NV-Last Supper

NOVENA IN PREPARATION FOR HOLY THURSDAY
The Birthday of the Priesthood, the Holy Mass & the Holy Eucharist

What is a Novena?
A novena is a traditional devotion consisting of specific prayers recited on nine successive days. Besides being a form of praise, a novena is frequently offered for a particular intention. The first novena took place in the Cenacle, during the nine days preceding Pentecost, or the coming of the Holy Ghost. As a regular popular custom, this practice began in 12th century Christianity and continues to be beneficial today as a way of praying for healing, protection or other blessings for ourselves or others.

This particular novena is prayed to God in honor of and thanksgiving for that wonderful gift TRIPLE GIFT of the Priesthood, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. Without the priesthood there can be no Holy Sacrifice of the Mass--and it is from the Holy Mass that we get the Holy Eucharist. The Holy Eucharist is the most important of all the Sacraments, for it not only gives us grace, but the Author of all grace, Our Lord Jesus Christ, really and truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity under the appearance of Bread and Wine in the Eucharistic Species. Unlike all the other sacraments, which are only sacraments and nothing else, the Holy Eucharist is both a SACRAMENT and a SACRIFICE.

In praying this Novena, as in the case of all prayer, it is good to begin by opening ourselves wholeheartedly to God's will, offering a simple act of trust in God's wisdom and in His providential love for us all, that disposes all things for the ultimate benefit of our souls and their salvation.

How to Pray This Novena
This novena will be largely based upon Holy Scripture, the writings of the saints and the works and sermons of various theologians. Each day of the novena is divided into the following parts: (1) a relevant quote from Holy Scripture; (2) an occasional quote from the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas; (3) an occasional quote from a saint or a pope; (4) a Mediation on the TRIPLE ASPECT of Holy Thursday--Priesthood, Sacrifice of the Mass, and Holy Eucharist; (5) a Resolution; (6) a Prayer; (7) after mentioning your intention, pray the Our Father and the Hail Mary; (8) a Closing Prayer.

LITANY OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST

There will be three litanies to the Holy Eucharist which we will rotate daily. The first two will honor the Eucharist, the third will make reparation.

LITANY # 1

Lord, have mercy on us
Christ, have mercy on us,
Lord, have mercy us,
Christ hear us,
Christ graciously hear us.

Jesus, the Most High, have mercy on us
Jesus, the holy One, have mercy on us
Jesus, Word of God, have mercy on us
Jesus, only Son of the Father, have mercy on us
Jesus, Son of Mary, have mercy on us
Jesus, crucified for us, have mercy on us
Jesus, risen from the dead, have mercy on us
Jesus, reigning in glory, have mercy on us
Jesus, coming in glory, have mercy on us

Jesus, our Lord, have mercy on us
Jesus, our hope, have mercy on us
Jesus, our peace, have mercy on us
Jesus, our Savior, have mercy on us
Jesus, our salvation, have mercy on us
Jesus, our resurrection, have mercy on us

Jesus, Judge of all, have mercy on us
Jesus, Lord of the Church, have mercy on us
Jesus, Lord of creation, have mercy on us
Jesus, Lover of all, have mercy on us

Jesus, life of the world, have mercy on us
Jesus, freedom for the imprisoned, have mercy on us
Jesus, joy of the sorrowing, have mercy on us
Jesus, giver of the Spirit, have mercy on us
Jesus, giver of good gifts, have mercy on us
Jesus, source of new life, have mercy on us
Jesus, Lord of life, have mercy on us

Jesus, eternal high priest, have mercy on us
Jesus, priest and victim, have mercy on us
Jesus, true Shepherd, have mercy on us
Jesus, true Light, have mercy on us
Jesus, Bread of Heaven, have mercy on us
Jesus, Bread of Life, have mercy on us
Jesus, Bread of thanksgiving, have mercy on us
Jesus, life-giving Bread, have mercy on us
Jesus, holy manna, have mercy on us
Jesus, new covenant, have mercy on us
Jesus, food for everlasting life, have mercy on us
Jesus, food for our journey, have mercy on us
Jesus, holy banquet, have mercy on us

Jesus, true sacrifice, have mercy on us
Jesus, perfect sacrifice, have mercy on us
Jesus, eternal sacrifice, have mercy on us
Jesus, divine Victim, have mercy on us
Jesus, Mediator of the new covenant, have mercy on us
Jesus, mystery of the altar, have mercy on us
Jesus, medicine of immortality, have mercy on us
Jesus, pledge of eternal glory, have mercy on us

Jesus, Lamb of God,Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us

Jesus, Bearer of our sins, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us

Jesus, Redeemer of the world, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us

Christ, hear us
Christ, graciously hear us

Let us pray: O Almighty Father, our Lord and God, through the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and through the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, we come into the presence of the Most Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Thy Son, Who was born of the Virgin Mary and was crucified for our salvation. Grant that we may a great love for the Mass and deep devotion for the Holy Eucharist, both in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and the Holy Eucharist we receive during Holy Mass. May we, who declare our Faith in the Real Presence and Love for this Fountain of love and mercy, also drink from it the water of everlasting life. Amen.

Prayer of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus

O Jesus, I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;
―for your unfaithful and tepid priests;
―for your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields;
―for your tempted priests;
―for your lonely and desolate priests;
―for your young priests;
―for your dying priests;
―for the souls of your priests in purgatory.

But above all, I recommend to you the priests dearest to me:
―the priest who baptized me;
―the priests who absolved me from my sins;
―the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;
―the priests who taught and instructed me;
―all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way (especially …).

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,
and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.

Amen.

FIRST DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted each day)

Topic to Contemplate:
The Importance of the Triple Cord : Priesthood, Mass & Eucharist

Holy Scripture
“And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me!'’” (Luke 22:19).

"This chalice is the new testament in My Blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Meditation on the Priesthood
Firstly, let us look at the priesthood in the Old Testament revelation. As we read the pages of the Old Law, going back to the early history of Israel, we see that priests were an essential part of the Chosen People. Their function was to act as mediators between the people and God. A priest was, therefore, first of all a mediator. This concept has been refined, deepened, and expanded but not substantially changed from the Old Law to the New Law. He stood between the people whom he represented and the God whom he addressed.

In the Old Testament there were two kinds of mediators between God and the people. There were mediators from God to communicate His mind and His will to the people. These mediators were called prophets. They were from God to the people. We might call this downward mediation: from Heaven to Earth. There were also mediators from the people to God to offer Him the people’s adoration, invoke His aid, and beg His mercy for the people’s sins. These were in Old Testament parlance called priests. This was the upward mediation: from Earth to Heaven. Moreover, the priests of the Old Testament were not only to mediate from the people to God, they were to do so in a distinctive, indeed, unique way. They were to offer sacrifices (the plural is of the essence of the Old Law) of goats and sheep, of oxen and cattle, of bread and wine, of wheat, barley, and oats, and fruits of trees.

If the first function, therefore, of a priest was to be mediator from the people to God, his second function was to offer sacrifice. A priest, then, was a mediator who offered sacrifice. However, not everyone was allowed to exercise the priestly office. Only those specially chosen by Yahweh were permitted to offer sacrifice. When on one dramatic occasion, King Saul, as we recall, dared to arrogate to himself the offering of sacrifice, he was severely punished. It was in this context that the phrase was first spoken, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” Saul was disobedient and God was displeased with his sacrifice because, though King, he was not a priest. He was not chosen for that office.

Thirdly, then, beyond being a mediator and beyond offering sacrifice, a priest was one specially chosen by God to do the mediation and to offer the oblation to God. In a word, a priest must be divinely chosen. No one presumed to be a priest on his own. So much for a thumbnail review of some two thousand years of Jewish prophetic and priestly history.
Let us consider the priesthood in Christianity. With the advent of Christ, the priesthood of the Old Law was elevated to the height it had never before possessed. It also became the cornerstone of the Christian religion so much so that we might almost define true Christianity as the religion of a divinely revealed priesthood. Christianity is indeed priestly and the priesthood is of its essence: no priesthood, no Christianity.

This priesthood of the New Law is really three kinds of priesthood; all, however, take their origin from and depend on the Incarnation of the Son of God. There is, first of all, the priesthood of Jesus Christ. By His Incarnation, Jesus offered to His heavenly Father all the acts of His human will. Remember, a priest is one who offers. God could not offer to God. God had first to become man to make it possible for an oblation, or more accurately, a sacrifice to be offered. God had first to have a human will to make the priesthood possible.

Christ’s priesthood, therefore, began in Mary’s womb. He lived His priesthood during the nine hidden months within His mother, then through the many years at Nazareth, and while preaching and doing good throughout Palestine. But especially on the cross did He live this priesthood, where He united all the acts of a mortal human being capable of suffering and of death into one supreme sacrifice, by which He became the Mediator par excellence between the human race and God, our priest and pontiff for a sinful mankind. Such was Christ’s priesthood in His mortal flesh on earth. But we are not finished. In fact, Christ’s priesthood in a profound sense only began during His mortal sojourn which ended on Calvary. Jesus continues His priesthood even now. He had better; otherwise, He could not have a Mass.

As our eternal High Priest He worships, praises, and thanks the diving majesty in His own name and in the name of His people. But, though sinless Himself, He is head of a very sinful human family. So He intercedes before the throne of the Father for us. Being heard by the Father, He keeps sending down blessings on us from His heavenly home. This priesthood of Jesus Christ is the only one fundamental priesthood now in the Church. All other priesthoods are participations in this one. The participation takes place in two different ways. First and mainly, by those ordained to the ministerial priesthood and secondly, by all the faithful as belonging to the priesthood of the laity.

We have, therefore, because of Christ’s priesthood, first of all the ordained ministerial priesthood which we identify with the sacrament of orders. Who belongs to this priesthood? All those who are of the sacerdotal rank: priests, bishops, and the Pope at their head. When did this participated ministerial priesthood of Jesus begin? It came into existence at the Last Supper when the Savior did two things. He first changed bread and wine into Himself and already offered, the night before He died, the death He would endure. Then He told the disciples to do what He did “in commemoration of me.” It is a defined article of the Catholic Faith that the ordained ministerial priesthood, the sacrament of orders, was instituted personally by Jesus at the Last Supper.

Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
“Where there is no Mass,” writes one of the Fathers of the English Oratory, “there is also no Christianity.” The reason is plain: Christ's life was one of sacrifice―not merely of the figurative sacrifice of praise and prayer, but one of outward act, of suffering and of death. His religion must be like Himself: it must be the continuation of the Divine-human life that He led upon earth, representing and perpetuating, by some sacred rite, the sacrifice that began in the womb of Mary and ended upon the Cross of Calvary. That rite is the Holy Mass. Do we always realize it as such? Does the conviction sink deep into us, when offering, or assisting, at the adorable sacrifice, that Jesus is re-enacting, in our presence, the mysteries of His life and death?

