French Vintage Holy Card, 1920’s
From Jesus Our Eucharistic Love
In Holy Communion Jesus gives Himself to me and becomes mine, all mine, in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
One day St. Gemma Galgani said to Jesus with artless simplicity, “I am Your master.”
With Communion, Jesus enters my heart and remains corporally present in me as long as the species (the appearance) of bread lasts; that is, for about 15 minutes. The Holy Fathers teach that during this time the angels surround me to continue to adore Jesus and love Him without interruption.
“When Jesus is corporally present within us, the angels surround us as a guard of love,” wrote St. Bernard. He in me and I in Him
Perhaps we think too little about the sublimity of every Holy Communion. Yet St. Pius X said that “if the angels could envy, they would envy us for Holy Communion.”
And St. Madeleine Sophie Barat defined Holy Communion as “Paradise on earth.”
All the saints have understood by experience the divine marvel of our meeting and our union with Jesus in the Eucharist. They have understood that a devout Holy Communion means being possessed by Him and possessing Him.
“He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him” (Jn. 6:57).
On one occasion St. Gemma Galgani wrote, “It is now night. Tomorrow morning is approaching, and then Jesus will possess me and I will possess Jesus.”
It is not possible to have a union of love which is deeper and more total: He in me and I in Him; the one in the other. What more could we want?
“You envy,” said St. John Chrysostom, “the privilege of the woman who touched the vestments of Jesus, of the sinful woman who washed His feet with her tears, of the women of Galilee who had the happiness of following Him in His pilgrimages, of the Apostles and disciples who conversed with Him familiarly, of the people of the time who listened to the words of grace and salvation which came forth from His lips.
You consider fortunate those who saw Him…. However, come to the altar and you will see Him, you will feel Him [when received in Communion], you will give Him holy kisses, you will wash Him with your tears, you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy.”
For this reason the saints desired and longed for Holy Communion with ardent love; for example, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Paschal Baylon, St. Veronica, St. Gerard, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Dominic Savio, St. Gemma Galgani…. It is pointless to continue, for one would need to list all the saints.
For example, one night St. Catherine of Genoa dreamed that the following day she would not be able to receive Holy Communion. The sorrow that she experienced was so great that she cried unceasingly, and when she woke up the next morning, she found that her face was all wet from the tears she shed in her dream.
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus wrote a little Eucharistic poem, “Desires near the Tabernacle,” in which, among other beautiful things, she said, “I would like to be the chalice and adore the Divine Blood therein. I can, however, in the Holy Sacrifice, gather Him in me every morning. My soul is therefore dearer to Jesus, it is more precious than vessels of gold.”
And how great was the happiness of that angelic Saint when, during an epidemic, daily Communion was given to her!
“You should fear nothing, if you are equipped with the strongest spiritual weapon —Holy Communion. It prevents mortal sin—the greatest evil in the world—from taking root in your soul and even washes away the stains of venial sin so long as you have no affection for it nor desire to commit it in the future. The coming of Jesus in Holy Communion awakens new love in your heart and encourages you to live in purity and sinlessness, which is a necessary condition for happiness.” -Clean Love in Courtship, Fr. Lovasik http://amzn.to/2fOwQm9 (afflink)
The Cure d’Ars
1786 – 1859
Feast Day: August 4
Patronage: all priests
After many obstacles and suffering, St. John Mary Vianney ( Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney) became one of the most celebrated parish priests in the Catholic Church. He fought for souls in his small town in Ars, France by fasting, praying and hearing confessions until the wee hours of the morning. He converted many souls and because of this, the Devil often tempted him in the middle of the night, but he was so strong and so rooted in prayer that he was able to triumph. It is said that the Devil once told St. John Vianney, “If there were three such priests as you, my kingdom [in France] would be ruined.”
From Portrait of Saints
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