The Eucharist

I was not raised Catholic and my husband was not able to answer my many questions related to the meanings behind the steps of the Mass.

We both began attending Catholic Charismatic Prayer Meetings and quickly made the decision to be prayed over for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1969. Both of us became “on fire” for God. We seldom missed a weekly prayer meeting in Detroit, Michigan, and often went to the one held in Ann Arbor, as well.

We heard about a day of retreat being planned in Detroit and decided to go. There were a small number of people in attendance. Less that fifty. We realized shortly into the agenda that this was a meeting intended for leaders in the movement. They graciously included us in the talks and Mass that were planned.

A young seminarian came up to me in the cathedral and asked if I would please do the second reading. I immediately said yes and then turned to John and asked him what a second reading was. He said, let's look in the missalette. We both looked and were unable to find anything for that day's date and I decided to tell the man that I would have to back out and admit I didn't even know what it was. He would not let me back out. He assured me he would mark it in the Bible and would give me a nod when it was time. [Read more...]

Given for you...

"This is My Body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My Blood. Do this, as often as you drink of it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.” — 1 Cor 11:23-26

“Our own belief is that the renovation of the world will be brought about only by the Holy Eucharist.” — Pope Leo XIII

“The Eucharist is a fire which inflames us.” — John Damascene [Read more...]

Mother Maria Candida

Maria Barba’s family home was in Palermo, Sicily. She was born on the 16th January 1884. The deeply-religious family returned to Palermo when she was two years old. From the age of fifteen Maria felt called to Religious Life but her family strongly opposed this; she had to wait for twenty years before she could fulfill her calling.

During these years of waiting she suffered interiorly but showed a remarkable strength of spirit and fidelity to her calling. Her trials were to last until she entered the Teresian Carmel, Ragusa, on 25th September 1919.

During this time she was sustained by a special devotion to the Eucharist, in which she saw the mystery of the sacramental presence of God in the world, the concrete symbol of His infinite love of humanity, and the reason for our trust in His promises. Her love for the Eucharist was evident from the very beginning. “When I was still a child and before I was old enough to receive Jesus in Communion, I used to rush to the front door to greet my mother when she returned from Mass. There I stood on tiptoe to reach up to her and cried, ‘I want God too!’ My mother would bend down and softly breathe on my lips; I immediately left her, and placing my hands across my chest, full of joy and faith, jumping for joy I would keep repeating: ‘I have received God too! I have received God too!” [Read more...]

There is a tiny incident which happened just after the death of Saint Thérèse which very few people know about but I think is very revealing of one aspect of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus which we tend to overlook. It is Sister Marie of the Trinity who speaks about it. Sister Marie was one of St Thérèse's closest companions in the Carmel of Lisieux; she was a year younger than Thérèse and rather high spirited; in fact, a lot of the nuns in the Lisieux Carmel did not expect her to persevere because she had already left once before from the Carmel in Paris. But she became one of Thérèse's novices and actually Thérèse was very hard on her at times. [Read more...]