The Guardian Angel: Eucharistic Miracle Alcala, Spain, 1597

Why we do what we do? 1. Souls*** to bring souls to God. 2. To aid the Shepherds in helping their people to recognize their gifts and use them to bring souls to God. 3. To bring Catechesis to help in their walk to eternity, helping them understand those things that will actually impact their lives, the lives of their families, parish, diocese and world. 4. The real importance of the Rosary and the promises of Mary. 5. To help others see "Why the Mass, Why Eucharistic Adoration, Why the Rosary, Why Divine Mercy Chaplet? 6. Why Ephesians 6:10-20. 7. Why James 1:5-8. 8. Why Luke 11:23. 9. Why Know, Love, and Serve God. 10. Why is the Truth Important? James 4:17. 11. Why is it important that you use the gifts that God has given you. 12. Why Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. 13. So that all of HIS children can have their "Getting It" moment, and like Thomas say, "My Lord and My God." 14. Catechesis, Conversion, Reversion, Consecration, Evangelization. 15. To make reparation for the sins against the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 16. For the Conversion of Sinners. 17. To Ignite a Fire from the Holy Spirit to give people a zeal to serve until they die.

Please help where you can, please, so many souls are at risk. To Jesus through Mary, GregoryMary

In the year 1597, a thief stole consecrated Hosts along with some precious objects from a church not far from Alcalá, Spain. A few days later, the thief returned full of profound remorse and went to confess his sins at the church of the Jesuits. The priest who heard his confession had him return the Hosts; however, for the sake of prudence, the priest asked him to transport the Eucharist in a silver box, without consuming the Sacred Species. After eleven years the Hosts were still perfectly intact and after careful analysis, both medical and theological, the act was declared miraculous.

In 1597, a penitent bandit brought himself to confession at the Jesuit church of Alcalá. He was said to have been part of a band of Moorish gypsies who, after being dispersed from the nearby mountains, had sacked numerous churches and stole monstrances and other sacred objects in different countries, committing many sacrilegious acts. The penitent brought with him some consecrated Hosts that he delivered to the confessor with many tears.

The confessor, very moved, went immediately to his superior to inform him. Initially it was agreed to consume the Hosts during a Mass, but later, fearing that the Hosts could be poisoned as had recently been done to some priests in Murcia and Segovia, it was decided to keep the Hosts in a box made of silver and to allow them to decompose naturally. Eleven years later the twenty-four Hosts were found still intact.

The mystic Father Luis de la Palma, in his capacity as Provincial, ordered that the Hosts be placed in a wine cellar along with some unconsecrated hosts. A few months later, the unconsecrated hosts had decomposed from the humidity, while the consecrated Hosts remained intact. Six years later Father Palma decided to make public the miracle of the Hosts that were still intact.

New academic and medical tests from the doctor of His Majesty, Garcia Carrera, as well as numerous illustrious theologians, all of whom identified this as a true miracle. In 1619 ecclesiastical authorities officially authorized the veracity of the Miracle. The Holy Hosts were publicly adored before King Phillip III, who in 1620 presided over a solemn procession in which the whole royal family participated.

When Charles III expelled the Jesuits from Spain, the Sacred Hosts were moved to the magisterial church. In 1936, when the communist revolutionists burned the church, the priests carefully hid the miraculous Hosts prior to being murdered. However, still today the hiding place of the Hosts has not been found. There have been many surveys in the church and in the crypt, but to no avail. Nobody until today had published any news of the twenty-four Sacred Hosts. “God has made a new miracle!” exclaimed the wise biographer of the city, Don Anselmo Raymundo Tornero, who has transmitted this story to us meticulously in his work.

More Quotes on the Blessed Sacrament

"THOUGHT FROM FATHER FABER - St. Joseph worshiped Jesus as no saint before had done. From his deep, calm soul he poured out a very ocean of love - tenderest love, humblest love, love shrinking from being like the Father's love, yet also daring to be like it as Mary's had been like the conjoined loves of Father and of Spirit, as she was Mother and Spouse conjoined. No angel might love Jesus as Joseph loved Him, as Joseph was bound to love Him. No temporal love but Mary's could be more like an eternal love than the love of Joseph for the Child, because of its likeness to the love of the everlasting Father. Aside from the Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph was the first and most perfect adorer of Our Lord."

