Quote/s of the Day – 12 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Within the Octave of Corpus Christi
“As mountain hares become white in winter because they neither see. nor eat anything but snow, so, by adoring and feeding on beauty, purity and goodness itself in the Eucharist, you will become altogether beautiful, pure and good.“”
“Nowhere do we find our Saviour more tender or more loving, than here [in Adoration] where He, so to speak, annihilates Himself and reduces Himself to Food, in order to penetrate our souls and to unite Himself to the hearts of His friends.”
“I often speak with my Teacher, Jesus, in the Blessed Sacrament because I learn from Him. Jesus is the Teacher of the science of holiness. I go to Him because I would like to learn, from Him, how to become a Saint. Of what use to me is all knowledge and education, if I do not become holy?”
One Minute Reflection – 12 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Within the Octave of Corpus Christiand the Memorial of St Juan de Sahagun (1419-1479) Confessor, Priest and Friar of the Order of the Augustinians – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59. – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“For My flesh is food indeed and My Blood is drink indeed.”- John 6:56
REFLECTION – “Take and eat; this is My Body… Take and drink; this is My Blood.” (Mt 26:26.) Since then, Christ Himself clearly described the Bread to us in the words “This is My Body” who will dare henceforward, to dispute it? And since He has emphatically said, “This is My Blood” who will waver?… So let us partake with the fullest confidence that it is the Body and Blood of Christ. For His Body has been bestowed on you in the form of bread and His Blood in the form of wine, so that by partaking of Christ’s Body and Blood, you may share with Him, the same Body and Blood… This is how, in the blessed Peter’s words: “we become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pt 1:4).
Christ once said in conversation with the Jews: “Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you have no life in you” They were scandalised because they did not interpret His words spiritually… Even in the Old Testament, there were “Loaves of the Presence” but since they belonged to the old dispensation, they have come to fulfilment. But in the New Testament, the Bread is of Heaven and the Chalice brings salvation, (Jn 6:41; Ps 115:4) and they sanctify the soul and the body; for, as the bread relates to the body, so the word harmonises with the soul…
The Blessed David will inform you of the meaning of the Eucharist when he says: “Thou hast laid a table before me against those who oppress me” (Ps 22:5)… The only thing he can mean is that sacramental, spiritual table which God has made ready for us against the evil spirit… “And the chalice which inebriates me, how godly it is” (Ps 22), here he mentions the chalice which Jesus took in His Hand and giving thanks said: “This is the Blood which is poured out for many, for the remission of sins” (Mt 26:28)… David was speaking of this long ago when he sang: “Bread strengthens the heart of man, that he may make his face glad with oil” (Ps 103:15). So strengthen your heart by partaking of that spiritual bread and gladden the face of your soul.” – Catechesis to the Newly Baptised of the Church in Jerusalem (4th Century) No 4.
PRAYER – O God, Author of peace and lover of charity, Who endowed blessed John, Your Confessor, with a wondrous grace for reconciling enemies; grant by his merits and intercession that, being ourselves firmly rooted in Thy charity, we may not be separated from Thee by any temptations.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
All praise, honour and glory to the divine HEART of JESUS. – Indulgence 50 Days, Once a day. Raccolta 168 Pope Leo XIII, 14 June 1901.
One Minute Reflection – 11 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – The Solemnity of Corpus Christi and the Feast of St Barnabas Apostle – 1 John 3:13-18, Luke 14:16-24. – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“But I say unto you that none of those men who were invited shall taste of my supper.” – Luke 14:24
REFLECTION – “The Psalmist says: “Bread fortifies the heart of man and wine rejoices his heart” (Ps 103:15). For those who believe in Him, Christ is Food and Drink, Bread and Wine. He is Bread when He strengthens and establishes us according to Peter’s words: “After you have suffered a little, the God of all grace Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will restore, strengthen and establish you” (1 Pt 5:10). He is Drink and Wine when He makes us glad according to the words of the Psalmist: “Gladden the soul of Thy servant, for to Thee, O Lord, I lift up my soul” (Ps 85:4).
Everything in us which is strong, steadfast, firm, happy and joyful to carry out God’s commands, bear with misfortune, act obediently, stand up for justice – all these things come from this Bread’s strength, this Wine’s gladness. Happy are they whose deeds are strong and joyful! And since no-one can do it of themselves, happy are they who have an eager desire to cleave to what is just and right and to be strengthened in everything and rejoice through Him Who said: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Mt 5:6). If Christ is Food and Drink even now for the strength and joy of the righteous, how much more so will He be in the life to come, when He will give to the righteous without measure?!” – Baldwin of Canterbury (c1125-1190) Cistercian Abbot of Forde Monastery and Archbishop of Canterbury (The Sacrament of the Altar – II:3 ).
PRAYER – O God, Who gladden us by the merits and intercession of blessed Barnabas, Thy Apostle, mercifully grant that we, who ask of Thee favours through him, may obtain them by the gift of Thy grace.ThroughJesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
All praise, honour and glory to the Divine Heart of JESUS. 50 Days Indulgence, Once a day, Raccolta, 168 Pope Leo XIII, 13 June 1901.
Our Morning Offering – 11 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – The Solemnity of Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ and Sunday within the Octave – The Second Sunday after Pentecost
Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium Sing, My Tongue By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Eng trans – Fr Edward Caswell CO (1814-1878) (Excerpt on the image – the 4 last stanzas)
Sing, my tongue, the Saviour’s glory, Of His Flesh, the Mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our Immortal King, Destined, for the world’s redemption, From a noble Womb to spring.
Of a pure and spotless Virgin Born for us on earth below, He, as Man, with man conversing, Stayed, the seeds of truth to sow; Then He closed in solemn order Wondrously His Life of woe.
On the night of that Last Supper, Seated with His chosen band, He, the Paschal Victim eating, First fulfils the Law’s command; Then as Food to all His brethren Gives Himself with His own Hand.
Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature By His Word to Flesh He turns; Wine into His Blood He changes, What though sense no change discerns. Only be the heart in earnest, Faith her lesson quickly learns.
Down in adoration falling, Lo, the Sacred Host we hail, Lo, o’er ancient forms departing Newer rites of grace prevail, Faith for all defects supplying, When the feeble senses fail.
To the Everlasting Father And the Son Who comes on high With the Holy Ghost proceeding Forth from each eternally, Be salvation, honour, blessing, Might and endless majesty. Amen. Alleluia.
Written by St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) the Angelic and Common Doctor of the Church, for the very first Solemnity of Corpus Christi, this Hymn is considered the most beautiful of Aquinas’ Hymns and one of the seven great Hymns of the Church.
The last two stanzas make up the Tantum Ergo (Down in Adoration Falling) which is used at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Hymn is also used on Maundy Thursday during the procession from the Sanctuary to the Altar of Repose, where the Blessed Sacrament is kept until Good Friday.
PANGE, Lingua, Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium
Corporis mysterium, Sanguinisque pretiosi, quem in mundi pretium fructus ventris generosi Rex effudit Gentium.
Nobis datus, nobis natus ex intacta Virgine, et in mundo conversatus, sparso verbi semine, sui moras incolatus miro clausit ordine.
In supremae nocte cenae recumbens cum fratribus observata lege plene cibis in legalibus, cibum turbae duodenae se dat suis manibus.
