Visits to the Blessed Sacrament

Ave Maria! Yesterday during his general audience at St. Peter's, Pope Benedict spoke of St. Juliana of Cornillon, known also as St. Juliana of Liege. I've never heard of her and was fascinated to learn that, impelled by the love of our Eucharistic Lord, she contributed to institution of the Church's Corpus Christi processions. At the end of his address, the Holy Father said:

Dear friends, fidelity to the encounter with the Eucharistic Christ in Sunday's Holy Mass is essential for the journey of faith, but let us try as well to frequently go to visit the Lord present in the Tabernacle! Gazing in adoration at the consecrated Host, we discover the gift of the love of God, we discover the passion and the cross of Jesus, and also his Resurrection. Precisely through our gazing in adoration, the Lord draws us to himself, into his mystery, to transform us as he transforms the bread and wine. The saints always found strength, consolation and joy in the Eucharistic encounter. With the words of the Eucharistic hymn "Adoro te devote," let us repeat before the Lord, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament: "Make me believe ever more in You, that in You I may have hope, that I may love You!"

One of my earliest childhood memories is of the four of us -- Mummie, Daddy, my sister Annie and me -- stepping into any Catholic church we passed for a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. This was one way that my parents lived their faith and expressed their love and gratitude to our Lord. To them, it was the most natural thing in the world to do, and it was a happy occasion. I rejoiced when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord! (Ps 122:1) I don't recall anything they ever said about these visits, but I do remember them bending their knees in humble adoration, then lifting up their heads, their faces shining with joy. Like the saints, Mummie and Daddy "always found strength, consolation and joy in the Eucharistic encounter." And so do I. HE IS THERE! My God and my All! The door to the tabernacle may be closed, but His heart is always open. Jesus, my life, my love, my greatest joy! My refuge and strength, my shield and my glory! Blessed be the Lord who has shown me the wonders of his love! (Ps 31:21)

"And all of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord,

are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,

as from the Lord who is the Spirit." ~3 Cor 2:18