St. Peter Julian Eymard
Modern Saint of the Eucharist
Born: February 4, 1811, La Mure d'Isere, France
Baptized: February 5, 1811
Ordained Priest: July 20, 1814
Founded the Congregation of the Most Blessed Sacrament in 1856
Founded the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament in 1858
Canonized: December 9, 1962, at the end of the first session of the Second Vatican Council by Pope John XXIII

"Yes, dear Sons and Daughters, honor and celebrate him who was so perfect an adorer of the Blessed Sacrament, after his example, always at the center of your thoughts, of your affections, the undertakings of your zeal this incomparable source of all grace: the Mystery of Faith, which hides under the veils the Author himself of grace, Jesus the Incarnate Word." (From the Homily by Pope John XXIII at the Canonization of St. Peter Julian Eymard)

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO ST. PETER JULIAN EYMARD LIFE AND SPIRIT OF ST. PETER JULIAN

St. Peter Julian Eymard was born in the French Alps on Feb. 4, 1811. He lived very close to the Church, and his mother would take him there everyday for visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
Even at an early age, he was sensitive to spiritual things. However, it was to be a long, long journey before Peter Julian could finally realize his vocation to spread a love for the Holy Eucharist in the Church of France and found two religious congregations and an association for the laity. Although he always wanted to become a priest, the way was not easy. His own father bitterly opposed his vocation and Peter Julian began studying Latin in secret. After the death of his father, he was free to follow his vocation. He entered the seminary for diocesan priests at Grenoble, and at the age of 24 he was ordained a priest on July 29, 1834. He was sent to town of Chatte as Assistant Priest and 3 years later became Pastor at Monteynard, where he was greatly loved by the people. After two years among them, every parishioner received Communion at Easter-time. During the time he had assistant at Chatte, an event had occurred which marked his spiritual life very profoundly. While he was spending an afternoon of prayer he was overwhelmed by a sense of the goodness of God. He referred to this event until the end of his life. Meanwhile his desire for the religious life kept haunting him. He was attracted to the newly-founded Marist society and sought permission from his Bishop to join in. He held many positions in the Marist Society. While he was serving as Provincial, he was asked to carry the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of the city of Lyons on the Feast of Corpus Christi. During this two-hour procession, he confided all the needs of the Church, of France and of the world to Christ the Lord. This was another important moment in his life. He wrote in his private notes: "Since the beginning of this month I feel a very strong attraction towards the Eucharist. It was never so strong before. This attraction impels me to bring everyone to love Our Lord, and to preach only Christ and Christ in the Eucharist." One day, as Father Eymard was praying in the chapel at the Shrine of Notre Dame de Fourviere, he was strongly moved by the spiritual needs of priests and religious. He was also struck by the fact that all the mysteries of Our Lord's life had religious orders to honor them. The Holy Eucharist alone, the greatest of mysteries, was without its own religious group to honor and glorify it. There should be one. From then on, he was haunted by the call to work for the Eucharist. Little by little he came to consider the foundations of two congregations, one for men and the other for women. - the Congregations of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers and Brothers, and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament - destined to make the Eucharist the center of their life and spirituality, to adore the Blessed Sacrament perpetually exposed and spread the fire of Eucharistic love to all. He wanted this grace to extend to the laity as well and inaugurated an Association for them. Having consulted the Holy Father to know whether such a work would receive his blessing, he also consulted three Bishops in Paris to know whether the idea came from God. He received a favorable answer from both quarters and he left the Marists to begin this Eucharistic work. With only on companion, he began exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in Paris in 1856. Many of those who had promised to come did not do so. Two years later he invited Marguerite Guillot and a few other women to join them, to begin the women's branch. Marguerite Guillot, his principal collaborator, had been guided by him for many years in the Third Order of Mary, while he was with the Marists. Father Eymard began his two Congregations in the midst of great difficulties of poverty, loss of credibility, rash judgments and misunderstandings. Nevertheless, when he died, the Blessed Sacrament Fathers and Brothers were located in Paris, Angers, Marseilles and St. Maurice in France, and Brussels in Belgium. The sisters numbered 60 and were located only in Angers, after failing in their efforts to establish a new foundation, which had caused St. Eymard many heartaches. Fr. Eymard was a friend of the poor and the lower classes of French society. During the French revolution, he visited the jails and the workers in their factories. They made it a point to protect him from danger, recognizing him as a friend. In Paris he began an apostolate among young uneducated workers, providing them with opportunities to learn catechism and make their first Communion. He died August 1, 1868. On July 12, 1925 Peter Julian Eymard was beatified by Pope Pius XI, and on December 9, 1962, at the close of the first session of Vatican II, he was declared a saint by Pope John XXIII. The Pope spoke the following words on that occasion: " Follow his example, place at the center of your thoughts, your affections, your zeal, this incomparable source of all graces, - the Mystery of Faith, which hides under its veils the very author of graces, - Jesus the Incarnate Word."