- St. Peter Julian Eymard

"We have close to us as much as Joseph had at Nazareth; we have our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, but our poor eyes fail to see Him. Let us once become interior souls and we shall immediately see. In no better way can we enter into the Heart of our Lord than through Saint Joseph. Jesus and Mary are eager to pay the debts which they owe him for his devoted care of them, and their greatest pleasure is to fulfill his least desire. Let him, then, lead you by hand into the interior sanctuary of Jesus Eucharistic."

- St. Peter Julian Eymard

"We cannot help but marvel at the faith of Saint Joseph. Tormenting doubts harass his soul and he is on the point of leaving Mary. But an angel appears to him and all his doubts and fears vanish. On the angel's word He accepts the mystery of the Incarnation. In the ensuing years his faith was to be frequently put to the test. At Bethlehem he had to content himself with a stable for a home where the Incarnate Word might be born. Soon after, he was forced to flee in order to save the Infant God, and when later he returned to the tiny village of Nazareth it was to live there unknown and in dire poverty. All these trials only tempered his faith. Although he sees only the Child's wretchedness and poverty, his faith pierces the shroud and uncovers the hidden God within this weak baby frame. Because his faith was so strong, Joseph's mind and heart bowed in perfect adoration. Imitate his faith as you kneel before the humble Christ annihilated in the Eucharist. Pierce the veil which covers this furnace of love and adore the hidden God. At the same time respect the veil of love and make the immolation of your mind and heart your most beautiful homage of faith."

- St. Peter Julian Eymard

"Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you - for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart...don't listen to the demon, laugh at him, and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love...

"Receive Communion often, very often...there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing..."

"The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us - that is all He asks."

- St. Therese of Lisieux

"How I loved the feasts!.... I especially loved the processions in honor of the Blessed Sacrament. What a joy it was for me to throw flowers beneath the feet of God!... I was never so happy as when I saw my roses touch the sacred Monstrance..."

- from St. Therese's Autobiography: Story of A Soul

"By our little acts of charity practiced in the shade we convert souls far away, we help missionaries, we win for them abundant alms; and by that means build actual dwellings spiritual and material for our Eucharistic Lord."

"It is not to remain in a golden ciborium that He comes down each day from Heaven, but to find another Heaven, the Heaven of our soul in which He takes delight."

"You must open a little, or rather raise on high your corolla so that the Bread of Angels may come as divine dew to strengthen you, and to give you all that is wanting to you."

- St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church

"La sainteté c'est une disposition du coeur qui nous rend humbles et petits entre les bras de Dieu, conscients de notre faiblesse, et confiants jusqu'a l'audace en sa bonté de Pere."

- Ste. Thérese de l'Enfant-Jésus

"Holiness is a disposition of the heart that makes us humble and little in the arms of God, aware of our weakness, and confident -- in the most audacious way -- in His Fatherly goodness."

- St. Therese of the Infant Jesus

"The Blessed Sacrament is indeed the stimulus for us all, for me as it should be for you, to forsake all worldly ambitions. Without the constant presence of our Divine Master upon the altar in my poor chapels, I never could have persevered casting my lot with the lepers of Molokai; the foreseen consequence of which begins now to appear on my skin, and is felt throughout the body. Holy Communion being the daily bread of a priest, I feel myself happy, well pleased, and resigned in the rather exceptional circumstances in which it has pleased Divine Providence to put me."

- Blessed Fr. Damien, Apostle of the Lepers

Words of Monsignor Jara to Blessed Teresa of the Andes First Communion Class at Mass before receiving Jesus for the first time:

"Ask Jesus Christ that, if you will ever commit a mortal sin, that He will take you today, since your souls are as pure as the snow on the mountains. Pray to Him for your parents, the authors of your existence. For those who have lost their parents, this is the moment to seek to be united with them. Yes, you are approaching to become witnesses of the intimate union of your souls with Jesus Christ. Look at the angels of the altar, dear little girls. Look at them, they envy you. All heaven is present."

From Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II's World Youth Day homily on Sunday, August 24, 1997 in Paris, France:

"Rabbi, where are you staying?" Each day the Church responds: Christ is present in the Eucharist, in the sacrament of His death and resurrection. In and through the Eucharist, you acknowledge the dwelling-place of the Living God in human history. For the Eucharist is the Sacrament of the Love which conquers death. It is the Sacrament of the Covenant, pure Gift of Love for the reconciliation of all humanity. It is the gift of the Real Presence of Jesus The Redeemer, in the bread which is His Body given up for us, in the wine which is His Blood poured out for all. Thanks to the Eucharist, constantly renewed among all peoples of the world, Christ continues to build His church: He brings us together in praise and thanksgiving for salvation, in the communion which only infinite love can forge. Our worldwide gathering now takes on its fullest meaning, through the celebration of the Mass. Dear young friends, may your presence here mean a true commitment in faith! For Christ is now answering your own question and the questions of all those who seek the Living God. He answers by offering an invitation: This is My Body, take It and eat. To the Father He entrusts His supreme desire: that all those whom He loves may be one in the same communion.

"A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26

THE EUCHARIST IS THE HEART OF THE CHURCH

This begins a series of excerpts from the English translation of the Homily given in Polish by the Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, at the close of the Eucharistic Congress in Wroclaw.

"Mystery of Faith!"

In order to examine in depth the mystery of the Eucharist, we must continually return to the Upper Room where in the evening of Holy Thursday the Last Supper took place. In today's liturgy St. Paul speaks precisely of the institution of the Eucharist. This text seems to be the most ancient one concerning the Eucharist, preceding the account itself given by the Evangelists. In his Letter to the Corinthians Paul writes:

"The Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, he broke it, and said "This is My Body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My Blood. Do this, as often as you drink of it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." (1 Cor 11:23-26)

THE EUCHARIST IS THE HEART OF THE CHURCH

(Excerpt from Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II's homily continued.)

"Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again in glory. These words contain the very essence of the Eucharistic mystery. In them we find what we bear witness to and share in every day as we celebrate and receive the Eucharist. In the Upper Room Jesus effects the consecration. By virtue of His words, the bread - while keeping the external appearance of bread - becomes His Body, and the wine - while maintaining the external appearance of wine - becomes His Blood. THIS IS THE GREAT MYSTERY OF FAITH! THIS IS THE LIVING BREAD WHICH CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN!"

THE EUCHARIST IS THE HEART OF THE CHURCH

(Excerpt from Our Holy Father's homily continued.)

"Celebrating this mystery, we not only renew what Christ did in the Upper Room, but we also enter into the mystery of His death! "We proclaim Your death!"- redeeming death. "Christ is risen!" We are sharers in the Sacred Triduum and the night of Easter. We are sharers in the saving mystery of Christ as we await His coming in glory. Through the institution of The Eucharist we have entered the end times, the time of awaiting Christ's second and definitive coming, when the world will be judged and at the same time the work of redemption will be brought to completion. The Eucharist does not merely speak of all this. In The Eucharist - all this is celebrated - in It all this is fulfilled. Truly The Eucharist is the Great Sacrament of The Church. The Church celebrates The Eucharist, and at the same time The Eucharist makes the Church."

THE EUCHARIST IS THE HEART OF THE CHURCH

(Excerpt from Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II's homily continued.)

"I Am the Living Bread" (Jn 6:51). The message of John's Gospel completes the liturgical picture of this great Eucharistic mystery that we are celebrating today... The words of John's Gospel are the great proclamation of The Eucharist, after the miraculous multiplication of bread near Capernaum. Anticipating as it were the time even before the Eucharist was instituted, Christ revealed what it was. He spoke thus:

"I Am the Living Bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever; and the Bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My Flesh" (Jn 6:51). And when these words brought protests from many who were listening Jesus added: "Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you; he who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My Flesh is food indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in me, and I in him." (Jn 6:53-56).

THE EUCHARIST IS THE HEART OF THE CHURCH

(Excerpt from Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II's homily continued.)

"These are words which concern the very essence of the Eucharist. Behold, Christ came into the world to bestow upon man divine life. He not only proclaimed the Good News but He also instituted the Eucharist which is to make present until the end of time His redeeming mystery. And as the means of expressing this He chose the elements of nature - the bread and wine, the food and drink that man must consume to maintain his life. The Eucharist is precisely this food and drink. This food contains in itself all the power of the Redemption wrought by Christ. In order to live man needs food and drink. In order to gain eternal life man needs the Eucharist. This is the food and drink that transforms man's life and opens before him the way to eternal life. By consuming the Body and Blood of Christ, man bears within himself, already on this earth, the seed of eternal life, for the Eucharist is the sacrament of life in God. Christ says: "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me." (Jn 6:57).

THE EUCHARIST IS THE HEART OF THE CHURCH

(Conclusion of the excerpts from Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II's homily.)

