Corpus Christi - Body and Blood of Christ

Body and Blood of Christ

O precious 

and wonderful banquet!

From the work by Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest

Since it was the will of God’s only-begotten Son that men should share in his divinity, he assumed our nature in order that by becoming man he might make men gods.  Moreover, when he took our flesh he dedicated the whole of its substance to our salvation.  He offered his body to God the Father on the altar of the cross as a sacrifice  for our reconciliation.  He shed his blood for our ransom and purification, so that we might be redeemed from our wretched state of bondage and cleansed from all sin.  But to ensure that the memory of so great a gift would abide with us for ever, he left his body as food and his blood as drink for the faithful to consume in the form of bread and wine.

O precious and wonderful  banquet, that brings us salvation and contains all sweetness!  Could anything be of more intrinsic value?  Under the old law it was the flesh of calves and goats that was offered, but here Christ himself, the true God, is set before us as our food.  What could be more wonderful than this.  

No other sacrament has greater healing power; through it sins are purged away, virtues are increased, and the soul is enriched with an abundance of every spiritual gift.  

It is offered in the Church for the living and the dead, so that what was instituted for the salvation of all may be for the benefit of all.  

Yet, in the end, no one can fully express the sweetness of this sacrament, in which spiritual delight is tasted at its very source, and in which we renew the memory of that surpassing love for us which Christ revealed in his passion.

It was to impress the vastness of this love more firmly upon the hearts of the faithful that our Lord instituted this sacrament at the Last Supper.  

As he was on the point of leaving the world to go to the Father, after celebrating the Passover with his disciples, he left it as a perpetual memorial of his passion.  

It was the fulfillment of ancient figures and the greatest of all his miracles, which for those who were to experience the sorrow of his departure,  it was destined to be a unique and abiding consolation.

Prayer of St. Ambrose 

Preparing to Receive 

Christ in the Eucharist

Lord Jesus Christ, I approach Thy banquet table in fear and trembling, for I am a sinner, and dare not rely on my own worth, but only on Thy goodness and mercy.  

I am defiled by my many sins in body and soul, and by my unguarded thoughts and words. 

Gracious God of majesty and awe, I seek Thy protection, I look for Thy healing.  Poor troubled sinner that I am, I appeal to Thee, the fountain of all mercy.  I cannot bear Thy judgment, but I trust in Thy salvation.  

Lord, I show my wounds to Thee and uncover my shame before Thee.  I know my sins are many and great, and they fill me with fear, but I hope in Thy mercies, for they cannot be numbered.  

Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal King, God and man, crucified for mankind, look upon me with mercy and hear my prayer, for I trust in Thee.  Have mercy on me, full of sorrow and sin, for the depth of Thy compassion never ends.  

Praise to Thee, Saving Sacrifice, offered on the wood of the cross for me and for all mankind!

Praise to the noble and precious Blood, flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and washing away the sins of the whole world!

Remember, Lord, Thy creature, whom Thou has redeemed with Thy Blood; I repent my sins, and I long to put right what I have done. 

Merciful Father, take away all my offenses and sins; purify me in body and soul, and make me worthy to taste the Holy of Holies.  

May Thy Body and Blood, which I intend to receive, although I am unworthy, be for me the remission of my sins, the washing away of my guilt, the end of my evil thoughts, and the rebirth of my better instincts.  

May it incite me to do the works pleasing to Thee and profitable to my health in body and soul, and be a firm defense against the wiles of my enemies.  

Amen.

Prepare your Soul to receive Christ in the Eucharist

Early Church Father on the Eucharist

The Last Supper the Institution of the Holy Eucharist

The Bread of Heaven

and the Cup of Salvation

St. Cyril of Jerusalem 313-386 A.D.

Early Church Father and Doctor of the Church

From the Jerusalem Catecheses

On the night He was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples and said: “Take, eat: this is my body.”  He took the cup, gave thanks and said: “Take drink: this is my blood.” 

Since Christ Himself has declared the bread to be His body, who can have any further doubt?  

Since He Himself has said quite categorically, This is my blood, who would dare to question it and say that it is not His blood?

Therefore, it is with complete assurance that we receive the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ.  His body is given to us under the symbol of bread, and his blood is given to us under the symbol of wine, in order to make us by receiving them one body and blood with Him.   Having His body and blood in our members, we become bearers of Christ and sharers, as Saint Peter says, in the divine nature.

Christ speaking to His Disciples

Once, when speaking to the Jews, Christ said: 

Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you shall have no life in you. 

This horrified them and they left Him.  Not understanding His words in a spiritual way, they thought the Savior wished them to practice cannibalism.

