Feast of Saint Jeanne Jugan : FOUNDER OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR

IMPORTANT FACTS:

Amid the Anti-Catholic persecutions,Jeanne's mother strove to provide them secretly with Religious Education.She made sure that all of them keep the Faith and prayer daily.

Jeanne's life was never sweet but while she helped the widow of the Viscount was a devout Catholic and taught Jeanne to visit the sick and the poor which made Jeanne learn more about serving the
poor.She told her mother that God had other plans and was calling her to work for Him.

Jeanne Jugan was also a shy and quiet girl but her love for God was always seen in her helping the poor elderly.There was a time during winter,she met Anne Chauvin,an elderly woman who was blind,
partially paralyzed and had no one to care of her needs.Jeanne was moved to compassion and carried her home to her cottage so that Anne could stay with her.Jeanne gave Anne the very bed she had and slept on the floor in the attic.

After Jeanne encountered Anne,she was moved to help more poor and abandon elderly.Soon the mission that God bless Jeanne was joined by many young women who wanted to help her in serving the poor elderly.Jeanne begged daily in the streets which often came with insults from many people but she offered it up to Jesus until it was able to establish 4 more homes for their mission.

Jeanne was then known in Religious Life as Sister Mary of the Cross.Later she was forced out of her Leadership role by Father Auguste Le Pailleur,who had been appointed Superior General of the Congregation.Jeanne was ordered by the priest to retire and accept a life of being unknown for 27 years.She was asked to live silently in prayer...

When Father Auguste took charge of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor,it restricted Jeanne from doing many things her way to glorify God.Father Auguste handle the Congregation slightly different from Jeanne which caused her deep sorrow.During this time,Jeanne went closer
to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and often found comfort.

Jeanne often said:

 “Jesus is waiting for you in the Chapel.Go and find him when your strength and patience

 are giving out,when you feel lonely and helpless.Say to him: ‘You know well what is happening,

 my dear Jesus. I have only you.Come to my aid ...’ And then go your way. 

And don’t worry about knowing how you are going to manage. 

It is enough to have told our Good Lord. He has an excellent memory.”

When Jeanne died,there were about 2,400 members serving internationally but Jeanne Jugan died without being known as the Foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor.She was buried in the graveyard at House of the Cross at Saint Servan and the motherhouse where she lived her last 23 years.

Soon God gave her back her Glory by removing Father Auguste by the Holy See in 1890.Many people came forward with stories about Jeanne Jugan as the Founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor.People wanted justice for Jeanne Jugan and God blessed Jeanne Jugan through her beatification by Pope Saint John Paul II who gave recognition to Blessed Jeanne Jugan as
The FOUNDRESS OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR on October 3,1982.

During her Beatification,Pope Saint John Paul II said that:

" God could glorify no more Humble a Servant than she"

October 11,2009: Pope Benedict XVI canonized Blessed Jeanne Jugan to become Saint Jeanne Jugan

Pope Benedict XVI said that said:

"In the Beatitudes,Saint Jeanne Jugan found the source of the

spirit of hospitality and fraternal love, founded on unlimited trust in Providence,

which illuminated her whole life."

Quotes of Saint Jeanne Jugan:

• God wants me for himself, he is keeping me for a work which is not yet founded.
• If God is with us, it will be accomplished.
• Little,very little,be very little before God.
• Let us sing the glory of our risen Jesus.
• My good Jesus,I have only you.
• Making the elderly happy – that is what counts!
• If you keep the spirit of humility and simplicity,never seeking the world’s esteem,then God will be glorified and you will obtain the conversion of souls.”

PRAYER TO SAINT JEANNE JUGAN:
O Admirable Saint Jeanne,you who were known for your kindness towards the elderly and founded the Little Sisters of the Poor.Grant us the grace to respect our elders and those who are poor.Saint Jeanne,you respected the poor highly and even gave the very bed you had to the ones most in need and slept on the floor for the sake of their comfort.Help us to give respect to the poor and console those abandon who need consolation;help us to show the face of Jesus to those in need.May we become a great help to this world which is drying out of love and respect for the poor in our midst.
Amen.
Saint Jeanne Jugan,Most Humble Servant of the Poor,pray for us to see Jesus in the poor!

Feast of Saint Dymphna: LILY OF EIRE

IMPORTANT FACTS :

Dymphna was very close with her mother and she was taught well about the Catholic faith.Her mother

taught her to love Jesus and Mary dearly and to love purity. Dymphna learned to pray well from the guidance of her mother.Soon her mother fell ill and passed on to her Heavenly home leaving Dymphna with her pagan

father who began to suffer a quick decline of his mental stability.He suffered depression due to missing his wife deeply who had an extraordinary beauty.

