Stories
Maiden Lane Church
by Ray at THCDuring the 1920s, an assistant pastor by the name of Fulton J. Sheen was serving at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Soho Square, London. Every morning, when he opened the church at 7:00 a.m., a certain man would enter. He would stay until 9:00 and then receive Communion. Afterwards, he would remain in the church until 11:30, only to return in the afternoon and stay until the church closed in the evening.
After several months, Fr. Sheen approached the man and asked him, “were you always as good as you are now?” The man replied that, considering the grace he had received, he was “1,000 time worse now than I ever was.” The man then proceeded to recount that he had been an alcoholic. He was so bad that, when he came to the entrance of the pub, he would take off his shoes so that he could sell them for the price of some drink. But, the man said, every Ash Wednesday, he would take a pledge to remain sober, and faithfully kept it each time until Easter Sunday. Well, one year he reasoned with himself that, if he could do it for 40 days, he could do it for 40 years.
His exuberance was soon supplanted by a severe test. Descending the three steps into Corpus Christi Catholic Church on Maiden Lane in London, also simply called Maiden Lane Church, he proceeded all the way to the front pew, for a Benediction that was to be conducted. As Fr. Carney placed his hands on the monstrance, the man said he felt an “overwhelming passion.” The passion, however, was of the distinctly unpleasant variety. It was a passion for drink and vice. He said, “if the temptations of a lifetime were concentrated in one moment, they could not equal that agony.” He could not stand to stay in the pew. He exited the pew and ran the entire length of church, down the main aisle, and then stumbled on the three steps. As the Benediction bell rang, he “tore out” his heart, pleading with Christ for forgiveness and promising Him that he would go to confession.
Since that time, he told Fr. Sheen, he had no more drink and spent his days in prayer. Fr. Sheen asked him how much time he spent on average. The man replied, “18 hours.” Fr. Sheen then asked, “what do you consider a good day?” The man said, “24.”
He further explained that he lives in the same dive that he did when he was an alcoholic. Each night, he kneels beside his simple cot and prays for all the alcoholics in the world.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNZPvk6wB6k
The Joy of Having Christmas Every Day
by Ray at THCThe Holy Eucharist is the continuation of Christ’s incarnation on earth. The mystery of the Eucharist gives us the joy of having Christmas every day. When we come to the Blessed Sacrament we come to Bethlehem, a name which means “house of bread.” Jesus chose to be born in Bethlehem because He would dwell with us forever as the “Living Bread” come down from heaven. When the shepherds and Magi came to adore Him, they brought Him so much joy with their humble visit to Bethlehem that their visit has been praised and retold down through the centuries. God has never stopped honoring them for honoring His Son in Bethlehem. So too, your humble visit to Jesus today in the Blessed Sacrament brings Him so much joy that it will be retold for all eternity and bring the world closer to His promise of peace on earth.
– St. Teresa of Calcutta
Tested by Two Men with Watches
by Ray at THCMary von Morl was said to react at the times whenever the Elevation of the Sacred Host occurred at Masses in Kaltern. To test this, a man was positioned in the church and another in Mary’s room. They had synchronized their watches and later compared the times they had observed the corresponding events in their locations.
Source: Shapcote, Emily Mary, Legends of the Blessed Sacrament (London, Burns & Oates) p.165.
Martyrdom a Necessity
by Ray at THCIn Ignatius’ thinking, the reality of Christ’s flesh makes martyrdom a necessity. This martyrdom should be approached and experienced as a Eucharist, participation in the death and resurrection of Christ.
Source: McHugh, Joan Carter, My Daily Eucharist II, (Lake Forest, IL, Witness Ministries, 2004), entry for October 17, with an excerpt from The Eucharist of the Early Christians by Matthew J. O’Connell.
Thirty Years in Ecstasy
by Ray at THCOn the feast day that celebrates the Eucharist, the feast of Corpus Christi, Mary von Morl suddenly raised herself from her bed an knelt in rapture a long time, It was reported that it was the Blessed Sacrament she “saw in spirit.”
After this, her ecstasies were practically continuous. She would almost never lay down. Her eyes were open, but she was not sensible to what she could see. She was likewise not sensible to being touched. This occurred in such a continuous manner that crowds from the surrounding countryside came to see her.
She was given a room in a convent operated by the Poor School Sisters. Here she lived in this manner for 30 years, and was said to always know when the words of consecration were spoken at Mass in the connected church.
