The Saints on the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

This Sunday marks the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The quotations below about the Body and Blood of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament demonstrate how deeply the saints revered and adored Christ in the Eucharist. May we follow their holy examples in recognition of this ineffable gift from God.

In this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes, except for His Most Holy Body and Blood.

— St. Francis of Assisi

Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: 'This is My Body.' No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored it.

 — St. Augustine of Hippo

O Lord, we cannot go to the pool of Siloe to which you sent the blind man. But we have the chalice of Your Precious Blood, filled with life and light. The purer we are, the more we receive.

 — St. Ephraem

I hunger for the bread of God, the flesh of Jesus Christ ...; I long to drink of his blood, the gift of unending love.

— St. Ignatius of Antioch

How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment.

— St.  John Chrysostom

He remains among us until the end of the world. He dwells on so many altars, though so often offended and profaned.

— St. Maximilian Kolbe

He is The Bread sown in the virgin, leavened in the Flesh, molded in His Passion, baked in the furnace of the Sepulchre, placed in the Churches, and set upon the Altars, which daily supplies Heavenly Food to the faithful.

— St. Peter Chrysologus

My Jesus! What a lovable contrivance this holy Sacrament was - that You would hide under the appearance of bread to make Yourself loved and to be available for a visit by anyone who desires You!

— St. Alphonsus Ligouri

Jesus has prepared not just one Host, but one for everyday of our life. The Hosts for us are ready. Let us not forfeit even one of them,

— St. Peter Julian Eymard

The devotion to the Eucharist is the most noble because it has God as its object; it is the most profitable for salvation, because It gives us the Author of Grace; it is the sweetest, because the Lord is Sweetness Itself.

— St. Pius X

Our Redeemer ever present in the most Blessed Sacrament, extends His hands to everyone. He opens His heart and says, 'Come to Me, all of you.

— St. Raphael Kalinowski

Put your sins in the chalice for the precious blood to wash away. One drop is capable of washing away the sins of the world. "The Eucharist is connected with the Passion. If Jesus had not established the Eucharist we would have forgotten the crucifixion. It would have faded into the past and we would have forgotten that Jesus loved us. There is a saying that to be far away from the eyes is to be far away from the heart. To make sure that we do not forget, Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a memorial of his love.

— St. Teresa of Calcutta

O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Amen.