Since he admired his daughter's beauty just as how he admired his wife’s beauty;her father's counselors

gave him advice to marry his own daughter so he will not be depressed.He who was not in his state of mind due to high depression agreed to his counselors without finding any sin in his agreement.He thought his daughter would be happy to hear this news and he approached to announce his desire.

Dymphna who heard her father's desire became greatly distress.She kept quiet and did not say a word to her father because she knew her father was suffering from high depression;but her father kept on bothering her until one day with the help of her prayers,she was able to give him an answer.Dymphna asked her father for 40 days to allow her to make her decision and so her father gave her his permission thinking she would agree after the 40 days.

Dymphna on the other hand was guided by the Holy Spirit to seek guidance from her confessor, a priest named Gerebernus who gave her the idea to fled from the castle to secure her purity.She was thankful for his advice and with the help of 2 trusted servants,she quickly fled without her father's knowing to Belgium.She stayed in a small town called Gheel.

There she prepared herself knowing that she gave her father only 40 days to make her decision.She went for frequent masses and confession because there was a Chapel nearby.Soon her father found out that she was no longer at home and knew that she ran away from him.He send his messengers to find her and they searched every where until they found her exactly on the 40 th day.

When he found Dymphna and saw the priest that helped her secure her purity,he became furious and
ordered his servants to behead the priest. Dymphna who was filled with fear but well prepared within the soul kneel down to surrender herself to the sword.Her father tried to persuade her to come back to him and be his wife but she refused.Losing his temper,he drew his sword at her neck and beheaded her in a violent attack.

When she collapsed in a pool of blood,he became afraid and aware of what he had done to his daughter that he quickly ran away with his servants leaving the lifeless body of his daughter and the priest there.

Soon Dymphna was known for her miracles that occured when a group of pilgrims decided to give her
body and that of the priest worthier tombs inside a Chapel.While they were digging for the remains the people were surprised to find the bodies in two coffins of white stone,made out in its own unique way.This gave rise to the legend that the bodies had been interred by angels,since the bodies had been buried by the villagers in a humble manner and  because no one had memory of a burial in grand white tombs.On exhuming the remains,a red stone identifying with an inscription :

“Here lies the Holy Virgin and Martyr, Dymphna.”

Miracles and cures began to occur in increasing numbers.Rapidly St. Dymphna’s fame as patroness of victims of nervous diseases and mental disorders was spread  throughout the world.More and more mentally afflicted persons were brought to the shrine by relatives and friends,many coming in pilgrimages from far-distant places.Novenas were made in honor of St.Dymphna and St. Dymphna’s relic was applied to the patients and they were cured miraculously.

In 1349,a church was built in honor of St. Dymphna in Gheel,by 1480,so many pilgrims were arriving in need of treatment for mental ills,that the church was needed to expand.The expanded sanctuary was eventually overflowing again,leaving the town's people to accept them into their homes,which began a tradition of care for the mentally ill that continues to this day.

By defending her purity,Dymphna received the crown of martyrdom around the year 620 and became known as the "Lily of Éire.One thing she never knew that for all she had done and suffered,she would be rewarded such fame from Jesus.Even her confessor, the priest Gerebernus was canonized as Saint Gerebernus of Sonsbeck but no much has been said about him.Many know him as the priest that accompanied Saint Dymphna in her martyrdom.He was also the one who baptized in her infancy.

               Saint Dymphna's statue is placed at the National Shrine In Massillon, Ohio

Traditionally, Saint Dymphna is often portrayed with a crown on her head, dressed in royal robes, and holding a sword. In modern art, Saint Dymphna is shown holding the sword, which symbolizes her martyrdom.

PRAYER TO SAINT DYMPHNA:
O Holy Martyr Saint Dymphna,Lily of Eire,intercede for me during times of distress and depression.
Especially in times where hope seems to dissapear from my sight and faith seems to waver.Saint Dymphna,
thou thyself knew distress and was deeply sorrowed when after the death of thy mother; thou were forced to marry thy father that thou fled to secure thy purity.Grant me grace to also secure my purity and to keep myself holy at all times and not to stain my soul with sin.Give peace and protection to those who seek thee and draw many who are in deep sorrow to the comforting heart of Jesus.Amen.

Saint Dymphna,Lily of Eire, pray for us!

