O Lord, how sweet is Thy Spirit! "I know whom I have believed, and I am certain." (2 Timothy 1:12) I am certain that Thou art in the tabernacle. What happiness to remain during the most silent hours at the foot of the altar! Oh, who will give me the wings of a dove, that I may take my flight of love towards Thy divine Heart?
It is no time to speak to creatures when we are before the Eucharistic throne where dwells the Lord of lords, the Master of the world.
Each time that you celebrate Mass or approach the holy Table, imagine that you are receiving the Viaticum.
Do not neglect to make due preparation for the Holy Sacrifice; always make your thanksgiving; watch day and night over the interior tabernacle, that is, the heart of the worthy priest. He who acts thus will not fail to enkindle within himself the fire of divine love. Guard cautiously this living tabernacle, and keep always burning there the lamps of faith and charity. May it be ever adorned with virtues! Imitate the perfect dispositions of your Saviour. Since the Mass is the renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross, enter into the sentiments of compunction and of love which animated the Blessed Virgin, Saint John, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus. The heart of the priest ought to be the sepulchre of Christ. As the tomb in which He was laid after death was new, so ought your heart be pure, animated with a lively faith, a firm confidence, an ardent charity, a fervent desire for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. The Mass is the most favorable occasion to treat with the eternal Father, because then we offer Him His only Son as a victim for our salvation. Before celebrating, reflect on the sufferings of your Redeemer, commune peaceably with Him, even in the midst of dryness; carry to the altar the needs of the entire world.
Do not pass a single day without visiting the God of the tabernacle; in His presence grieve for the irreverences that He receives from bad Christians, who repay His love with sacrileges and basest ingratitude. In reparation for so many outrages, the loving soul ought to offer herself as a victim, consume herself in the fire of divine love, offer her praises to Jesus on the altar, visit Him for those unhappy souls who fail to do so, visit Him especially at hours when nobody else pays Him homage.
The feast of the Blessed Sacrament is the feast of love. Oh, what great love! what immense charity! The moth is drawn to the light, and burns itself in it. May your soul likewise draw near to the divine light! May it be reduced to ashes in that sacred flame, particularly during this great and sweet octave of Corpus Christi.
Ah! eat, drink, run, sing, rejoice in honor of your divine Spouse.
How wonderful are the treasures which are enclosed in the divine Eucharist!
I exhort you, though you live in the world, to communicate often, but with piety.
Holy Communion is the most efficacious means of uniting one's self to God.
Always prepare yourself well for this sacred banquet. Have a very pure heart, and watch over your tongue, for it is on the tongue that the Sacred Host is laid. Carry Our Lord home with you after your thanksgiving, and let your heart be a living tabernacle for Jesus. Visit Him often in this interior tabernacle, offering Him your homage, and the sentiments of gratitude with which divine love will inspire you.
Preserve carefully the sentiments of love with which you are filled after Communion.
You could not love Jesus if you did not possess the living source of holy and pure love, namely, the Holy Spirit. Our divine Redeemer said, "He that believeth in Me, out of his belly shall flow streams of living water." (John 7:38) This He said of the spirit which they should receive who believed in Him. Therefore, when God enkindles in you the flames of divine love, holy, pure, and without stain, let yourself disappear in the infinite Good, and, like an infant, sleep the sleep of faith and love in the bosom of your heavenly Spouse.
Love speaks little.
The hermits of old, those great servants of God, communicated rarely; but because they prepared themselves carefully they received such special graces that, in a short time, they arrived at perfection.
Every day make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, and when the duties of your state of life prevent you, visit Him in spirit.
The Holy Eucharist very often invigorates and strengthens even the body. O infinite mercy of our sovereign Good, this marvelous effect proceeds from the great vigor which the bread of angels communicates to the soul, and which reacts on the body.
O Jesus, hidden under the Eucharistic veils, Thou hast said: "If any one thirst, let him come to Me, and I will refresh him." Do Thou quench my thirst. ... In truth, in truth, Jesus has refreshed me; at some future day He will entirely quench my thirst.
My God, the tabernacle is the abode of Thy love, prepared by Thee for those whom Thou lovest. When shall I be enabled, during the hours of pro- found solitude, to commune with my Eucharistic Love at the foot of the holy altar? Who will give me the wings of a dove, that I may take my flight to the Sacred Heart of my Jesus?
- text taken from Flowers of the Passion, taken from the letters of Saint Paul of the Cross