Daily quotes on the Eucharist from Saints, Popes and others.
John 6:60 – “But many of the disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying.” What means “hard?” Rough, laborious, troublesome. Yet He said nothing of this kind, for He spoke not of a mode of life, but of doctrines, continually handling the faith which is in Him. What then means, [...]
"Today He invites us to merit heaven and to make ourselves worthy of it. Then He will, Himself introduce us there, and we will be part of the glorious procession of the elect. Now He is hidden from our eyes under the humility of His sacrament in order to try our faith: then He will [...]
"What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh 'given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,' preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of [...]
"When you come to Adoration, to Communion, you should be, as it were, entirely fresh, so that nothing past should burden or occupy your mind, in order that you may be ready to receive whatever impression the good God wishes. You must have peace of mind, and for that end, you must be submissive to [...]
"My only and infinite Good, I see that Thou hast instituted this Sacrament, and that Thou remainest on this altar, to be loved by me; and that for this end Thou hast given me a heart capable of loving Thee much. Why is it, then, that I am so ungrateful as not to love Thee? [...]
"The greatest devotion is called for at the moment of receiving this sacrament, because it is then that the effect of the sacrament is bestowed, and such devotion is hindered more by what goes before it than by what comes after it. And therefore it was ordained that men should fast before receiving the sacrament [...]
"Our happiness consists in fulfilling the purpose of our being. Every man knows, from his own unfulfilled hunger for them, that he was built with a capacity for three things of which he never has enough. He wants life – not for the next few minutes, but for always, and with no aging or disease [...]
"When the Venerable Brother Francis of the Infant Jesus, of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, passed before a church in which the Blessed Sacrament was kept, he could not refrain from entering to visit it, saying: 'That it was not becoming for a friend to pass before the door of a friend without entering, [...]
"Hence the Eucharist, as the source and summit of the Church's life and mission, must be translated into spirituality, into a life lived 'according to the Spirit' (Rom 8:4ff.; cf. Gal 5:16, 25)." Source: Pope Benedict XVI, SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS (Sacrament of Charity), 2/22/2007
"Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is 'given up for us,' and the blood we drink 'shed for the many for the forgiveness of sins.' For this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and [...]