"The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due season (Ps 145.15) In the first reading of today's liturgy Moses speaks to us of God who feeds His people on their journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land: "Remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what is in your heart... (He) fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end." (Dt. 8:2, 16) The image of a pilgrim people in the wilderness, which emerges from these words, speaks also to us who are approaching the end of the second millenium after Christ's birth. In this image all the peoples and nations of the whole earth find a place, and especially those who suffer from hunger." - L'Osservatore Romano, 4 June 1997

HOLY EASTER!!! THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN, IS THE LAMB WHO IS RISEN! JESUS IN THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT IS THE LAMB OF GOD!!! WORTHY IS THE LAMB! O COME LET US BEHOLD HIM WHO HAS WON FOR US SALVATION! O COME LET US ADORE HIM, FOR THE BREAD OF LIFE - JESUS EUCHARISTIC - IS REALLY AND PERSONALLY HERE!

MAY JESUS IN THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT, THE LAMB OF LOVE, BE WITH YOU AND BLESS YOU THIS EASTER AND ALWAYS! MAY OUR LADY OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT, MOTHER OF THE LAMB, LEAD YOU EVER CLOSER TO HIS EUCHARISTIC HEART!

"This is our Passover feast, when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain, whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers." "Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth and man is reconciled with God!"

"May the Morning Star which never sets find this flame still burning: Christ, the Morning Star, who came back from the dead, and shed His peaceful light on all mankind."

- taken from the Exultet.

"The best way to economize time is to 'lose' half an hour each day attending Holy Mass."

- Frederic Ozanam

It is there in His Eucharist that He says to me: "I thirst, thirst for your love, your sacrifices, your sufferings. I thirst for your happiness, for it was to save you that I came into the world, that I suffered and died on the Cross, and in order to console and strengthen you I left you the Eucharist. So you have there all My life, all My tenderness."

- Mother Mary of Jesus, foundress of the Sisters of Marie Reparatrice

Father Lessius (1554-1623), the eminent Jesuit theologian, was afflicted with more than one painful disease. In spite of his sufferings, he would prolong his thanksgiving a full hour after Mass. To those who pitied him he would reply: "Why should I complain? Mine is still the joy of receiving the bread of angels."

The Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation

On the night He was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples and said: "Take, eat: this is My Body." He took the cup, gave thanks and said: "Take, drink: this is My Blood." Since Christ Himself has declared the bread to be His Body, who can have any further doubt? Since He Himself has said quite categorically, This is My Blood, who would dare to question it and say that it is not His Blood?

Therefore, it is with complete assurance that we receive the bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Christ. His Body is given to us under the symbol of bread, and His Blood is given to us under the symbol of wine, in order to make us by receiving them one body and blood in our members, we become bearers of Christ and sharers, as Saint Peter says, in the divine nature.

Once, when speaking to the Jews, Christ said: Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood you shall have no life in you. This horrified them and they left Him. Not understanding His words in a spiritual way, they thought the Savior wished them to practice cannibalism.

Under the old covenant there was showbread, but it came to an end with the old dispensation to which it belonged. Under the new covenant there is Bread from Heaven and the Cup of Salvation. These sanctify both soul and body, the bread being adapted to the sanctification of the body, the Word, to the sanctification of the soul.

Do not, then, regard the Eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and wine: they are in fact the Body and Blood of The Lord, as He Himself has declared. Whatever your senses may tell you, be strong in faith.

You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the Body and Blood of Christ. You know also how David referred to this long ago when he sang: Bread gives strength to man's heart and makes his face shine with the oil of gladness. Strengthen your heart, then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of your soul.

May purity of conscience remove the veil from the face of your soul so that by contemplating the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror, you may be transformed from glory to glory in Christ Jesus our Lord. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. - from the Jerusalem Catecheses (Cat. 22, Mystagogica 4, 1. 3-6. 9: PG 33, 1098-1106)

"Consider the generosity of our Savior: what He acquired by dying becomes ours by eating. As often as we receive this Sacrament with proper dispositions, we make our own the fruits of all the labors, injuries and sufferings of His life, especially those borne at the time of His passion and death. Just as the power and the sensations of the head reach all the members of the body, in the same way, because Christ is "the head of the Church which is His Body" (Eph. 1:23), the treasures of His grace are made abundantly available to all who through charity are one with Him as living members."

- Louis of Grenada (1554-1623)