QUOTATION: Communion

If you are sinful, repent so that you can communicate often. If you are imperfect, go often to Communion that you may amend your faults.

--St. Claude de la Colombiere

QUOTATION: Communion

Make no mistake, my brothers, if anyone joins a schismatic he will not inherit God’s Kingdom. If anyone walks in the way of heresy, he is out of sympathy with the Passion. Be careful, then, to observe a single Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and one cup of his blood that makes us one, and one altar, just as there is one bishop along with the presbytery and the deacons, my fellow slaves. In that way whatever you do is in line with God’s will.

--St. Ignatius of Antioch

QUOTATION: Manifest Grave Sin = No Communion

The judgment of one's state of grace obviously belongs only to the person involved, since it is a question of examining one's conscience. However, in cases of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern for the good order of the community and out of respect for the sacrament, cannot fail to feel directly involved. The Code of Canon Law refers to this situation of a manifest lack of proper moral disposition when it states that those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin” are not to be admitted to Eucharistic communion.

--Pope St. John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 18

QUOTATION: Away from Communion

The longer you stay away from Communion, the more your soul will become weak, and in the end you will become dangerously indifferent.

--St. John Bosco

QUOTATION: St. Paul's Conversion

In reality, St. Paul's conversion was not a passage from immorality to morality, from a mistaken faith to a right faith, but it was a being conquered by Christ: the renunciation of his own perfection; it was the humility of one who puts himself without reserve in the service of Christ for the brethren. And only in this renunciation of ourselves, in this conforming to Christ, are we also united among ourselves; we become "one" in Christ. It is communion with the risen Christ that gives us unity.

--Pope Benedict XVI, June 25, 2009

QUOTATION: Taste and See

"O taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Ps. 34:8, 1 Peter 2:3) Tasting alone leads to seeing. Let us think of the disciples of Emmaus: it is only in convivial communion with Jesus, only in the breaking of the bread that their eyes were opened. Only in the truly experienced communion with the Lord were they able to see.

--Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, June 29, 2009

QUOTATION: Communion

As two pieces of wax fused together make one, so he who receives Holy Communion is so united with Christ that Christ is in him and he is in Christ.

--St. Cyril of Alexandria

QUOTATION: The Eucharist

This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God's Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus.

--St. Justin Martyr

QUOTATION: The Need for Frequent Communion

If you only ate once a year, you would soon be sick, likewise, if you receive communion but once a year, you could only remain in a state of grace with difficulty.

--St. Andre Bessette, as quoted in Frère André disait souvent... Recueil de paroles de Frère André rapportées par ses amis

QUOTATION: Communion

Among the gifts of grace which the soul receives in Holy Communion, there is one that must be counted among the highest; it is that Holy Communion does not permit the soul to remain long in sin, nor to obstinately persevere in it.

--St. Ignatius Loyola, Letter 34

QUOTATION: After Communion

After Communion let us be careful not to lose so good an opportunity of negotiating with God. His divine majesty is not accustomed to pay badly for his lodging, if he meets with a good reception.

--St. Teresa of Avila

QUOTATION: Communion

In Holy Communion Jesus unites himself to the soul, and the soul to Jesus; and this is not a union of mere affection, but it is a true and real union.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Holy Eucharist

QUOTATION: Communion and the Hardened Sinner

As for sins of human weakness, they are only dust, and God does not hold in horror this dust inherent to our misery. But sins of the will, of affection, of habit! It would be better not to receive the body of Our Lord than to take It into our heart, if stained with habitual sins. He enters but with disgust. We do violence to Him. He is bound, and He obeys us. But at the hour of death, we shall see His vengeance! His voice will be terrible: "How didst thou dare to receive Me into thy body sullied with abomination! "

--St. Peter Julian Eymard

QUOTATION: Holy Communion

I desire to unite Myself to human souls, Know, My daughter, that when I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things…They treat Me as a dead object.

--Jesus Christ to St. Faustina Kowalska

QUOTATION: After Communion

In affections and prayers it is, then, that the soul should entertain itself with Jesus after Communion; for we must know, that the acts formed in prayer after Communion are far more precious and meritorious in the sight of God than when made at another time; for the soul being then united with Jesus, the value of the acts is increased by the presence of Jesus. We should, moreover, know, that after Communion Jesus Christ is more disposed to grant graces.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Holy Eucharist

QUOTATION: Holy Communion

In order that the earthly food may be of benefit to us, we must eat it when we are hungry; in like manner, in order that Communion may produce in us much fruit, we should receive it with great desire to possess Jesus Christ and to love him ardently.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Holy Eucharist

QUOTATION: Communion

Upon receiving Holy Communion, the Adorable Blood of Jesus Christ really flows in our veins and His flesh is really blended with ours.

--St. Jean Vianney, the Cure of Ars

QUOTATION: Severe Self-Judgement

There are, again, some who think that it is penitence to abstain from the heavenly sacraments. These are too cruel judges of themselves, who prescribe a penalty for themselves but refuse the remedy, who ought to be mourning over their self-imposed penalty, because it deprives them of heavenly grace.

--St. Ambrose of Milan, On Repentance, Book 2

QUOTATION: Frequent Communion

I would like to rid you of a false notion quite common…that you have to be a saint to receive often. This is a lie, a fraud. Communion is not primarily for saints, but for those who want to become saints. It’s the sick and the weak who need medicine and food.

--St. John Bosco

QUOTATION: Communion

One of the most admirable effects of holy communion is to preserve the soul from sin, and to help those who fall through weakness to rise again. It is much more profitable, then, to approach this divine Sacrament with love, respect, and confidence, than to remain away through an excess of fear and scrupulosity.

--St. Ignatius Loyola