Visit 12 Jesus Eucharistic The Mystery of Faith
I.
" Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came" (John xx. 24). Is our absence from Mass, from the holy table, from Benediction not reprehensible? Could we not be present more frequently when the sacred mysteries are celebrated?
II.
When Our Lord again appeared to the apostles, and this time also to the doubting Thomas, He said to the latter: "Be not faithless but believing, . . . blessed are they that have not seen and have believed." (John xx. 27, 29).
We do not see Jesus in the sacred Host with our
bodily eyes, but we know that He is really and substantially present; we see Him with the eyes of faith. Do we always conduct ourselves before the tabernacle with that devotion which the reality of faith suggests?
With Thomas let us vehemently protest our
faith and give evidence of it by our self-sacrificing love. Jesus! Thou art my Lord and my God.
CONSIDERATIONS.
The Holy Eucharist is called the "Mystery of Faith" at the most solemn moment of the Mass, when the priest at the consecration of the Chalice, pronounces the words: "This is the Chalice of My blood, of the new and everlasting testament, the Mystery of Faith, which shall be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins."
This name imports that only the light of faith
can let us see the body and blood of Our Lord on the altar, where the unbeliever sees nothing but bread and wine. The Eucharist is a great secret of divine goodness, revealed only to simple faith— Mysterium Fidei.
The Eucharist is more than a mystery; it is the epitome of all the mysteries of our holy religion; for Transubstantiation and the Real Presence presuppose the Incarnation of the Word, of which they are the continuation; and as the Father with the Holy Ghost is in the Word, and this August Trinity is the inexhaustible source of all the mysteries of grace and glory, so the whole supernatural world centers in the mystery of the Eucharist. Blessed is he, who has faith and in faith adores God in this mystery!
"For, though the heavenly bliss consists in seeing God face to face, yet here on earth blessed are they who have not seen and have believed, because all our happiness here below consists in meriting heaven, not in enjoying it, and merit comes by faith, not by sight.
The laborious merits of faith, however, are never without their unspeakable joys, even now in this life, because in believing, although we see not God, yet we feel Him, we feel God Who surpasses our knowledge (Job xxxvi. 26). When God speaks, man must believe; what can be more reasonable?
Now the God-Man, in blessing the bread, said, ‘This is My body’; and in blessing the wine, He said ‘This is My blood.' Who am I, that I should refuse to believe Thee, 0 my God?
I believe firmly and implicitly. I cannot fathom the mystery of the Eucharist, but I can perceive and taste it, since it is not only a mysterious truth, but a miraculous food given me to eat; a food containing in itself all sweetness, far better than the manna of the wilderness. The Psalmist says: ‘Taste and see that the Lord is sweet' (Ps. xxxiii. 9). It is necessary to taste this food to know its sweetness and to appreciate it.
The spiritual perception is sharpened by faith and
love more than by science, and so it will often happen that while the theologian goes on coldly speculating concerning the mysteries of faith, he really understands far less than one who in holiness and simplicity of faith partakes with relish and love of this miraculous food. It is by tasting that we tell the flavor of a fruit and not by chemical analysis of its acids and sap. 0 precious simplicity of faith! I give thanks to Thee, ‘0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to little ones’ " (Matt. xi. 25). —" Names of the Eucharist."
0 God! enliven my faith and strengthen it with Thy grace, that it may be a living, acting faith— a faith, through which that which I do may never contradict that which I believe. Thou, 0 Jesus, art my Redeemer, the tenderest object of my love and my All.
Our Lady of the Most Holy Sacrament, Mother
and model of adorers, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.
St. Joseph, pray for us, that like thee, we may
die, in the arms of Jesus and Mary.
PRAYER TO THE HOLY GHOST
0 Holy Ghost, Thou Teacher and Sanctifier, Who givest light and strength to my soul, bless me that I may be more faithful to Jesus, my Savior and my God, Who is hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, and that I may love Him more and more. In the light of the tabernacle I ask of Thee, 0 Holy Spirit, to fill my heart with pure desire for Jesus, the Living Bread. Give me grace to adore Him with the zeal and humble veneration of the holy angels; grant that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that His will be done in my soul. Help me to thank Him for all His gifts, and, most of all, for Himself. By this Holy Sacrament He strengthens souls on earth, gives rest to souls in purgatory, and gladdens souls in heaven. He is the hidden manna, promised by Himself to all who overcome themselves and love Him. May I taste the sweetness of Jesus! Set up more and more Thy kingdom in my soul, that I may keep my body under and bring it to subjection, lest I should be a castaway from Jesus and from Thee.
SPIRTUAL COMMUNION
0 Jesus, my Savior, Who art truly present in the Blessed Sacrament for the nourishment of our souls! since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, I humbly and earnestly beseech Thee to refresh me spiritually. I love Thee above all things and I desire to possess Thee within my soul. Come into my mind to illumine it with the light of heaven; come into my heart to enkindle therein the fire of Thy love. Unite me so intimately with Thee, that it may be no more I that live, but Thou that livest and reigneth in me forever.
FRUIT OF THE VISIT.
I.
Behold Christ seated in thy heart as the Brightness of the eternal light, revealing the hidden things of Heaven; regard thyself as that blind man whom Jesus ordered to be brought to Him, who besought Him and said,"Lord, grant that I may see" (Wisd. vii. 26; 1 Cor. iv, 5; Luke xviii. 41).
II.
Love Him more than thine eyes, and more than everything that is pleasant to thy sight; that so thou mayest resolve to turn away thine eyes from vanity (Ps. cxviii. 37).
III.
Ask Him for the precious gift of Faith"; that thou mayest see the things that ought to be done, and mayest have strength to do what thou hast seen (Wisd. iii. 14).
EUCHARISTIC GEMS.
The real presence of Our Lord in this sacrament corresponds to the perfection of faith; for we believe not only in Our Lord’s divinity, but also in His humanity. Hence we read in St. John’s Gospel: " Ye believe in God; believe also in Me " (John xiv. 1).—St. Thomas.
Adoro te Devote Latens Deitas.
0 hidden God, devoutly I adore Thee,
Who truly art within the forms before me;
To Thee my heart I bow with bended knee,
As failing quite in contemplating Thee.
Sight, touch, and taste in Thee are each deceived;
The ear alone most safely is believed;
I believe all the Son of God has spoken,
Than Truth’s own word there is no truer token.
God only on the Cross lay hid from view;
But here lies hid at once the Manhood too;
And I, in both professing my belief,
Make the same prayer as the repentant thief.
Thy wounds, as Thomas saw, I do not see;
Yet Thee confess my Lord and God to be:
Make me believe Thee ever more and more.
In Thee my hope, in Thee my love to store
0 thou memorial of Our Lord’s own dying
0 Bread that living art and vivifying
I Make ever Thou my soul on Thee to live;
Ever a taste of heavenly sweetness give,
0 loving Pelican! 0 Jesus, Lord!
Unclean I am, but cleanse me in Thy blood
Of which a single drop, for sinners spilt,
Is ransom for a world’s entire guilt.
Jesus! whom for the present veil’d I see,
What I so thirst for, oh I vouchsafe to me ;
That I may see Thy countenance unfolding,
And may be blest Thy glory in beholding.