On the night before his Passion, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and said: “This is my Body.” Since then he has stayed with the Church under the appearance of bread. This page gathers the ways to meet him: Mass, Communion, adoration, visits, and five saints who lived and died for him.
Sight, touch and taste all fail to know you; only what you say can be trusted.
The Eucharist is not only something to understand. It is a Person who stays with us, and we can meet him in four ways.
The Mass is where the Eucharist is celebrated: the Word is proclaimed, bread and wine are offered, and the sacrifice of the Cross is made present. Arriving a few minutes early so the heart can settle is the simplest preparation.
Read in Scripture: Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:23-26Communion is the deepest union with Jesus possible in this life. He said: whoever eats my flesh remains in me and I in him.
Read in Scripture: Jn 6:51-56After Mass the Lord remains present in the tabernacle. Adoration is sitting beside him without needing many words: looking, listening, letting him look back.
Read in Scripture: Mt 26:40; Mt 28:20When we cannot get to church or cannot receive, we can still turn our heart to him and ask him to come into our soul. A minute like that can turn a busy day into prayer.
Read in Scripture: Lk 24:29-31Each loved the Blessed Sacrament in a different way: through long hours of adoration, trust, youth, courage, and opening the table to everyone.
Eymard was a French priest, at first a Marist. He saw that many believed the Lord was present in the tabernacle but rarely visited him. He founded the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament and, with Marguerite Guillot, the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, so that someone would always be keeping watch before the Body of Christ. He was beatified in 1925 and canonised in 1962.
He taught that adoration is not for the especially pious but for anyone who wants a real Friend. The simplest way: give a few minutes each day to the Lord and speak with him as to someone who is right there, because he truly is.
You do not need many prayers. Come, sit down, and stay with him.
Four classic prayers to carry with you, before the tabernacle or anywhere else.
Hidden God, I adore you devoutly,
you who truly lie beneath these appearances.
My whole heart submits to you,
for in contemplating you it is wholly lost.
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Never let me be separated from you.
From the malicious enemy defend me.
In the hour of my death call me,
and bid me come to you,
that with your saints I may praise you forever. Amen.
My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.
I love you above all things and desire to receive you into my soul.
Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace you as if you had already come, and unite myself wholly to you.
Never permit me to be separated from you.
Hail, true Body,
born of the Virgin Mary,
who truly suffered and was sacrificed on the cross for humankind,
from whose pierced side water and blood flowed.
Be for us a foretaste
at the hour of our death.
A few simple things before and after receiving the Body of Christ.
Jesus institutes the Eucharist and commands: “Do this in memory of me.”
Saint Justin the martyr describes how Roman Christians celebrate Sunday Mass and send the Eucharist to those who are absent.
The Fourth Lateran Council requires every believer to receive Communion at least once a year at Easter.
Pope Urban IV establishes the feast of Corpus Christi for the whole Church.
Saint Pius X encourages frequent Communion.
Saint Pius X allows children to make their first Communion at the age of discretion.
Saint Eymard is canonised.
Saint Carlo Acutis, a teenager devoted to the Eucharist, is canonised.