Week two: Getting to know Mary - Day 5
Mary, Woman of the Eucharist
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
O Holy Spirit, inspire me. God’s love, engulf me. Holy Mary, my Mother, guide me in the right ways, look at me, and together with Jesus, bless me. Keep me from all evil, from all delusions and all threats. Mary, The Spouse of the Holy Spirit, obtain for me the grace of getting to know you as the Mother of God’s Most Holy Body and the gift of deep experiencing of the Eucharist. Amen!
The Word of God
“I am the bread of life.Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is 142 WEEK TWO: GETTING TO KNOW MARY the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.’ He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.” (Jn 6:48‒59)
Meditation
Mary’s divine motherhood at the cross leads her to universal motherhood. Jesus’ testament at the cross broadens the heart of Mary, the Mother, to the very end of the world. The heart of a Mother is like an open house that awaits the return of her child, even if that child left the house a long time ago. The Mother is the protection for the Truth, i.e., her Son. Also, the Church is the Mother who, in the Heart of Mary, the Mother, understands what it means to be the mother. Saint John Paul II wrote that “from Mary the Church also learns her own motherhood: she recognizes the maternal dimension of her vocation, which is essentially bound to her sacramental nature, in ‘contemplating Mary’s mysterious sanctity, imitating her charity and faithfully fulfilling the Father’s will.’”18 Mary leads us towards the sacraments. She gives birth to us through listening to the Word of the Lord, and the faith leads to encountering God. Polish Pope put it straight: “Mary guides the faithful to the Eucharist.”19 He emphasised it in his latest encyclical on the Eucharist: “If we wish to rediscover in all its richness the profound relationship between the Church and the Eucharist, we cannot neglect Mary, Mother and model of the Church.”20
Mary became the “Mother of the Blessed Sacrament” when, by the act of her will, she said “yes” and allowed God to act so that the Word became flesh in her virginal womb. Whenever Catholic Church priests offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in a moment of consecration, thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit and through the sacramental words of the prayer over the bread and wine, Jesus becomes present truly and actually. The “yes” of a priest, in obedience to the Church, modelled on Mary’s obedi- Day 5 143 ence to God, causes that in the Eucharist, Jesus becomes present in His Divine nature and with His glorious Body that He got from the Virgin Mary. Jesus born in Bethlehem, i.e., the house of bread, becomes the Living Bread for us. Therefore, Mary is also the Mother of the Eucharist. Every time we hear Christ’s words during the Mass: “For this is my Body which will be given up for you,” we should be aware that Christ’s Body comes from her body, that Mary is the Mother of the Eucharistic Body.
How should we attend the Holy Mass with Mary? Firstly, John Paul II advises us—as if we sang with her Magnificat: “Mary recalls the wonders worked by God in salvation history in fulfilment of the promise once made to the fathers (cf. Lk 1:55), and proclaims the wonder that surpasses them all, the redemptive incarnation. Lastly, the Magnificat reflects the eschatological tension of the Eucharist. Every time the Son of God comes again to us in the ‘poverty’ of the sacramental signs of bread and wine, the seeds of that new history wherein the mighty are ‘put down from their thrones’ and ‘those of low degree are exalted’ (cf. Lk 1:52), take root in the world. Mary celebrates the ‘new heavens’ and the ‘new earth.’”21 Secondly, we should be like Mary “whose whole life incarnated the meaning of the Eucharist.”22 Let’s learn together with Mary how to go through the Holy Mass with humbleness due to the Jesus’ death on the cross, listening to the Word that shows us the way in life, praising His Holy Presence, adoring the Blessed Body in the Holy Communion and courageously testifying about God’s love when we get home after the blessing.
Litany of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy, Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us, Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us, Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
O Living Bread, Who from Heaven descended, have mercy on us.
Hidden God and Savior, have mercy on us.
Grain of the elect, have mercy on us.
Vine sprouting forth virgins, have mercy on us.