Verbum caro, panem verum verbo carnem efficit: fitque sanguis Christi merum, et si sensus deficit, ad firmandum cor sincerum sola fides sufficit.
Tantum ergo Sacramentum veneremur cernui: et antiquum documentum novo cedat ritui: praestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui.
Genitori, Genitoque laus et iubilatio, salus, honor, virtus quoque sit et benedictio: procedenti ab utroque compar sit laudatio. Amen. Alleluia.
St Herebald of Bretagne Bl Hugh of Marchiennes Bl Jean de Bracq
Bl Kasper of Grimbergen St Maximus of Naples
St Parisius ECMC (c 1160-1267) Priest and Monk of the Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona, Spiritual Director, Reformer, Miracle-worker during his life and after his death. A very long life of humble and loving service, for the glory of God!: The Roman Martyrology reads: “In Treviso, Saint Parisio, Priest of the Camaldolese Order, who for seventy-seven years took care of the spiritual direction of the Nuns with healthy advice, dying at the age of one hundred and eight.” https://anastpaul.com/2022/06/11/saint-of-the-day-11-june-st-parisius-ecmc-c-1160-1267-a-very-long-life-of-humble-and-loving-service-for-the-glory-of-god/
St Rembert of Hamburg (c830-888) Archbishop St Riagail of Bangor Bl Stephen Bandelli OP St Tochumra of Kilmore St Tochumra of Tuam
Martyrs of Tavira – 7 Beati: Members of the Knights of Santiago de Castilla. During the re-conquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Muslims by Christian forces, in a period of truce between the armies, the group was allowed to leave the Portuguese camp to hunt. Near Tavira, Portugal, he and his companions were ambushed and killed by a Muslim force. Making a reprisal attack, the Portuguese army took the city of Tavira. The murdered knights were considered to be martyrs as they died in an action defending the faith. They were – Blessed Alvarus Garcia, Blessed Beltrão de Caia, Blessed Damião Vaz, Blessed Estêvão Vasques, Blessed Garcia Roiz, Blessed Mendus Valle, Blessed Pedro Rodrigues’ They were Martyred in 1242 outside Tavira, Faro, Portugal. Their relics are enshrined under the altar of Saint Barnabas in the Church of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels (modern Santa Maria do Castelo) in Tavria, Portugal.
Mercedarian Martyrs of Damietta: Three Mercedarian Lay Knights who worked to ransom Christians enslaved by Muslims. During the 7th Crusade, a plague swept through the Christian army and these knights volunteered to work with the sick. During this work they were captured by Muslims and ordered to convert to Islam; they refused. They were tortured, taken to Damietta, Egypt where they were murdered for their faith. They were thrown from a tower in the mid-13th century in Damietta, Egypt.
Quote/s of the Day – 10 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Within the Octave of Corpus Christi – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in him.”
John 6:57
“This bread you see on the Altar, consecrated by the Word of God, is the Body of Christ. This cup consecrated by the Word of God, or rather its contents, is the Blood of Christ. In these two elements our Lord desired to hand over, for our veneration and love, His Body and Blood, shed for the remission of our sins. If you have received them with a good disposition, then you are what you have received. As the Apostle Paul declares: “We are, all of us, one bread, one body” (1 Cor 10,17)…”
St Augustine (354-430) Father, Doctor of Grace
“Enrich your soul in the great goodness of God – The Father is your Table, the Son is your Food and the Holy Spirit waits on you and then makes His Dwelling in you.”
St Catherine of Siena OP (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
“The soul must be nourished, as well as the body, for it has its own life which is worn away by the daily conflict against sinful inclinations and by the constant struggle to achieve sanctity. It needs to be nourished by the word of God, by His grace and especially, by receiving the Author of grace frequently in Holy Communion. … “Whoever eats this Bread shall live forever.” Let us ask for the life-giving Bread, for ourselves and for our unfortunate brothers who are living apart from Jesus, in a state of spiritual death.”
Quote/s of the Day – 8 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” and the Feast of Corpus Christi – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“I Am the Living Bread Who came down from Heaven. If any man eat of this Bread, he shall live forever and the Bread that I will give, is My Flesh, for the Life of the world.”
John 6:51-52
Source of all we have or know, feed and lead us here below. Grant that with Your saints above, Sitting at the feast of love, We may see You face to face.
Amen Alleluia!
Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we Adore and Love You!
( The last Verse of the Lauda Sion, the Eucharistic Hymn/Sequence By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
“The Saviour has instituted the most glorious Sacrament of the Eucharist, which truly contains His Body and His Blood, so that, whoever eats it will live forever. Therefore, those who receive it frequently, with devotion, strengthen their spiritual life and well-being, to such an extent, that it is almost impossible for them to be poisoned by any kind of evil attachment.”
(Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter 20)
St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of the Church
Act of Spiritual Communion By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
I desire, good Jesus, to receive Thee in Holy Communion and since I cannot now receive Thee in the Blessed Sacrament, I beseech Thee to come to me spiritually and to refresh my soul with Thy sweetness. Come, my Lord, my God and my All! Come to me and never let me ever again be separated from Thee by sin. Teach me Thy blessed ways, help me with Thy grace to imitate Thy example, to practise meekness, humility, charity and all the virtues of Thy Sacred Heart. My divine Master, my one desire is to do Thy will and to love Thee, more and more. Help me, that I may be faithful to the end, in Thy service. Bless me in life and in death, that I may praise Thee, forever in heaven, Amen
“It is enough for us to love Him and to be ready to keep His commandments. Such an act of sincere and effective love for Jesus, will cause Him to enter and to remain in our hearts, even after the Sacramental Species has been consumed. This is Spiritual Communion, which consists mainly in the yearning for Jesus. “I have come to cast fire upon the earth and what will I but, that it be kindled” (Lk 12:49).”
Corpus Christi The Feast is liturgically celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday or, “where the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is not a Holy Day of Obligation, it is assigned to the Sunday after the Most Holy Trinity, as its proper day.” (Sanctissimi Corpus et Sanguis Christi.)
Bl Armand of Zierikzee St Bron of Cassel St Calliope St Clodulf of Metz Bl Engelbert of Schäftlarn St Eustadiola of Moyen-Moutier St Fortunato of Fano
St Gildard of Rouen (c 456-c 545 Bishop of Rouen, Confessor * Twin Brother of St Medard below. The Roman Martyrology states of St Medard and his twin brother, St Gildard, today: “At Soissons, in France, the birthday of St Gildard, Bishop of Rouen, whose life and precios death are illustrated by glorios miracles – at Rouen, St Gildard, Bishop, twin brother of St Medard,who was born with his brother on the same day, Consecrated Bishops at the same time and being taken away from this life, also on the same day, they entered Heaven together!” About St Gildard: https://anastpaul.com/2022/06/08/saint-of-the-day-8-june-st-gildard-of-rouen-c-456-c-545/
Bl Giorgio Porta Bl Giselbert of Cappenberg St Heraclius of Sens Bl John Davy O.Cart. (Died 1537) Deacon Martyr Bl essedJohn Rainuzzi Bl Maddallena of the Conception St Maximinus of Aix (1st Century) The first Bishop of Aix-en-Provence, France, in the 1st Century.
