Trevor and Jerry do a deep dive into the vibrant history between the Church and adoring Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament.
- "Consider how contrary to the mind of God are the heterodox in regard to the grace of God which has come to us. They have no regard for charity, none for the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, none for the man in prison, the hungry or the thirsty. They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not admit that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, the flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in His graciousness, raised from the dead." - St. Ignatius of Antioch - "Letter to the Smyrnaeans", paragraph 6. circa 80-110 A.D.
- "This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God's Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus." - St. Justin Martyr - "First Apology", Ch. 66, inter A.D. 148-155
- "[Christ] has declared the cup, a part of creation, to be his own Blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own Body, from which he gives increase to our bodies." - St. Irenaeus of Lyons - Against Heresies, 180 A.D.
- "No one eats this flesh unless he has first adored . . . not only do we not sin by adoring, but we would sin by not adoring." - St. Augustine (354-430)
- "You who are wont to be present at the divine mysteries, understand here, when you receive the body of the Lord, you are to preserve it with all care and veneration, lest the smallest particle of it should fall." - Origin (184-254)
- ". . . partake of it [the Eucharist], giving heed lest thou lose any part of it; for whatever thou shouldest lose would be evidently a loss to thee as from one of thine own members. For tell me, if any one gave thee grains of gold, wouldest thou not hold them with all care, taking heed lest thou shouldest lose any of them and suffer loss? Wilt thou not much more carefully be on thy guard lest a crumb fall from thee of what is more precious than gold and precious stones?"
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386), instructions to the newly baptized
- "compositio loci" - composition of place, the "placing" of oneself in the presence of God
- Practice of visiting churches for private prayer continued into the middle ages. Bishop St. Arey of Gap (c. 535-604) spent long hours prostrate on the floor. Saint Wenceslaus (c. 907-935) would secretly go out into the countryside reciting psalms and other prayers while visiting various churches one by one.
- In the 7th century Chronicles of Alexandria, the Lenten 'Mass of the Presanctified' has an antiphon: "In this moment, the Virtuous of the heavens invisibly adore God with us. Behold that the King of Glory makes His entrance, behold that the mystic sacrifice is presented: approach with faith and with fear, in order to become participants of the life eternal. Alleluia."
- "The altar should be covered with clean linen; nothing should be placed on the altar except reliquaries and relics and the four gospel-books, and a pyx with the body of the Lord for the viaticum of the sick; other things should be kept in some seemly place." - Admonitio Synodalis, 9th century
- ". . . the pyx or other vessel should always be kept locked super altare, on account of mice or impious men." - Regino, according to Burchard of Worms (died 1025) and Ivo of Chartres (died 1116) held a council for the Diocese of Tours that state this.
- "We adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all your churches in the whole world, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world." - St. Francis of Assisi, early 1200s
- ". . . I beg you to show the greatest possible reverence and honour for the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things, whether on the earth or in the heavens, have been brought to peace and reconciled with Almighty God." - St. Francis of Assisi
- "He seemed, as it were, a soul glued to the Blessed Sacrament. Before this hidden God he made all his spiritual exercises - prayers, examens, Office - no matter how intense the rigor of the cold nor the importunity of the insects." - On St. Isaac Jogues by a contemporary
- "To be able to live this life of vows, those four vows, we need our life to be woven with the Eucharist. That's why we begin our day with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. With Him, we go forward. And when we come back in the evening we have one hour of adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and [at] this you will be surprised, that we have not had to cut down our work for the poor, the ten hours or twelve hours of service that we give have not been cut down. The one hour of adoration is the greatest gift God could give a congregation because it has brought us so close to each other. We love each other better, but I think we love the poor with greater and deeper faith and love." - St. Teresa of Calcutta - 1976 - 41st Annual Eucharistic Congress
- "Unless there is a grave reason to the contrary, a church in which the blessed Eucharist is reserved is to be open to the faithful for at least some hours every day, so that they can pray before the blessed Sacrament." - Code of Canon Law, Canon 937 - 1983
Research from In the Presence of Our Lord: The History, Theology, and Psychology of Eucharistic Devotion Paperback – March 1, 1997 by Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R. and James Monti
Song Credit: Star Visions Of A Champ (KieLoKaz ID 103) by KieLoBot
Website: https://wedaretosay.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wedaretosay/
