St. Peter Julian Eymard was born in France in 1811. He was ordained in 1834 for the Society of Mary. Because of his extraordinary love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and realizing there was no Order of priests dedicated to perpetual adoration, he was permitted to found such an Order–the Congregation of theBlessed Sacrament. He also founded the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. His written works on the Holy Eucharist are classics in that field. He died in 1868 and his feast day is August 2nd. The following are a few excerpts from his writings.
EXAMINE YOUR CONSCIENCE IN THE MORNING UNDER THE EYES OF JESUS IN THE HOST
On awakening, make the sign of the cross. On arising say: “0 Sacrament Most Holy, 0 Sacrament Divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine! Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
ADORE our Lord as your King who has called you today to work in his amiable service and for his honor and glory. Render him this day the homage of your mind, your heart, your body and your life for he deserves it all.
THANK our Lord for having kept you alive; thank him for all the graces received during your life (baptism, first communion, vocation). Rejoice at the honor and the happiness of spending this whole day in union with our Divine Lord in his Sacrament of love: such a day may be worth an entire life, the whole of Paradise.
ACKNOWLEDGE your weakness and your defects in your particular vocation. Confess your offenses of yester¬day. Detest the power of self-love, the feebleness of your will, the distractions of your mind.
PROMISE our Lord that you will correct your ruling passion; foresee the occasions of relapse and the opportunities of practicing opposite virtues. Remember your resolution for this month and determine for yourself a certain penance in case of failure to keep it. ASK our Lord for the grace of being more faithful today.
RECOMMEND yourself to the Blessed Virgin, to your Guardian Angel and begin work with the help of God’s grace. Consecrate the whole day to our Eucharistic Jesus. Place yourself in spirit, in his presence and humbly adore him on his nearest throne of Perpetual Exposition or in the nearest Tabernacle.
O sweet Jesus, your goodness and your might
Have brought me to this morning’s light.
Keep and preserve me every hour,
From sorrow, sin, temptation’s power.
Grant me your blessing, Lord, this day,
On all I think and do and say.
Jesus for your help I plead;
Mary for me please intercede.
After making this offering, form your intention to gain all the indulgences of the day. Then hasten to the church for your morning prayers, Holy Mass and Communion.
(from My Eucharistic Day)
The love of Jesus Christ reaches its highest perfection and produces the greatest harvest of graces in the ineffable union He contracts with the soul in Holy Communion. Therefore, by every desire for goodness, holiness, and perfection that piety, the virtues, and love can inspire in us, we are bound to direct our course toward this union, toward frequent and even daily Communion.
Since we have in Holy Communion the grace, the model, and the practice of all the virtues, all of them finding their exercise in this divine action, we shall profit more by Communion than by all other means of sanctification: But to that end, Holy Communion must become the thought that dominates mind and heart. It must be the aim of all study, of piety, of the virtues. The receiving of Jesus must be the goal as well as the law of life. All our works must converge toward Communion as toward their end and flow from it as from their source.
The manna that God sent down every morning into the camp of the Israelites had all sorts of flavors and virtues; it not only restored failing energies and gave vigor of body, but it was a bread of sweetness. The Holy Eucharist, which it prefigures, possesses likewise every virtue. It is a remedy for our spiritual infirmities, strength for our daily weaknesses, and a source of peace, joy, and happiness.
The Eucharist, according to the Council of Trent, is a divine antidote that delivers us from common faults and preserves us from mortal sin. It is a fire that, in an instant, consumes the chaff of our spiritual imperfections. Holy Communion is the war that God wages in us against our concupiscence and against the devil, whom our evil passions constantly invite and who, through his connivance with our unruly appetites, holds some part of us in thrall. Did not Jesus say, “Come to me, all you who labor beneath the burden of slavery of your past sins, and I will refresh and deliver you.”
The Holy Penance cleanses us from sin, yet, purified though we be, we are left with the marks of our chains, the tendency to fall again. The enemy, although driven out, still keeps his agents within the walls. So Jesus comes to us to destroy the vestiges of our sins, to counteract our evil tendencies, and to prevent the Devil from re-establishing his power over us. Holy Communion is more than a remedy; it is a force that gives us powerful assistance in attaining goodness, virtue, and holiness.
(from How to Get More out of Holy Communion)