Feast of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre : THE BEGGAR OF PERPETUAL ADORATION

IMPORTANT FACTS:

Benedict Joseph was a man who was rejected by every Religious Order that he went to join but he never

lost hope.He believed that no matter how much people may reject him,the good Lord shall receive him and

he lived with that believe until the very last breathe of his. 

His Pilgrim life was inspired by Saint Alexus of Rome and it was a life that abandon his country,his family and whatever earthly desire and to lead a life that was most painful,strict penance,not in a wilderness

or in a cloister but in the midst of the world to see the wickedness of this world.He had to face the world 

and all its cruelty and while he devoutly visit the famous places of Catholic Devotions barefoot as a pilgrim

of God.  

Along his pilgrimage,he visited the various shrines in Loreto, Assisi, Naples, and Bari in Italy, Einsiedeln in Switzerland,Paray-le-Monial in France and Santiago de Compostela in Spain.He prayed as he went along

and asked Jesus for the grace to go on and not lose hope.

Many times,people have seen him receive harsh treatment from others without fighting back.He talked

rarely but prayed frequently.Soon he was known as the Fool for Christ and people laughed at him where ever he was seen praying.He was a man that was not afraid of the world and he showed himself to the 

world knowing that the world would reject him;he did not run away but rather stayed and witness its brutality.

His faithfulness to prayer,soon was proved by the cures of many homeless he came across during his pilgrimage and he  multiplied bread for them.He often prayed among them while helping them with their

needs.They looked to him as their ' Tower of Refuge' because when the world rejected them,he was

always there to pray and take care of them.Though he was just the same as them,his faith was stronger

than theirs and they all knew that there was a Saint among them.

Even in his time of alms,he never forgot to spend time infront of the Blessed Sacrament.He spent many hours there and people found it difficult to understand how he could stay so long in the church.Many get distracted but not him.He almost seemed like he was in the Blessed Sacrament with Jesus just relaxing and talking 

with Jesus through his prayers and frequent recitation of the Rosary.He became so known as the 

"Saint of the 40 Hours"  for his dedication to Eucharistic Adoration.

Wednesday of Holy Week,1783,the day came for his departure from this world,he was 35-year-old when

he collapsed on the steps of a church.This poor pilgrim's final stop was at the church and no where else for that was his home because Jesus always welcomed him with open arms no matter how smelly or dirty he was;he always felt the embrace of Jesus whenever he entered church.He died peacefully in the home of a friendly butcher.As soon a he died,children and people came running in the streets exclaiming : 

" The Saint is dead! The Saint is dead!" 

The entire town turned out to pay their respects even those who made fun of him were present for his funeral.Extra police had to be brought in to control the crowds.That day did not seem like a beggar passed away but rather a Prince.God gave him such a grand funeral for all the sufferings that he endured.

May we know that through the life of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, that none of our prayers offered daily
to Jesus are not heard because Saint Benedict trusted Jesus blindly even without results from his prayers;
he kept on trusting.Saint Benedict held on to the words that Jesus told Jairus : (Mark 5: 36)

 " Do not be afraid ; just Believe " 

With this words of Jesus,today Saint Benedict sits happily in Heaven as rich Beggar of Christ.He was

begging for Jesus and the Lord heard him.Let us then not lose hope but rather cast our eyes on this great

Saint that shows us through his simple life that " NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE with GOD " because

God has transformed a Beggar into a Great Saint!

His confessor,Marconi,wrote a biography of Benedict Joseph Labre and also testimonies of  136 cures
to his intercession within 3 months of his death. Those miracles were instrumental in the conversion of the Reverend John Thayer,the 1st American Protestant clergyman to convert to Catholicism,who was resident
in Rome at the time of St. Benedict's death.A devotion grew up around him very soon after his death,and
he was Beatified in the year 1860, on the 20th of  May by Pope Pius IX as Blessed Benedict Joseph Labre and then was Canonized in the year 1881, on the 8th of December by Pope Leo XIII as Saint Benedict Joseph Labre.

Quotes of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre:

God is so good and so merciful,that to obtain Heaven it is sufficient to ask it of Him from our hearts.

We offend God because we do not know his Greatness.

God afflicts us because he loves us;and it is very pleasing to him,when in our afflictions he sees us abandon ourselves to his paternal care.

Meditate on the horrors of Hell, which will last for eternity because of one easily-committed mortal sin.Try hard to be among the few who are chosen. Think of the eternal flames of Hell, and how few there are that are saved.

