The Eucharist, Part 20
Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~
Today we continue our twenty part series on the Eucharist. In case you missed the first three, you can find them here. This is in keeping with Archbishop Etienne’s pastoral letter on the Eucharist that you can find here (in case you missed it). Enjoy.
May God Bless You,
Fr. Thomas Nathe
Trent Horn, 20 Answers – The Eucharist. Catholic Answers Press. 2015
Get your own copy from Catholic.com
Question #12:
How can I develop a greater devotion to the Eucharist?
The easiest way to develop a greater devotion to the Eucharist is to attend daily Mass, so you can partake of Christ’s body and blood on a regular basis. You can also take part in a holy hour at a local chapel that hosts perpetual adoration or the Forty Hours Devotion. “This devotion takes place, as its name suggests, for forty hours after the sacrament is exposed. In Scripture, the number forty symbolizes the transformation for holy people, such as when the Israelites wandered for forty years in the desert or when Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days. Likewise, through the Forty Hours Devotion, the worshipper can take part in a spiritual transformation by spending time adoring the Lord (though he is not obligated to remain in adoration for the entire forty hours).
You can also read theological and ecclesial writings about the Eucharist - works by theologians such as Louis Bouyer (his book on the subject is called Eucharist: Theology and Spirituality of the Eucharistic Prayer) or papal documents such as Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia. Finally when you attend Mass you can offer up the following prayer, which has been attributed to Padre Pio after he received Christ in the Eucharist:
Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You.
You know how easily I abandon You.Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak
and I need Your strength,
that I may not fall so often.Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life,
and without You, I am without fervor.Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light,
and without You, I am in darkness.Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.
Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice
and follow You.Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You
very much, and always be in Your company.Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.
Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is,
I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of love.Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes;
death, judgment, eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength,
so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You.It is getting late and death approaches,
I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows.
O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all it’s dangers. I need You.
Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread,
so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness,
the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You,
if not by communion, at least by grace and love.Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it,
but the gift of Your Presence, oh yes, I ask this of You!Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.
With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth
and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen.