On May 13 we celebrate the most recent feast and title given to Our Blessed Mother, that of "Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament." Some believe this title to be prophetic, particularly for our times, and perhaps the greatest honor the church could bestow upon her. Let us ponder some of the reasons why this may be true. St. Peter Julian Eymard, known as "The Priest of the Eucharist" and "The Apostle of the Eucharist" founded the "Congregation of the Most Blessed Sacrament" at Paris on May 13, 1856. Previous to this he served as a priest for sixteen years in the Society of Mary. He developed a very special love for the Eucharist at a very young age, which was inspired by his Mother's Eucharistic devotion. He also had a tremendous love for Our Lady. During the years of his daily prayer and adoration of or Eucharistic Lord, St. Peter Julian was given the awareness from Our Lady "All the mysteries of my Son have a religious order of men to honor them. The Eucharist alone has none…" With the encouragement of Pius XI, St. Peter Julian Eymard founded the new congregation to first, and foremost, perpetually adore Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament and to spread Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration throughout the world; second, to honor Mary, The Mother of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. "Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament" was the title that St. Peter Julian Eymard gave Our Lay as Mother and model to his new Congregation, his new Eucharistic family. As he stated so often, the Blessed Mother was the first and most perfect adorer of Jesus, the Incarnate Word. Our Lady adored Jesus from the very first moment of conception in her womb. She continued her adoration throughout his earthly life. After Jesus ascended into heaven, according to our early church fathers and theologians, Our Blessed Lady continued to adore and receive Jesus in the Eucharist. St. John the beloved Apostle would have provided the Eucharist for Our Lady, as he cared for her and ministered to her wants. The early church historians write that Our Lady spent most of her days and nights in Adoration of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. In the times of the early church the Eucharist was generally reserved in the homes of Christians. Our Lady's daily communion and adoration united her to Jesus even more closely than during His thirty years with her at Nazareth. St. John Damascus points out, in his 6th century writings, "the body of Christ in the Holy Eucharist is the very same body born of the Virgin Mary." When we receive Jesus in the Eucharist we receive the Son of Mary. Where we find the Son we find the Mother, in adoration. Let us consider another May 13 occurrence of great importance. In 1916, preceding the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, an Angel appeared three times. The first apparition of the Angel to three children, Jacinta, Lucia, and Francisco, frightened them. The Angel said, "Fear not, I am the Angel of Peace, pray with me: My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee." During the Angel's second apparition the message to the children, in part, was "Pray, pray a great deal! The Heart of Jesus of Mary have designs of mercy for you." At the third apparition the Angel, while holding in his hands a chalice surmounted by a Host from which drops of Blood were falling into the chalice then leaving the chalice and Host suspended in the air, prostrated himself on the ground and repeated this prayer three times: "My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee. O Most Holy Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jeusu and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners." After the harbinger's three apparitions and messages, Our Lady appeared on May 13, 1917. She asked the children to pray the following prayer with her, "O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, My God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament!" There were six apparitions of Our Lady over the next six months, culminating in the Miracle of the Sun on October 13, 1917, witnessed by seventy thousand people. This miracle, is foretelling the coming glory of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament! Then finally, in 1929, Sister Lucia was given the famous great vision of the Most Holy Trinity. God, our Father and the Holy Spirit were present with Jesus, who was hanging on the Cross. A Chalice with a Host above it was suspended alongside of Jesus. Blood was flowing from the head of Jesus and His wounded side over the Host and into the Chalice. From the left hand of Jesus water flowed down on the Altar forming the words "Graces and Mercy". Our Lady was beneath the right hand of Jesus, holding her Immaculate Heart in her left hand and the Rosary in her right hand. Clearly, heaven is communicating important messages to us! The most significant messages and directives of Fatima, according to many Marian scholars, can be summarized into two primary ones: 1. We are urged to frequently receive and adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, Who is truly present to us on earth today Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament! 2. Jesus wants devotion established to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The primary devotion requested in the Rosary. Secondly, the Five First Saturdays of the month with confession, reception of Jesus in Holy Communion and recitation of the rosary while in the presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. According to the Fatima messages, if these requests and directives are headed, there will be great graces and mercy poured upon our world resulting in a new era of peace. The Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph, and these promises will be fulfilled, when the Eucharistic Heart of her Son Jesus reigns throughout the world in Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament! "Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament" is the channel by which Jesus comes to us! She is also the channel by which we go to Jesus, heaven has ordained it thus. Our heavenly Mother is our most powerful intercessor with her Son Jesus, our most persuasive advocate. When we pray the Holy Rosary we ask her to pray for us, and pray she does. Many Mariologists have noted that devotions to Mary lead us to Jesus in the Eucharist. Wherever there are shrines dedicated to Mary her Son reigns in the Holy Eucharist where he is received, worshipped and adored. Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, wrote in his Marian encyclical of 1988, "The piety of the Christian people has always rightly sensed a profound link between devotion to the Blessed Virgin and worship of the Eucharist." He later stated in a public address in Rome in June of 1994, while talking about the Eucharist, "I would also like to repeat my invitation to you to make Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament a habitual practice in all Christian communities. Our Eucharistic Lord is the center of all other devotion within our church and the primary source of grace and mercy. Only heaven knows for sure if the Mary 13, 1856 founding of the "Congregation of the Most Blessed Sacrament" by St. Peter Julian Eymard and their entrustments of Our Lady under the title of "Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament" was a prophetic foreshadowing of her May 13, 1917 Fatima apparition. What is of importance is that we receive and adore Jesus in the Eucharist. Let us pray that the role and title of "Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament" be properly understood by her children so that we can honor her in the way she most desires, by giving adoration and glory to her Son in the Most Blessed Sacrament!