St Medard (c 456-545) Bishop and Convessor * Twin Brother of St Gildard above About this iluustrious Saint: https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/08/saint-of-the-day-8-june-saint-medard-c-456-545-bishop/ The Roman Martyrology states of St Medard and his twin brother, St Gildard, today: “At Soissons, in France, the birthday of St Medard, Bishop of Novon, whose life and precios death are illustrated by glorious miracles – at Rouen, St Gildard, Bishop, twin brother of St Medard,who was born with his brother on the same day, Consecrated Bishops at the same time and being taken away from this life, also on the same day, they entered Heaven together!”
St Melania the Elder St Muirchu St Pacificus of Cerano Bl Peter de Amer Bl Robert of Frassinoro St Sallustian St Syra of Troyes St Victorinus of Camerino
One Minute Reflection – 21 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Tuesday within the Octave of Corpus Christi and the Memorial of St Aloysius de Gonzaga SJ (1568-1591) – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59.
“This is the Bread that has come down from Heaven; not as your fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this Bread shall live forever.” – John 6:59
REFLECTION – Christ is “the bread of life” for those who believe in Him: to believe in Christ is to eat the bread of life, to possess Christ within one, is to possess eternal life… “I am the bread of life,” He says; “your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they are dead” (Jn 6,48f). By this is to be understood ,spiritual death. Why are they dead? Because they believed in what they saw and did not understand what they could not see… Moses ate manna, Aaron ate it and many others, too, who pleased God and are not dead. Why are they not dead? Because they understood, in a spiritual fashion, they were spiritually hungry, they tasted the manna spiritually, so that they might be spiritually satisfied. “This is the bread that came down from heaven: whoever eats it will never die” (v.50). This manna – that is to say, Christ, who Himself spoke like this…, was prefigured by the manna but was able to do more than manna could. For manna could not, of itself, prevent dying spiritually… But the righteous saw Christ in the manna, they believed in His coming and Christ, of whom manna was the symbol, grants to all who believe in Him that they should not spiritually die. Hence He says: “This is the bread come down from heaven; whoever eats it will never see death.” Here on earth, here now, before your eyes, your eyes of flesh: here is to be found the “bread from heaven” (v.51). The “bread of life” we spoke of a moment ago is now called “living bread.” Living bread because it contains, within itself, the life that abides and can deliver from spiritual death and bestow life. First He said: “Whoever eats it will never die” now he speaks clearly, concerning the life He gives: “Whoever eats this bread will live for ever” (v.58). Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury (c 1125-1190) Cistercian – The Sacrament of the Altar II
PRAYER – O God, bestower of heavenly gifts, Who in the angelic youth Aloysius joined wondrous innocence of life to an equally wondrous love of penance; grant, by his merits and prayers, that we who have not followed him in his innocence may imitate him in his penance. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect). SACRED Heart of JESUS, Thy Kingdom come! Indulgence 300 Days. Everytime Raccolta 178 St Pius X, 4 May 1906.
One Minute Reflection – 20 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart” – Monday within the Octave of Corpus Christi and the Memorial of St Pope Silverius (Died 538) Martyr – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59.
“He who eats this Bread shall live forever.” – John 6:59
REFLECTION – “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 forever, 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 which 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, which 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 fulfilment of ancient figures and the greatest of all His Miracles, while, for those who were to experience the sorrow of His departure, it was destined to be a unique and abiding consolation.” – St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Dominican Priest and Theologian, Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from On the Feast of the Body of Christ).
PRAYER – Look forgivingly on Thy flock, Eternal Shepherd and keep it in Thy constant protection, by the intercession of blessed Sylvester thy Martyr and Sovereign Pontiff, whom Thou didst constitute Shepherd of the whole Church. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect). O HEART of love, I place all my trust in Thee; for though I fear all things from my weakness, I hope all things from Thy mercies. – Ejaculation of Saint Margaret Mary – Indulgence 300 Days, Everytime – Raccolta 180St Pius X, 3 June 1908.
Quote of the Day – 17 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Friday within the Octave of Corpus Christi – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59.
O Divine Jesus! Lonely in So Many Tabernacles By St Pope Pius X (1835-1914) “Pope of the Blessed Sacrament”
O Divine Jesus! Lonely today in so many Tabernacles, without visitor or worshipper, I offer Thee my lonely heart. May it’s every beat be a prayer of love to Thee. Thou art ever watching under the Sacramental Veils, in Thou love, Thou never sleeps and Thou art never weary of Thy vigils for sinners. O Loving Jesus! O Lonely Jesus! may my heart be a lamp, the light of which shall burn and beam for Thee alone. Watch, Sacramental Sentinel! Watch for the weary world, for the erring soul and for Thy poor lonely child. O Jesus, my God, I adore Thee, here present in the Sacrament of Thy love. Amen
Indulgences: 100 days each time before the Tabernacle 300 days each time before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed (St Pope Pius X – 3 July 1908) Prayers to the Sacred Heart 15th Ed 1936
One Minute Reflection – 17 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Friday within the Octave of Corpus Christi – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59.
“This is the Bread that has come down from Heaven; not as your fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this Bread shall live forever.”- John 6:59
REFLECTION – “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!
Consider now which is the more excellent – the bread of Angels or the Flesh of Christ, which is indeed the 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. For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, Blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied their thirst for a time; Blood cleanses you forever. 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 you 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 from Heaven.” – St Ambrose (340-397) Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from On the Mysteries).
PRAYER – O God, Thou Who in this wondrous Sacrament have left us a memorial of Thy Passion, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the Sacred Mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we may ever experience, within us, the effect of Thy Redemption. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect). MAY the HEART of JESUS be loved everywhere.100 Days, Indulgence Once a day – Pope Pius IX 23 September 1860.
Quote/s of the Day – 16 June – Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59.
“But when our kind and loving Father rained down the Word, He Himself, became spiritual nourishment to the good. … And then, we are to throw out the old and carnal corruption, our old diet, receiving in exchange a totally new diet — Christ Himself, as we ingest Him for Him to remain hidden there. Then, with our Saviour enshrined in our souls, as it were, we can correct the affections of our flesh.”
St Clement of Alexandria (150-215) Father of the Church
“He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in him.”
John 6:57
“This bread you see on the Altar, consecrated by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. This cup consecrated by the word of God, or rather its contents, is the Blood of Christ. In these two elements our Lord desired to hand over, for our veneration and love, His Body and Blood, shed for the remission of our sins. If you have received them with a good disposition, then you are what you have received. As the apostle Paul declares: “We are, all of us, one bread, one body” (1 Cor 10,17)…”
St Augustine (354-430) Bishop, Father, Doctor of Grace
Source of all we have or know, feed and lead us here below. Grant that with Your saints above, Sitting at the feast of love, We may see You face to face.
Amen Alleluia!
Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we Adore and Love You!
( The last Verse of the Lauda Sion, the Eucharistic Hymn/Sequence By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
“Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament and a loving embrace, as though we had already received Him.”
St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church
“It is enough for us to love Him and to be ready to keep His commandments. Such an act of sincere and effective love for Jesus, will cause Him to enter and to remain in our hearts, even after the sacramental species has been consumed. This is Spiritual Communion, which consists mainly in the yearning for Jesus. “I have come to cast fire upon the earth and what will I but, that it be kindled” (Lk 12:49).”
Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Act of Spiritual Communion By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
I desire, good Jesus, to receive Thee in Holy Communion and since I cannot now receive Thee in the Blessed Sacrament, I beseech Thee to come to me spiritually and to refresh my soul with Thy sweetness. Come, my Lord, my God and my All! Come to me and never let me ever again be separated from Thee by sin. Teach me Thy blessed ways, help me with Thy grace to imitate Thy example, to practise meekness, humility, charity and all the virtues of Thy Sacred Heart. My divine Master, my one desire is to do Thy will and to love Thee, more and more. Help me, that I may be faithful to the end, in Thy service. Bless me in life and in death, that I may praise Thee, forever in heaven, Amen
One Minute Reflection – 16 June – Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59.
“He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in him..” – John 6:57
REFLECTION – “Or think of it this way: Whereas people desire meat and drink to satisfy hunger and thirst, real satisfaction is produced, only by that meat and drink that make the receivers of it, immortal and incorruptible. He’s talking here about the fellowship of the saints where there is peace and unity, full and perfect. Therefore, our Lord has chosen, for the types of His Body and Blood, things that become one out of many.
Bread is a quantity of grains united into one mass, wine a quantity of grapes squeezed together. Then He explains what it is to eat His Body and drink His Blood: “He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him.” So then, to partake of that Meat and that Drink, is to dwell in Christ and Christ in you. Whoever does not dwell in Christ and in whom, Christ does not dwell, neither eats His Flesh nor drinks His Blood; rather, he eats and drinks the Sacrament of it, to his own damnation!” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace (Tractates on the Gospel of John, 26).
PRAYER – O God, Thou Who in this wondrous sacrament have left us a memorial of Thy Passion, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the Sacred Mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we may ever experience, within us, the effect of Thy Redemption. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect). EUCHARISTIC Heart of JESUS, model of the priestly heart, have mercy on us. COR JESU Eucharisticum, cordis sacerdotalis exemplar, miserere nobis. – Indulgence 300 Days, Everytime – Raccolta 177 St Pius X, 11 September 1907.
Our Morning Offering – 16 June – Corpus Christ, The Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
Lauda Sion Salvatorem Sion, Lift Up thy Voice and Sing (Excerpt) By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor Angelicus / Doctor Communis
Sion, lift thy voice and sing, Praise thy Saviour and thy King, Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true, Dare thy most to praise Him well, For He doth all praise excel, None can ever reach His due.
Special theme of praise is Thine, That true living Bread divine, That life-giving flesh adored, Which the brethren twelve received, As most faithfully believed, At the Supper of the Lord.
Let the chant be loud and high, Sweet and tranquil be the joy Felt to-day in every breast; On this festival divine Which recounts the origin Of the glorious Eucharist.
St Thomas Aquinas wrote the Liturgy for Corpus Christi when Pope Urban IV added the Solemnity to the universal Church’s Liturgical calendar in 1264. He provided a great sequence, one of the great poems chanted or recited before the proclamation of the Gospel. Lauda Sion is one of only four medieval sequences which were preserved in the Roman Missal published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545–1563)—the others being Victimae Paschali Laudes (Easter), Veni Sancte Spiritus (Pentecost) and Dies irae (requiem masses). (A fifth, Stabat Mater, would later be added in 1727.) Before Trent, many feasts had their own sequences. The existing versions were unified in the Roman Missal promulgated in 1570. The Lauda Sion is still sung today as solemn Eucharistic hymn, though its use is optional in the post-Vatican II Ordinary form. As with St Thomas’s other three Eucharistic Hymns, the last few stanzas of the Lauda Sion are often used alone, in this case, to form the “Ecce Panis Angelorum”.
By Fr Francis Xavier Weninger, SJ (1805-1888) (Excerpt)
The same reason which caused the Festival of the Holy Trinity, induced the Catholic Church to institute the Feast of Corpus Christi, which we celebrate today. She requires that we shall confess and renew today, the faith which we have in the Blessed Eucharist and that we bestow, all possible honours, upon the Most Holy Sacrament and give due thanks to our Saviour for its institution. In order that this just requirement of the Church may be more fully complied with, we shall here give some explanation of the above reasons.
In regard to the first reason, the following are the facts, which the Church especially desires to call to our memory by this joyous festival. Our dear Saviour, on the same evening when His bitter suffering for the Redemption of man began, instituted the Blessed Eucharist, out of His immeasurable love for us. In it, He is truly and substantially present with Body and Doul, with Flesh and Blood, as God and Man, under the form of bread and wine. Under the form of bread, not only His Holy Body but also, His Holy bBood is present – because a living body cannot exist without blood. Hence he receives it, who partakes of Holy Communion only in th,e form of bread, not less than he who receives it in two forms, as the pPriests, when they say Holy Mass. The latter partake of Holy Communion under two forms, in order that the Passion and Death of our Saviour, during which His Blood flowed from His wounds, might be more vividly represented.
From the moment that the Priest speaks the prescribed holy words, in the name of Christ, over the bread and wine, the Lord is present in the Holy Sacrament. Bread and wine change their substance, miraculously, into the true Body and Blood of the Saviour, in such a manner, that all that remains of the bread and wine, is their form, colour and taste. The Presence of Christ lasts as long as the bread and the wine are unconsumed. It is further to be considered, that our Lord is present in a small host as well as in a large one, as well in a portion of a Host, as in a whole one. Hence, he who receives an entire host, has no more than he who receives only a part of one, the latter has just as much as the former. The same is the case with those, who by inadvertence, receive more than one Host, while others receive only one. It is only to be remarked that in case a Consecrated Host is broken or divided, the Holy Body of the Saviour, is not broken nor divided but, the form of the bread only: even as Christ will not again die, so His Holy Body can neither be broken nor divided. All these points are Articles of Faith in the Catholic Church and are explained in sermons, in religious instructions and in many books and are especially demonstrated, by the Word of God. All true Catholics believe this without any doubt, as the Almighty, Who is Eternal and Infallible Truth, has revealed it and, as that Church assures us, which, on account of the Assistance of the Holy Ghost, promised to her by Christ, cannot err.
Those who are not Catholics teach in many points quite differently. They especially reject the Real Presence of Christ in the form of bread and wine and also, the Transubstantiation of these latter, into the Real Body and Blood of the Lord. They maintain it to be impossible, that bread and wine can be changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, or that Christ can be Really Present at the same time, in so many different places, in so small a compass, as the Holy Host. If we ask them why they consider it impossible, they answer: “because we cannot conceive, cannot comprehend, how it can be possible.” But if they believe impossible all which they cannot understand, they must, besides many other Articles of Faith, reject the creation of the world; the Humanity and Resurrection of Christ; the Holy Trinity; because all these are just as inconceivable for the mind of man, as the Transubstantiation of the bread and wine and the substantial Presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It matters not, in Articles of Faith, whether we are able to comprehend them or not, so long as they are revealed by God.
That which the Almighty has revealed must be true, whether I can understand it or not – for He is Omniscient, hence Infallible and cannot be deceived, while our understanding, can as easily be deceived, as our senses. God is Truth, therefore, cannot deceive. He is Omnipotent, hence, He can do more than the human mind can comprehend. “With God all things are possible,” said Christ Himself. “Let us admit that God can do more than we are able to fathom,” says St Augustine, while St Cyril of Alexandria writes; “The Lord says by the prophet Isaias: ‘My counsel is not like yours, neither are my ways like your ways: for as the heaven is above the earth, so are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.’ Cannot, therefore, the Works of Him, Who stands so high above us in Wisdom and Power, exceed in their Greatness the limits of our understanding?”
