In order to be bronzed, all one has to do is stand in the sun. The rest is just a question of time; eventually, the sun’s rays will achieve their effect. But the soul can also be bronzed. All one has to do is to expose oneself to the rays of the Eucharist. Running through Christian spirituality is the very beautiful and at the same time theologically profound motif of the Eucharist as the Sun.
The sun is a perfect image of the Eucharist, for the Host is Jesus, the Lamb of God, the Rising Sun. Favoring the comparison is the fact that for many centuries the Host has had the shape of white, sun-like disk. We all know what an important role the sun plays in nature. The Eucharistic Sun also plays an irreplaceable role in the spiritual life: it sheds light on the soul, enlightens our consciences, warms our hearts, directs our growth toward God. The Book of Malachi speaks of a still more important role: “But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings” (Mal 4:2). Above all, then, the rays of the “sun of righteousness” bring healing: of the soul, the body, and the heart. Jesus clearly speaks of this in His words to St. Gertrude: “Here, in the Eucharist, in the bountiful goodness of my Heart, I heal the wounds of all. I raise the sinner’s spirits, enrich spiritual poverty with gifts of virtue, and console all in their distress.” Drawing from his profound belief in the healing power of the Eucharist, St. John Chrysostom admonished the faithful as follows: “When approaching the Eucharist, let everyone come with his physical ailments, for we can also obtain from it healing of the body.”
There now exist so many testimonies to the wondrous healings obtained from the Eucharistic Sun that each new miracle no longer makes a deep impression on us. Sometimes it is those who are far from the Church who are the most amazed, as in the case of Voltaire, who engaged his entire intellect in the struggle against Christianity during the period of the French Enlightenment. In a letter to a certain lady, he admits—not without emotion, even deep emotion—that he witnessed a miracle that occurred on May 31, 1725 at St. Marguerite’s parish in Paris.
Anna Lafosse, a resident of Paris, had suffered from an issue of blood for twenty years. She scarcely left her bed from sheer exhaustion. On the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, she decided to pray for a healing, but when the procession with the Blessed Sacrament began to draw near to her house, she was seized by doubt and fear. Just then, a friend, a Protestant woman who did not believe in Christ’s real presence in the Host, dropped by. Seeing the invalid’s doubts and fears, she encouraged her to place total trust in the Risen One, whose power in heaven was no less than that with which He healed on earth. Anna saw in this encouragement the sign from heaven she longed for. She asked to be brought down in a chair to the street where the procession was to pass. When the monstrance drew up to her, she fell on her knees and began calling out: “Lord, if it be your will, you can heal me. I believe that in the Host you are the same who entered into Jerusalem. Forgive my sins, and I shall be healed!” The people tried to move her away, thinking that she was mentally unbalanced. But she went after the monstrance, first on her knees, then on her feet. Her strength began to increase, even though she lost a great deal of blood on the way. By the time the Mass that followed the procession was over, she was completely cured. Having recognized the supernatural character of this miracle, the bishop had the incident written down and the record placed in the church archives. According to the archival records, between 1725 and 1789, over seventy miraculous healings took place during the Corpus Christi processions.
And what of Voltaire? Of his faith? Perhaps no miracle, but in the light of his atheistic writings, his observation is certainly remarkable: “That incident left upon me a thin veneer of piety—me, who serve God in the same spiritless way I serve the devil.”
It is astounding how many miraculous healings occur in the radiance of the Eucharist in present times, particularly within the charismatic renewal of the Church and the various Eucharistic youth movements. Sister Briege McKenna, an Irish nun, who for over twenty-five years has been engaged in the ministry of the word and intercessory prayer for priests throughout the world, has written a book in which she cites specific examples of Christ’s healing power in the Eucharist. “Once—writes the sister—at the conclusion of the liturgy, Fr. Kevin and I were praying for healings. Among those attending was a child and its parents. The child was suffering from a serious brain disease. At the raising of the Blessed Sacrament, the child raised its head and stretched its hands out to the Host. The next day the disease had completely disappeared. At this same service there was a Mormon girl. I was speaking about the real presence of the Risen Lord in the Eucharist, urging the people to gaze at Him in the Host. They led the girl up, so that I could pray over her. Her arms were paralyzed. When the Host was raised over her, the girl stretched out her deformed arms, conscious that something extraordinary was happening. Indeed, her arms became quite normal.”