                       

 The Servant Song :

The Shrine of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, 

Saint Malachy's Church, Belfast

                        
PRAYER TO SAINT BENEDICT JOSEPH LABRE:

O Holy Saint Benedict,the Beggar of Perpetual Adoration,you who did spend a minimum of 40 hours of your time adoring the Blessed Sacrament daily.Pray that we too may have that love of spending as many hours as we can infront of the Blessed Sacrament,to adore Jesus.Teach us the value of this precious gift given to us by God that we may cherish it throughout our life here on earth.Help us to believe in the power and the presence of Jesus in this Holy Sacrament.For by this very Sacrament you were bestowed with abundant graces;pray for us that we may witness the graces flowing silently  from this beautiful Sacrament.
Amen.
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre,Beggar of Christ Most Sorrowful,pray for us!

Feast of St Gemma Galgani : LILY OF LUCCA

 

IMPORTANT FACTS :

Gemma Umberta Maria Galgani or commonly known as GEMMA GALGANI.She was a simple girl.
At a young age she had a very strong communication with Jesus.This was because of her mum who was a pious Catholic & taught Gemma alot about the Catholic Faith.Her mum taught her how to share her sufferings and problems with Jesus.They would often go for Mass daily and sit for hours in church praying together.She loved her mother deeply and had a very strong bond with her mother through all the prayers they often prayed together.Gemma gave credits to her mum for making her desire to go to Heaven.

Though she was very small,she learned very well from her mother all that she was taught and kept it dear to her heart.She knew very well how to talk and converse with Jesus.She found peace during her conversations with Jesus.

This is Gemma at a young age :

 

Around the age of 6,her mother became terribly ill with tuberculosis.This was a prolong suffering for her mother and she was forced to watch her mother suffer so much.She continued going to church on her own to pray for her mother's recovery.She was determine to save her mother from this terrible sickness because she wanted her mother to be restored back to good health so that they could both go to church together again.Most of her days after school,her first thought was to hurry home to see her mother's sickroom because she feared that her mother might have passed away without her presence.
Her constant worry was that her mother would leave her without saying "Goodbye" to her.

After much sadness and prayer,Gemma had a confirmation that came on May 26th, 1885.It happen
during the Mass of thanksgiving after the ceremony “all of a sudden,” she tells, “ a voice in my heart said to me: “Will you give me your Mamma? I answered, “Yes,if you will take me as well.” the voice replied,“No,give me your Mamma without reserve. I will take you to heaven later.” At first Gemma hesitated to give her answer because she felt sad about it but then she said : "Yes". 
This was her first Great Sacrifice and it cost her bitter grief and tears; but when her mother died a few months later it was Gemma who consoled the others.Though Gemma was only 8 years old but she had
the courage to say: “Why should we cry? Mamma has gone to heaven”  

Though she consoled others,she felt the bitterness in her heart.She looked at Jesus for consolation.
She said during her sadness: “If God has taken away my mother,He has left me His own.”
So Gemma turned towards Mother Mary because she felt that Jesus was calling her to come closer towards
His mother.Jesus made her understand that even her earthly mother has gone but she still has a Heavenly
Mother who cares and understands her sorrows.Gemma grew closer to Our Lady and spent most of
her prayer time with Mother Mary like how she often spent her time with her own mother.During these
times,she grew stronger in prayer and desire deeply in her heart to be a Saint.This desire was like
a light in her soul and it became brighter each time she prayed and asked Mother Mary for her prayers.
And Gemma's frequent Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary was:

When Gemma was not able to receive Holy Communion due to her very young age.She would say to the Confessor or the Sisters : “Give me Jesus,and you will see how good I shall be: I will not sin again,I shall be quite changed.” The custom of the time was against Communion at so early an age, and she was 10 years old before permission was finally granted, and only granted by special exception.The confessor declared : “There is no alternative but to admit her to Communion or see her die of grief.”
The grand day finally arrived and Gemma received her First Holy Communion on a very special day and it was the Feast of the Sacred Heart, June 17th, 1887.She was a happy child that very day.She received  Jesus for the first time.Gemma said to one of her fellow friends after receiving the Jesus,pointing to her breast. : " I feel a fire burning here.Do you feel like that? "

This part we can see how little Gemma was but her knowledge towards the Holy Eucharist was more matured than her age.She knew that only through receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist,her soul would be empowered.Gemma always believed with all her heart that Jesus comes into her heart during Holy Communion.She would say :  “Gemma is good for nothing but Gemma and Jesus can do all things.”
Gemma's gain her power through receiving Jesus daily in Communion and she made sure that she receive Jesus with a heart that is pure and holy.Many times Gemma did feel unworthy to receive Jesus due to her weakness and she has confessed this in a letter to her spiritual director,Venerable Father Germanus C.P.
This is what Gemma confessed : 

So we should Gemma's trust in receiving Jesus worthily in Holy Communion.For she hoped that her good intentions at least will be pleasing to Jesus and indeed the graces of her Holy Communion brought forth abundance of fruits to glorify the Lord.

