The Eucharist: Sacrament of Divine Love
Finished October 16th, 2007 (My 2nd oldest brother's birthday!)

Remember that I wanted to post this up on the Feast of Christ the King? Well today's the day! Happy Feast of Christ the King!

This is what the Latin says: “sum panis vitae qui veniet ad me non esuriet et qui credit in me non sitiet umquam” (“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst”

And the other part: “hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis datur hoc facite in meam commemorationem” (“This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.)

The Eucharist

“Jesus said over the consecrated elements, “This is My Body.” You say, “No. It is not His Body!” Whom am I to believe? I prefer to believe Jesus Christ!" - Dominic Barberi

"Out of the darkness of my life, out of so much frustration, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament....There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that: death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, that every man's heart desires," - J.R.R. Tolkien ([link])

“O Love, O Love,” she [St. Catherine of Siena] would cry out, “you are the sweetest thing there is, you allow us to have a foretaste of the good and joyous things that we hope to enjoy more fully without ever being satiated in eternal life. O everlasting beauty, hidden so long from the world! O eternal love, grant me the consolation to see all hearts forced open by the strength of your love! I want to enlighten my beloved children: Lord, tear down the wall that divides you from them, so that they may love you totally!”
- “The Dialogue”
- St. Catherine of Siena


(14) When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.
(15) And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
(16) For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."
(17) After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you.
(18) For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
(19) And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
(20) In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

- Luke 22:14-20 ([link])


(27) Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
(28) A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
(29) For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

-1 Corinthians 11:24-29 ([link])


"What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble Himself like this under the form of a little bread, for our salvation" - St. Francis of Assisi


"...In this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes, except for His Most Holy Body and Blood." - St. Francis of Assisi


"If Christ did not want to dismiss the Jews without food in the desert for fear that they would collapse on the way, it was to teach us that it is dangerous to try to get to heaven without the Bread of Heaven." - St. Jerome

"How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment." - St. John Chrysostom


"All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man." - St. John Vianney, Cure d'Ars

"If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion." - St. Maximilian Kolbe

"By a beautiful paradox of Divine love, God makes His Cross the very means of our salvation and our life. We have slain Him; we have nailed Him there and crucified Him; but the Love in His eternal heart could not be extinguished. He willed to give us the very life we slew; to give us the very Food we destroyed; to nourish us with the very Bread we buried, and the very Blood we poured forth. He made our very crime into a happy fault; He turned a Crucifixion into a Redemption; a Consecration into a Communion; a death into Life Everlasting,"

- from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's This is the Mass


Jesus the Bread of Life

(25) When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
(26) Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
(27) Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
(28) Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
(29) Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
(30) So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? (31) Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'[a]"
(32) Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. (33) For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
(34) "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
(35) Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (36) But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. (37) All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (38) For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. (39) And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. (40) For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
(41) At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." (42) They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
(43) "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. (44) "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (45) It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.'[b] Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. (46) No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. (47) I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. (48) I am the bread of life. (49) Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. (50) But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. (51) I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
(52) Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
(53) Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. (54) Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (55) For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. (57) Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. (58) This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." (59)He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

(60) On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
(61) Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? (62) What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! (63) The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit[c] and they are life. (64) Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. (65) He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
(66) From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
(67) "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
(68) Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (69) We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
(70) Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" (71) (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

- John 6:22-71 ([link])


“Sacris Solemniis” by St. Thomas Aquinas
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As I was looking through the internet to find some neat monstrances for inspiration, I found this one. It is so stunningly beautiful, I was absolutely amazed.

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