The same is taught by all the Holy Fathers. They also refer to many occurrences in nature, which, although we cannot comprehend them, nevertheless, take place. They speak of the creation of the world and say, if we believe that God created a whole world out of nothing, how can we hesitate to believe that He can change bread and wine, or that He can be Present in that form? The water at Cana was changed into wine – why then should He not possess the Power to transform bread and wine into His Holy Body and Blood? Truly, whoever believes that God is Omnipotent, Infallible and Infinite, cannot doubt this Article of Faith. We Catholics believe so and hence, we cannot doubt any of the abovementioned points of the True Faith. This faith we this day renew and confess publicly. The Catholic Church requires it and has, for this reason, instituted today’s Festival. She further demands that we unanimously, bestow today all possible honour upon the Blessed Sacrament and that we praise and glorify, with all the powers of our soul, the Saviour therein concealed. And is not this justly demanded of us? of us who firmly believe that our Lord is Present in His double nature, as God and as Man, in the Blessed Sacrament? All honour, all praise belongs to the true God! …
Everything connected with this ceremony, is intended to honour our Lord in every possible manner. The Church tries, by this public manifestation, to atone somewhat for the many and great wrongs to which the Blessed Sacrament is so frequently subjected, by heretics as well as by Catholics.
One cannot, without horror, think how this Sacred Mystery has been assailed and dishonoured in Centuries gone by and down to our days. A pious Christian dares not even relate the wrongs done to it, which are great enough to deserve hell! And what does our Saviour, concealed in the Blessed Sacrament, suffer from those who believe in His Presence? The irreverence and levity with which many Catholics conduct themselves, in the Presence of the Blessed Eucharist, tend to dishonour and disgrace our Saviour. The unworthy Communions which unhappily take place, offend Him in a most grievous manner. The misuse of the Body, especially of the tongue and mouth, which are so often sanctified by partaking of the True Body and Blood of Christ, cannot but excite the wrath of the Lord. For these, as well as other wrongs done to the Blessed Sacrament, the Church of Christ seeks to make amends by these Solemn Processions and by all the other pious exercises she has ordained for this festival and during the whole Octave. Hence, every pious Christian should be solicitous, to conform to the ordinances of the Church and not only assist in the Procession and all other devout exercises but also, endeavour to contribute to render them, what the Church desires.
Those who are not Catholics disapprove of everything that we do today in honour of the Blessed Sacrament and accuse us of idolatry, as we, according to them, worship bread. They say also that all that we do in this regard, cannot be agreeable to God because it was not ordained by Him. We, Catholics, are, however, not disturbed by this, for we know that we do not worship bread but Him Whom Three Wise Men worshipped in the Manger, namely, Jesus Christ, true God and Man. We know also, that although what we do this day in honour of the Blessed Sacrament is not, especially and expressly ordained in Holy Writ, still we are assured that a voluntary worship of it, is in accordance with reason and the laws of God, pleasing and agreeable to His Majesty. And this is made clear to us from the above-mentioned example of the three Wise Men and from the acts with which King David honoured the Most High, on the solemn return of the Ark of the Covenant; not to mention that Christ gave us a general Command to worship God, in the words: “The Lord Thy God shalt thou adore and Him only, shalt thou serve.” (Matth. iv.) This Command we fulfil today by our actions, as they all aim at one end, namely, the honour of the Lord, Who is concealed in the Blessed Sacrament. The more we are blamed and derided by the heretics for our adoration of the Holy Eucharist, the more fervent should we become in our zeal. When King David was derided by Michol, on account of his devotion at the return of the Ark of the Covenant, he said: “Before the Lord who chose me . . . . I will both play and make myself meaner than I have done and I will be little in my own eyes.” (II. Kings vi.)
We will still add in a few words, what the True Church further demands of us. We today give humble thanks to the Lord for the institution of the Blessed Eucharist. This is no more than our duty, for if we are obliged to thank God for the smallest benefit He confers upon us, we are surely under much greater obligation, when the benefit is great and of especial importance.
Who can tell, who can comprehend, the greatness of the benefit, which Christ Our Saviour and Lord bestowed upon us by the institution of the Blessed Eucharist. It is as great as it is unfathomable: great as He Who devised it; as Christ our Lord, true God and Man, the King of all Kings, the Lord of all, Who reigns. Great and inconceivable is the miracle by which the substance of bread and wine is changed into the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ and the Miraculous Presence of the Lord in the form of bread and wine. St Thomas de Aquin, calls the Blessed Sacrament a miracle and the greatest that Christ ever wrought! Amen Amen Alleluia, Praise be Thee Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed and Life-giving Sacrament!
St Berthaldus St Ceccardus of Luni St Cettin of Oran St Colman McRhoi St Crescentius of Antioch St Cunigunde of Rapperswil St Curig of Wales St Cyriacus of Iconium (c 301-c 304) Child Martyr
Blessed Donizetti Tavares de Lima (1882-1961) Priest, Apostle of the poor, the elderly and the sick, miracle-worker, known to bilocate. A prophecy related to Vatican II: “No, no, Archbishop! We won’t see this disgrace (prophesying that they both would die soon) but it will come! This was not just a dream, nor a nightmare! The darkness will fall over this world! I beg you: don’t let them destroy the Altars!” An amazing life: https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/16/saint-of-the-day-16-june-blessed-donizetti-tavares-de-lima-1882-1961/
St Elidan St Felix of San Felice St Ferreolus of Besançon St Ferrutio of Besançon Bl Gaspare Burgherre St Graecina of Volterra St Ismael of Wales
St Maurus of San Felice St Palerio of Telese St Similian of Nantes Bl Thomas Redyng St Tycho of Amathus
Martyrs of Africa: A group of five Christians Martyred together. We know nothing else but the names – Cyriacus, Diogenes, Marcia, Mica, Valeria. They were martyred in an unknown location in Africa, date unknown.
Quote/s of the Day – 1 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Readings: Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15; Psalms 78: 3-4, 23-24, 25, 54 (24b); Ephesians 4: 17, 20-24; John 6: 24-35
“I am the bread of life”
John 6:35
“For His body, has been given to you under the appearance of bread and His blood, under the appearance of wine, so that, when you have partaken of the body and blood of Christ, you might be one body and one blood with Him. So shall we become Christ-bearers [“Christophers”]. His body and blood are diffused t hrough all our members – see, then, how we become participants in the divine nature!”
St Cyril of Jerusalem (313-350) Father & Doctor of the Church
This the truth to Christians given, Bread becomes His flesh from heaven, Wine becomes His holy Blood (Jn 6:55). …
St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Sequence for the feast of Corpus Christi “ Lauda Sion ”
Thought for the Day – 6 June – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Feast of Corpus Christi
“Human words cannot express the beauty ad depth of the passage from the Gospel which the liturgy of the Holy Mass offers for our meditation. It is the passage in which Jesus promises the institution of the Blessed Eucharist.
“ For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live forever.” (Jn 6:56-59)
No human being could have visualised or uttered such words. Only the God-Man could have spoken them.
Even outside the Eucharist, God communicates with us, descending with His grace into our souls. We feel that He is present, we experience His supernatural influence and inspiration, His appeals to us to do good. But in the Eucharist, we have far more than this. We have the God-Man as the food of our souls, through which we live His own life, so that, like St Paul, it is no longer we who live but Christ Who lives in us.
