when
Jesus our God, having raised the most holy Sacrament, for their adoration,
divided it by his own sacred hands,
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| Christ dividing the Holy Sacrament |
first partook of it Himself as being the
First and Chief of all the priests. Recognizing Himself, as man, inferior to
the Divinity, which He was now to receive in this his own consecrated body and
blood.
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| Christ receiving his own body as the last super |
He humiliated and, as it were, with a trembling of the inferior part of
his being, shrank within Himself before that Divinity, thereby not only
teaching us the reverence with which holy Communion is to be received; but also
showing us what was his sorrow at the temerity and presumption of many men
during the reception and handling of this exalted and sublime Sacrament. The
effects of holy Communion in the body of Christ were altogether miraculous and
divine; for during a short space of time the gifts of glory flowed over in his
body just as on mount Tabor,
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| The effects of the holy communion in the body of Christ |
though the effects of this transfiguration were
manifest only to his blessed Mother, and partly also to saint John, Enoch and Elijah
This was the last consolation He
permitted his humanity to enjoy as to its inferior part during his earthly
life, and from that moment until his Death He rejected all such alleviation.
The Virgin Mother, by a special vision, also understood how Christ her divine
Son received Himself in the blessed Sacrament and what was the manner of its
presence in his divine Heart. All this caused inestimable affection in our
Queen and Lady.
While
receiving his own body and blood Christ our Lord composed a canticle of praise
to the eternal Father and offered Himself in the Blessed Sacrament as a
sacrifice for the salvation of man. He took another particle of the consecrated
bread and handed it to the archangel Gabriel who brought and communicated it to
the most holy Mary.
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| Archangel Gabriel bringing holy communion to Virgin Mary |
By having such a privilege conferred on one of their
number, the holy angels considered themselves sufficiently recompensed for
being excluded from the sacerdotal dignity and for yielding it to man. The
privilege of merely having even one of their numbers hold the sacramental body
of their Lord and true God filled them with a new and immense joy. In abundant
tears of consolation the great Queen awaited Holy Communion. When saint Gabriel
with innumerable other angels approached, She received it, the first after her
Son, imitating his self-abasement, reverence and holy fear.
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| Virgin Mary receiving Holy communion |
The most Blessed
Sacrament was deposited in the breast and above the heart of the most holy
Virgin Mother, as in the most legitimate shrine and tabernacle of the Most
High.
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| The holy Eucharist being deposited a little above her heart |
There the ineffable sacrament of the holy Eucharist remained deposited
from that hour until after the Resurrection, when saint Peter said the first
Mass and consecrated anew. The Almighty wished to have it so for the
consolation of the great Queen and in order to fulfill his promise, that He
would remain with the children of men until the consummation of the ages
(Matth. 28, 20); for after his death his most holy humanity could not remain in
his Church any other way than by his consecrated body and blood. This true
manna was then deposited in the most pure Mary as in the living ark together
with the whole evangelical law, just as formerly its prophetic figures were
deposited in the ark of Moses (Heb. 9, 4). The sacramental species were not
consumed or altered in the heart of the Lady and Queen of heaven until the next
consecration. Having received Holy Communion, the blessed Mother gave thanks to
the eternal Father and to her divine Son in new canticles similar to the ones
the incarnate Word had rendered to his Father.
After
having thus favoured the heavenly Princess, our Saviour distributed the
sacramental bread to the Apostles (Luke 22, 17), commanding them to divide it
among themselves and partake of it.
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| Our lord distributing the sacramental bread |
By this commandment He conferred upon them
the sacerdotal dignity and they began to exercise it by giving Communion each
to Himself. This they did with the greatest reverence, shedding copious tears
and adoring the body and blood of our Lord, whom they were receiving. They were
established in the power of the priesthood, as being founders of the holy
Church and enjoying the distinction of priority over all others (Ephes. 2, 20).
Then saint Peter, at the command of Christ the Lord, administered two of the
particles of holy Communion to the two patriarchs, Enoch and Elijah.
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| Enoch and Elijah at the last super representing the ancient |
This holy Communion so rejoiced these two holy
men, that they were encouraged anew in their hope of the beatific vision, which
for them was to be deferred for so many ages, and they were strengthened to
live on in this hope until the end of the world. Having given most fervent and
humble thanks to the Almighty for this blessing, they were brought back to
their abiding place by the hands of the holy angels. The Lord desired to work
this miracle in order to pledge Himself to include the ancient natural and
written laws in the benefits of the Incarnation, Redemption and general
resurrection; since all these mysteries were contained in the most holy
Eucharist. By thus communicating Himself to the two holy men, Enoch and Elijah,
who were still in their mortal flesh, these blessings were extended over the
human race such as it existed under the natural and the written laws, while all
the succeeding generations were to be included in the new law of grace, the
Apostles at the head. This was all well understood by Enoch and Elijah, and,
returning to the midst of their contemporaries, they gave thanks to their and
our Redeemer for this mysterious blessing.
Then our Saviour offered thanks to the eternal
Father and therewith ended both the legal and the sacramental Supper in order
to begin the mysteries of his Passion.
Note
that there was no woman in this first dedication, not even the Mother of God
herself because, women and angels are excluded from the sacerdotal power (power to consecrate) as was ordained by God
Himself. This power is exclusively for men hence only apostles were given such
right and their successors. For this same reason Melchisedek could not
consecrate but only bless the bread and wine before Abraham. (Gen.14:18)
This
was how the church of Christ was founded and on Good Friday the church was
given birth to in this mystical sense: - It was the evening of the great
Sabbath of the Jews, and in order to celebrate it with unburdened minds, they
had asked Pilate for permission to shatter the limbs of the three men
sentenced, so that, their death being hastened, they might be taken from the
crosses and not left on them for the following day. As they perceived the two
thieves still alive, they broke their limbs and so hastened their end (John 19,
31). But when they examined Jesus they found Him already dead, and therefore
did not break his bones, thus fulfilling the mysterious prophecy in Exodus (Ex.
12, 46), commanding that no bones be broken in the figurative lamb to be eaten
for the Pasch. But a soldier, by the name of Longinus, approaching the Cross of
Christ, thrust his lance through the side of the Saviour. Immediately water and
blood flowed from the wound, as Saint John, who saw it and who gives testimony
of the truth, assures us (John 19, 34).
This wounding of the lance, which could not be
felt by the sacred and dead body of the Lord, was felt by the most blessed
Mother in his stead and in the same manner as if her chaste bosom had been
pierced. But even this pain was exceeded by the affliction of her most holy
soul, in witnessing the cruel laceration of the breast of her dead Son. Thus fulfilling
the prophecy of Simeon: (Luke 2: " [34] And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; [35] And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed."
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| Mystical sword piercing Her heart |
In
this last pouring forth of the blood and water issued forth the new Church,
cleansed and washed by the Passion and Death of Jesus, and that from his sacred
side, as from the roots, should now spread out through the whole world the
fruits of life eternal. The church that was found on Holy Thursday, was born on
Good Friday and was sanctified on white Sunday (Pentecost Sunday).
