Lord in this Blessed Sacrament. At a banquet in commemoration of a battle, the presence of the victor does not render the commemoration impossible, but the more striking. It may also be said that the presence of Jesus Christ in this Most Holy Sacrament renders the commemoration of His death more vivid.
All persons who are capable of being instructed in this holy mystery are bound by the command of Christ to receive this Adorable Sacrament; and the Catholic Church which allows to the faithful, and even recommends, the daily reception of the Blessed Eucharist, commands the reception of it "at least once a year," at Easter-time.
In the Blessed Sacrament we possess, indeed, God's greatest gift of love. We measure the love of the giver by the greatness and costliness of his gift, by the advantages and benefits derived therefrom. Who, then, can fathom the love of our Saviour in bestowing upon us the inestimable three-fold gift of the Holy Eucharist?
Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament with His Divinity and Humanity, His Soul and Body, His Flesh and Blood. Through His Real Presence, the Tabernacle becomes the treasury of all riches, for it contains Jesus, the fountain of all grace, with the infinite plenitude of His Divine treasures. There He holds them ever in readiness for us; He calls and invites us to come and take them. His presence is the life of the Church, the life, the joy and delight of every loving soul. Most adorable Saviour, in Thy wondrous love for us Thou hast instituted the blessed Sacrament of the Altar as a memorial of Thy passion, and therein Thou dost remain with us in order to be the life-giving Manna of our souls, the propitiatory Victim for our sins, our Mediator with Thy heavenly Father, our Teacher, and our Friend.
I am sorry that I have so often offended Thee, O God of infinite love and mercy, by my ingratitude, by my resistance to Thy holy will, and in particular by my indifference toward Thee in the sacrament of Thy love. In atonement for my own sins, and in reparation for all the offenses committed against Thee in the Holy Eucharist by others, I offer Thee my poor heart filled with sentiments of sorrow, sincere repentance, and deepest affection, and I consecrate to Thee all my works and sufferings in union with Thy own bitter passion, the sorrows of Thy blessed Mother, and the merits of the martyrs and of all the saints. I place myself entirely in Thy hands: do with me according to Thy pleasure. With St. Ignatius I pray: "Give me but Thy love and Thy grace; more than this I do not ask;" and with the seraphic St. Francis I cry to Thee: "My Lord and my God, may the sweet flame of Thy love destroy in me all that does not please Thee; Thous didst yield Thyself to death for love of me, let me also die to self for love of Thee!"
"May the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored, and loved, with grateful affection at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time." Indulgence of 100 days - Pius IX, Feb. 29, 1868
Information compiled through the text book "Catholic Belief" by Faa Di Bruno, "The Blessed Sacrament God with us" by Tan Books, "My Prayer Book" by Father Lasance
BECAUSE the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the Archangel Gabriel declared, is "full of grace" (Luke 1,37), and because of her incomparable dignity of being the chosen Mother of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church regards her as the most highly favored of all creatures, as a creature highly exalted above all men and angels: and consequently teaches that she is to be honored as the most blessed among women, according to the admonition of St. Paul: "Render therefore to all men their dues, . . .honor to whom honor" (Romans 13,7)
All the honor given to the Blessed Virgin by men does not equal the least one of those countless acts of honor given to her by her divine Son our Lord during the time that He lived with her and St. Joseph at Nazareth; when, as we learn from the Gospel, He "was subject to them" (Luke 2,51) We need not therefore be afraid of honoring her whom the Word Incarnate so greatly honored.
The prophet Jeremias (1,5) and St.John the Baptist (Luke 1,45) were sanctified before their birth, therefore it is the Catholic belief that the Blessed Virgin was, by a special privilege, preserved Immaculate, that is, free from the stain of original sin, from the first moment of her conception.
The True Christian should shudder at the thought that the one who was to be the living temple of God Incarnate should have been permitted by God, who could prevent it, to be first the abode of the devil.
In the book of Genesis (3,15) God said to the serpent: "I will put enmities between thee and the women, and between thy seed and her seed."
According to all ancient interpreters this is a prophecy. The woman mentioned is Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ and the seed of the woman is Jesus Christ Himself, the Redeemer of mankind.
Certainly the enmity which exists between Jesus Christ and the serpent, that is, the devil, is a perpetual one, and excludes sin of all kind.
But the same enmity, it is here declared by God, should exist between the woman (that is, the Blessed Virgin Mary) and the evil spirit.
Therefore it follows that the enmity which exists between the Virgin Mary and the devil must be a perpetual one, necessarily excluding all sin, and, therefore, also original sin, which of itself suffices to enslave a person to the devil.
In order to appease Thy divine Justice, we offer Thee, O Lord, the merits acquired by Mary, Thy Mother and Ours, when She stood at the foot of the Cross.
If Thou, O Lord, will mark iniquities: Lord, who shall abide it?
Catholics do not believe that there is any other Mediator of redemption than our Saviour Jesus Christ, "For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved" than that of Jesus; and when they call the Blessed Virgin or any other saint a mediator, it is not in the sense of the Mediator of redemption attributed to our Saviour, but in the sense of intercessor or pleader, in which sense any Christian may be called a mediator, whenever he intercedes or mediates between God and his fellow-man, as Abraham and Moses and St. Paul did, and thus prays for his neighbor.
Catholics do not believe that the Blessed Virgin is in any way equal or even comparable to God, for she, being a creature, although the most highly favored, is infinitely less than God. Nor do they claim for her any power beyond that which she derives from Him; for she is entirely dependent on God for her existence, her privileges, her grace and her glory.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart:
Since the sacred humanity of our divine Lord is personally (hypostatically) united to His divinity, the human nature which the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity assumed at the time of the incarnation is equally worthy of the worship accorded His divine nature, as both are united in the same divine Persons - Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Soul of Christ, as well as every portion of His Body, is entitled to the highest form of worship, called latria. His Head, Hands and Feet, and His Heart are deserving of the adoration of mankind. However, since the heart has always been regarded as the seat of one's emotional life, and as the source of one's love, it is appropriate that the Sacred Heart of Jesus be singled out for special worship, as the Heart of Christ fittingly exemplifies His love for man. By practicing this devotion to the Sacred Heart, the faithful may help to repair the outrages to which the Heart of Jesus is exposed in the Blessed Sacrament, and to honor the infinite love of that Heart for all men.
Our Lord Himself revealed this devotion to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a nun of the Visitation Monastery at Paray-le-Monial, France, in 1673. The feast of the Sacred Heart is celebrated on the third Friday after Pentecost. The month of June is also dedicated to devotion to the Sacred Heart of our divine Lord. The Apostleship of Prayer and the League of the Sacred Heart are societies organized for the purpose of spreading this devotion.
Many churches hold devotions in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus every Friday, and many more on the first Friday of each month, which is dedicated to reparation to this divine Heart for the coldness and ingratitude of men. The usual prayers recited at these devotions are the Litany of the Sacred Heart, and the Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart, which was issued with the encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII on May 25, 1899. Services generally conclude with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, shower copiously Thy blessings on Thy holy Church, and on all the clergy; grant perseverance to the just, convert sinners, enlighten infidels, bless our parents, friends, and benefactors, assist the dying, liberate the souls of purgatory, and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of Thy love.
To continue searching the Archive follow the links below:
April...month of the Blessed Sacrament
May...month of the Blessed Virgin Mary
June...month of the Sacred Heart
July...month of the Precious Blood of Jesus
August...month of the Immaculate Heart
September...month of Our Sorrowful Mother
October...month of the Rosary
November...month of the Holy Souls
December...month of the Divine Infancy