The altar of the Mass is the holy house of Nazareth, the crib of Bethlehem, the Egyptian place of exile, the hill of Calvary, the garden-tomb in which Our Saviour's corpse reposed, and the Mount of Olives from which He ascended. The Passion, it is true, is that which is primarily represented and continued in the Holy Mass; yet the prayers and rites of the sacrifice refer, at times, to other mysteries. Thus the dropping of a part of the Sacred Host into the chalice, before the Agnus Dei, represents the reunion of Christ's soul with His Body and Blood on the morning of the Resurrection. The Mass is truly a “hidden treasure,” and, alas, our cold, dead Faith allows it to remain so. If we valued it as we ought, we would hurry every morning to the church, careless of the snows of winter and the heats of summer, in order to get a share of the riches of this treasure.

The Saints knew the value of one Mass: that was a dark day in their calendar on which they were deprived of the happy privilige of saying or hearing Mass. Although St. Francis de Sales was overburdened with apostolic work on the Mission of the Chablais, he made it a point never to miss his daily Mass. In order to keep his holy resolution, he had frequently to cross the river Drance, to the village of Marin, in which there was a Catholic church. It happened, in the winter of 1596, that a great freshet carried away a portion of the bridge over the stream, and the passengers were, in consequence, compelled to cross on a plank laid over those arches of the broken structure that had withstood the waters. Heavy falls of snow, followed by severe frosts, made this board very slippery, so that it became dangerous to attempt passing on it; but St. Francis was not to be deterred, for, despite the remonstrances of his friends, he made the perilous journey every morning, creeping over the icy plank on his hands and feet, thus daily risking his life rather than lose Mass.

Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
The Eucharistic Jesus is here with us as a brother, as a friend, as spouse of our souls. He wishes to enter within us to be our Food for eternal life, our love, our support. He wants to make us part of His mystical Body in which He would redeem us and save us, and then take us into the kingdom of Heaven to settle us in an everlasting bliss of love.
With the Eucharist, God has truly given us everything. St. Augustine exclaimed: “Although God is all-powerful, He is unable to give more; though supremely wise, He knows not how to give more; though vastly rich, He has not more to give.”

When St. Peter Julian Eymard came to Paris, he was lodged in a very poor house in which many necessities were lacking. But when someone complained and another took pity on him, the Saint would respond, “The Blessed Sacrament is there. That is all that I need.” When persons would approach him to obtain graces, help and comfort, the Saint would respond, “You will find all in the Eucharist: the warm words you want to hear, the knowledge and the miracles you need—yes, even the miracles.”

To the Eucharist, then, we should go. To Jesus we should turn—to Jesus, who wishes to make Himself ours in order to make us His by rendering us “godlike.” “O Jesus, Food of strong souls,” St. Gemma Galgani used to say, “strengthen me, purify me, make me godlike.” Let us receive the Eucharist with a pure and ardent heart. That is what the saints have done.

It should never be too much trouble for us to grow familiar with this unspeakable Mystery. Meditation, study and reflection on the Eucharist should have an important place each day on our timetable. It will be the time of our day richest in blessings.

Resolution
I will convince myself of the supreme importance of the Priesthood, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. To prove this in a practical manner, I will pray more for priests. I will also spend more time in preparation and thanksgiving at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and will make more visits to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Our Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever Amen

[Mention Intention]

Let us pray:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. (Prayer of St. John Vianney).

Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

LITANY OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST

There will be three litanies to the Holy Eucharist which we will rotate daily. The first two will honor the Eucharist, the third will make reparation.

LITANY # 2

Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, have mercy on us!
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, hear us!
Christ, graciously hear us!

God the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
have mercy on us.

Jesus, Eternal High Priest of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Divine Victim on the Altar for our salvation, have mercy on us.
Jesus, hidden under the appearance of bread, have mercy on us.
Jesus, dwelling in the tabernacles of the world, have mercy on us.
Jesus, really, truly and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament, have mercy on us.
Jesus, abiding in Thy fulness, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Bread of Life, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Bread of Angels, have mercy on us.
Jesus, with us always until the end of the world, have mercy on us.

Sacred Host, summit and source of all worship and Christian life, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, sign and cause of the unity of the Church, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, adored by countless angels,
have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, spiritual food, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, Sacrament of love,
have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, bond of charity, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, greatest aid to holiness,
have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, gift and glory of the priesthood,
have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, in which we partake of Christ,
have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, in which the soul is filled with grace, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, in which we are given a pledge of future glory, have mercy on us.

Blessed be Jesus
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be Jesus
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be Jesus
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

For those who do not believe in Thy Eucharistic presence, have mercy, O Lord.
For those who are indifferent to the Sacrament of Thy love, have mercy on us.
For those who have offended Thee in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, have mercy on us.

That we may show fitting reverence when entering Thy holy temple, we beseech Thee, hear us.

That we may make suitable preparation before approaching the Altar, we beseech Thee, hear us.

That we may receive Thee frequently in Holy Communion with real devotion and true humility, we beseech Thee, hear us.

That we may never neglect to thank Thee for so wonderful a blessing, we beseech Thee, hear us.

That we may cherish time spent in silent prayer before Thee, we beseech Thee, hear us.

That we may grow in knowledge of this Sacrament of Sacraments, we beseech Thee, hear us.

That all priests may have a profound love of the Holy Eucharist, we beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in accordance with its sublime dignity, we beseech Thee, hear us.

That we may be comforted and sanctified with Holy Viaticum at the hour of our death, we beseech Thee, hear us.

That we may see Thee one day face to face in Heaven, we beseech Thee, hear us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord.

V. O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine,
R. All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.

Let us pray: Most merciful Father, continue to draw us to Thyself through the Eucharistic Mystery; and grant us a fervent Faith in this Sacrament of love, in which Christ, Our Lord, Himself is contained, offered and received. We make this prayer through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

SECOND DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted each day)
Topic to Contemplate: Three Keys to Salvation

Holy Scripture
“And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me!'’” (Luke 22:19).
"This chalice is the new testament in My Blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Meditation on the Priesthood
The priesthood is necessary to carry on the work of Christ’s redemption, necessary not just for the well-being but for the continued existence of the Catholic Church, necessary for the corresponding existence of and well-being of Christianity. And in what we may miss, most surprising, necessary for the moral survival of the human race. These convictions are part of divine revelation. Predicted by the prophets of the Old Law and made explicit by the Son of God, they are of the essence of Christianity.

Sadly, today, there are vocal and influential voices being heard that question or openly challenge, the necessity of the Catholic priesthood as established by Jesus Christ. There are those who would reduce the Catholic priesthood as a merely useful institution.There are those who claim the Catholic priesthood was not established by Jesus Christ but by as rather a later second or even third century innovation of the Church.

There are also those who see no real distinction between the universal priesthood of the faithful, of which St. Peter speaks, and which everyone receives at baptism, and the ministerial priesthood, received only by bishops and priests when they are ordained to the sacrament of Holy Orders. There are strident voices now pushing for the ordination of women on this score that the Church has been discriminating against women and that of course includes Christ. He discriminated by not ordaining them. I use the adjective strident consciously. And sadly these voices in not a few circles ― not excluding some clerical circles ― are being heard. The bedrock to the massive demonic confusion in the Catholic Church today is the doubt or even the denial of the necessity of the Catholic Priesthood as instituted by Jesus Christ.

There can be no substitute for what Christ did at the Last Supper. In other words, there be a Catholic priesthood for the survival of the Catholic Church. In the times of convolution and revolution over the past centuries, notably in the sixteenth century, the Catholic Church disappeared where the necessity of the Catholic Priesthood was denied. There is no Catholic Church without the priesthood instituted by Christ.

Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
It requires great patience to endure the language of careless livers, breathing atheism itself, and ruinous to devotion; as for instance, “A Mass more or less counts for little.” “It is no small thing to hear Mass on festivals.” “The Mass of this or that priest is for length like one in Holy Week; when he appears at the altar, I generally get out of church forthwith.” He who talks in this way lets it be perceived that he has little or no esteem for the thrice-Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. That sacrifice is the sun of Christianity, the soul of Faith, the center of the Catholic religion, wherein are beheld all her rites, all her ceremonies, and all her Sacraments; in fine, it is the compendium of all the good and beautiful to be found in the Church of God. Wherefore, O ye who now read my words, ponder well how great are the matters to be spoken of in these instructions.

It is a certain truth that all the religions which have existed from the beginning of the world have ever had some sacrifice as an essential part of the worship which they offered to God. But because their whole law was either vain or imperfect, so were their sacrifices either vain or imperfect. Most vain were the sacrifices of the idolaters, nor is there any occasion to mention them; and those of the Hebrews, although, indeed, then professing the true religion, were poor and deficient, by St. Paul called “weak and poor elements” (Galatians 4:9), because they could neither cancel sin nor confer grace. The sole sacrifice which we have in our holy religion, that is to say, Holy Mass, is a sacrifice, holy, perfect, in every point complete, with which each one of the faithful nobly honors God, protesting at one and the same time his own nothingness and the supreme dominion which God hath over him; a sacrifice called, therefore, by David, “the sacrifice of justice” (Psalm 4:5); both because it contains the Just One Himself, and the Saint of Saints, or rather justice and holiness themselves, and because it sanctifies souls by the infusion of grace and the affluence of gifts which it confers. Being, then, a sacrifice so holy-----a sacrifice the most venerable and the most excellent of all-----in order that you may form a due conception of so great a treasure, we shall here explain, in a manner quite succinct, some of its Divine excellencies. To express them all were not a work to which our poor faculties could attain.

The principal excellence of the most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass consists in being essentially, and in the very highest degree, identical with that which was offered on the Cross of Calvary: with this sole difference, that the Sacrifice on the Cross was bloody, and made once for all, and did on that one occasion satisfy fully for all the sins of the world; while the Sacrifice of the Altar is an unbloody sacrifice, which can be repeated an infinite number of times, and was instituted in order to apply in detail that universal ransom which Jesus paid for us on Calvary. So that the bloody Sacrifice was the instrument of redemption; the unbloody is that which puts us in possession: the one threw open the treasury of the merits of Christ Our Lord; the other affords the practical use of that treasury. And, therefore, observe that in Mass there is made not a mere representation, nor a simple commemoration of the Passion and Death of the Redeemer, but there is performed, in a certain true sense, the selfsame most holy act which was performed on Calvary. It may be said, with all truth, that in every Mass Our Redeemer returns mystically to die for us, without really dying, at one and the same time really alive and as it were slain-- “I saw a Lamb standing as it were slain” (Apoc. v. 6).