This does not mean that nothing happens in the absence of spectacular healings of this kind. The Eucharistic Sun always irradiates the soul with the warmth of Its light and love even when the mind is not aware of it. A transformation occurs, which is not immediately apparent. Just as fruit does not mature at once in the rays of the sun, but does so gradually, so our maturation to eternity in the light of the Eucharist takes place slowly and profoundly. To become aware of this truth one needs patience and, above all, perseverance in adoration.
King Baudouin of Belgium preferred to abdicate rather than sign abortion into law. He spent many hours before the Blessed Sacrament. He describes his experience of prayer as follows: “I always found it difficult to remain motionless and contemplate God in the silent dry spells of my faith. Despite this, I know that one must expose the soul to the action of the Sun, and not fear that one is wasting time in the chapel, even when one feels nothing. One must give the Sun time to achieve its bronzing effect. It requires a little patience.”
During patient adoration of God in the Host, Its rays transform us, although this may remain invisible to the eye. If God allows certain individuals to glimpse this spiritual reality, it is so that their witness may further strengthen us in our perseverance in the faith. St. Faustina shares with us the following experience: “When I was in church waiting for confession, I saw the same rays emanating from the monstrance and spreading throughout the church. This lasted all through the service. After the Benediction [the rays shone out] to both sides and returned again to the monstrance. Their appearance was bright and clear like crystal. I asked Jesus to light the fire of His love in all souls that were cold. Beneath these rays, a heart will grow warm even if it were like a block of ice; even if it were hard like a rock” (Diary, 370).
Sister Maria-Teresa Dubouché, foundress of the Congrégation de l’Adoration Réparatrice, cried out in rapture: “What creature, if it will but expose itself to the action of this Sun, will not experience Its warming and refreshing effects? What soul under the gaze of Jesus in the Eucharist will fall outside His watchful care? To allow oneself to be bronzed in silence, engulfed by the abyss of Jesus’ love—that is the secret of adoration in spirit and truth, which consists in entering freely into the adoration of Jesus Himself before God.”
The Eucharist shines with a special splendor in hours of darkness, when all the other lights of human hope and strength go out. St. Faustina’s Diary contains the following astounding entry: “Today, I saw how the Holy Mysteries were being celebrated without liturgical vestments and in private homes, because of a passing storm; and I saw the sun come out from the Blessed Sacrament, and all other lights went out, or rather, they were dimmed; and all the people were looking toward this [one] light. But at the present time I do not understand the meaning of this vision” (Diary, 991). St. Faustina did not understand this vision, for it referred to the cataclysm of the WWII, which she did not live to see. But her prophecy came true, nevertheless: the blaze of criminal ideologies was eventually dimmed, while the “Sun of Righteous” came out.
The Eucharist constantly shines in the heavens of the Church’s martyrs. Numerous documents from the times of early Christianity attest to the link between the Eucharist and martyrdom for the faith. The latter springs from the former: the Christian’s sacrifice draws its strength from the sacrifice of Christ. Remaining faithful in love to the end is fed by the love of Him, who loved us first in His Eucharist. So it was in the early days of the Eucharist. And, as it was then, so it is now: in China, Afghanistan, and Lebanon, in the East and in the West. Only last year, scores of Catholics in Jakarta, Indonesia, were massacred while celebrating Midnight Mass.
The rays of the Eucharistic Sun give courage to Christians who resist the totalitarian, Truth-bereft construction of “modern Europe.” No pastoral strategy can restore the Church as effectively as the Eucharist. After the “revolutionary” changes occurring in the French Church, many sanctuaries have become deserts. Where do you find people who seek God? Where He allows Himself to be found! Where He becomes Food and Light. During its Eucharistic liturgies, the Church of the Monastic Community of Jerusalem in the heart of Paris offers a sight that takes your breath away. The sheer number of people who go there to pray! It is one of the few places of real Christian renewal in Paris, one of many in France, and, in the Western world, one of a great many. The secret of these spiritual oases’ drawing power is found in perpetual adoration, in faithful and courageous openness of the heart to the “Light of the world”—to Christ who fulfills Himself in the words He gave to us: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8: 12).
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