Epitaph of Pectorius
Receive the honied food that the Savior gives to His saints. Satisfy your hunger when you receive the Fish in your hands.
– epitaph of Pectorius, from the 2nd century (estimated)
Source: Gaudoin-Parker, Michael, The Real Presence Through the Ages (New York, Alba House, 1993) p. 9.
Revulsion
In 1954, Chief F.R.A. Marinho was a student at St. Gregory’s College and was assisting at Mass. The presiding priest was Fr. T.J. Moran, the principal of the college. It was a “Sodality Sunday,” meaning that all the students has to attend, no matter what their religious affiliation happened to be. He was a witness to the following.
It seems that, at the time for Communion, another one of the students came to the altar rail and received the Eucharist. When the Host was placed on his tongue, he slumped to the ground and began to foam at the mouth. Fr. Moran removed the Host, and the boy recovered. The boy again presented himself to receive, and the priest, thinking the first occasion might merely have been an oddity, gave him the Eucharist once more. Again the boy began to foam at the mouth and lose control of himself. Again, the Host was removed, and again the boy instantly recovered. Fearing that the boy might be malnourished, the priest gave instructions that he be taken to the school dining hall and provided some food. He then consumed a serving of breakfast bread and tea without any ill effects.
It was then learned that the boy was a Muslim cathecumen who had not yet received the sacrament of baptism.
Source: Mbukanma, Fr. Jude O., Power in the Bread (Clifton, VA, MET Publishers, Ltd., 1994) p. 114-115.
Von Balthasar on the Eucharist
“Here, again, is the Risen Lord, living in the eternity of the Father, his earthly time transfigured into his eternal duration, the eternal Christ accompanying ‘his own’ thoughout time.”
– Hans Urs von Balthasar
Source: Billy, Dennis J., C.S.s.R., The Meaning of the Eucharist: Voices from the Twentieth Century (En Route Books and Media, not yet published)
St. Rose of Lima Walking Home from Mass
St. Rose of Lima lived in Peru during the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century. It was often the case that, when walking to Mass, she would have to stop for rest because she was so weak. This weakness was caused by the severe fasts and penances to which she subjected herself. However, after having received Communion at Mass, she would walk so quickly that her mother had trouble trying to keep up with her.
Source: Cruz, Caroll, Eucharistic Miracles (Charlotte, North Carolina, Tan Books, 2010) p. 242.
The Love that Surpasses All Loves
The Eucharist is that love which surpasses all loves in Heaven and on earth.
– St. Bernard
Source: Kaczmarek, Louis, Hidden Treasure, The Riches of the Eucharist (Plattsburgh, N.Y., Trinity Communications, 1990) p. 51.
Talk to Them as Sweetly as You Talk to Me
Bl. Sr. Faustina had received Holy Communion only an hour before when she was summoned to handle a slight turmoil. 5 unemployed had come to the convent demanding work and were becoming boisterous. While she was still a good distance away, she could hear them banging loudly. She was filled with doubt and fear and was not sure whether she should open the gate holding these men out. She said, “suddenly, I heard a voice in my soul saying, ‘Go and open the gate and talk to them as sweetly as you talk to Me.”
She did as she was beckoned and the men quickly changed their demeanors. They soon left calmly. Sr. Faustina said, “I felt clearly that Jesus … had worked in their hearts through me.
Source: McHugh, Joan Carter, My Daily Eucharist II, (Lake Forest, IL, Witness Ministries, 2004), entry for November 11.
Patrick Madrid
When Patrick Madrid told his family that he was converting to Roman Catholicism, he spoke with his mother and brother that night from 10:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. the next morning. While very difficult for them to accept at first, as a result of this and further discussions, his father, mother and two brothers would eventually make the same choice. One of his brothers even entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia.
