Fr. Dwight Longenecker serves as Pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Greenville, South Carolina. He is also a noted author, having now published about twenty books and booklets across a range of topics: apologetics, the saints and Catholic culture.

A message of gratitude to our guests and listeners, and most of all to Our Lord Jesus Christ for His sacrifice for our salvation.

For this episode of Sangreal we had the privilege of speaking with Fr. Peter Sabbath, pastor of St. Thomas a Becket Parish in Montreal. As a young priest, Fr. Sabbath’s doctorate was about adoration and spiritual transformation, which held an especially personal relevance for him as the Eucharist was the key to his own conversion story. We also discussed how adoration helps deepen one’s friendship with Our Lord and how the Eucharist has sustained him, particularly in difficult times.

In this episode of Sangreal, Dr. Mark Miravalle speaks about the significance of Our Lady as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces, and Her relationship to Our Eucharistic Lord.

"Marytown —the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe is a pilgrimage site and sacred space in Libertyville, Illinois in the Archdiocese of Chicago. It is referred to as the 'Third City of the Immaculate' modeled after the evangelization centers created by St. Kolbe at Niepokalanów, Poland and Nagasaki, Japan." (https://kolbeshrine.org/overview)

The grounds have been a sanctuary of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament since 1928, which has been carried on to this day, despite the pandemic. To learn more about life at Marytown and the role of Eucharistic Adoration there, we spoke with Marytown rector Fr. Benedict La Volpe.

When we attend Mass, and Our Lord awaits us under the species of Bread and Wine, do we approach Communion with the proper motivation? Do we recognize the awesome sacrifice He is making for us and what a privilege that is, or are we guilty of having a spirit of entitlement, like Communion is something that’s owed to us? As if … as if we could ever merit such an unparalleled treasure. As Fr. Robert Morey puts it, the Eucharist is nothing less than Christ giving His whole self all over again at each Mass.

On October 16, 1917, the Militia of the Immaculata was founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe. According to St. Maximilian, “The MI is a global vision of Catholic life under a new form, consisting in the bond with the Immaculata, our universal Mediatrix before Jesus.”

The intent of the group is to form faithful Catholics who consecrate themselves totally to Our Blessed Mother Mary so as to become the most perfect followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ that we can be and thus to help transform the world.

St. Kolbe once wrote, “Everyone must imitate Christ. If we do not, then the purpose for which we were created is not fulfilled."

In the episode that follows, we recount an article that St. Maximilian published in November 1929 to express his gratitude to God for remaining present on our altars in the Eucharist and for giving to us His mother, the Immaculata.

In the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark, there is an episode when Jesus is questioned about fasting, and he answers his interlocutors by saying “No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

In this episode of Sangreal, Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of the diocese of Springfield spoke about the importance of ensuring our souls are properly situated in a state of grace when we receive Holy Communion, and how a relationship with Our Eucharistic Lord helps us to cooperate with the will of God for our lives.