On this Holy Thursday, the day of the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Orders and the Eucharist, Father Dehon, in his own style, reminds us that in the mystery of the Eucharist, we are most intimately united to Christ and invites us to seize this opportunity.
On the subject of the Eucharist and Communion, we can read below some excerpts from the writings of our Founder, Father Léon Dehon, in his “Notes on the History of My Life” (NHV 5/168-172), written in Rome from 1864 to 1865.
– ‘Non relinquam vos orphanos’ [Jn 14:18]. The love of Our Lord would not have been satisfied if He had only touched the earth in passing. His union with us would have been too limited by time, space, and manner. He wanted to be ours everywhere and always in the mystery of the Eucharist, and through the most intimate mode of union, by becoming the nourishment of our souls. It is advantageous, so that our affection for Him has nothing human about it, that we do not perceive Him through the senses. Our Lord is, in the mystery of the Eucharist, the spouse, the beloved of our soul.
– God has raised our nature to a sublime dignity by uniting it to Himself. Let us show ourselves worthy of this honor. The grace that unites us to God is the seal of our adoption; let us watch over it and keep ourselves under its influence to ever increase this intimate relationship with God. Union with Our Lord in the Eucharist makes us like Him and places our soul and all our faculties and powers under the direction and influence of the same Spirit that sanctified His humanity.
– What infinite love Our Lord shows to His Father and to mankind in the admirable mystery of the Eucharist. In the Sacrifice, He offers throughout the whole earth to His Father an homage and worship that are infinitely worthy, while at the same time continuing our redemption. In the Sacrament, He sanctifies us to offer to His Father a spotless Church [cf. Eph 5:26].
– ‘Qui manducat meam carnem habet vitam æternam’ [Jn 6:55]. Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist gives our souls the bread of understanding: it is there that we understand Him best and that we learn to know ourselves. He gives us the bread of the heart by inspiring in us a great love for Him; and the bread of the will by directing and strengthening our will.
– The Holy Eucharist unites us ever more intimately to Our Lord and fills us with graces when we are truly empty of ourselves. Let us take care to purify our thoughts and our affections so as to let nothing foreign enter therein when we possess Our Lord.
– In the Holy Eucharist, our soul is united to Our Lord through the most intimate union, represented by the assimilation of food. But, as Our Lord said to Saint Augustine, it is not He who is assimilated into us, but it is our soul that is assimilated into Him by the strength and dignity of this divine nourishment.