Under the old covenant there was showbread, but it came to an end with the old dispensation to which it belonged.  Under the new covenant there is bread from heaven and the cup of salvation.  These sanctify both soul and body, the bread being adapted to the sanctification of the body, the Word, to the sanctification of the soul.

Do not, then, regard the Eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and wine: they are in fact the body and blood of the Lord, as He Himself has declared.  Whatever your senses may tell you, be strong in faith.

You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the body and the blood of Christ.  You know also how David referred to this long ago when he sang: Bread gives strength to man’s heart and makes his face shine with the oil of gladness.  Strengthen your heart, then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of your soul.

Christ's Body & Blood Present in the Eucharist

May purity of conscience 

remove the veil 

from the face of your soul 

so that by contemplating 

the glory of the Lord, 

as in a mirror, 

you may be transformed 

from glory to glory 

in Christ Jesus our Lord.  

To Him be glory 

forever and ever. 

Amen.

Taken from the Liturgy of the Hours, Saturday within the Octave of Easter

Read more from the Jerusalem Catecheses 

https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/jerusalem-catecheses-1-12-cyril-of-jerusalem/

Good Friday -- Christ Sheds His Blood for us

 

The Power of Christ's Blood

The Power of Christ’s Blood

From the Catecheses by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop

Blood and Water of Christ

If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood; we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt.  Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, commanded Moses, and sprinkled its blood on your doors.  

If we were to ask him what 

he meant, and how the blood 

of an irrational beast 

could possibly save men 

endowed with reason, 

his answer would be 

that the saving power lies 

not in the blood itself, 

but in the fact that it is 

a sign of the Lord’s blood.  

In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.

If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from the Master’s side.  The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood.  Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy Eucharist.  The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own.  So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.

There flowed from His side water and blood.  Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you.  I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy Eucharist.  

The Eucharist - Christ's Body and Blood

From these two sacraments the Church is born: 

from baptism, 

the cleansing water that gives rebirth 

and renewal through the Holy Spirit, 

and from the holy Eucharist.  

Eve fashioned from the side of Adam

Since the symbol of baptism and the Eucharist flowed from His side, it was from His side that Christ fashioned the Church, as He had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam.  Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh!  As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from His side to fashion the Church.  God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and water after His own death.

Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to Himself and what food He gives us all to eat?  By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished.  As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with His blood those to whom He Himself has given life.

Taken from the Liturgy of Hours Good Friday

Christ gave us His REAL BODY AND BLOOD to eat.

Aurelius Ambrosius,
better known in English
as Saint Ambrose

From the treatise 

On the Mysteries 

by Saint Ambrose, 

bishop 337 AD – 397AD

To the newly baptized on the Eucharist

Fresh from the waters and resplendent in these garments, God’s holy people hasten to the altar of Christ saying: I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth.  

They have sloughed off the old skin of error, their youth renewed like an eagle’s, and they make haste to approach that heavenly banquet.  They come and, seeing the sacred altar prepared, cry out:  You have prepared a table in my sight.  

David puts these words into their mouths: The Lord is my shepherd and nothing will be lacking to me. He has set me down there in a place of pasture.  He has brought me beside refreshing water.  Further on, we read:  For he has set me beside refreshing water.  Further on, we read: For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I shall not be afraid of evils, for you are with me.  Your rod and your staff have given me comfort.  You have prepared in my sight a table against those who afflict me.  You have made my head rich in oil, and your cup, which exhilarates, how excellent it is.

It is wonderful that God rained manna on our fathers and they were fed with daily food from heaven.  And so it is written: Man ate the bread of angels.  Yet those who ate that bread all died in the desert.

But the food that you receive, 

that living bread which came down from heaven, 

supplies the very substance of eternal life, 

and whoever will eat it will never die, 

for it is the Body of Christ.

The REALITY of the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed that body that gives life.  

The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens.  One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, 

for if anyone tastes of it with reverence 

he will be incapable of corruption. 

Communion taken with reverence

For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, blood flows from Christ.  Water satisfied their thirst for a time; blood cleanses you for ever.  The Jew drinks and still thirsts, but when you drink you will be incapable of thirst.  

What happened in symbol 

is now fulfilled in reality.

If what we marvel at is a shadow, how great is the reality whose very shadow you marvel at.  

Listen to this, which shows that what happened in the time of our fathers was but a shadow.  They drank, it is written, from the rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.  All this took place as a symbol for us.  

You know now what is more excellent: 

LIGHT is preferable to its shadow, 

REALITY to its symbol, 

the BODY OF THE GIVER

 to the manna 

He gave them from heaven.