Feast of Saint John Baptist De La Salle

IMPORTANT FACTS:

Father John Baptist De La Salle was a very humble man with a great ambition.He had very big blue eyes

that radiated the Light of Faith which was filled by the Holy Spirit that led him to accomplish great things

in life.

His main focus in life was suddenly drawn to the poor during his time and he felt ashamed for not being to

help them when he came from a wealthy background.So one day,he made up his mind to focus on helping

the poor children in need and to encourage them to love studying.He wanted to bring up the poor ones in

the place he was living.Soon he was known to many poor ones around the world and people came from

all walks of life to seek his help and education.

He had many ways of teaching his students.Father John's teachings was full of  Charism of the Holy Spirit

and zeal.This made him very popular among the young.He was truly animated in faith.Soon his way of teachings were branched out in various places and many came to know his new way of teaching.He was 

a FOUNDER in founding training colleges for teachers, reform schools for lawbreaking,technical schools, and secondary schools for modern languages, arts, and sciences.

One decision led to another until Father John found himself doing something that he had never anticipated. He wrote:

 " I had imagined that the care which I assumed of the schools and the masters would amount 

only to a marginal involvement committing me to no more than providing for the subsistence 

of the masters and assuring that they acquitted themselves of their tasks with piety and devotedness.Indeed, if I had ever thought that the care I was taking of the schoolmasters 

out of pure charity would ever have made it my duty to live with them, I would have dropped 

the whole project. God, who guides all things with wisdom and serenity, whose way it is not to

 force the inclinations of persons, willed to commit me entirely to the development of 

the schools.He did this in an imperceptible way and over a long period of time so that one commitment led to another in a way that I did not foresee in the beginning."

In 1716,he resigned and stopped giving orders.He lived like the humblest of the brothers,teaching the novices and young boarders.During his free time,he occupied himself with prayers and focused on God to make sure that he was not drifting away from God due to his busy life.

Father John Baptist was Beatified February 19, 1888 and became Blessed John Baptist De La Salle
Then in the year 1900,he was Canonized on May 24 and became Saint John Baptist De La Salle.

Pope Pius X proclaimed Saint John Baptist De La Salle as the Patron of Christian Teachers May 15, 1950.

A video of Saint John Baptist De La Salle's Life and Holiness.

FOUNDER OF THE INSTITUTE OF 

THE BROTHERS OF

 THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 

Quotes of Saint John Baptist De La Salle:

• The more you abandon to God the care of all earthly things, the more he will take care to provide for all your wants.
• Example makes a much greater impression on the MIND and the Heart than words.
• Young people need Good teachers,like visible Angels.
• In the light of faith you see things quite differently.
• Hold prayer in high esteem.It is the foundation of all the virtues, and the source of all grace needed the source of all grace needed to sanctify ourselves and to discharge the duties of our employment.

PRAYER TO SAINT JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE: 

O Lasallian Saint,Patron of Catholic Teachers,you who taught the Brothers and teachers the proper way
of handling Catholic schools;gave them guidance in every way that you could to bring God's teachings
to educate the poor.Help the Brothers and teachers who continue teaching in schools to preserve your
ways of teaching.Guide them to always be insipred by the Holy Spirit to carry out proper teachings that
will educated the ones poor in knowledge.May by doing so,the ones poor in knowledge may increase in
zeal to love the faith and be educated.Saint John Baptist De La Salle,pray for all Brothers and teachers to enjoy teaching and to pray for their students like you prayed during your time.Amen.
Saint John Baptist De La Salle,Educator of the Faith,pray for all Brothers and teachers in their way of guiding students in schools!

PASSION OF CHRIST (GOOD FRIDAY)

                                                             THE CROSS OF JESUS

It is on this very day, God gave His only Son for us. Jesus suffered and died, so that we could have eternal life. He bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that through His wounds we may be healed.