This intimate and mysterious union has been compared with the unfathomable union in which the Son of God, lives the life of His heavenly Father because. by means of the Eucharist, we should live the supernatural life of Jesus. A a result of this transformation, there can be no further place in us for sin, nor for disordered affectations and desires but only for virtue and for God.”
Quote/s of the Day – 6 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Corpus Christi, The Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
“O how unspeakable is this Sacrament which sets our affections ablaze with charity. … It is the fulfillment of Christ’s Mystical Body.”
“Source of all we have or know, feed and lead us here below. Grant that with Your saints above, Sitting at the feast of love, We may see You face to face.”
Amen Alleluia!
(Last verse of the Lauda Sion)
“The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love. It signifies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.”
St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor angelicus/Doctor communis
One Minute Reflection – 6 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Corpus Christi, The Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Readings: First: Exodus 24: 3-8, Psalm: Psalms 116: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18 (13), Second: Hebrews 9: 11-15, Gospel: Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26
“ This is my body … this is my blood ” – Mark14: 22,24
REFLECTION – “The lovers of this world display their generosity by giving money, clothes and various gifts but not one of them gives his own blood. Christ gives His. In this way He demonstrates the tenderness He feels for us and His ardent love. Under the Old Law … God consented to receive the blood of sacrifices but this was just to prevent His people from offering it to false gods and, already, this was proof of a very great love. But Christ transformed this rite… there is no longer the same sacrificial victim – it is Himself He offers in sacrifice.
“The bread that we break, is it not a communion in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16) What is this bread? The Body of Christ. What becomes of those who communicate in it? The Body of Christ – not a large number of bodies but just one Body. Just as this bread, made up of so many wheat grains, makes only one loaf into which the grains disappear – for even though the grains remain in it, yet it is impossible to distinguish them in such a closely compacted mass – so all of us, together with Christ, make up a single whole … Now, if we all share in the same bread and are united to the same Christ, why don’t we show the same love to each other? Why don’t we become one in this case too?
This is what was seen at the beginning: “The community of believers was of one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32) … Christ came in search of you who were far away from Him to unite Himself to you but you do not wish to become one with your brother? … You violently separate yourself from him, after winning from the Lord so great a proof of His love – and life! For He did not only give His Body but, just as our flesh, drawn from the earth, had lost its life and died through sin, so He has introduced, so to speak, another substance like a leaven, this is His Body, the Body sharing the same nature as ours but free from sin and abounding in life. And He has given it to all of us, so that, fed with the banquet of this new food … we might enter immortal life.” – St John Chrysostom (347-407) Archbishop of Constantinople, Father ad Doctor of the Church – 24th homily on the 1st letter to the Corinthians 2
PRAYER – Lord Jesus Christ, You gave Your Church, an admirable Sacrament as the abiding memorial of Your Passion. Teach us to worship the sacred mystery of Your Body and Blood, that it’s redeeming power may sanctify us always. Who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 6 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – The Solemnity of Corpus Christi – The Most Holy Body ad Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Pange Lingua Sing, My Tongue By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Eng trans – Fr Edward Caswell CO (1814-1878) (Excerpt on the image – the 4 last stanzas)
Sing, my tongue, the Saviour’s glory, Of His Flesh, the mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our Immortal King, Destined, for the world’s redemption, From a noble Womb to spring.
Of a pure and spotless Virgin Born for us on earth below, He, as Man, with man conversing, Stayed, the seeds of truth to sow; Then He closed in solemn order Wondrously His Life of woe.
On the night of that Last Supper, Seated with His chosen band, He, the Paschal Victim eating, First fulfils the Law’s command; Then as Food to all His brethren Gives Himself with His own Hand.
Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature By His Word to Flesh He turns; Wine into His Blood He changes, What though sense no change discerns. Only be the heart in earnest, Faith her lesson quickly learns.
Down in adoration falling, Lo, the sacred Host we hail, Lo, o’er ancient forms departing Newer rites of grace prevail, Faith for all defects supplying, When the feeble senses fail.
To the Everlasting Father And the Son who comes on high With the Holy Ghost proceeding Forth from each eternally, Be salvation, honour, blessing, Might and endless majesty. Amen. Alleluia.
Written by St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, this Hymn is considered the most beautiful of Aquinas’ Hymns and one of the great seven Hymns of the Church. The Hymn is also used on Holy Thursday. The last two stanzas make up the Tantum Ergo (Down in Adoration Falling) that is used at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
PANGE, lingua, gloriosi Corporis mysterium, Sanguinisque pretiosi, quem in mundi pretium fructus ventris generosi Rex effudit Gentium.
Nobis datus, nobis natus ex intacta Virgine, et in mundo conversatus, sparso verbi semine, sui moras incolatus miro clausit ordine.
In supremae nocte cenae recumbens cum fratribus observata lege plene cibis in legalibus, cibum turbae duodenae se dat suis manibus.
Verbum caro, panem verum verbo carnem efficit: fitque sanguis Christi merum, et si sensus deficit, ad firmandum cor sincerum sola fides sufficit.
Tantum ergo Sacramentum veneremur cernui: et antiquum documentum novo cedat ritui: praestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui.
Genitori, Genitoque laus et iubilatio, salus, honor, virtus quoque sit et benedictio: procedenti ab utroque compar sit laudatio. Amen. Alleluia.
Solemnity of Corpus Christi – The Most Holy Body ad Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ +2021 – celebrated today in many countries, where Thursday was not a Holy Day
Panna Mária,/ Blessed Virgin Mary, Pozba, Nové Zámky, Nitra, Slovakia 1512 –Second Sunday after Feast of the Ascension:
In 1512, the Pauline Fathers built a Marian Shrine, in the southwest Slovakian Town of Vel’ké Lovce. In the 1700s is was a popular place of pilgrimage. One day in those years, shepherds and pilgrims, observed a white dove bathing in a spring in the woods five miles away, outside the village of Pozba. The story circulated that a shepherd’s blind daughter regained her sight after washing her eyes with the dove’s bathwater. The landowner made fun of this, wondering if the spring could help his blind horse. It did, but he went blind instead. A sick girl saw the Virgin, wearing a white dress and blue sash, in a pear tree and was immediately cured. From the wood of this tree, a Pietà was carved, still venerated in a Chapel by the spring, which hosts annual pilgrimages on Pentecost Sunday and on 15 September, Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
St Norbert (c 1080-1134) (Optional Memorial) Bishop, Confessor, Founder of the Premonstratensian or theNorbertine Canons and Sisters, “Defender of the Eucharist” and “Apostle of the Eucharist,” Exorcist, Reformer, Preacher His amazing life: https://anastpaul.com/2017/06/06/saint-of-the-day-6-june-st-norbert/
St Agobard of Lyon St Alexander of Fiesole St Alexander of Noyon St Amantius of Noyon St Anoub of Skete St Artemius of Rome St Bazalota of Abyssinia St Bertrand of Aquileia (1258– 1350) Bishop St Candida of Rome St Ceratius of Grenoble St Claudius of Besançon St Cocca St Colmán of Orkney Bl Daniel of Bergamo St Euphemia of Abyssinia St Eustorgius II of Milan Bl Falco of La Cava Bl Gilbert of Neufontaines St Grazia of Germagno St Gudwall Bl Gundisalvus of Azebeyro St Hilarion the Younger
St Paulina of Rome St Phêrô Dung St Phêrô Thuan St Rafael Guízar y Valencia St Vincent of Bevagna St Vinh-Son Duong — Marytrs of Tarsus: A group of 20 martyrs who were killed together during the persecutions of Diocletian. They were martyred in Tarsus (in modern Turkey).
