Saint Peter Julian Eymard: Offer to Jesus Christ the homage of your whole being. Present to Him in detail the homage of each one of your soul’s faculties: of your mind, to know Him better; of your heart, to love Him; of your will, to serve Him; of your body and its senses to glorify Him, each one in its own way. Offer Him above all the homage of your thoughts, desiring the Divine Eucharist to be the dominant thought of your life; the homage of your affections, calling Jesus the King and the God of your heart; the homage of your will, desiring henceforth to have no other law, no other end than His service, His love, and His glory; the homage of your memory, in order to remember Him alone and thus to live of Him, by Him, and for Him alone.
Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration: By coming to adoration, we are handing Him the keys to our hearts, allowing the rays of His love and grace to bathe our souls in the light of His Presence, as the rays of the sun bathe our bodies in light. If we can take the time to pull away from the busyness and distractions of life and just sit at His feet, He will lead us.
Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val: At Thy feet, O my Jesus, I prostrate myself, and I offer Thee the repentance of my contrite heart, which is humbled in its nothingness and in Thy holy presence. I adore Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love, the ineffable Eucharist. I desire to receive Thee into the poor dwelling that my heart offers Thee. While waiting for the happiness of sacramental Communion, I wish to possess Thee in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, since I, for my part, am coming to Thee! May Thy love embrace my whole being in life and in death. I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee. Amen.
Vinny Flynn: When you and I approach the Eucharist, does it look like we believe we are about to take into our bodies the living person, Jesus Christ, true God and true man? How many times, Lord, have I forgotten that the Eucharist is alive! As I wait in line to receive You each day, am I thinking about how much You want to unite Yourself with me? Am I seeing Your hands filled with the graces You want to give me? Am I filled with awe and gratitude that You love me so much as to actually want to come to me in this incredibly intimate way? Or am I distracted, busy with other thoughts, preoccupied with myself and my agendas for the day? How many times, Jesus, have I made You sad, mindlessly receiving You into my body, into my heart, with no love and no recognition of Your love? How many times have I treated You as a dead object? The Host that we receive is not a thing! It’s not a wafer! It’s not bread! It’s a person—He’s alive!
Father Martin Lucia, Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary: Imagine the Pope inviting you to Rome to spend an hour with him; you would feel like the most important person in the world. Who would not see this as a great honor and do anything to get there? Yet it is a much greater honor to spend an hour with Jesus Himself. Those who kept company with Jesus in the Gospel stand out as men and women of great faith—they were His chosen friends who really believed in Him. They were ridiculed then, but are admired now. Those who keep company with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament are His friends today who will stand out for all eternity for their faith in His Real Presence.
Jesus hides His glory in the Blessed Sacrament that you may give Him glory by coming to Him in faith, and that you may love Him for Himself! He could fill every Catholic church 7 days a week, 24 hours a day by letting a single ray of His glory shine out. People would come from all over the world to see the miracle. But the miracle He wants us to see is the miracle of His divine love and humility where He Who created the whole world and Whom the whole world cannot contain, contains Himself in the Blessed Sacrament for love of us, to be our Divine Companion during our pilgrimage through life. To be our Good Shepherd Who leads us to life-giving waters, to be our Divine Physician Who comes to heal the lonely and the brokenhearted.
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta: Jesus loves you. Even more—He longs for you. He misses you when you don’t come close. He thirsts for you, even when you don’t feel worthy.
Saint Jean-Marie Vianney: How great was the charity of Jesus Christ in choosing for the institution of the Eucharist the eve of the day He was to be put to death! At that moment all Jerusalem is on fire, all the populace enraged, all are plotting His ruin, and it is precisely at that moment that He is preparing for them the most unutterable pledge of His love. Men are weaving the blackest plots against Him, and He is only occupied in giving them the most precious gift He has. They are only thinking of setting up an infamous Cross for Him that they may put Him to death, and He is only thinking of setting up an altar that He may immolate Himself every day for us. They are preparing to shed His Blood, and Jesus Christ wills that this same Blood shall be to us a draught of immortality for the consolation and happiness of our souls. Yes, we may say that Jesus Christ has loved us even to exhausting the riches of His love.
God the Father, in private revelation given to Saint Catherine of Siena: Dearest daughter, contemplate the marvelous state of the soul who receives this Bread of Life, this food of angels, as she ought. When she receives this sacrament, she lives in Me and I in her. Just as the fish is in the sea and the sea is in the fish, so am I in the soul and the soul in Me, the sea of peace. Grace lives in such a soul because, having received this Bread of Life in grace, she lives in grace. When this appearance of bread has been consumed, I leave behind the imprint of My grace, just as the seal that is pressed into warm wax leaves its imprint when it is lifted off. Thus does the power of this sacrament remain there in the soul; that is, the warmth of My divine charity, the mercy of the Holy Spirit remains there. The light of My only-begotten Son’s wisdom remains there, enlightening the mind’s eye. [The soul] is left strong, sharing in My strength and power, which make her strong and powerful against her selfish sensuality and against the devil and the world.
So you see, the imprint remains once the seal is lifted off. In other words, once the material appearances of the bread have been consumed, this true Sun returns to His orbit. Not that He had ever left it, for He is united with Me. But My deep charity gave Him to you as food for your salvation and for your nourishment in this life where you are pilgrim travelers, so that you would have refreshment and not forget the blessing of the Blood. I in My divine providence gave you this food, My gentle Truth, to help you in your need. See, then, how bound and obligated you are to love Me in return, since I have loved you so much, and because I am supreme and eternal Goodness, deserving to be loved by you.
