By Ivonne Hernandez

God speaking to St Catherine:
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“So this Word, My Son, with His most sweet Blood, is one Sun, all God and all man, because He is one thing with Me and I with Him. My power is not separated from His wisdom, nor the fiery heat of the Holy Spirit from Me, the Father, or from Him, the Son; …I have said to you that this Body is, as it were, a Sun. Wherefore, you cannot receive the Body without the Blood, or the Blood or the Body without the Soul of the Incarnate Word; nor the Soul, nor the Body, without the Divinity of Me, the Eternal God, because none of these can be separated from each other, as I said to you in another place that the Divine nature never left the human nature, either by death or from any other cause. So that you receive the whole Divine Essence in that most Sweet Sacrament concealed under the whiteness of the bread; for as the sun cannot be divided into light, heat, and color, the whole of God and the whole of man cannot be separated under the white mantle of the host; for even if the host should be divided into a million particles (if it were possible) in each particle should I be present, whole God and whole Man.” [1]

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MEDITATION:

This feast day of St Catherine of Sienna gives us a perfect opportunity to ponder on the Eucharistic teachings this great Doctor of the Church left for us. Sometimes we can focus so much on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist that we might forget or overlook the fact that it is not only Jesus Who is truly present in the Sacrament, but that the Father and the Holy Spirit are also present. In the Eucharist “God's whole life encounters us and is sacramentally shared with us. God is a perfect communion of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” [2]

In the Eucharist we are invited to participate in this mystery of love; to be caught up with the Holy Spirit in the embrace between the Father and the Son. If we allow ourselves to remain in this reality, and we move and act from this place of love, we will be truly one in Him. It is only from this place that we will find the grace to live the law of the New Covenant, the law of love; to love one another as He has loved us. It is this Love that we are called to share, not out own selfish love. It is the Love of God that will overflow in us and perfects us in Charity. "Wherefore, I show you that in My house are many mansions, and that I wish for no other thing than love, for in the love of Me is fulfilled and completed the love of the neighbor, and the law observed. For he, only, can be of use in his state of life, who is bound to Me with this love." [3]


[1] Catherine of Siena, Saint. The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena (Kindle Locations 2596-2597). Kindle Edition.
[2] http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis.html
[3] Catherine of Siena, Saint. The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena (Kindle Locations 561-563). Kindle Edition.

By Ivonne Hernandez

"All the mysteries have some relation to the Eucharist, for the Eucharist completes them all. They all tend toward the Eucharist; with the help of grace we must discover what is Eucharistic in the mysteries in order to nourish our devotion toward the Most Blessed Sacrament." [1] 
​- St Peter Julian Eymard
 


These words from St Peter Julian Eymard were the inspiration for the Eucharistic Meditations on the mysteries of the Rosary.  When we pray the Rosary we are meditating on the mysteries of Christ’s life, and St Peter Julian’s writings on the Eucharist can bring insight to our meditations on these mysteries.

By looking at what is Eucharistic in each mystery of the Rosary, I found quotes, mostly from The Real Presence, which spoke to my heart, and meditated on those.  The reflections I shared were the result of those meditations and I hope an invitation for each reader to do the same.

Look at each mystery from the point of view of the Eucharist and see where it takes you.  Find your own quote to launch you into the depth of the mystery and let the Holy Spirit breathe new life into your Rosary devotion, as Our Lady brings you closer to her Divine Son.

​Our Lady of the Blessed  Sacrament, Pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
 


[1] Eymard, The Real Presence, p.279