Now, tell me whether, when you enter church to hear Mass, you thoroughly well consider that you are going up as it were to Calvary, to be present at the death of the Redeemer. If so, would you go with behavior so unsubdued, with dress so flaunting? If the Magdalene had gone to Calvary, to the foot of the Cross, all dressed out, perfumed, and adorned, as when she associated with her lovers, what would have been said of her? What, then, shall be said of you who go to Holy Mass as if you were going to a ball? But what shall be said if you profane those functions of most dread sanctity with nods and becks, with tattle, with laughter, with the petty attentions of courtship, or with graver sacrileges of thought, word, or deed? Wickedness is hideous at any time, and in any place; but sins committed during the time of Mass, and before the altar, draw down after them the curse of God.

Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
"The devotion to the Eucharist," St. Pius X, the Pope of the Eucharist, said, "is the most noble, because it has God as its object; it is the most profitable for salvation, because It gives us the Author of Grace; it is the sweetest, because the Lord is Sweetness Itself."

"The faith of the Church," Pope Pius XII teaches us, "is this: That one and identical is the Word of God and the Son of Mary who suffered on the Cross, who is present in the Eucharist, and who rules in Heaven."

The Holy Eucharist is not just a Sacrament—it is more than that—it is the Sacrifice of Calvary, re-enacted in an unbloody way each time a valid Mass is offered by a validly ordained priest. It is both a Sacrament and Sacrifice. We receive the Sacrament in Holy Communion, we visit the Blessed Sacrament outside of Communion time, and we assist at the Sacrifice at each Mass we attend.

When St. John Marie Vianney arrived at the remote little village of Ars, someone said to him sourly, "Here there is nothing to be done."
"Then, there is everything to be done," replied the Saint.

And he began immediately to act. What did he do? He rose at 2:00 a.m. in the morning and went to pray near the altar in the dark church. He recited the Divine Office, he made his meditation, and he prepared himself for Holy Mass. After the Holy Sacrifice, he made his thanksgiving. Then he remained at prayer until noon. He would be always kneeling on the floor without any support, with a Rosary in his hand and his eyes fixed on the tabernacle.

Things continued this way for a short time. Then he had to start changing his timetable; and things reached a point requiring radical changes in his program. The Eucharistic Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary, little by little, drew souls to that poor parish, until the Church did not seem big enough to contain the crowds, and the confessional of the holy Curé became swamped with endless lines of penitents. He was obliged to hear confession for ten, fifteen, eighteen hours in a day!

How did such a transformation ever come about? There had been a poor Church, an altar long unused, an abandoned tabernacle, an ancient confessional, and a priest with no resources and little talent. How could such a wonderful change develop in that unknown village?

Resolution
I will convince myself of the supreme importance of the Priesthood, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. To prove this in a practical manner, I will pray more for priests. I will also spend more time in preparation and thanksgiving at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and will make more visits to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Our Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever Amen

[Mention Intention]

Let us pray:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. (Prayer of St. John Vianney).

Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

LITANY OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST

There will be three litanies to the Holy Eucharist which we will rotate daily. The first two will honor the Eucharist, the third will make reparation.

LITANY # 3

LITANY IN REPARATION TO OUR LORD IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Sacred Host, offered for the salvation of sinners, Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, annihilated on the altar for us and by us, Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, despised by lukewarm Christians, Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, mark of contradiction, Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, delivered over to Jews and heretics, Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, insulted by blasphemers, Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, Bread of angels, given to animals, Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, flung into the mud and trampled underfoot, Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, dishonored by unfaithful priests, Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, forgotten and abandoned in Thy churches, Have mercy on us.

Be merciful unto us, Pardon us, O Lord.
Be merciful unto us, Hear us, O Lord.

For the outrageous contempt of this most wonderful Sacrament, We offer Thee our reparation.
For Thine extreme humiliation in Thine admirable Sacrament, We offer Thee our reparation.
For all unworthy Communions, We offer Thee our reparation.
For the irreverences of wicked Christians, We offer Thee our reparation.
For the profanation of Thy sanctuaries, We offer Thee our reparation.
For the holy ciboriums dishonored and carried away by force, We offer Thee our reparation.
For the continual blasphemies of impious men, We offer Thee our reparation.
For the obduracy and treachery of heretics, We offer Thee our reparation.
For the unworthy conversations carried on in Thy holy temples, We offer Thee our reparation.
For the profaners of Thy churches which they desecrated by their sacrileges, We offer Thee our reparation.

That it may please Thee to increase in all Christians the reverence due to this adorable Mystery, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee to manifest the Sacrament of Thy Love to heretics, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee to grant us the grace to atone for their hatred by our burning love for Thee, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee that the insults of those who outrage we beseech Thee, hear us.
Thee may rather be directed against ourselves, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee graciously to receive this our humble reparation, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee to make our adoration acceptable to Thee, we beseech Thee, hear us.

Pure Host, hear our prayer.
Holy Host, hear our prayer.
Immaculate Host, hear our prayer.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.

V. See, O Lord, our affliction,
R. And give glory to Thy Holy Name.

Let Us Pray.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who dost deign to remain with us in Thy wonderful Sacrament to the end of the world, in order to give to Thy Father, by the memory of Thy Passion, eternal glory, and to give to us the Bread of life everlasting: Grant us the grace to mourn, with a heart full of sorrow, over the injuries which Thou hast received in this adorable Mystery, and over the many sacrileges which are committed by the impious, by heretics and by bad Catholics. Inflame us with an ardent zeal to repair all these insults to which, in Thine infinite mercy, Thou hast preferred to expose Thyself rather than deprive us of Thy Presence on our altars, Who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest one God, world without end. R. Amen.

THIRD DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted each day)

Topic to Contemplate:
Three Persons in One God, Three Effects in One Priesthood

Holy Scripture
“And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me!'’” (Luke 22:19).
"This chalice is the new testament in My Blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Meditation on the Priesthood
The priesthood participates in the fullness of the priesthood that is held by the bishop. The power of the priesthood obliges the priest to do three essential things. To teach, to sanctify and to govern. You could link these three roles to those of the Holy Trinity―God the Father and Creator governs by His Providence; Christ the Word of God, teaches by His words and actions; the Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier, continues to sanctify the Church through all ages.

As the Baltimore Catechism states: “The Church possesses and confers on her pastor the power of orders and the power of jurisdiction―that is, the power to administer the Sacraments and sanctify the faithful, and the power to teach and the power to make laws that direct the faithful to their spiritual good. A bishop has the full power of orders and the Pope alone has the full power of jurisdiction.”

Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Power of the Priest to Offer the Sacrifice of the Mass
First then in virtue of his ordination to the priesthood, the priest receives the power to offer the sacrifice of the Mass. It is really a composite of two powers, the power of transubstantiation and the power of oblation. The power of transubstantiation means that the substance, in Latin substantia, of bread and wine is changed hence trans. That substance is changed into the substance into the living, historical, geographical Jesus Christ. No one else on Earth has that power. The individual consecration of just the bread or just the wine separately, would not constitute a Sacrifice of the Mass. By divine command, there must be first transubstantiation of the bread and then the transubstantiation of the wine. And Christ’s intention―which is to become the priest’s intention of thus separately consecratiing Christ’s Body and Blood―constitutes the essence of the Mass. And the oblation that Christ offered on the cross is literally re-enacted on the altar.

Why? For two good reasons because on the altar is the real Body and Blood of Christ. And on the altar is Christ with a human will and, at the heart of sacrifice is not what is offered ― the heart of sacrifice is why it is offered. And Christ’s human will no less offered himself in the Sacrifice of the Mass just as truly as he did on the cross on Calvary. The power therefore of transubstantiation and oblation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not a later innovation.

It is what Jesus Christ did at the Last Supper changing, as St. Augustine says, the bread and wine into Himself, in such a way that at the moment He pronounced the words of consecration, Jesus was holding Himself in His own hands. Where did that power, given to priests, come from? It came directly historically from what we call apostolic succession, when Christ told His apostles “do this in rememberance of Me” ― the Church has infallibly declared, by that act on the part of the Savior, that He was transmitting to the Apostles, who surrounded Him, a share in the power He had just exercised.

The power which Christ possessed was due to the fact that He was the living God in human form, and therefore He had the power to communicate to others. First the Apostles ― they in turn then communicated the same power to their successors, those upon whom they laid their hands. So that by the end of the first century of the Christian era, secular unbelieving historians tell us that there were over one hundred dioceses surrounding the Mediterranean world. And by the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD there were hundreds of priests in dioceses and thousands by the beginning of the fourth century and hundreds of bishops who met in solemn conclave at Nicaea.

Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
In Holy Communion Jesus gives Himself to me and becomes mine, all mine, in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. One day St. Gemma Galgani said to Jesus with artless simplicity, “I am Your master.”

With Communion, Jesus enters my heart and remains corporally present in me as long as the species (the appearance) of bread lasts; that is, for about 15 minutes. The Holy Fathers teach that during this time the angels surround me to continue to adore Jesus and love Him without interruption. “When Jesus is corporally present within us, the angels surround us as a guard of love,” wrote St. Bernard.

Perhaps we think too little about the sublimity of every Holy Communion. Yet St. Pius X said that “if the angels could envy, they would envy us for Holy Communion.” And St. Madeleine Sophie Barat defined Holy Communion as “Paradise on earth.”

All the saints have understood by experience the divine marvel of our meeting and our union with Jesus in the Eucharist. They have understood that a devout Holy Communion means being possessed by Him and possessing Him. “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him” (John 6:57). On one occasion St. Gemma Galgani wrote, “It is now night. Tomorrow morning is approaching, and then Jesus will possess me and I will possess Jesus.” It is not possible to have a union of love which is deeper and more total: He in me and I in Him; the one in the other. What more could we want?

“You envy,” said St. John Chrysostom, “the privilege of the woman who touched the vestments of Jesus, of the sinful woman who washed His feet with her tears, of the women of Galilee who had the happiness of following Him in His pilgrimages, of the Apostles and disciples who conversed with Him familiarly, of the people of the time who listened to the words of grace and salvation which came forth from His lips. You consider fortunate those who saw Him. . . . However, come to the altar and you will see Him, you will feel Him [when received in Communion], you will give Him holy kisses, you will wash Him with your tears, you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy.”
For this reason the saints desired and longed for Holy Communion with ardent love;

Resolution
I will convince myself of the supreme importance of the Priesthood, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. To prove this in a practical manner, I will pray more for priests. I will also spend more time in preparation and thanksgiving at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and will make more visits to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Our Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever Amen

[Mention Intention]

Let us pray:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. (Prayer of St. John Vianney).

Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

LITANY OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST

There will be three litanies to the Holy Eucharist which we will rotate daily. The first two will honor the Eucharist, the third will make reparation.

LITANY # 1

FOURTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted each day)

Topic to Contemplate: The Need for Devotion

Holy Scripture
“And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me!'’” (Luke 22:19).
"This chalice is the new testament in My Blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Meditation on the Priesthood
St. John Eudes, in writing on the importance of a priest doing all things well (which applies to everyone also, especially the ‘clergy’ of family life, the parents), says the following:

“It is of the utmost importance that we perform all our actions, even the smallest, in the best possible manner. Several reasons demand this.

First of all, we are children of God, created to His image and likeness. Consequently, we must imitate Him, according to the words of the Apostle, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children” (Ephesians 5:1). God performs His every work divinely, and so we too must endeavor to discharge every obligation and perform every action with a perfection becoming sons of God and in obedience to the Savior’s commandment, “Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

Secondly, Christ, who is our exemplar and to whom we must conform our lives, rendered infinite glory to His Father, even in the smallest things, for He did all for love of Him.

Thirdly, God bestows even the smallest things upon us, such as every morsel of bread we eat or every drop of water we drink, with the same love that pours upon us His greatest blessings. Thus, He is as much concerned with those things which may appear trivial, as He is with the significant things―as we are reminded when Scripture tells us that even the hairs of our head are numbered. Consequently, we must show the same interest in our smallest actions as in the important ones.

Fourthly, when we act negligently and without proper dispositions, we rob God of the glory due Him in time and eternity, purchased for us by the shedding of Christ's blood. In addition, we lose the treasures of grace that otherwise would be laid up for us in Heaven, had our motives been holy. Finally, it is much easier to do our duty with fervor and devotion, than it is to act coldly and carelessly.

Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
St. Leonard of Port Maurice, in his book, The Hidden Treasure of the Holy Mass, writes:

You will, perhaps, say to me, it suffices, then, to hear one single Mass to strike off the heaviest debts due to God through many committed sins, because, Mass being of infinite value, we can therewith pay to God an infinite satisfaction. Not so fast, by your leave; because, though indeed Mass is of infinite value, you must know, nevertheless, that Almighty God accepts it in a manner limited and finite, and in degrees conformable to the greater or lesser perfection in the dispositions of him who celebrates or who assists at the sacrifice. The greater or lesser satisfaction applied in our behalf by the sacrifice becomes determined by the higher or lower dispositions of the celebrant, or of the assistants, as just now mentioned.

Now, then, consider the spiritual bewilderment of those who go in search of the quickest and least devoutly conducted Masses, and, what is worse, assist at them with little or no devotion; nor have any zeal in causing them to be celebrated, or in selecting with that view the more fervent and devout of the priesthood. It is true, according to St. Thomas (IIIa, q. 82, art. 6), that all the sacrifices are, as Sacraments, equal in rank; but they are not, therefore, equal in the effects resulting from them; whence the greater the actual or habitual piety of the celebrant, so much the greater will be the fruit of the application of the Mass; so that not to recognize the difference between a tepid and devout priest, in respect to the efficacy of his Mass, will be simply not to heed whether the net with which you fish be small or great.

The same reasoning applies in regard to those attending Mass. And, truly, while I exhort you, to the best of my knowledge and power, to attend many Masses, I yet admonish you to have far more regard to devotion in hearing than to the number heard; because, if you shall have more devotion in one single Mass than another man in fifty, you will give more honor to God in that single Mass, and you will extract from it greater fruit, in the way called ex opere operato, than that other with all his fifty. It is true, indeed, (as a grave author asserts,) that through one single Mass, attended with singularly perfect devotion, it might possibly happen that the justice of God would remain satisfied for all the transgressions of some great sinner. And this is quite in harmony with what the holy Council of Trent teaches; namely, that by the offering of this Holy Sacrifice God grants the gift of penitence, and then by means of true penitence pardons sins the most grave and enormous. Yet notwithstanding all this, since neither the internal dispositions with which you attend Mass are manifest to yourself, nor the amount of satisfaction which corresponds thereto, you should make sure to the best of your power by attending many Masses, and by attending with all the devotion possible.

Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
If every Christian must love Jesus Christ: “If any man love not Our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.” (1 Corinthians 16:22), love for the Eucharist must spring from the heart and be ever alive in us all.
Among all the saints, perhaps one of the greatest models is St. Peter Julian Eymard, in whom love for the Eucharist reached such an intensity as to transform itself into a love of madness. It is for this reason that he was called “the fool of the Blessed Sacrament.”

Now even love needs exercise. The heart needs to be exercised to love the true God, to long for “The Author of Life” (Acts 3:15).

Holy Communion represents the loftiest point of this exercise of love, whose consuming flames unite the heart of a creature and Jesus. St. Gemma Galgani could exclaim in this regard, “I can no longer avoid thinking of how, in the wonderful greatness of His Love, Jesus makes Himself perceptible and shows Himself to His lowliest creature in all the splendors of His Heart.” And what may we say about the exercise of the heart of St. Gemma, who desired to be a “tent of love” in which she would keep Jesus always with her? She longed to have a “little place in the ciborium” to be able to stay always with Jesus. She asked to become “a flaming ball afire with love” for Jesus.

When St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus had become quite ill, she dragged herself with great effort to Church to receive Jesus. One morning, after Holy Communion, she was in her cell, exhausted. One of the sisters remarked that she should not exert herself so much. The Saint replied, “Oh, what are these sufferings to me in comparison with one daily Holy Communion!”—Something not permitted everywhere in her times. She ardently pleaded with Jesus: “Remain within me, as You do in the tabernacle. Do not ever withdraw Your presence from Your little host.”

Resolution
I will convince myself of the supreme importance of the Priesthood, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. To prove this in a practical manner, I will pray more for priests. I will also spend more time in preparation and thanksgiving at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and will make more visits to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Our Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever Amen

[Mention Intention]

Let us pray:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. (Prayer of St. John Vianney).

Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

LITANY OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST

There will be three litanies to the Holy Eucharist which we will rotate daily. The first two will honor the Eucharist, the third will make reparation.

LITANY # 2

FIFTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted each day)

Topic to Contemplate: Neglected and Ignored

Holy Scripture
“And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me!'’” (Luke 22:19).
"This chalice is the new testament in My Blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Meditation on the Priesthood
St. John Bosco was of the opinion that one in every four Catholics is called by God to a religious vocation as either a priest, a monk, a brother, a nun or a sister. ONE IN FOUR! The current combined total for priests, monks, brothers, nuns and sisters is around 1,175,000 out of a total Catholic population of around 1,200 million. That gives a ratio of around 1 vocation per 1,000 Catholics--a far cry from a ratio of 1 vocation per 4 Catholics! Those numbers are predicted to get even worse over the next 10 years, for very few are entering a religious vocation, whilst the majority of existing religious vocations is very top heavy age-wise, with the vast majority of them being at an average of 65 to 75, and so they will die in the near future and the number of replacements is far below the number expected to die.

The bottom line to this terrible shortage of vocations is largely due to the increased materialism in the world, which has drained souls of what little spirituality they might have had. No prayer, means no grace. In turn, no grace means no strength. This lack of strength produces a lack of courage to take on a religious vocation.

This shortage calls to mind the word of Our Lady of Good Success, who warned: “Woe to the world should it lack monasteries and convents! Men do not comprehend their importance, for, if they understood, they would do all in their power to multiply them, because in them can be found the remedy for all physical and moral evils... No one on the face of the Earth is aware whence comes the salvation of souls, the conversion of great sinners, the end of great scourges, the fertility of the land, the end of pestilence and wars, and the harmony between nations. All this is due to the prayers that rise up from monasteries and convents. Oh, if mortals only understood how to appreciate the time given to them, and would take advantage of each moment of their lives, how different the world would be! And a considerable number of souls would not fall to their eternal perdition! But this contempt is the fundamental cause for their downfall!”

Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
The neglect of souls in responding to God's call to a religious vocation goes hand-in-hand with an indifference and neglect towards the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Today, there are only around 20% (1 in 5 Catholics) who regularly attend Sunday Mass--the numbers that attend an extra Mass during the week are far below that number. As regards youngsters, who are out of the jurisdiction of their parents (and thus not "forced" to go Mass on Sunday), the numbers are even worse, with around 3 in 20 regularly attending Sunday Mass. It is estimated around 90% of young Catholics lose the Faith or stop practicing it by the time they reach the age of 21 or leave college.

When one really wants to, one finds time to attend Mass without failing in one’s duties. St. Joseph Cottolengo recommended daily Mass for everybody—for teachers, nurses, laborers, doctors, parents. To those who objected that they did not have the time, he replied firmly, “Bad management! Bad economy of time!” And he knew this generally was the truth. If we but appreciated the infinite value of the Holy Mass, we would be very desirous of assisting and would try in every way to find the necessary time.

Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
Our Lord said to one of His mystics:"The Holy Eucharist is Heaven in your midst. I am your Heaven. I am Heaven in your midst. You all want to go to Heaven, but Heaven has come to you. You all want to see Me, to see God. But I have made Myself visible to you in the Holy Eucharist. I am Heaven. I am your Heaven. Heaven in your midst. Do you expect to meet any person more glorious in Heaven than Me? Do you expect to get a joy more glorious in Heaven than from Me? My Church, My people, My beloved, love Me. Accept Me. Eat Me. Worship Me. Be with Me I am with you.
The worst sin of My Church, the worst sin of My people, the worst sin of My beloved is the neglect of My Love, especially in the Holy Eucharist. The worst sin of My priests is to celebrate the Holy Eucharist without Love. The worst sin of My people is lack of belief in My Love in the Holy Eucharist. The worst danger to My people is forgetfulness of what I have done and what I have suffered for them in the Holy Eucharist. The worst danger to the existence of the world is what some people say – is the abolition of the Holy Eucharist."

Resolution
I will convince myself of the supreme importance of the Priesthood, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. To prove this in a practical manner, I will pray more for priests. I will also spend more time in preparation and thanksgiving at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and will make more visits to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Our Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever Amen

[Mention Intention]

Let us pray:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. (Prayer of St. John Vianney).

Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

LITANY OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST

There will be three litanies to the Holy Eucharist which we will rotate daily. The first two will honor the Eucharist, the third will make reparation.

LITANY # 3

SIXTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted each day)

Topic to Contemplate: Show Some Respect, Reverence and Esteem

Holy Scripture
“And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me!'’” (Luke 22:19).
"This chalice is the new testament in My Blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Meditation on the Priesthood
St. Alphonsus, in his book on the priesthood, writes:

In his epistle to the Christians of Smyrna, St. Ignatius, Martyr, says that the priesthood is the most sublime of all created dignities: “The apex of dignities is the priesthood.” St. Ephrem calls it an infinite dignity: “The priesthood is an astounding miracle, great, immense, and infinite.” St. John Chrysostom says, that “though its functions are performed on Earth, the priesthood should be numbered among the things of Heaven.”

According to Cassian, the priest of God is exalted above all Earthly sovereignties, and above all celestial heights―he is inferior only to God. Innocent III says that the priest is placed between God and man; inferior to God, but superior to man. St. Denis calls the priest a Divine man. Hence he has called the priesthood a Divine dignity. In fine, St. Ephrem says that the gift of the sacerdotal dignity surpasses all understanding.

For us it is enough to know, that Jesus Christ has said that we should treat his priests as we would his own person: “He that heareth you, heareth Me; he that despiseth you, desptseth Me.” Hence St. John Chrysostom says, that “he who honors a priest, honors Christ, and he who insults a priest, insults Christ.” Through respect for the sacerdotal dignity, St. Mary of Oignies used to kiss the ground on which a priest had walked.

The dignity of the priest is estimated from the exalted nature of his offices. Priests are chosen by God to manage on Earth all his concerns and interests. “Divine,” says St. Cyril of Alexandria, “are the offices confided to priests.” St. Ambrose has called the priestly office a Divine profession. A priest is a minister destined by God to be a public ambassador of the whole Church, to honor Him, and to obtain His graces for all the faithful.

Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
St. Alphonsus continues:

“For every high-priest taken from among men is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins” (Hebrews 5:1). The priest, then, is placed by God in the Church in order to offer sacrifice. This office is peculiar to the priests of the Law of grace, to whom has been given the power of offering the great sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Son of God―a sacrifice sublime and perfect in comparison with the ancient sacrifices, the entire perfection of which consisted in being the shadow and figure of our sacrifice. They were sacrifices of calves and oxen, but ours is the sacrifice of the eternal Word made Man. Of themselves they had no efficacy, and were therefore called by St. Paul weak and needy elements.

But ours has power to obtain the remission of the temporal penalties due to sins, and to procure an augmentation of grace, and more abundant helps for those in whose behalf it is offered.

The priest who has not a just (correct) idea of the Mass shall never offer that Holy Sacrifice as he ought. Jesus Christ performed no action on Earth, greater than the celebration of Mass. In a word, of all actions that can be performed, the Mass is the most holy and dear to God; as well on account of the oblation presented to God, that is, Jesus Christ, a victim of infinite dignity, as on account of the first offerer. Jesus Christ, Who offers Himself on the altar by the hand of the priest. “The same now offering,” says the Council of Trent, “by the ministry of priests, Who, then offered Himself on the Cross.” St. John Chrysostom said: “When you see a priest offering, do not believe that this is done by the hand of a priest; the offering is made rather by the hand of God invisibly stretched out.”

All the honors that the Angels by their homages, and men by their virtues, penances, and martyrdoms, and other holy works, have ever given to God could not give Him as much glory as a single Mass. For all the honors of creatures are finite honors, but the honor given to God in the sacrifice of the altar, because it proceeds from a Divine person, is an infinite honor. Hence we must confess that of all actions the Mass, as the Council of Trent says, is the most holy and Divine: “We must needs confess that no other work can be performed by the faithful that is so holy and Divine as this tremendous Mystery itself.” (Session 22, Decr. de obs. in celeb. Miss.). It is, then, as we have seen, an action the most holy and dear to God―an action that appeases most efficaciously the anger of God against sinners, that beats down most effectually the powers of Hell, that brings to men on Earth the greatest benefits, and that affords to the Souls in Purgatory the greatest relief. It is, in fine, an action in which, as St. Udone, Abbot of Cluny, has written, consists the entire salvation of the world: “Of all the favors granted to me this is the greatest: it is truly by the most generous ardor of His love that God instituted this mystery, without which there would be no salvation in this world.”

And speaking of the Mass, Timothy of Jerusalem said that by it the world is preserved. If not for the Mass, the Earth should have long since perished on account of the sins of men.

St. Bonaventure says that in each Mass God bestows on the world a benefit not inferior to that which He conferred by His Incarnation. This is conformable to the celebrated words of St. Augustine: “O venerable dignity of the priests, in whose hands, as in the womb of the Virgin, the Son of God became incarnate!” Moreover, St. Thomas teaches that since the sacrifice of the altar is nothing else than the application and renewal of the sacrifice of the Cross, a single Mass brings to men the same benefits and salvation that were produced by the sacrifice of the Cross. St. John Chrysostom says: “The celebration of a Mass has the same value as the death of Christ on the Cross.” And of this we are still more assured by the holy Church in the Collect for the Sunday after Pentecost: “As many times as this commemorative sacrifice is celebrated, so often is the work of our redemption performed.” The same Redeemer Who once offered Himself on the Cross is immolated on the altar by the ministry of His priests. “For the Victim is one and the same,” says the Council of Trent: “the same now offering by the ministry of priests, Who then offered Himself on the Cross, the manner alone of offering being different.”

Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
Fr. Muller, in his book, The Blessed Eucharist, writes (already back in the 1800s):

Do we not see men who hardly bow their head, much less bend the knee when passing before that Most August Sacrament? Women enter the church who, by their dress and thoughtlessness, cannot claim any high prerogative in the modesty of their sex. Men even grant full liberty to their wanton gaze upon women, heedless of the penetrating eye of their God, who fills that temple and whose sight has already pierced their souls. When, at processions intended to honor the Blessed Sacrament, I see such behavior, I must conclude that this is the result of the most complete indifference towards Jesus Christ, or a total forgetfulness of His Presence. What then? Shall I call them sorcerers? No. But I think I shall not be far astray in saying that they have not a lively Faith. They may be Catholics, but certainly, their Faith is not practical. They do not realize that Jesus Christ is present in the tabernacle and in the monstrance. They are deceived by their senses.

In the monstrance, or in the hands of the priest at Mass, they see nothing but the white host, and their thoughts penetrate no further. But if they only reflected on what their Faith teaches, viz., that under that little host Jesus Christ conceals His heavenly splendor and glory, how different would be their deportment! How different their thoughts and feelings! Would you know how they would act if their Faith were real and lively? Go to the palace of a king. Mark the silent expectation in that splendid apartment! What do those careful movements mean? That tread so noiseless? That voice so subdued? There, a loud word is an impertinence! There unbecoming attire is a crime! But listen! Even that stealthy conversation is hushed; every eye is turned to one point; each one assumes the most respectful attitude; the curtain is drawn; and the obsequious courtiers stand in the presence of their King. What an unpardonable breach of decorum would it not be for anyone to remain sitting at a moment like this! To talk, to laugh or to remain with head covered!

Now, if such honor is paid to earthly princes, what reverence is not then due to Him Who is “King of kings and Lord of lords?” St. John Chrysostom is indignant with us for even making the comparison, and it is with reason. For what is an emperor when compared to the King of Heaven and earth? He is less than the blade of grass when compared to the whole universe. Whenever the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the tabernacle, borne in procession or carried as Viaticum to the sick; whenever the Sacred Host is raised at the Consecration in the Mass, our infallible Faith says to us: Ecce Rex vester! “Behold your King!” Behold your Redeemer, your Judge, your Creator, your God!

If then in the presence of the Most Holy Sacrament I feel no devotion interiorly and show no modesty exteriorly, what will you think of me? You will say with truth and justice that: “That man does not believe that his God is present there”; or again, “That man’s Faith is cold and dead.” Who could believe that Jesus Christ is present in this Sacrament and fail in reverence towards it? What reverence did not the Jews pay to the Ark of the Covenant! No one dared to approach it, yet fifty thousand persons who, through curiosity, ventured to gaze thereat, were instantly struck dead as a punishment for their rash act! Yet, what did the Ark contain? Only the Ten Commandments of God.

But in the Holy Eucharist, Faith tells us that God Himself is present, He Who made all things out of nothing and could destroy them in a moment. He Who at the last day will come on the clouds of Heaven to judge the living and the dead. Only let Catholics believe this with a lively Faith, and our churches will be filled with worshippers, whose deportment will correspond to their belief. The modest attire, the guarded eye, the bended knee, the meekly folded hands will bespeak the conviction of their hearts. Only let Catholics have a lively Faith in this mystery, and Jesus Christ will seldom be left alone. At all hours, His children will come to present themselves before Him, as subjects before their prince, as slaves before their master, as sick men before their physician, as children before their father, in a word, as friends before their beloved friend.

Only let a congregation be animated with a lively Faith in this doctrine of our holy religion, and each mind will be filled with amazement, the spirit will be recollected, the soul moved to contrition, the affections inflamed, the eye melted to tears of tenderness and the voice broken with sighs like those of the poor publican: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Or like unto that of St. Peter, “Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Thus reverence is nothing more than a lively Faith.

Resolution
I will convince myself of the supreme importance of the Priesthood, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. To prove this in a practical manner, I will pray more for priests. I will also spend more time in preparation and thanksgiving at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and will make more visits to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Our Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever Amen

[Mention Intention]

Let us pray:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. (Prayer of St. John Vianney).

Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

LITANY OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST

There will be three litanies to the Holy Eucharist which we will rotate daily. The first two will honor the Eucharist, the third will make reparation.

LITANY # 1

SEVENTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted each day)

Topic to Contemplate: The Required Seriousness

Holy Scripture
“And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me!'’” (Luke 22:19).
"This chalice is the new testament in My Blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Meditation on the Priesthood
St. Alphonsus, in his book on the priesthood, writes of The Obligation of Every Priest to Labor for the Salvation of Souls

“In the world there are at the same time many and few priests-----many in name, but few in reality,” says the author of the Imperfect Work. The world is filled with priests, but few of them labor to be priests; that is, to fulfill the duty and obligations of a priest, or to save souls.

