So near, as promised...

And surely I am with you always,

to the very end of the age. - Matt 28:20

"How sad it is to see men who move about in vain

to discover the means of finding God,

when they have Him so close to them

in this Divine Sacrament!"

Ven Mother Marie-Therese Dubouche (+1863)

Foundress of the Sisters of Adoration and Reparation

No room for doubt...

"O Lord my God, I thank you for not rejecting me, a sinner,

and for deeming me worthy to be a partaker

of Your Holy Mysteries." - St Basil the Great

"There is no room for doubting

that Our Lord is in the Holy Eucharist.

One knows well that He is there. One feels it.

In receiving Holy Communion one feels something extraordinary,

a sense of well-being which pervades his whole body.

What is this sense of well-being? It is Our Lord who communicates Himself

to all parts of our bodies, and makes them thrill with joy.

We are compelled to cry out with St John:

'It is the Lord.' "

St John Vianney

It signifies love, it produces love...

 "The Eucharist is the sacrament of love:

it signifies love, it produces love." - St Thomas Aquinas

 "St Thomas Aquinas' greatest love was the Blessed Sacrament, of which he was to be the world's greatest witness.  He would spend hours at a  time, day and night, before the altar in adoration and meditation.  Here was his great school.  The Eucharistic Lord Himself was his Master. When he celebrated Mass, he was in raptures and often in tears.  After saying his own Mass he would serve another - or at least hear one. 

In December 1273, when he was forty-seven, he laid down his pen, determined to study and write no more, so that he might give himself to God entirely in meditation and prayer.  He was ordered by Pope Gregory X to go to Lyons to assist at the General Council.  Taken ill on the way, he was obliged to stop at the Cistercial Abbey of Fossa-Nouva. His first visit was to the Blessed Sacrament.  At Fossa-Nouva he lay seriously ill for a month.  He made his general confession. 

While Viaticum was being brought to him, he had himself taken from the bed and laid upon ashes on the floor.  The tears came to his eyes as he beheld the Host in the hand of the priest.  He made his profession of faith:

"I firmly believe that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is present in this august Sacrament.  I adore You, my God and my Redemption, the Viaticum of my pilgrimage, for whose honor I have studied, labored, preached and taught."

From: Witnesses to the Eucharist, Fr Hugh F Blunt, LLD

St Thomas Aquinas

Italy ~ 1225-1274

Dominican monk

Theologian, philosopher, professor

Prolific writer, Hymn composer

Doctor of the Church

FEAST DAY - January 28

(Happy confirmation namesake day, Fr Howe!)

"The Sacrament of the Body of the Lord 

puts the demons to flight, 

defends us against the incentives to vice and to concupiscence, 

cleanses the soul from sin, 

quiets the anger of God, 

enlightens the understanding to know God, 

inflames the will and the affections with the love of God, 

fills the memory with spiritual sweetness, 

confirms the entire man in good, 

frees us from eternal death, 

multiplies the merits of a good life, 

leads us to our everlasting home, 

and re-animates the body to eternal life." - St Thomas Aquinas

Click here: Fr. Barron comments on St. Thomas Aquinas - YouTube

 Click here: St. Thomas Aquinas - YouTube (2 mins)

Click here: Discovering our Saints - St. Thomas Aquinas - YouTube (3 mins)

Click here: 12 Stories About St. Thomas Aquinas - by Peter Kreeft - YouTube (10 mins)

"Beware the man of one book." - St Thomas Aquinas

  St Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

The power of His Presence...

"Lord, what do I want, what can I want, 

apart from You." - St Ignatius of Loyola

 

"Is it possible that there are souls who do not

understand what the Blessed Eucharist is?

Who are insensible to the Divine Presence.....to the mysterious

and fervent effusions of the Sacred Heart of my Jesus?

O Heart of Jesus! Heart of love!"...

 

 "My heart is the victim of Love 
and I shall soon die of love.

These flames of love consume my body, as well as my heart,

and I shall be reduced to ashes. 

Yesterday, as I drew near to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, 
I felt myself burning so violently, that I was obliged to move away. 
I was burning all over; it rose even to my face. Viva Gesu!

How does it happen that so many who are

standing so close to Jesus do not burn to ashes?”

  St Gemma Galgani

Scattering its splendors...

"Come, Thou, bread of angels and satisfy

the cravings of my soul..." - St Leonard of Port Maurice

 

"Mass is the sun of the human race,

scattering its splendors over good and wicked;

nor is there a soul so vile on earth who,

hearing holy Mass, doth not carry from it

some great good, often without asking,

often without even thinking of it."

According to St Leonard of Port Maurice these benefits apply

to the priests who celebrate Mass, to the acolytes who serve the Mass,

and to the faithful who hear Mass with devotion.

So too hardened sinners will benefit from attending Mass.