In the quiet of the heart ...

 "It seems to me that I have found my heaven on earth, because

my heaven is you, my God, and you are in my soul. 

You in me, and I in you - may this be my motto." - St Elizabeth of the Trinity

"When one has just received communion,

of what use are the words of men

when it is God who is speaking?

We must listen

to what the good Lord says to our heart."

St. John Vianney

Photo image: La Purisima Concepcion Catholic School students pray during Mass (Los Angeles, California, 2011)

An altar within...

 For you, LORD, have never foresaken 
those who seek you. - Psalm 9:10b

 

"How do I prepare myself to receive the Host? I draw near with my soul, from the moment when I wake up.  I call our for it with my lips, I attract it with my sighs, I long for it, I love it, and with a thousand acts of discipline, I prepare ... for it.

My chalice is full to the brim with this lowly blood, drawn and extracted out of love to mingle with His blood on the altar, my Immaculate Lamb, and together they are offered up to God’s throne, asking for grace.

Is it not an undeserved happiness and favor to have an altar within and the freedom to be able to do this for my Jesus without anybody knowing?  My soul’s blood, its life fluid, is also for Jesus.  Power, feelings, and my life, I place them all at the foot of the tabernacle.”

Venerable Conception Cabrera de Armida (+1937)

Excerpt:  Irresistibly Drawn to the Eucharist:  Conchita Cabrera de Armida’s 

Most Beautiful Writings on the Eucharist, Fr Juan Gonzalez Gutierrez, M.Sp.S., 

Society of St Paul, Staten Island, New York, 2002, pg. 12

Remembering the King's visit...

Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. - II Cor 9:15

 

 

"The most solemn moments of your life are those you spend in thanksgiving, when the King of Heaven and earth, your Savior and your Judge, is yours, fully inclined to grant all you ask of Him. 

Devote half an hour, if possible, to this thanksgiving, or, at the very least, fifteen minutes. ... The temptation often comes to shorten our thanksgiving.  The Devil knows its value, and our nature, our self-love, shrinks from its effects.  Determine, therefore, what the duration of your thanksgiving is to be, and never subtract a moment from it without a pressing reason.    ...

Having received Jesus and enthroned Him in your heart, remain quiet for a moment, not praying in words, but resting in silent adoration.  ... Proclaim Him King of your heart, Spouse of your soul, and hearken to His voice.  ... Lay your heart at the feet of the heavenly King. ... Do not disturb your soul so long as it is recollected, at peace in the presence of the Lord.  ...

In this gentle slumber on the Heart of Jesus, it receives grace, which nourishes it, unites it most sweetly to its Beloved, and profits it more than any other spiritual exercise. ...

Before leaving Him, give an offering of love to your Savior, some sacrifice that you will make for Him during the day.

During the day, be like an urn that has held a precious perfume, like a saint who has spent one hour in Heaven; do not forget the visit of your King." ...

St Peter Julian Eymard

Holy Communion 

Lent begins this year on Wednesday, Feb 18.

Let us examine and renew our practice 

of unhurried Thanksgiving after Holy Communion. 

Keeping vigil...

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide

and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love

that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled

to the measure of all the fullness of God. – Eph 3: 17b-19

  

St Josemaria Escriva recommended priests to keep the Blessed Sacrament company as much as they could. He wanted all of them to increase their devotion to the Eucharist, pointing out to them:

“Don’t do it for your parishioners to see, but don’t worry if they do see you. If you are centered on our Lord, and people notice how you love Him, they’ll ask you why, and then you can tell them about this love that should fill your whole life.”

Uniting voice with voice with voice...

 “The heavens shall praise Thy wonders, O Lord;

Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.”   ~ Psalm 89:5

 

“All the powers of the universe bow down

in (Eucharistic) adoration and praise, and with

a thousand voices exalt Thine infinite Majesty,

which fills both Heaven and earth. 

Christian people, let us unite our voices with theirs.”

St Hilary of Poitiers

Doctor of the Church (+368)