Source: Shapcote, Emily Mary, Legends of the Blessed Sacrament (London, Burns & Oates) p.164.
The Living Summary of All God’s Love
by Ray at THCThis bread is the living summary of all God’s love for man. From Genesis to the prophets, from Exodus to the Apocalypse, everything is yearning towards this terrible mystery of God’s tragic love for man. God, who made himself present in the first covenant and yet more present in the Incarnation, becomes still more present in this mystery of the bread of life.
Source: McHugh, Joan Carter, My Daily Eucharist II, (Lake Forest, IL, Witness Ministries, 2004), entry for November 30, with an excerpt from The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto.
Mary von Morl
by Ray at THCMary von Morl was born on October 10, 1812, in the town of Kaltern in what is now northern Italy. She was later known simply by the appellation “Estatica.”
At the age of 10, she received her first Holy Communion and not infrequently after that, fell into faints when receiving the Eucharist.
By 14, she was rising at 2:00 every morning to pray and engaged in fasting.
At 18, she experienced a very serious illness. It was then becoming ordinary for her to fall into an ecstasy following receipt of the Blessed Sacrament. On the Feast of the Purification, she had an ecstasy that lasted 12 hours, but was quite surprised when informed of the duration later, thinking herself it had only been a few moments since she had received Communion.
When asked what had occupied her so long, she said the she had been with God, and had seen much but that nothing in the world could describe the blessedness and the beauty of all she had felt and seen.
Source: Shapcote, Emily Mary, Legends of the Blessed Sacrament (London, Burns & Oates) p.163-64.
The Holy Eucharist Alone Gave Me The Strength
by Ray at THCSt. Damien of Molokai:
“Even the breath of the lepers is so foul-smelling that the air is tainted with it. It comes hard on me to live in this atmosphere. One day while I was celebrating Mass, I thought I would suffocate and I was almost unable to restrain myself from rushing out to take a breath of fresh air. But the thought of my Lord before the grave of Lazarus restored me. My sense of smell is already somewhat dulled, so that it is not quite so hard for me to enter the pestilent dwelling-rooms of the poor sick people. Of course, there comes upon me now and then a feeling of loathing, especially when I must hear the confessions of the sick whose wounds are already full of worms similar to those which consume bodies in the grave. I have often been in great perplexity when I wished to give Extreme Unction because there was not to be found free space between the wounds. There are no physicians here, in fact they could be of no use.”
When an Anglican minister wrote to him and asked where he got the strength to persevere in such work, Fr. Damien replied, “The continued presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and the daily reception of the Holy Eucharist alone gave me the strength to endure.”
Source: Kaczmarek, Louis, Hidden Treasure, The Riches of the Eucharist (Plattsburgh, N.Y., Trinity Communications, 1990) p. 70-71.
No, The Sinner is Not Deprived
by Ray at THCIt was revealed to St. Gertrude that whenever one assists at Mass with devotion, occupied with God … he is truly regarded by the Eternal Father with the tenderness merited by the Sacred Host which is offered to Him and becomes like to one who, coming out of a dark place into the midst of sunlight, finds himself suddenly surrounded by brightness.
Then the Saint made this inquiry of God: “Is not he who falls into sin deprived of this good, even as one who goes from light into darkness loses the favor of beholding the light?” The Lord replied: “No, for although the sinner hides My Divine light from him, still My goodness will not fail to leave him some ray to guide him to eternal life. This light will increase whenever he hears Mass with devotion or approaches the Sacraments.”
Source: McHugh, Joan Carter, My Daily Eucharist II, (Lake Forest, IL, Witness Ministries, 2004), entry for August 30, with an excerpt from The Revelations of St. Gertrude by Msgr. William J. Doheny, CSC.
If You Only Knew
by Ray at THCFrom a letter from one priest to another:
“The greatest priest who ever lived would give the same homily each time, over and over, and it was just two lines. St. John Vianney would tell the people every Sunday: ‘if you only knew how much Jesus loves you in the Blessed Sacrament, you would die of happiness.’ Then pointing to the tabernacle, he would say, ‘Jesus is really there.’
“People came from all over France to hear him talk; and he would say the same thing every Sunday. So profoundly moved to the very depth of his soul at the realization of the love and presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, that when he pointed to the tabernacle … he would being to weep for joy.”
Source: McHugh, Joan Carter, My Daily Eucharist II, (Lake Forest, IL, Witness Ministries, 2004), entry for September 7.