The Catholic Church is in crisis. Mass attendance in America was at its lowest point in memory prior to covid and post covid it is even worse. Surveys show that more than 70% of Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Young people are leaving the faith in droves.
Until faith in the Real Presence is restored in the hearts of the faithful, the Church will remain in crisis.
St. Peter Julian Eymard saw this coming almost two centuries ago and told us what the remedy would be:
“The reign of the Eucharist is the reign of the Church. Where the Eucharist is neglected, the Church has none but unfaithful children, and she will soon have to deplore fresh ruins.” (The Real Presence (p. 94)).
At the heart of the crisis is the reality that people do not know the Lord in the Eucharist. St. Peter Julian also saw this coming in his time:
“How many among the best Catholics never pay a visit of devotion to the most blessed sacrament to speak with him from the heart, to tell him their love! They do not love our Lord in the Eucharist because they do not know him well enough.”
The crisis of the Eucharist in the Church is not limited only to those who have fallen away or not attending mass, it actually extends even to the faithful, who believe in the Real Presence, but do not truly Love Him. The root of the issue, as St. Peter Julian notes, is that people do not love our Lord in the Eucharist, because they do not know him in the Eucharist.
So how do we get to know and love our Lord in the Eucharist? We must have good catechesis, but equally important, we must spend time with him. You cannot know someone if you do not spend time with him.
St. Peter not only saw this but developed ways of addressing it through developing catechesis and spiritual guidance on the Eucharist, specifically for the laity. He has one of the few books written by a saint that was directed expressly at the laity, The Eucharistic Handbook. In addition to this, he has a library of other writings that provide arguably the most profound collection of writing on the Eucharist in the history of the Church. Sadly, these writings and these books have largely fallen out of print in English and are now accessible primarily as used books. However, there are two books that are still accessible and they are The Real Presence (on Amazon https://a.co/d/ix9Ixxf) and Month of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament (on Amazon https://a.co/d/0rdLqFN).
The Real Presence is a remarkable book to really learn about our Lord's love for us in the Holy Eucharist and how to spend time with Him there. We cannot recommend it highly enough. The Month of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament is also remarkable and unique, first because it introduces a new title for Our Lady. One that beautifully represents the reality that the body and blood of Jesus that we receive in the Blessed Sacrament came from her. Jesus chose to take flesh from Mary and this the same flesh he gives us in the Holy Eucharist. This title also beautifully represents the reality that since Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces, it is still from her today that we receive the Holy Eucharist, since the graces of consecration come to us through her from her spouse, the Holy Spirit. So Our Lady and the Eucharist are inextricably connected to this day and into eternity.
Beyond these books, there is much we can learn from St. Peter Julian's life and practices to help people to come to know and love the Lord in the Eucharist. We are going to explore two elements of his teaching that we believe are critical to solving todays crisis. The first is the great spiritual practice of making spiritual communions. The second is the reality that if you really want to know someone, there is no one better to ask than their mother, and so it is with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
First we will discuss the highly esteemed practice of making spiritual communions. This is possibly the single best practice to come to know the Lord in the Eucharist, outside of mass itself. In spiritual communions, a person receives our Lord spiritually in the Eucharist, as often as they make a spiritual communion, no matter where they are, no matter what time of day. There is no limit on time, location or resources.
This practice has been very little taught in the modern Church at large, but it is at the heart of all the great Eucharistic saint’s devotional practices. The following were highlights drawn from the book Jesus Our Eucharistic Love by Fr. Stefano Manelli.
St. Francis DeSales - author of the famed Introduction to the Devout Life, resolved to make a spiritual communion every 15 minutes to be continually united to our Lord in the Eucharist.
St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Alphonsus Liguori - Both teach us that spiritual communions produce effects similar to sacramental Communion, according to the dispositions with which it is made, the greater or less earnestness with which Jesus is desired, and the greater or less love with which Jesus is welcomed and given due attention.
St. John of the Cross - “Spiritual Communion is a union of love between the soul and Jesus in the Host. This union is spiritual but nonetheless real, more real than the union between the soul and the body, “because the soul lives more where it loves than where it lives,”
St. Catherin of Sienna - Jesus Himself told St. Catherine of Siena in a vision how precious a spiritual Communion is. The Saint was afraid that a spiritual Communion was nothing compared to a sacramental Communion. In the vision, Our Lord held up two chalices, and said, “In this golden chalice I put your sacramental Communions. In this silver chalice I put your spiritual Communions. Both chalices are quite pleasing to Me.
As you can see, the practice of making spiritual communions is not only appealing to great Saints, but most importantly, to God himself.
The spiritual communion is also at the heart of a devotion called the Blessed Sacrament Chaplet, created by St. Peter Julian's order over a hundred years ago, but has unfortunately been largely lost. Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament Apostolate was created to help promote this devotion as a sure means of helping people to:
Spend time with the Lord in the Eucharist, every day, and as often as they wish.
In spending time with the Lord, they will come to know His real presence in their souls and lives.
In coming to know the Lord's Real Presence in the Eucharist and in their souls, they will come to intimately know the love of the Lord for them.
As people come to intimately know the love of the Lord in the Eucharist, they will find great joy, consolation, light, and strength for the battles of the day.
Finally, they will come to know, love, and serve our Lord and his Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, until it becomes truly the source, the love and the summit of their lives.
While there is nothing better than spending time directly with our Lord, we are all novices when comes to knowing how to spend time with the Lord and how to love him, compared to Our Lady. This is why St. Peter Julian wrote and focused on Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. While he does not make specific reference to St. Louis DeMontfort's True Devotion to Mary, the two great saints shared many of the same beliefs about devotion to Mary and her role in helping us to come to know and love our Lord.
Here are just a few of the reasons that it is not only essential for us to go to the Lord through, with, and in Mary, but also why she is essential to the Church's ability to get out of the current crisis:
As it relates to the Eucharist, Mary is not only the Mother of the Church spiritually, she is the one from whom Jesus received the body and blood which he gives to us in the Eucharist. When we receive the Eucharist we are also receiving part of Mary.
Mary was the first adorer of the Eucharist, as she carried the body of the Lord in her womb for 9 months.
Following our Lord's birth, Mary and Joseph were able to privately adore, love and come to know Jesus for 30 years. No one, absolutely no one, can know Jesus like his Mother Mary.
The Church recognizes Mary as the Spouse of the Holy Spirit and through God's will she is the Mediatrix of all grace, which includes the graces at every mass that transform the bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
Because of Our Lady's physical and spiritual role as the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of the Church, we cannot possibly come to know the fullness of Jesus in the Eucharist without her. The Church and her members need to come to know our Mother under this beautiful and possibly most important title yet, in order to truly come to know and love our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.
Through the combination of devotion to, and the intercession of, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Catechesis on the Holy Eucharist, and regular use of the beautiful Blessed Sacrament Chaplet, we will help people to come to know, believe and love the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. As this happens, people will begin to make the Eucharist the source, the love, and the summit of their lives, and we will not only solve the crisis in the Church, but we will see the Eucharistic reign of Jesus, in our hearts, our homes, our businesses, our apostolates, in the Church and in the world.
If you are moved by this vision and mission, please consider donating to help us make this a reality. You can click the Donate button at the top of the page to contribute. May Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament intercede for all your needs! and the Church.
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