The dignity of priests is great, because they are the coadjutors of God. “We are God's coadjutors” [1 Corinthians 3:9). And what greater dignity, says the Apostle, than that of cooperating with Jesus Christ in saving the souls which He has redeemed? Hence St. Denis the Areopagite calls the dignity of the priest a Divine dignity, and even the most Divine of all Divine things. For, as St. Augustine says, it requires more power to sanctify a sinner than to create Heaven and earth.

St. Jerome used to call priests the saviors of the world. St. Prosper calls them the administrators of the royal house of God. And, long before, Jeremias called them the fishers and sportsmen of the Lord: “Behold, I send many fishers,” saith the Lord, “and after this I will send many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.” St. Ambrose explains this passage of priests who gain to God the most abandoned sinners, and deliver them from all their vices. The mountain signifies pride; the hill, pusillanimity; and the holes of the rocks, bad habits, which bring with them darkness of understanding and coldness of heart.

Peter de Blois says that in the work of creation God had no one to assist Him, but in the mystery of redemption He wished to have coadjutors. Who on this earth is superior to the priest? “To the king are entrusted earthly things; to me, a priest, heavenly things,” says St. Chrysostom. And Innocent III adds: “Although the dignity of the Blessed Virgin was greater than that of the Apostles, yet to these, and not to her, were given the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.”

St. Peter Damian calls the priest the leader of the people of God. St. Bernard styles him the guardian of the Church, which is the spouse of Jesus Christ. St. Clement, an earthly god, for by the ministry of priests the Saints are formed on earth; St. Flavian says “that all the hope and salvation of men is placed in the hands of priests.” And St. John Chrysostom writes, “Our parents generate us for the present life, priests for life eternal.” Without priests, says St. Ignatius Martyr, there would be no Saints on this earth. And, long before, holy Judith said that on priests depends the salvation of the people. You are the ancients among the people of God, and their very soul resteth upon you. The priest is the author of holiness of life in seculars, and on him depends their salvation. Hence St. Clement has said: “Honor priests as those that effect good conduct in others.”

Great, then, beyond measure, is the dignity and office of priests, but great also is their obligation to labor for the salvation of souls. For, says the apostle, every high-priest taken from among men, in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins. He afterwards proceeds to say: Who can have compassion on them that are ignorant. (Hebrews 5:1-2] The priest, then, is appointed by God as well to honor Him by sacrifices, as also to save souls by instructing and converting sinners.

Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
St. Alphonsus continues:

The Mass is, according to the prediction of the prophet, “the good and the beautiful thing” of the Church: “For what is the good thing of Him, and what is its beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect and wine springing forth virgins?” (Zacharias 9:17).

In the Mass, Jesus Christ gives Himself to us by means of the most holy Sacrament of the altar, which is the end and object of all the other Sacraments, says the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. Justly, then, has St. Bonaventure called the Mass a compendium of all God's love and of all His benefits to men. Hence the devil has always sought to deprive the world of the Mass by means of the heretics, constituting them precursors of Antichrist, whose first efforts shall be to abolish the Holy Sacrifice of the altar, and, according to the prophet Daniel (8:12), in punishment of the sins of men, his efforts shall be successful: And strength was given him against the continual sacrifice because of sins.

Most justly, then, does the holy Council of Trent require of priests to be most careful to celebrate Mass with the greatest possible devotion and purity of conscience: “It is sufficiently clear that all industry and diligence is to be applied to this end, that it [the mystery] be performed with the greatest possible inward cleanness and purity of heart.” And in the same place the Council justly remarks, that on priests who celebrate this great Sacrifice negligently, and without devotion, shall fall the malediction threatened by the prophet Jeremias: Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord negligently. (Session 22, Decr. de obs. in celeb. Miss., in reference to Jeremias 48:10).

And St. Bonaventure says that he who approaches the altar, without reverence and consideration, celebrates or communicates unworthily. In order, then, to avoid this malediction, let us see what the priest must do before Mass, during Mass, and after Mass. Before Mass preparation is necessary, during the celebration of Mass reverence and devotion are necessary, after Mass thanksgiving is necessary. A servant of God used to say that the life of a priest should be nothing else than preparation and thanksgiving for Mass.

Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
Fr. Muller, in his book, The Blessed Eucharist, writes (already back in the 1800s):

The reality of the Divine Presence in the Blessed Sacrament is the true rule of our deportment before it. The Catholic has within himself the rule of decorum. He needs nothing else to teach him what is proper or improper in church, besides the dogma which assures him that he is in the presence of his God. If then he be but a little recollected, he will be, almost necessarily, respectful.

This then is the great means of preserving a reverent deportment, to remember Who He is that is enclosed in the tabernacle and what we are, namely, that our Divine Savior is in our midst and that we are His creatures and subjects come to worship Him. But although our faith is sufficient to teach us how we ought to behave before Our Lord, yet because it is sometimes difficult to keep in mind the truths of faith and because examples are always more powerful than a bare precept, I will set before you some striking examples, which may serve to impress upon your mind the duty of reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament.

First, I will propose the example of the Angels. St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom testify to having seen at the time of Mass, or when the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, many hosts of Angels in human form, clothed with white garments and standing round the altar as soldiers stand before their king. But what was their attitude and deportment? Their heads were bowed, their faces covered, their hands crossed, and the whole body so profoundly inclined as to express the deepest sense of their own unworthiness to appear before the Divine Majesty. Oh, would we but think of this! The Angels, those pure spirits, shrink before the Infinite Holiness of God, and we allow vain, worldly and even sinful thoughts to insinuate themselves into our minds in His Presence!

The Angels tremble before His Greatness, and we fear not to talk and laugh in His Presence! The Angels, those princes of Heaven, are all humility and modesty, and we, the dust of the earth and miserable sinners, all impertinence and pride! The Angels veil their faces before His splendor, and we do not even so much as cast down our eyes, but rudely stare and gaze around! The Angels bow down to the earth, and we will not bend our knee! The Angels, full of awe, fold their hands upon their breasts, and we allow ourselves every freedom of attitude and movement!! Oh, what a subject of confusion! What humiliating reflections! What an impressive lesson!

Secondly, I will take you from the princes of Heaven to the princes of the Earth, and teach you a lesson from the example of kings and nobles. There are many beautiful examples on record of the homage which kings and emperors have paid to the Savior of mankind, so humbly hidden in the Blessed Sacrament.

Philip II, King of Spain, always dispensed with regal pomp and pageantry when he assisted at processions of the Blessed Sacrament, and as an ordinary personage, mingled with the common throng. Inclemency of weather deterred him not from paying this tribute of honor to his Lord. One day, as he was devoutly accompanying the Blessed Sacrament with uncovered head, a page held his hat over him, to shield him from the burning sun. “Never mind,” said Philip, “the sun will do me no harm; at such a time as this we must regard neither rain nor wind, heat nor cold.”

On another occasion, whilst the Blessed Sacrament was being carried a great distance to a sick person, Philip accompanied it all the way on foot. The priest, observing this, asked him if he were not tired. “Tired!” replied he, “Behold, my servants wait upon me both by day and by night, and never yet have I heard one of them complain of being tired! Shall I, then, complain of fatigue when I am waiting upon my Lord and my God, Whom I can never sufficiently serve and honor!”

Resolution
I will convince myself of the supreme importance of the Priesthood, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. To prove this in a practical manner, I will pray more for priests. I will also spend more time in preparation and thanksgiving at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and will make more visits to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Our Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever Amen

[Mention Intention]

Let us pray:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. (Prayer of St. John Vianney).

Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

LITANY OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST

There will be three litanies to the Holy Eucharist which we will rotate daily. The first two will honor the Eucharist, the third will make reparation.

LITANY # 2

EIGHTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted each day)

Topic to Contemplate: Preparation and Thanksgiving

Holy Scripture
“And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me!'’” (Luke 22:19).
"This chalice is the new testament in My Blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Meditation on the Priesthood
St. Alphonsus, in his book on the priesthood, writes of The Obligation of Every Priest to Labor for the Salvation of Souls

Every priest, says St. John Chrysostom, is, as it were, the father of the whole world, and therefore should have care of all the souls to whose salvation he can cooperate by his labors. Besides, priests are appointed by God as physicians to cure every soul that is infirm; thus Origen has called them “Physicians of souls,” and St. Jerome, “Spiritual physicians.” Hence St. Bonaventure says, “If the physician flees from the sick, who will cure them?”

Priests are also called the walls of the Church: “The Church has her walls,” says St. Ambrose, “that is, her apostolic men.” And the author of the Imperfect Work says, “Her walls are the priests.” They are also called the stones that support the Church of God, and, by St. Eucherius, they are called the pillars that sustain the tottering world. Finally, they are called by St. Bernard the very house of God. Hence we may say with St. John Chrysostom, that if a part of the house fall, the injury may be easily repaired―but if the walls fall, if the foundations and the pillars that sustain the edifice give way; finally, if the whole house tumbles to the ground―how can the loss be ever repaired? Moreover, priests are called by the same St. John Chrysostom, the husbandmen of the vineyard of the Lord. “But, O God!” exclaims St. Bernard with tears, “the farmers sweat and labor the whole day in the cultivation of their own vineyards. But what are the occupations of priests whom God has appointed to cultivate His vineyard? They are,” continues the Saint, “always corrupted with idleness and worldly pleasures.”

The harvest is indeed great, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37). No―the bishops and parish priests are not sufficient for the spiritual wants of the people. If God had not destined other priests to assist souls, he should not have sufficiently provided for His Church. St. Thomas says that the twelve Apostles destined by Jesus Christ for the conversion of the world represented the bishops, and the seventy-two disciples represented all priests ordained for the salvation of souls, the fruit which the Redeemer demands of His priests: “I have chosen you that you should go, and should bring forth fruit” (John 15:16). Hence St. Augustine calls priests the administrators of the interests of God. To priests has been entrusted the duty of extirpating vice and pernicious maxims from the minds of the people, and of infusing into them the virtues of the Gospel and the maxims of eternity. On the day God raises a man to the priesthood He says to him what He said to Jeremias: “Lo, I have set thee thus over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up and pull down, and to waste and to destroy, and to build and to plant” (Jeremias 1:10).

I do not know how a priest can be excused from sin, who sees the people of the district in grievous necessity, and is able to assist them by teaching the truths of faith, or by preaching the Divine word, and even by hearing confessions, and through sloth neglects to give them spiritual aid? I know not, I say, how he can escape on the day of judgment the reproof and chastisement threatened against the slothful servant who hid the talent given to him, that he might trade with it. The master gave him that talent that he might trade with it, but he hid it; and when the master demanded an account of the profit he had received from it, he answered: “I hid thy talent in the earth ... behold, here thou hast that which is thine” (Matthew 25:25). But for hiding the talent the master reproved him, saying: “What! I have given you a talent that you might trade with it; this is the talent, but where are the profits? He then took the talent from him, commanded it to be given to another, and ordered him to be cast into exterior darkness: Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it him that hath ten talents; ... and the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness!” To be cast into exterior darkness means, according to the commentators, to be sent into the fire of Hell, which gives no light, and to be excluded from Heaven.

Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
St. Alphonsus continues:

I ask how does it happen that there are so many priests in the world and so few holy priests? St. Francis de Sales called the Mass a mystery which comprises the entire abyss of Divine love. St. John Chrysostom used to say that the most holy Sacrament of the altar is the treasure of all God's benignity. There is no doubt that the Holy Eucharist has been instituted for all the faithful, but it is a gift bestowed in a special manner on priests. “Give not,” says Our Lord, addressing priests, “that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6). Mark the words your pearls. In the Greek the consecrated particles are called pearls; but these pearls are called, as it were, the property of priests: your pearls. Hence, as St. John Chrysostom says, every priest should leave the altar all inflamed with Divine love, so as to strike terror into the powers of Hell: “Like lions breathing forth fire should we leave that table, so that we may become terrible to the devil.” But this is not the case. The greater number depart from the altar always more tepid, more impatient, proud, jealous, and more attached to self-esteem, to self-interest, and to earthly pleasures. “The defect is not in the food,” says Cardinal Bona. The defect does not arise from the food that they take on the altar; for, as St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi used to say, that food taken once would be sufficient to make them Saints, but it arises from the little preparation that they make for the celebration of Mass.

The remote preparation consists in the pure and virtuous life that a priest should lead in order to celebrate worthily. If God required purity in the priests of the Old Law because they had to carry the sacred vessels, Be ye clean, you that carry the vessels of the Lord, how much greater should be the purity and sanctity of the priest who has to carry in his hands and in his body the Incarnate Word, says Peter de Blois. But to be pure and holy it is not enough for the priest to be exempt from mortal sins: he must be also free from venial sins that are fully deliberate; otherwise “he shall have no part with Jesus Christ.” “Let no one,” says St. Bernard, “disregard little faults, for thus it was said to Peter, that unless Christ purifies of them, we shall have no part in Christ.” Hence all the actions and words of the priest who wishes to celebrate Mass must be holy, and serve to prepare him for the worthy celebration of the sacred mysteries.

For the immediate preparation, mental prayer is, in the first place, necessary. How can the priest celebrate Mass with devotion without having first made mental prayer? The Venerable John d' Avila used to say that a priest should make mental prayer for an hour or, at least, half an hour, before Mass. I would be content with half an hour, or, and for some, with even a quarter of an hour; but a quarter is too little. There are so many beautiful books containing meditations preparatory to Mass, but who makes use of them? It is through neglect of meditation that we see so many Masses said without devotion and with irreverence. The Mass is a representation of the Passion of Jesus Christ. Hence Pope Alexander I justly said that in the Mass we should always commemorate the Passion of our Lord. And before him the Apostle said: “For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord until He come” (1 Corinthians 11:26). According to St. Thomas, the Redeemer has instituted the most holy Sacrament that we might always have a lively remembrance of the love that He has shown us, and of the great benefits that He obtained for us by offering Himself in sacrifice on the Cross. But if all should continually remember the Passion of Jesus Christ, how much more should the priest reflect on it when he goes to renew on the altar, though in a different manner, the same sacrifice which the Son of God offered on the Cross!

Moreover, even though he had made his meditation, the priest should before he begins Mass always recollect himself at least for a short time, and consider what he is going to do. The Council of Milan, in the time of St. Charles, ordained that all priests should do so. In entering the sacristy to celebrate Mass the priest should take leave of all worldly thoughts, and say with St. Bernard: “Ye cares, solicitudes, earthly troubles, remain here: let me go freely to my God, with all my intelligence and with all my heart, and when we have adored we shall return to you; we shall return, alas! and we shall return too soon.” In a letter to St. Jane Chantal, St. Francis de Sales said: “When I turn to the altar to begin Mass, I lose sight of everything on this Earth.” Hence, during the celebration of Mass, the priest should take leave of all worldly thought, and should think only of the great action that he is going to perform, and of the heavenly bread he is going to eat at the Divine table. When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, says Solomon, consider diligently what is set before thy face. Let him consider that he is going to call from Heaven to earth the Incarnate Word; to treat with Him familiarly on the altar; to offer Him again to the eternal Father; and finally to partake of His sacred Flesh.

Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
Fr. Muller, in his book, The Blessed Eucharist, writes (already back in the 1800s):

St. Alphonsus relates that a priest, seeing a man leave the church immediately after Communion, sent the servers of Mass with lighted candles to accompany him home. “What is the matter?” asked the man. “Oh,” said the boys, “we are come to accompany Our Lord, Who is still present in your heart!” If everyone who follows the example of this indevout communicant received the same reproof, the scandal of going directly from the altar to the world would soon cease.

Although the greatness of Our Lord is a sufficient reason why we should not leave Him alone in our hearts after Communion, it is not the argument which He Himself employs. There is in this Sacrament nothing that breathes of majesty. Our Lord is silent, whether we leave the church immediately or kneel and reverently converse with Him. The stones do not cry out against our ingratitude if, after eating the Bread of Angels, we do not give thanks to God. Jesus Christ might send twelve legions of Angels to stand around us after we have left His table, to remind us that He is present in our hearts, but He does not do this.

Now it is from this very fact of not surrounding Himself with anything calculated to inspire fear that we ought to draw the most powerful incentive to gratitude. This Sacrament is a Sacrament of love. In it God is pleased to treat with His creatures in all familiarity. Jesus Christ, having accomplished the work of our Redemption, draws nigh to converse with us, as He did to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. He wishes to speak with us as one friend speaks to another. Oh then, what an affront it is to leave Him the moment that He comes to us! Scarcely to say one word to Him! Would you not consider it great unkindness if a loving friend had traveled far to see you, and when he has but a little time to stay, to leave him as soon as he had entered your house and go to attend to your business or to seek your pleasure?

Would you not rather give him the best welcome you could and prepare the best room in your house and adorn it with your richest furniture; would you not sacrifice something of your time to keep him company and exchange some tokens of love before you allowed him to depart? Now, should you not do as much for Jesus Christ, who has come so far to visit you, who has suffered so many sorrows for your sake, who is thinking of you always and has given you so many tokens of His love? It is by this argument that Jesus Christ Himself prefers to incite us to make a due thanksgiving after Communion, and it is one which must have irresistible weight with every faithful heart. I feel that this point needs no further proof. I will therefore pass on to consider the manner in which we ought to make our thanksgiving.

Resolution
I will convince myself of the supreme importance of the Priesthood, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. To prove this in a practical manner, I will pray more for priests. I will also spend more time in preparation and thanksgiving at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and will make more visits to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Our Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever Amen

[Mention Intention]

Let us pray:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. (Prayer of St. John Vianney).

Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

LITANY OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST

There will be three litanies to the Holy Eucharist which we will rotate daily. The first two will honor the Eucharist, the third will make reparation.

LITANY # 3

NINTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted each day)

Topic to Contemplate:
Correct Dispositions for Vocations, Holy Mass & Holy Communion

Holy Scripture
“And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: 'This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me!'’” (Luke 22:19).
"This chalice is the new testament in My Blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25)

Meditation on the Priesthood
St. Alphonsus, in his book on the priesthood, writes of The Obligation of Every Priest to Labor for the Salvation of Souls

Nobility is not a mark of a Divine vocation. To know, says St. Jerome, whether a person should become the guide of the people in what regards their eternal salvation, we must consider not nobility of blood, but sanctity of life. St. Gregory says the same: “By one’s conduct, not by one’s high birth, is one’s vocation to be proved.”

Nor is the will of parents a mark of a Divine vocation. In inducing a child to take priesthood they seek not his spiritual welfare, but their own interest, and the advancement of the family. “How many mothers,” says St. John Chrysostom, or the author of the Imperfect Work, “have eyes only for the bodies of their children and disdain their souls! To see them happy here below is all that they desire; as for the punishments that perhaps their children are to endure in the next life, they do not even think of them.” We must be persuaded, as Jesus Christ has said, that with regard to the choice of a state of life we have no enemies more dangerous than our own relatives. “And a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household!” (Matthew 10:36) Hence the Redeemer adds: “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me!” (Matthew 10:37) O how many priests shall we see condemned on the Day of Judgment for having taken Holy Orders to please their relatives!

When a young man, in obedience to the call of God, wishes to become a religious, what efforts do not his parents make, either through passion, or for the interest of the family, to dissuade him from following his vocation! It is necessary to know that, according to the common opinion of theologians, this cannot be excused from mortal sin. See what I have written on this subject in my Moral Theology. Parents who act in this manner are guilty of a double sin. They sin first against charity, because they are the cause of a grievous evil to the child whom God has called to religion. A person who dissuades even a stranger from following a religious vocation is guilty of a grievous sin. They sin, secondly, against piety; for by their obligation to educate a child they are bound to promote his greater spiritual welfare.

Some ignorant confessors tell their penitents who wish to become religious, that in this they should obey their parents, and abandon their vocation if their parents object to their entering religion. These confessors adopt the opinion of Luther, who taught that a person sins by entering religion without the consent of his parents. But the doctrine of Luther was rejected by the holy Fathers, and by the Tenth Council of Toledo, in which it was decreed that children who had attained their fourteenth year may lawfully enter religion even against the will of their parents. A child is bound to obey his parents in what regards his education and the government of the house; but with regard to the choice of a state of life, he should obey God by embracing the state to which God calls him. When parents seek to be obeyed in this matter we must answer them in the words of the Apostles to the princes of the Jews: “If it be just in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, judge ye!” (Acts 4:19)

St. Thomas expressly teaches that in the choice of a state of life children are not obliged to obey their parents. And the Saint says that when there is question of a vocation to religion, a person is not bound even to consult his relatives; for on such occasions self-interest changes relatives into enemies. (Contra retr. a. rel. c. 9)

“Parents are,” as St. Bernard says, “content to see their children damned with them, rather than see them saved by entering religion and separating from the family.” But when a person wishes to enter the sacerdotal state, in which he may be able to serve the family, what efforts do not his parents make to procure his ordination, either by lawful or unlawful means, whether he is called or not called to the priesthood! And with what severity do they not treat him if, through remorse of conscience, he refuse to take holy orders!