Wholesome Bread and delicacy of kings, have mercy on us.
Perpetual sacrifice, have mercy on us.
Clean oblation, have mercy on us.
Lamb without spot, have mercy on us.
Most pure feast, have mercy on us.
Food of Angels, have mercy on us.
Hidden manna, have mercy on us.
Memorial of God’s wonders, have mercy on us.
Super substantial Bread, have mercy on us.
Word made flesh, dwelling in us, have mercy on us.
Holy Victim, have mercy on us.
O Cup of blessing, have mercy on us.
O Mystery of faith, have mercy on us.
O Most high and venerable Sacrament, have mercy on us.
O Most holy of all sacrifices, have mercy on us.
O True propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead, have mercy on us.
O Heavenly antidote, by which we are preserved from sin, have mercy on us.
O stupendous miracle above all others, have mercy on us.
O most holy Commemoration of the Passion of Christ, have mercy on us.
O Gift transcending all abundance, have mercy on us.
O extraordinary memorial of Divine love, have mercy on us.
O affluence of Divine largess, have mercy on us.
O most holy and august mystery, have mercy on us.
Medicine of immortality, have mercy on us.
Awesome and life-giving Sacrament, have mercy on us.
Unbloody Sacrifice, have mercy on us.
Food and guest, have mercy on us.
Sweetest banquet at which the Angels serve, have mercy on us.
Bond of love, have mercy on us.
Offering and oblation, have mercy on us.
Spiritual sweetness tasted in its own fountain, have mercy on us.
Refreshment of holy souls, have mercy on us.
Viaticum of those dying in the Lord, have mercy on us.
Pledge of future glory, have mercy on us.
Be merciful, spare us, O Lord.
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord.
From the unworthy reception of Thy Body and Blood, deliver us, O Lord.
From passions of the flesh, deliver us, O Lord.
From the concupiscence of the eyes, deliver us, O Lord.
From pride, deliver us, O Lord.
From every occasion of sin, deliver us, O Lord.
Through that desire, with which Thou desiredst to eat the Passover with Thy disciples, deliver us, O Lord.
Through that profound humility with which Thou didst wash Thy disciples’ feet, deliver us, O Lord.
Through that most ardent love, with which Thou instituted this Divine Sacrament, deliver us, O Lord.
Through the most precious Blood, which Thou hast left for us upon the altar, deliver us, O Lord.
Through those Five Wounds of Thy most holy Body, which was given up for us, deliver us, O Lord.
Sinners we are, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously preserve and augment the faith, reverence, and devotion in us towards this admirable Sacrament, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously lead us through the true confession of we beseech Thee, hear us. our sins to a frequent reception of the Eucharist, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously free us from every heresy, falsehood, and blindness of the heart, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously impart to us the Heavenly and precious fruits of this most Holy Sacrament, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously protect and strengthen us in our hour of death with this Heavenly Viaticum, we beseech Thee, hear us. O
Son of God, we beseech Thee, hear us.
Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world, spare us,
O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Christ, hear us, Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us, Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy, Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy.
Let us pray: O God, Who under a marvelous Sacrament has left us a memorial of Thy Passion; grant us; we beseech Thee; so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within us the fruit of Thy Redemption. Thou, Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.
Spiritual reading
“He does not conceal himself under a sparkling diamond or some other precious stone, because he does not want to abide with man in an ostentatious manner. But he hides himself under the appearance of a small piece of bread—man’s ordinary nourishment—so that when received he might enter the heart of man and there take his delight.”
St. Louis de Montfort, The Love of Eternal Wisdom, 71
Homework
Before receiving the Holy Communion, I will invite Mary to stay in my heart when Jesus, her Son present in the Eucharist, comes to it. She will help me receive and worship Jesus with dignity and living faith.
Prayer of consecration
I am all Yours, and all that I have is Yours, O most loving Christ, through Mary, Your most holy Mother. Amen!