Jesus Christ in the Eucharist - The Real Presence

The Eucharist - Words of the Saints

The Eucharist son One Bread One Body

The Holy Eucharist Adored

 Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration

By Fr. Donald Arsenault

National Director Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Canada

We know that we are in a mess, in a great mess. (Read Psalm 12).  The Church and society are in a serious crisis.  We would have to be blind not to see it.  When sin is publicly advertised as normal and correct and millions of abortions are performed each year, something has gone radically wrong.  How did we ever get into this mess?

To me the answer is very clear and plain:  we have put God aside to turn ourselves towards gods and idols of our own making—materialistic things, pleasures, the cult of the body, thirst for money, addiction to TV etc.  These things have become gods and idols to many.  And then we wonder why we are in such a mess.

Because we have repeated 

the Old Testament infidelities, 

and worship idols made with our own hands, 

we are in trouble, serious trouble.

Who is going to save our troubled world?

The Saviour of the World!

Only Jesus can bring true peace to the world, only God can redirect the course of world history back to the path of peace.

(“Turn to Me and be safe, all you ends of the earth.  For I AM God; there is no other.” Isaiah 45:22)

Where is Our God?

Where is Our God where is Our Saviour, Jesus Christ?

“Jesus is in Heaven for the elect and in the tabernacle for us pilgrims”  St. Peter Julian Eymard, Saint of the Eucharist – tells us.

As we are not yet in Heaven; 

the only place here on earth where we can be physically present with the bodily presence of Jesus, is before The Real presence of Jesus, is before The Real Presence either at Mass or reserved in the tabernacle. 

The loss of the sense of the Real Presence is widespread in the church today, and many do not realize that this CENTRAL TRUTH OF OUR FAITH is under much attack.

For sure God is everywhere, but He is present in the Blessed Sacrament in a way that is unique, with His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, with His Beating Heart.  Here He is present as Christ in The Sacred Host is called THE REAL PRESENCE.  

Are we aware -- do we realize, 

that the One who created 

the heavens, earth, and waters 

and everything that dwells in it,

 is present among us?

He is available to everyone at any moment day or night.  Is it not wonderful that we should have Our God so close to us as He is?

He is available in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is what distinguishes us from the Protestants, what makes us Catholic.  This is the belief that countless martyrs have given their life for.

“Cry out and shout with joy. O Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Isreal! (Isaiah 12:6)

INVITATION TO A HOLY HOUR

(An Hour of Amighty Power)

“Every Holy Hour draws the world and everybody in the world closer to Christ and lifts the whole world up to God for His blessing."

When we go before The Blessed Sacrament we stand in behalf of that one person in the world in most need of God’s Mercy, and we bring down upon their soul the Precious Blood of The Lamb, so that they go to Heaven to be with God for all eternity.

By our Holy Hours of Prayer 

we will contribute 

to the radical transformation of the world.  

Those who go before the Blessed Sacrament 

touch the Heart of Jesus with their faith 

and release His Power, 

His Healing Love, 

His Graces and 

Blessing upon the whole world.”

Matthew 9:20  

The woman who touched Jesus’ garment in faith.

Mother Teresa in Adoration of Blessed Sacrament

Mother Teresa said, “The best act we can perform at present, s to spend at least one hour a week before the exposed Blessed Sacrament.”  She adds, “You cannot be Jesus to someone unless you spend time with Jesus.  You cannot see Jesus in others unless you see Him in the Sacrament of Love.”

Jesus needs generous souls to love Him and console Him for the many sins and crimes committed in the world.

 

The hour you spend

with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament  

is very precious to Him, 

and makes reparation 

for innumerable sins.  

He needs this gift of your hour 

to save souls.

Night Hours:

Every hour is blessed, but those which involve the most sacrifice are the most blessed.  Sacrifice is the language of love.  The first Holy Hour took place during the middle of the night, when Christ made the sad complaint to Peter, James and John: “So, could you not watch with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:40)

The Apostles were tired and sleepy but it was at that time Jesus needed the consolation of their presence. 

Even though ou may find it difficult to get up in the middle of the night, Jesus is addressing to you the very same invitation that he addressed to His Apostles.

He saw all those, 

down through the ages, 

who would keep watch with Him 

for one Hour, 

Jesus saw you.   

He saw your generosity, 

your sacrifice 

and the love 

that you show Him, 

and it was this 

that consoled Him 

in His Agony.

Personal Benefits:

You will experience a peace of heart that the world cannot give, a peace that only Jesus can give you.  In our noisy and agitated world there is a great need to experience this peace.  It will give you strength to face the difficulties of life and the courage to take up your cross daily.

At Jesus' feet

You will discover the love that 

Jesus has for you personally.

 It is at the feet of Jesus 

that you will experience 

in a real way, 

that Jesus loves you 

for who you are, 

despite your sins and your miseries.  

There you will find out

 that you are not alone 

in your loneliness.

