St. John Chrysostom wonderfully tells us that when the devil sees us returning from the sacred Banquet of the Eucharist, he flees from us as if he has seen a lion “breathing forth flames from his mouth!” Why? Because in the precious sacrament of the Eucharist, we consume the Lord’s sacred Body and Blood with which, in infinite love, He won our salvation on the Cross.
The Eucharist: All of the Lord
When we receive the Eucharist, we receive all of the Lord, His precious Body and Blood, even if we do not receive Him under both species. St. John Chrysostom assures us that the Eucharist is the very “Body, the blood-stained, the pierced, out of which gushed the saving fountains of water and His Blood for all the world.” The devil is especially terrified of the precious Blood of Jesus, for life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). In the precious Blood of Jesus which we receive in the Eucharist, the devil sees the infinite Life that, on the Cross, vanquished him who seeks only death for us.
The devil has been conquered by the Lord on the Cross, but he still needs to be conquered by the Lord in each of us. “Prowling about the world seeking those he can devour,” the devil constantly tries to allure and deceive, to enslave and destroy us. Ah, but the devil’s power is nothing in the presence of Jesus, the Risen Lord of Life, the Conqueror of sin and death! “All unsuspecting,” St. Ephrem tells us, death, the devil’s agent, had “swallowed up” the Lord’s body at His crucifixion, certain that it had destroyed Him. But the Lord who is Life (John 14:6) “slew” death by His glorious resurrection! And now we cry out with St. Paul, “The sting of death is sin…but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Cor. 15:55-56).
At Every Mass
At every Mass, with infinite love, the Lord makes present to us His saving death on the Cross and feeds us with His precious Body and Blood through which we have been redeemed (1 Peter 1:18, 19; Eph. 1:7). As we faithfully receive Jesus in the Eucharist, He fills us with His own strength and life (John 8:36; 10:10), empowers us against demonic attacks, and increasingly frees us from sin. And when the Son sets us free, we are free indeed! (John 8:36).
In his beautiful prayer, “Adoro Te Devote,” St. Thomas Aquinas prays, “O loving Pelican, Jesus Lord, wash my uncleanness in your Blood, one drop of which is enough to cleanse the entire world of every guilt.” If we have sinned seriously, we have the healing power of the Lord’s precious Blood to forgive and free us in the sacrament of Confession. Even more, every time that we are at Mass, we are there, at the Crucifixion, at the Lord’s saving death on the Cross for us, as He mystically and unrestrainedly pours out upon us His most precious Blood.
The Wisdom of the Saints
St. Thomas Aquinas assures us that each time that we receive the Lord in the Eucharist with desire to love Him, Jesus “enkindles” more deeply within us His own divine charity, the very love by which He shed His Blood on the Cross for us. Giving Himself to us in the Eucharist, Jesus increases sanctifying grace in our souls, forgives our venial sins, and strengthens us against future sins through His charity within us. The more we draw our life from the Lord in the Eucharist, the more truly sin and death itself have no power over us (1 John 1:7; 1 Cor 15:55).
St. Catherine of Siena, who interceded for and witnessed the conversion of hardened sinners by the power of Jesus’ precious Blood, implores us: “reach out trustingly for the Blood, no matter what sins you have committed.” St. Therese of Lisieux tenderly assures not only her scrupulous cousin but also each of us in our own struggles, “Go without any fear to receive your only true Friend…Receive Communion often, very often.” This is the “remedy” that brings us peace, healing, and freedom.
When the devil tries to lure us to what can only damage and destroy us, let us rely completely on the power of Jesus’ Body and Blood by which we have been redeemed (1 Peter 1:18, 19). Let us imitate the saints and command evil spirits to be gone from us in the name of Jesus, imploring Him to cover and protect us with His Blood from which the devil flees in terror. Then, we pray, the “accuser” increasingly will be vanquished in us by the precious Body and “Blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:10-11) which we mystically consume in the Eucharist, the Sacrament of the Lord’s infinite love for us.
Continue Learning More About The Eucharist
As Sr. Mary Ann breaks opens the treasure house of writings on the Holy Eucharist, the saints will lovingly teach you about the immeasurable graces the Lord gives you at Mass and through this most wondrous sacrament. You will learn how to grow in recollection during Mass, how to cherish the Lord’s intimate presence in Holy Communion, and how to rest in the Lord in Eucharistic adoration. As your love for the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament deepens, you will begin to treasure anew the delight of the Trinity’s intimate love, the light and warmth of the Holy Spirit’s anointing, and the joyful hope of eternal salvation.
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