Mercedarian Fathers of Avignon: Several Mercedarians from the Santa Maria convent of Avignon, France who worked with plague victims in that city and died of the disease themselves. They died in Avignon, France of plague and are remembered together today for their great charity and commitment to their people.
Quote/s of the Day – 3 June – Solemnity of Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
“I am the bread of life; he who comes to me, shall not hunger and he who believes in me, shall never thirst.”
John 6:35
“This bread you see on the Altar, consecrated by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. This cup consecrated by the word of God, or rather its contents, is the Blood of Christ. In these two elements our Lord desired to hand over, for our veneration and love, His Body and Blood, shed for the remission of our sins. If you have received them with a good disposition, then you are what you have received. As the apostle Paul declares: “We are, all of us, one bread, one body” (1 Cor 10,17)…”
St Augustine (354-430) Bishop, Father, Doctor of Grace
“O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? … Behold – daily He humbles Himself as when from heaven’s royal throne He came down into the womb of the Virgin. Daily, He Himself, comes to us with like humility; daily He descends from the bosom of the Father, upon the Altar, in the hands of the Priest.”
St Francis of Assisi (c 1181–1226)
“God is as really present in the consecrated Host, as He is, in the glory of Heaven.”
St Paschal Baylon (1540-1592)
Prayer of Adoration Act of Spiritual Communion By St Conrad of Parzham (1818-1894)
I have come to spend a few moments with You, O Jesus and in spirit I prostrate myself in the dust before Your Holy Tabernacle to adore You, my Lord and God, in deepest humility. Once more, a day has come to its close, dear Jesus, another day which brings me nearer to the grave and my beloved heavenly home. Once more, O Jesus, my heart longs for You, the true Bread of Life, which contains all sweetness and relish. O my Jesus, mercifully grant me pardon for the faults and ingratitude of this day and come to me, to refresh my poor heart which longs for You. As the heart pants for the waters, as the parched earth longs for the dew of heaven, even so, does my poor heart long for You, You Fount of Life. I love You, O Jesus, I hope in You, I love You and out of love for You, I regret sincerely all my sins. May Your peace and Your benediction be mine, now and always and for all eternity. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 3 June – Solemnity of Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, Readings: First: Exodus 24: 3-8, Psalm: Psalms 116: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18 (13), Second: Hebrews 9: 11-15, Gospel: John 6:44-51
“The bread that I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world.” – John 6:51
REFLECTION – “They are wholly mistaken who reject God’s plan for His creation, deny the salvation of the flesh and scoff at the idea of its regeneration, asserting that it cannot put on an imperishable nature. If the flesh is not saved, then the Lord did not redeem us with His Blood, the Chalice of the Eucharist is not a share in His Blood and the Bread which we break is not a share in His Body (1Cor 10,16). For… the human substance, which the Word of God truly became, redeems us with His Blood…
Since we are His members (1Cor 6,15) and are nourished by His creation… He declared, that the Chalice of His creation is His own Blood, from which He augments our own blood and He affirmed, that the Bread of His creation is His own Body from which He gives growth to our being.
So, when the mixed chalice and the baked loaf receive the word of God and when the Eucharistic elements become the Body and Blood of Christ, which brings growth and sustenance to our bodily frame, how can it be maintained that our flesh is incapable of receiving God’s gift of eternal life?
For our flesh feeds on the Lord’s Body and Blood and is His member. So Saint Paul writes: “We are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones” (Eph 5,30; Gn 2,23). He is not speaking about some spiritual and invisible man…: he is speaking of the anatomy of a real man, consisting of flesh, nerves and bones. It is this that is nourished by His Chalice, the Chalice of His Blood and gains growth from the Bread which is His Body… In the same way, our bodies are nourished by the after being buried in the earth and… rise again in due season, when the word of God confers resurrection upon them “for the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2,11).” – St Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202) Bishop, Theologian and Martyr
PRAYER – Lord Jesus Christ, You gave Your Church an admirable Sacrament, as the abiding memorial of Your Passion. Teach us so to worship the sacred mystery of Your Body and Blood, that ts redeeming power may sanctify us always. Who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 3 June – Solemnty of Corpus Christ, The Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
St Thomas Aquinas wrote the Liturgy for Corpus Christi when Pope Urban IV added the Solemnity to the universal Church’s Liturgical calendar in 1264. He provided a great sequence, one of the great poems chanted or recited before the proclamation of the Gospel. Lauda Sion is one of only four medieval sequences which were preserved in the Roman Missal published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545–1563)—the others being Victimae Paschali Laudes (Easter), Veni Sancte Spiritus (Pentecost) and Dies irae (requiem masses). (A fifth, Stabat Mater, would later be added in 1727.) Before Trent, many feasts had their own sequences. The existing versions were unified in the Roman Missal promulgated in 1570. The Lauda Sion is still sung today as solemn Eucharistic hymn, though its use is optional in the post-Vatican II Ordinary form. As with St Thomas’s other three Eucharistic Hymns, the last few stanzas of the Lauda Sion are often used alone, in this case, to form the “Ecce Panis Angelorum”.
Lauda Sion Salvatorem Sion, Lift Up thy Voice and Sing (Excerpt) By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor Angelicus / Doctor Communis
Sion, lift thy voice and sing, Praise thy Saviour and thy King, Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true, Dare thy most to praise Him well, For He doth all praise excel, None can ever reach His due.
Special theme of praise is Thine, That true living Bread divine, That life-giving flesh adored, Which the brethren twelve received, As most faithfully believed, At the Supper of the Lord.
Let the chant be loud and high, Sweet and tranquil be the joy Felt to-day in every breast; On this festival divine Which recounts the origin Of the glorious Eucharist.
Saint of the Day – 6 April – Saint Juliana of Cornillon (c 1192-1258) Nun, Mystic “Apostle of the Blessed Sacrament.” Born in c 1192 or 1103 at Retinnes, Flanders, Belgium and died on 5 April 1258 of natural causes. Patronage– Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. St Juliana is little known but the Church is deeply indebted to her, not only because of the holiness of her life but also because, with her great fervour, she contributed to the institution of one of the most important solemn Liturgies of the year, namely the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. She is also known as Juliana of Mount Cornillon, Julliana, Juliana of Liège.
We know several facts about her life, mainly from a Biography that was probably written by a contemporary cleric; it is a collection of various testimonies of people who were directly acquainted with the Saint.
Juliana was born near Liège, Belgium between 1191 and 1192. It is important to emphasise this place because at that time, the Diocese of Liège was, so to speak, a true “Eucharistic Upper Room.” Before Juliana, eminent theologians had illustrated the supreme value of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and, again in Liège, there were groups of women generously dedicated to Eucharistic worship and to fervent communion. Guided by exemplary Priests, they lived together, devoting themselves to prayer and to charitable works.
Orphaned at the age of five, Juliana, together with her sister Agnes, was entrusted to the care of the Augustinian nuns at the Convent and leprosarium of Mont-Cornillon. She was taught mainly by a Sister called “Sapienza” [wisdom], who was in charge of her spiritual development to the time Juliana received the religious habit and thus became an Augustinian Nun.