When you feel lonely, 

Jesus will reveal to you 

the only real loneliness 

is to be without Him.

Do you remember the second question of the catechism?

Why did God create us?

God created us to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him and be happy with Him for all eternity.  In other words the feeling of loneliness is an unconscious desire to be with God, from whom we came.

 This is the Meaning of Life.

Excerpts from St. Pope John Paul’s letter to the Laity (Christifideles Lacici) Dec. 1988

St. Pope John Paul II with Monstrance

“To all the people today,

 I once again repeat the 

impassionate cry with 

which I began my ministry:

Do not be afraid,

 open, indeed, 

open wide the doors to Christ!!!

Open to His saving power, 

because the Voice of Christ 

is giving each of us 

an especially urgent invitation 

at this moment to come closer to Him every day.

Perpetual Adoration is opening wide the doors to Christ, and to His saving power so that we may come closer to Him every day, since Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament actually brings about the intimate bonds of union among all the faithful in Christ.

Again we turn to the words of Jesus:

“I am the Vine, your are the branches, Abide in Me.”

Upon all the faithful then, rests the exalted duty of working to assure that each day the Divine Plan of Salvation is further extended to every person in every part of the world.

Since Evangelization for the Eucharist, in the Eucharist and from the Eucharist, is how the Church lives the mystery of Christ and fulfills its mission to all men.  

Church Fathers in Adoration of the Holy Eucharist

The mission of the Church, 

therefore is to bring all men to the Eucharist.

Thus, in organizing Perpetual Adoration, every conversation, knock on a door, or telephone call is the work of Evangelization, fulfilling the mission of the Church to bring all men to the Eucharist.

Therefore, with humility and trust, 

I beg and implore you, 

allow Christ to speak to you.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.”  John 15:16

In this great moment in history God calls me and sends me forth as a laborer in His vineyard, to work for Perpetual Adoration in the parish.  In doing so, He calls me and sends me forth to work for the coming of His Kingdom in history.”

“Be not afraid” 

(365 times in the Bible)

“Behold!  I AM with you always, even to the end of the world.” 

(Matthew 28:20)

ALONE WITH GOD -- Prayers

I humbly kneel before You, O My God, present on the altar.  I thank You for inviting me into Your House Lord, it is good to be here!  During this visit, O My Saviour, I want to isolate myself with You thinking of no one but You, with my mind and senses silent, contact with the world of business and war and community troubles severed, not solicitous for anything, high or low, far or near.  

Alone with You, 

O My God, 

let me honour You 

with all my heart and mind, 

and with my body too.

I’m on my knees… Let me realize that!

I’m on my knees because I believe in the reality of Your Presence on this altar.  I believe, You are My God and my all.  I am a creature and I’m on my knees to acknowledge it.  I want to show outwardly that I belong to You; that I owe You worship, adoration, submission.

My hands are folded…in supplication

I need your help.

I need to relax.

I need calm, rest, light, peace, courage, forgiveness.  From You, O Lord, I can expect these things because You said: “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, Mt 21:22, Luke 11:9)

My hands are folded 

because You are my Saviour, 

my only hope, 

my harbour of protection, 

my haven of peace.

Save me Lord!

Save me, O Lord

When I am tempted.

When I have sinned.

When I am tired of the struggle.

When I am hurt, and misunderstood.

When I am out of work and the house is

Cold and the debts are many and the money

Is scarce.

When my family troubles engulf me.

Save me, then, from discouragement, and

Above all, from rancor and bitterness.

My eyes look up to You…

With confidence, with filial trust because You said, 

“Come to Me, All you who labour 

and are heavily burdened, 

and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28)

I come, O Lord,

As one sick to his physician,

As one poor and needy to the Lord of

Heaven and earth.

Deign to cure my sickness.

To clothe my nakedness.

To You I come for mercy.

To You I uncover my wounds.

To You I bare my shame.

Erase all the evil of sin from my soul, and

Banish all evil desires from my heart.

Grant that I may see in all things…

In good and in ill health.

In joy and sorrow.

In the thorn and in the rose.

Grant that I may see the value of suffering.

How it tries my virtue.

How it molds my character.

How it checks the fire of temptation.

How it makes me conscious of my weakness.

How it leads to an eternal reward.

Grant, O Dearest Jesus, that I may walk,

Walk and not falter, walk and not give up when I am weary.

Grant me, O Lord, the grace to accept with patience 

the monotony of daily tasks, to embrace with

Resignation the fatigue and exhaustion 

of days too long and too full for my physical strength.

Grant me the ability to relax and be calm 

in the thought of Your Love, 

to find rest in the assurance that 

You are with me and in me.

Amen

(Reprinted from the sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament)