�I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you shall not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. " Jn 6:53-55
What Love has God shown us that he allows us to eat himself? How dare the creature
consume the creator? How dare the dirty and sinful consume the immaculate? How can
the finite receive the infinite? What is there that we can offer God for such a spectacular
treasure? Where can one understand such infinite a mystery?
I thank you loving Father for offering your son to me today in the Holy Eucharist,
You feed us with spiritual food, as the Israelites ate manna in the desert.
You have given me Grace upon Grace, all that is necessary for salvation present in your Son�s flesh.
Help me to offer myself obediently to you -just as your son offered himself for me!
You are God! You are King! You are present in the Holy Sacrament!
I ask for nothing more Lord, you have done everything!
"The bread and the wine of the Eucharist before the holy invocation of the adorable
Trinity were simple bread and wine, but the invocation having been made, the bread
becomes the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ" Cyril of Jerusalem
�Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the
living Father sent me and I have life because of my Father, so also will the one who feeds
on me will have life because of me.� Jn 6:56, 57
"I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of
God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I
desire his blood, which is love incorruptible" Ignatius of Antioch
�This is the bread that has come down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and
still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.� Jn 6:58
"When [Christ] gave the bread he did not say, 'This is the symbol of my body,' but, 'This
is my body.' In the same way, when he gave the cup of his blood he did not say, 'This is
the symbol of my blood,' but, 'This is my blood'; for he wanted us to look upon the
[Eucharistic elements] after their reception of grace and the coming of the Holy Spirit not
according to their nature, but receive them as they are, the body and blood of our Lord.
We ought . . . not regard [the elements] merely as bread and cup, but as the body and
blood of the Lord, into which they were transformed by the descent of the Holy Spirit"
Theodore of Mopsuestia
In eating Christ we come more close to Him than we could ever be to any person. Even
the Sexual act cannot compare to the Intimacy and Closeness God gives us in Holy
Communion. Whereas intercourse ends, the sacrament does not for Christ, in the
Sacrament draws us to himself, to his own body the church, to a love that will not end.
Almighty and ever-living God,
I approach the sacrament
of Your only-begotten Son
Our Lord Jesus Christ,
I come sick to the doctor of life,
unclean to the fountain of mercy,
blind to the radiance of eternal light,
and poor and needy to the Lord
of heaven and earth.
Lord, in your great generosity,
heal my sickness,
wash away my defilement,
enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty,
and clothe my nakedness.
May I receive the bread of angels,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
with humble reverence,
with the purity and faith,
the repentance and love,
and the determined purpose
that will help to bring me to salvation.
May I receive the sacrament
of the Lord's Body and Blood,
and its reality and power.
Kind God,
may I receive the Body
of Your only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
born from the womb of the Virgin Mary,
and so be received into His mystical body
and numbered among His members.
Loving Father,
as on my earthly pilgrimage
I now receive Your beloved Son
under the veil of a sacrament,
may I one day see him face to face in glory,
who lives and reigns with You for ever.
Amen.
and almighty God and thus incurred infinite and everlasting punishment. Yet how were
we to be freed from this punishment? Thanks be to God who is his almighty love sent us
Jesus Christ his son who gave Himself up to death to save us. Not only did he die, but he
willed that all men might share so intimately in his sacrifice that he instituted the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass that all men might share in his Flesh and Blood given as ransom for
the world.
"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner
will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself,
and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without
discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are
weak and ill, and some have died" (1 Cor. 11, 27-30).
Act of Faith in the Real Presence
Lord Jesus, you promised: �He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood shall have life
everlasting�. You said �This is my Body�. Christ I place my trust in your promise and I
know that you are Present in this Holy Sacrament. I am awed to be in the presence of
such a merciful and loving God and I thank you for such a Holy gift.
"'Eat my flesh,' [Jesus] says, 'and drink my blood.' The Lord supplies us with these
intimate nutrients, He delivers over his flesh and pours out his blood, and nothing is
lacking for the growth of his children" Clement of Alexandria
"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread
that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10, 16)
"When you see the Lord immolated and lying upon the altar, and the priest bent over that
sacrifice praying, and all the people empurpled by that precious blood, can you think that
you are still among men and on earth? Or are you not lifted up to heaven?" John
Chrysostom
We must approach the Sacrament with intense sorrow and devotion for we know that we
do not deserve what God in His infinite and gracious love is offering. We must weep
bitterly for our sins for it was for them and nothing else that Christ was so cruelly
sacrificed. We must also allow our jaws to drop in awe and joy at the love of God
present. How could we ever imagine or ask for more? Christ has died! Christ is Risen!
Christ comes to us weekly, if not daily in the blessed Sacrament
he comes" (1 Cor. 11, 26)
LORD, Father all-powerful,
and ever-living God,
I thank Thee,
for even though I am a sinner,
Thy unprofitable servant,
not because of my worth,
but in the kindness of Thy mercy,
Thou hast fed me with the precious Body
and Blood of Thy Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that this holy communion
may not bring me condemnation
and punishment but forgiveness and salvation.
May it be a helmet of faith
and a shield of good will.
May it purify me from evil ways
and put an end to my evil passions.
May it bring me charity and patience,
humility and obedience,
and growth in power to do good.
May it be my strong defense against all my enemies,
visible and invisible,
and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses,
bodily and spiritual.
May it unite me more closely to Thee,
the one true God
and lead me safely through death
to everlasting happiness with Thee.
And I pray that Thou willest lead me,
a sinner to the banquet
where Thou with Thy Son and Holy Spirit,
are true and perfect light,
total fulfillment,
everlasting joy,
gladness without end,
and perfect happiness to Thy saints.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
By St. Thomas Aquinas
I Beseech Thee,
most sweet Lord Jesus Christ,
that Thy Passion may be to me power
by which I may be strengthened,
protected and defended.
May Thy wounds be to me food
and drink by which I may be nourished,
inebriated, and delighted.
May the sprinkling of Thy Blood be to me
an ablution for all my sins.
May Thy death prove for me unfailing life,
and may Thy Cross be to me eternal glory.
In these be my refreshment,
joy, health, and delight of my heart:
Thou who livest and reignest forever.
Amen.