The Cross is my friend,
The Cross is my comforter,
The Cross is my faith,
The Cross is the suffering that I bear,
The Cross is mine to care,
The Cross is my smile,
The Cross is my perseverance,
The Cross is what I hold each night I sleep,
The Cross is the reason that I breathe,
If I shall not awake,
The Lord will exchange my Cross for His glorious Crown.

Until today it is a difficult day to see beyond the sorrow, may looking back in memory of the Crucified Christ, help comfort you tomorrow, knowing you can be saved! 

 

 

THE 15 SECRET TORTURES AND SUFFERINGS 

OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

Revealed to the pious, God-loving Sister Mary Magdalen of Sancta Clara Order, Franciscan, who lived, died and was beatified in Rome. Jesus fulfilled the wish of this Sister, who desired  to ardently know something about the secret sufferings which He endured the night before 

His death.  

This devotion is approved and recommended by 

His Holiness Clement XII, (1730-1740)
 

The Promise of Jesus:
Then, Jesus added,"My daughter, I desire that you let everybody know the 15 Secret Tortures in order that everyone of them be honored.Anyone who daily offers Me, 

with love, one of these sufferings and says with fervor the following prayer, will be rewarded with eternal glory on the day of judgement."
 

Jesus is pierced by the lance

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and 

forthwith came there out blood and water. 

 ~ John 19:34 ~

Jesus Christ: His Last Day

 

JESUS, THANK YOU FOR THE CROSS!

Maundy Thursday ( Holy Thursday)

The Reason Why the Last Supper is Special

       We might ask ourselves what is so special about Holy Thursday / Maundy Thursday?
It was the day that Jesus wanted to let us know that we are all loved and that we should also love everyone the same way. That is what He taught us on the night of the Last Supper, He washed the feet of all His disciples as an act of humility and love.

Jesus said: “ I am giving you a New Commandment : LOVE Each Other. Just as I have LOVED you. You should LOVE each other for your LOVE will prove to the world that you are my disciples”.[John 12: 34-35] “I  have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should do. [John 13:15]
 
On that day Jesus also, instituted the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrifice of  Holy Mass and the priesthood.
 
Today in the world, everyone experiences a deep need for personal prayer. The burden of being a faithful Christian is becoming heavier in a non Christian world. To those who are heavily burdened and find life difficult, Jesus said, “Come to me and I will refresh you.” This hunger for prayer increases with the many trials and heart aches which many encounter in family life or in other situations. Jesus dwells with us in the Blessed Sacrament to fulfill His mission of  “Healing the broken hearted”.
 
It is on this day, Jesus chose to come to us under the appearance of bread because bread is made from wheat. Wheat is beaten, broken and crushed before it becomes bread. Jesus was willing to be beaten at the pillar, broken in the heart and crushed in humiliation that He may be for us, “the living bread came down from heaven.”
 
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is infinitely more powerful than all the armies that ever marched, or police forces gathered. The Eucharist is our Risen Lord with all the power of His Resurrection flowing out to all who comes into His Eucharistic Presence. His words to us today are the same forever. “ Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid!” [Mark 5:50]
 
The greatest gift Jesus left us is the gift of the Holy Eucharist…where He waits for us daily.

************

When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.  And while they 

were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean 

me, Lord?” Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me 

will betray me.  The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to 

that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not

been born.” Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

 

The Last Supper of Jesus with His Disciples

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it 
and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat;this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying,
“Drink from it, all of you.This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out
for many for the forgiveness of sins.  I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit 
of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my
Father’s kingdom.”

 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives......

Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane praying while the disciples fell asleep

"My soul is sorrowful even unto death.
 Remain here and watch." (St. Mark 14, 34)


PRAYER :

 

PRAYER OF THE LAST SUPPER:

O Beloved Jesus, during the Last Supper with Thy disciples Thou gave them the Most Holy Sacrament and that was the Eucharist which is commemorated every time during the Holy Mass. Jesus, Thou gave us this Holy Eucharist so that we will always be able to see Thy Holy Face presented in the Holy Eucharist. Lord Jesus, during Thy Last supper Thou enlighten the hearts of Thy disciples to take part with Thee; grant us that grace to be enlighten with Thy holy grace to be able to take part wholly during the Holy Eucharist so that by commemorating Thy Eucharistic face in the Holy Eucharist; we may come to see Thee face to face at the end of our lives. Lord Jesus, give us the grace to be partakers with Thee for all eternity in Heaven to enjoy with Thee and Thy disciples the Heavenly banquet prepared for those who love Thee and follow the Will of Thy Father. AMEN.