Writing in his book, Surprised by Truth, Mr. Madrid said: “The joy and peace that I now experience, the doctrinal certitude that I now possess, and the tremendous graces that are mine in the sacraments, especially in the Holy Eucharist, are riches far beyond anything I expected.”
Patrick Madrid has gone on to be a renowned Catholic speaker and apologist, and currently hosts a daily program, coast to coast, on Relevant Radio.
Source: McHugh, Joan Carter, My Daily Eucharist II, (Lake Forest, IL, Witness Ministries, 2004), entry for October 28.
Elsie Briggs
Elsie Briggs submitted this story of her conversion to the Boston Pilot:
“There is nothing brilliant or scholarly that attracted me to the Roman Catholic Church. What attracted me to Catholicism was love.
“It all goes back about ten years when beaten and disillusioned I crept into the rear of the Mission Church in Roxbury to rest. I didn’t go in because I was attracted to the church, or because I sought spiritual refreshment; it was only a place to sit down and get off my feet and find, if possible, a few moments of forgetfulness.
“How long I sat there, I don’t know, but I suddenly became aware of something living. There was an actual presence all around that seemed to emanate from the altar. It was pleasing and restful to feel. And without half realizing what I was doing I moved up front until I was sitting in the first pew.
“The weariness and strain all fell away and a great sense of peace and love came over me, combined with an intense desire to sleep…
“And right here and now I want to explain that at that time I knew absolutely nothing about the Catholic teachings. No one had ever told me of the Host or of the ever-present living God on the altar…
“For the first time I learned how wrong the average Protestant is in his supposed knowledge of the Catholic Faith. There certainly is nothing more ignorant than nine Protestants out of ten, when it comes to the teachings of the Church of Rome.
“All the old wives’ tales, all the lies I had heard from childhood about Catholics were exposed by the light of truth. What a pity there should be such ignorance of God’s truth and how many Protestants, such as I was then, would gladly and eagerly accept the church and her teachings if they only knew the truth that sets one free…”
Source: Kaczmarek, Louis, Hidden Treasure, The Riches of the Eucharist (Plattsburgh, N.Y., Trinity Communications, 1990) p. 19-20.
Charles de Foucald
Charles de Foucald was born to great wealth in 1858. One day, while in St. Augustine Church in Paris, as the priest elevated the Host, he was overheard to say: “My God, You are real!” He later said, “in a single instant … my heart was touched and I believed.” That belief helped him compose the following prayer:
“Oh Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament in our churches, You give us solace and refuge; You give us faith, hope, love and hospitality. You build for us an inner retreat, an ardent reposed. Help us to seek You and find You in the tabernacle.”
Source: Kaczmarek, Louis, Hidden Treasure, The Riches of the Eucharist (Plattsburgh, N.Y., Trinity Communications, 1990) p. 16-17.
I Felt It
After my conversion experience (which happened during the first Mass I attended), I visited many churches in an effort to bargain with God (‘OK, I’ll be a Christian, but do I have to be a Catholic?’) … I received Commmunion at that first Mass, and was flooded with joy, peace, and, most of all, a Real Presence I knew could only be Christ. I knew nothing at all of Catholic theology at that point; it wasn’t that I ‘believed’ in the Real Presence–I felt it. During the month or two when I went to other churches, I received communion. I remember crying once afterward, because I didn’t feel that Presence, and I was afraid it had been a one-time phenomenon. Then one day, when the roads were icy, I stopped in at the Cathedral for the 12:10 Mass. There were perhaps a dozen people in the vast nave, mostly elderly. I didn’t know how to follow the Mass, so I just stayed in a corner and knelt all the way through it. The priest was not particularly inspiring–he rushed through the liturgy in a monotone. The church (at that time) was hideous –gloomy and in poor condition, with ugly green carpet and a loudly clanking furnace. Yet HE was there! Once again, I wept in joy and recognition.”
– a personal account submitted by “Terrye”
Source: http://aplusconsultingnow.com/catholic/mainsite/realpres.html