Barbarous fathers! Let us, with St. Bernard, call them not parents, but murderers! Unhappy fathers! Miserable children! I say again. How many shall we see condemned in the valley of Josaphat for having interfered with the vocation of others, or for not having attended to their own! For, as we shall hereafter demonstrate, the salvation of each individual depends on following the Divine call.

Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
St. Alphonsus continues:

It is necessary to celebrate Mass with reverence and devotion. It is well known that the maniple (seen as worn by the priest on his left arm, between the wrist and the elbow) was introduced for the purpose of wiping away the tears of devotion that flowed from the eyes of the priest; for in former times priests wept continually during the celebration of Mass. But, O God! It would be necessary to weep, and even to shed tears of blood, at the manner in which many priests celebrate Mass. It excites compassion to see the contempt with which some priests and religious treat Jesus Christ on the altar. Observe with what kind of attention certain priests celebrate Mass. I hope their number is small. Of them we may well say what Clement of Alexandria said of the pagan priests, that they turned Heaven into a stage, and God into the subject of the comedy.

But why do I say a comedy? O how great would be their attention if they had to recite a part in a comedy! But with what sort of attention do they celebrate Mass? Mutilated words; genuflections that appear to be acts of contempt rather than of reverence; signs of the cross which I know not what to call. They move and turn on the altar in a disrespectful manner. He who violates the rubrics cannot be excused from sin, and he who is guilty of a grievous neglect of them cannot be excused from mortal sin.

All arises from an anxiety to have the Mass soon finished. Some say Mass with as much haste as if the walls were about to fall, or as if they expected to be attacked by pirates without getting time to flyaway. Some priests spend two hours in useless conversation, or in treating of worldly affairs, and are all haste in celebrating Mass. As they begin the Mass without reverence, so they proceed to consecrate, to take Jesus Christ in their hands, and to communicate with as much irreverence, as if the Holy Sacrament were common bread.

In my Moral Theology, I have shown, by the authority of many theologians, that to celebrate Mass in less than a quarter of an hour [some say less than 20 minutes] cannot be excused from grievous sin. This doctrine rests on two reasons: first, the irreverence that in so short a Mass is offered to the holy sacrifice; secondly, the scandal that is given to the people.

As to the reverence due to the sacrifice, the words of the Council of Trent, command priests to celebrate Mass with the greatest possible devotion: “All industry and diligence are to be applied that it be performed with the greatest possible outward show of devotion and piety” (Session 22, Decr. de obs. in celeb. Miss.]. The Council adds, that to neglect even this external devotion due to the sacrifice is a species of impiety: “Irreverence that can hardly be separated from impiety.” As the due performance of the ceremonies constitutes reverence, so to perform them badly is an irreverence which, when grievous, is a mortal sin. And to perform the ceremonies with the reverence due to so great a sacrifice, it is not enough to go through them; for some, who are very quick in their articulation and motions, may be able to perform the ceremonies in less than a quarter of an hour, but it is necessary to perform them with becoming gravity, which belongs intrinsically to the reverence due to the Mass.

To celebrate Mass in so short a time is also a grievous sin on account of the scandal given to the people who are present. And here it is necessary to consider what the same Council of Trent says in another place, that the ceremonies have been instituted by the Church in order to excite in the faithful the veneration and esteem due to so great a sacrifice, and to the most sublime mysteries that it contains. “The Church,” says the holy Council, “has employed ceremonies, whereby both the majesty of so great a sacrifice might be recommended and the minds of the faithful be excited, by those visible signs of religion and piety; to the contemplation of those most sublime things which are hidden in. this sacrifice.” (Session 22, Decr. de obs. in celeb. Miss., ch. 5). But, instead of inspiring reverence, these ceremonies, when performed with great haste, diminish and destroy the veneration of the people for so holy a mystery. Peter de Blois says that the irreverence with which Mass is celebrated makes people think little of the most Holy Sacrament. This scandal cannot be excused from mortal sin. Hence in the year 1583 the Council of Tours ordained that priests should be well instructed in the ceremonies of the Mass: “For fear that the people entrusted to their care, far from entertaining veneration for our Divine mysteries, might regard them only with indifference.”

Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
Jesus is in the tabernacle for my sake. He is the Food of my soul. "My Flesh is food indeed and My Blood is drink indeed" (John 6:56). If I want to nourish myself spiritually and be fully supplied with life, I must receive Him: “Amen, amen I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you" (John 6:54). St. Augustine informs us that the Catholic people in his diocese in Africa called the Eucharist by the word "Life." When they were to go to Holy Communion, they would say: “We are going to the Life." What a wonderful way of expressing it!

To keep my supernatural powers and energies—my supernatural life—in good health, I must nourish them. The Holy Eucharist is exactly what is needed for this, for It is the "Bread of Life" (John 6:35), the "Bread that has come down from Heaven" (John 6:59), which bestows, replenishes, preserves and increases the spiritual energies of the soul. St. Peter J. Eymard ventured to say: “Communion is as necessary for us to sustain our Christian vitality, as the vision of God is necessary to the Angels, to maintain their fife of glory."

Every day I ought to nourish my soul, just as every day I feed my body in order to give it physical vitality. St. Augustine teaches: “The Eucharist is a daily Bread that we take as a remedy for the frailty we suffer from daily." And St. Peter J. Eymard adds: “Jesus has prepared not just one Host, but One for every day of our life. The Hosts for us are ready. Let us not forfeit even One of Them."

Jesus is that Host, that Victim of love, Who is so sweet and so healthful to the soul, as to move St. Gemma Galgani to say: “I feel a great need to be strengthened anew by that Food so sweet, which Jesus offers me; This affectionate therapy that Jesus gives me every morning unstiffens me and draws to Him every affection of my heart."

For the Saints, daily Communion fulfills an imperative need for Life and Love, corresponding to Jesus' Divine desire to give Himself to be every soul's Life and Love. We should not forget that Holy Thursday was the day for which Jesus had "longed" (Luke 22:15). Hence, the holy Cure of Ars said emphatically: “Every Consecrated Host is made to burn Itself up with love in a human heart." And St. Thérèse of Lisieux wrote to another Sister: “It is not in order to occupy a golden ciborium that Jesus every day comes down from Heaven, but it is to find another heaven, namely, our soul, in which He takes His delight; and when a soul well able to do so does not want to receive Jesus into its heart, Jesus weeps. Therefore, when the devil cannot enter with sin into a soul's sanctuary, he wants the soul to be at least unoccupied, with no Master, and well removed from Holy Communion."

It should surely be evident that we are here concerned with a snare of the devil; for only the devil can be interested in keeping us away from Jesus. May we be on our guard, then. We should try not to fall victim to the devil's deceptions. "Endeavor not to miss any Holy Communion," St. Margaret Mary Alacoque advises; "We can scarcely give our enemy, the devil, greater joy than when we withdraw from Jesus, Who takes away the power the enemy has over us."

Daily Communion is a daily wellspring of love, of strength, of light, of joy, of courage, of every virtue and every good. "If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink," Jesus said (John 7 :37). He alone is the "Fountain of water springing up unto life everlasting" (John 4:14). How can there be anyone, who is in the state of Sanctifying Grace, not want, or who finds it hard, to go to this Divine "table of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 10:21)?

The great Lord Chancellor of England, St. Thomas More, who died a Martyr because of his resistance to schism, used to hear Mass every morning and receive Holy Communion. Some friends tried to persuade him that this care was not suitable for a layman heavily engaged in so many affairs of state. "You present all your reasons, and they rather convince me the more that I should receive Holy Communion every day!" he said. "My distractions are numerous, and, with Jesus, I learn to recollect myself. The occasions of offending God are frequent, and I receive strength every day from Him to flee from them. I need light and prudence to manage very difficult affairs, and every day I can consult Jesus in Holy Communion. He is my great Teacher."

Someone once asked the celebrated biologist, Banting, why he cared so much about daily Communion. "Have you ever reflected," he answered: “what would happen if the dew did not fall every night? No plant could develop. The grass and flowers could not survive the evaporations and the dryness that the day's heat brings in one way or another. Their cycle of energies, their natural renewal, the balance of their lymphatic fluids, the very life of plants requires this dew." After a pause, he continued: "Now my soul is like a little plant. It is something rather frail, that the winds and heat do battle with every day. So it is necessary that every morning I go get my fresh stock of spiritual dew, by going to Holy Communion."

St. Joseph Cottolengo recommended to the physicians of his House of Divine Providence, that they hear Mass and go to Communion before undertaking their difficult surgeries. This was because, as he said: “Medicine is a great science, but God is the great Physician." Blessed Joseph Moscati, the celebrated physician of Naples, used to be very regular about this, and go to unbelievable lengths (at the cost of enormous inconvenience, especially in view of the frequent trips he had to make) to avoid missing daily Communion. If on any day it was quite impossible to receive Communion, he had not the courage that day to make his doctor's calls; for he said: “Without Jesus I do not have enough light to save my poor patients."

Oh, the ardent love the Saints have for daily Holy Communion! And who can properly describe it? St. Joseph Cupertino, who did not fail to receive his beloved Lord every day, once ventured to say to his brothers in religious life: “Be sure that I will depart into the next life on the day that I cannot receive the Pecoriello (the Great Lamb)" as he affectionately and devotedly called the Divine Lamb. And, in fact, it took a severe illness to prevent him from receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist one day; and that was the day of his death!

When St. Gemma Galgani's father was worried about his daughter's health, he criticized her for setting out too early every morning to go to Mass. His criticism drew this answer from the Saint: "But Father, as for me, I become ill if I don't receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist."

When St. Catherine of Genoa learned of the interdict put on her city, carrying a prohibition against Mass and Holy Communion, she went on foot every day to a remote Sanctuary outside Genoa in order to go to Communion. When she was told that she was overdoing things, the Saint replied: “If I had to go miles and miles over burning coals in order to receive Jesus, I would say the way was easy, as if I were walking on a carpet of roses."

This should teach a lesson to us who may have a Church within a short walk, where we can go at our convenience to receive Jesus into our hearts. And even if this should cost us some sacrifice, would it not be worth it? But there is yet more to this, if we reflect that the Saints would have wanted to receive Communion not just once, but several times a day.

Resolution
I will convince myself of the supreme importance of the Priesthood, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. To prove this in a practical manner, I will pray more for priests. I will also spend more time in preparation and thanksgiving at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and will make more visits to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Our Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever Amen

[Mention Intention]

Let us pray:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. (Prayer of St. John Vianney).

Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Sacrament Most Holy! O Sacrament Divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!