O Sacrament most holy! O Sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!
Corpus Christi, or the Body of Christ. He has left us a constant reminder of this to take advantage of until the end of time. Scripture from the Old to the New Testaments has told it to us.
'He, (the Lord) hath made a remembrance (a memorial) of His wonderful works: He hath given Food to them that fear Him.' Ps. cx. 4,5
'Come! eat my Bread, and drink my Wine which I have mingled for you...' Ps. 9
'Taste and see that the Lord is sweet.' Ps. 33
And let us not forget Melchisedech, a precursor of Christ and the Apostles, who offered bread and wine to Abram.
'I am the Bread of life: your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead: this is the Bread coming down from heaven; that if any man eat thereof, he may not die.'
(Read the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of St. John. This really ticks the protestants and unbelievers off, mainly because they don't understand. They would have to convert if they did.)
'My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that abideth in me, and I in him...This is the bread that came down from heaven...he that eateth this Bread, shall liver forever.'
St. Leo writes: "The participation of the Body and Blood of Christ transforms us into that which we receive,".
And St. Paul: 'therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily. shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But, let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgement unto himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.'
St. Augustine says:
'No one partakes of this Body until he has first adored, and we not only do not sin when we adore It, but would sin if we did not adore It.'
The Council of Trent excommunicates those who assert that it is not allowable to adore Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, in the Blessed Sacrament. How unjust are those unbelievers who sneer at this adoration, when it has never entered into the mind of any Catholic to adore the external appearances of this Sacrament, but the Savior hidden under the appearances; and how grievously do those indifferent Catholics sin who show Christ so little veneration in this Sacrament, and seldom adore Him if at all!
Trent also states:
Whoever denies that in the venerable Sacrament, of the Eucharist the whole Christ is present in each of the forms and in each part of each form, where a separation has taken place, let him be anathema.
This should be a problem for those who insist on drinking of the cup at the N.O. mass, so that they can receive His Blood also. They just don't get it!
Let us go to Confession so that we can be made worthy to receive His Body in the Holy Eucharist.
In regards to giving Him thanks for this great Sacrament, St. Paul the Apostle, in his first Letter to the Corinthians (6.20) writes: ‘Glorify and bear God in your body’. There is no other occasion in which these words are realized so literally as immediately after Holy Communion. We recall the example of St. Philip Neri who sent two altar-boys with lighted candles to accompany a certain person leaving the church having just communicated.
Since Our Lord remains in our body for fifteen to twenty minutes after Holy Communion, this is not the moment for chatting outside or (much less) inside the church. Rather, it is appropriate and also most salutary to devote at least a quarter of an hour to prayerful thanksgiving.
St. John Bosco complained of the ‘many Christians who in church are willfully distracted, immodest, inattentive, irrespectful, standing around, gazing here and there. These persons DO NOT assist at the Divine Sacrifice like Mary and John, but rather like the Jews, crucifying Our Lord one more time’.
Finally, let us do all in our means to adore and to offer thanks in an adequate and worthy manner to Our Lord Jesus Christ, and at the same time to demonstrate our faith in the Real Presence in an age in which He is so grievously ignored, neglected, scorned, and outraged.
Note: This Feast should be today, since it recalls to us that Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist on a Thursday. It was always held on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. Also, in the new 'nervous order' way of things, this day will probably be mentioned this upcoming Sunday. The Bishops order it. They are trying to get us to use the new calendar. If they succeed, we will miss out on all of these Feast days, which honor Christ, His Mother, and all of the saints as they should be honored. I guess they wouldn't want to make anyone come to church twice in a week?!!! Once again, the 'newchurch' misses the point of holiness!!!!! Pray much, especially for our pathetic, weak-kneed leaders.
Let us turn our eyes towards the Blessed Virgin, St. John the Evangelist, St. Mary Magdalen and the holy women at the foot of the Cross. These are our model for participation at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: for the glory of God and for the salvation of our souls.
Following is the 'Sequence' from today's Mass (It says it all. This was taken from a pre-1962 Missal. The ones we use (1962) have different words than the following. Mostly the same, but not all):
ZION, to Thy Savior sing,
to Thy Shepherd and Thy King!
Let the air with praises ring!
All thou canst, proclaim with mirth,
far higher is His worth
than the glory words may wing.
Lo! before our eyes and living
is the Sacred Bread life-giving,
theme of canticle and hymn.
We profess this Bread from heaven
to the Twelve by Christ was given,
for our faith rest firm in Him.
Let us form a joyful chorus,
may our lauds ascend sonorous,
bursting from each loving breast.
For we solemnly record
how the Table of the Lord
with the Lamb's own gift was blest.
On this altar of the King
this new Paschal Offering
brings an end to ancient rite.
Shadows flee that truth may stay,
oldness to the new gives way,
and the night's darkness to the light.
What at Supper Christ completed
He ordained to be repeated,
in His memory Divine.
Wherefore now, with adoration,
we, the Host of our salvation,
consecrate from bread and wine.
Words a nature's course derange,
that in Flesh the bread may change
and the wine in Christ's own Blood.
Does it pass thy comprehending?
Faith, the law of light transcending,
leaps to things not understood.
Here beneath these signs are hidden
priceless things, to sense forbidden;
signs, not things, are all we see.
Flesh from bread, and Blood from wine,
yet is Christ in either sign,
all entire confessed to be.
And whoe'er of Him partakes,
severs not, nor rends, nor breaks:
all entire, their Lord receive.
Whether one or thousand eat,
all receive the selfsame meat,
nor do less for others leave.
Both the wicked and the good
eat of this celestial Food:
but with ends how opposite!
With this most substantial Bread,
unto life or death they're fed,
in a difference infinite.
Nor a single doubt retain,
when they break the Host in twain,
but that in each part remain
what was in the whole before;
For the outward sign alone
may some change have undergone,
while the Signified stays one,
and the same forevermore.
Hail! Bread of the Angels, broken,
for us pilgrims food, and token
of the promise by Christ spoken,
children's meat, to dogs denied!
Shown in Isaac's dedication,
in the Manna's preparation,
in the Paschal immolation,
in old types pre-signified.
Jesus, Shepherd mild and meek,
shield the poor, support the weak;
help all who Thy pardon sue,
placing all their trust in You:
fill them with Your healing grace!
Source of all we have or know,
feed and lead us here below.
grant that with Your Saints above,
sitting at the feast of love
we may see You face to face.
Amen. Alleluia.
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