She became so learned that she could read the words of the Church Fathers, of St Augustine and St Bernard in particular, in Latin. In addition to a keen intelligence, Juliana showed a special propensity for contemplation from the outset. She had a profound sense of Christ’s presence, which she experienced by living the Sacrament of the Eucharist especially intensely and by pausing frequently to meditate upon Jesus’ words: “And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20).
When Juliana was 16 she had her first vision, which recurred subsequently several times during her Eucharistic adoration. Her vision presented the moon in its full splendour, crossed diametrically by a dark stripe. The Lord made her understand the meaning of what had appeared to her. The moon symbolized the life of the Church on earth, the opaque line, on the other hand, represented the absence of a liturgical feast for whose institution Juliana was asked to plead effectively, namely, a feast in which believers would be able to adore the Eucharist so as to increase in faith, to advance in the practice of the virtues and to make reparation for offences, to the Most Holy Sacrament.
The vision of St Juliana
Juliana, who in the meantime had become Prioress of the convent, kept this revelation that had filled her heart with joy a secret for about 20 years. She then confided it to two other fervent adorers of the Eucharist, Blessed Eva, who lived as a hermit, and Isabella, who had joined her at the Monastery of Mont-Cornillon. The three women established a sort of “spiritual alliance” for the purpose of glorifying the Most Holy Sacrament. They also chose to involve a highly regarded Priest, John of Lausanne, who was a Canon of the Church of St Martin in Liège. They asked him to consult theologians and clerics on what was important to them. Their affirmative response was encouraging.
What happened to Juliana of Cornillon occurs frequently in the lives of Saints. To have confirmation that an inspiration comes from God, it is always necessary to be immersed in prayer to wait patiently, to seek friendship and exchanges with other good souls and to submit all things to the judgement of the Shepherds of the Church. It was in fact Bishop Robert Torote, Liège who, after initial hesitation, accepted the proposal of Juliana and her companions and first introduced the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in his Diocese. Later other Bishops following his example and instituted this Feast in the territories entrusted to their pastoral care.
However, to increase their faith the Lord often asks Saints to sustain trials. This also happened to Juliana who had to bear the harsh opposition of certain members of the clergy and even of the Superior on whom her Monastery depended. Of her own free will, therefore, Juliana left the Convent of Mont-Cornillon with several companions. For 10 years — from 1248 to 1258 — she stayed as a guest at various Monasteries of Cistercian sisters. She edified all with her humility, she had no words of criticism or reproach for her adversaries and continued zealously to spread Eucharistic worship.
She died at Fosses-La-Ville, Belgium, in 1258. In the cell where she lay, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and, according to her biographer’s account, Juliana died contemplating with a last effusion of love Jesus in the Eucharist, Whom she had always loved, honoured and adored.
Jacques Pantaléon of Troyes was also won over to the good cause of the Feast of Corpus Christi during his ministry as Archdeacon in Lièges. It was he, who, having become Pope with the name of Urban IV in 1264, instituted the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after Pentecost as a Feast of precept for the universal Church.
In the Bull of its institution, entitled Transiturus de hoc mundo, (11 Aug. 1264), Pope Urban even referred discreetly to Juliana’s mystical experiences, corroborating their authenticity. He wrote: “Although the Eucharist is celebrated solemnly everyday, we deem it fitting, that at least once a year. it be celebrated with greater honour and a solemn commemoration.
Indeed we grasp the other things we commemorate with our spirit and our mind but this does not mean, that we obtain their real presence. On the contrary, in this sacramental commemoration of Christ, even though in a different form, Jesus Christ is present with us in His own substance. While He was about to ascend into Heaven, He said ‘And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age’ (Matthew 28:20)”.
The Pontiff made a point of setting an example by celebrating the solemnity of Corpus Christi in Orvieto, the town where he was then residing. Indeed, he ordered that the famous Corporal with the traces of the Eucharistic miracle which had occurred in Bolsena the previous year, 1263, be kept in Orvieto Cathedral — where it still is today.
While a Priest was consecrating the bread and the wine, he was overcome by strong doubts about the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. A few drops of blood began miraculously to ooze from the consecrated Host, thereby confirming what our faith professes.
Urban iv asked one of the greatest theologians of history, St Thomas Aquinas — who at that time was accompanying the Pope and was in Orvieto — to compose the texts of the Liturgical Office for this great Feast. They are masterpieces, still in use in the Church today, in which theology and poetry are fused into glorious prayers. These texts pluck at the heartstrings in an expression of praise and gratitude to the Most Holy Sacrament, while the mind, penetrating the mystery with wonder, recogniSes in the Eucharist, the Living and Real Presence of Jesus, of His Sacrifice of Love, that reconciles us with the Father and gives us salvation.
Although, after the death of Urban iv the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi was limited to certain regions of France, Germany, Hungary and Northern Italy, it was another Pontiff, John XXII who in 1317, re-established it for the universal Church. Since then, the Feast experienced a wonderful development and is still deeply appreciated by the Catholic faithful.
In remembering St Juliana of Cornillon, let us also renew our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. As we are taught “Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist in a unique and incomparable way. He is present in a true, real and substantial way, with His Body and His Blood, with His Soul and His Divinity. In the Eucharist, therefore, there is present in a sacramental way, that is, under the Eucharistic Species of bread and wine, Christ whole and entire, God and Man” (n. 282). (Excerpt – Pope Benedict XVI)
St Juliana was Canonised in 1869 by Blessed Pope Pius IX.
The Saints never failed to find strength, consolation and joy in the Eucharistic encounter. Let us repeat before the Lord present in the Most Blessed Sacrament ,the words of the Eucharistic hymn “Adoro te devote”: [Devoutly I adore Thee]: Make me believe ever more in you, “Draw me deeply into faith, / Into Your hope, into Your love.”
Quote of the Day – 23 June – The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
“When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage, speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness. Welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way, that your actions may give proof to all, of His Presence.”
St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church
Sunday Reflection – 23 June – The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
O precious and wonderful banquet!
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Priest and Doctor of the Church
An excerpt from On the Feast of the Body of Christ
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 forever, 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 fulfilment of ancient figures and the greatest of all His miracles, while for those who were to experience the sorrow of His departure, it was destined to be a unique and abiding consolation.
Our Morning Offering – 23 June – The Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ 2019
“MAY WE ALL BE LIVING MONSTRANCES.” By St Josemaria Escrivá (1902-1975)
May we be monstrances
wrought of pure gold,
free from all worldly influence,
studded with rubies,
which are like the stains of blood
from our sorrow and our sacrifice;
monstrances adorned with emeralds,
which signify,
our unshakeable hope
and embedded with
many other small stones –
that are barely noticed
but that You behold always,
delighting in their brilliance—
and which are our small mortifications,
our self-denial at every moment.
May these living monstrances
illumine those around them
by their apostolic charity.
Deign, my God,
living in each one of them,
to vivify with the rays of Your Love
all those who come
into contact with us.
Mother of ours,
Mother of Eucharistic Love:
this is our petition today.
Present it, we beseech you,
at your Son’s feet.
Obtain for us a life
imbued with a Eucharistic spirit,
so that love for the Holy Eucharist
fills our heart.
Amen
AnaStpaul 
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