ST. FRANCIS DE SALES AND THE EUCHARIST
The surest way which the Church’s millenary tradition gives us and entrusts to us, to welcome the inestimable and inexhaustible gift of the Eucharist, the life of God that pours into the heart of our lives, is to humbly place ourselves in the school of the saints, listening to the words and following the example of those who in their lives, step by step, made the Eucharist the beating heart and gushing spring of their journey of faith, life and service. We therefore wish, exactly 400 years after his death, to set out briefly with St. Francis de Sales, asking the holy bishop of Geneva to help us recognise how truly in the Eucharist the Lord comes to dwell at the heart of our lives, and how to make the Eucharist the heart of our lives.
While still a young student in Padua, Francis, in his early twenties, wrote:
“I will receive communion as often as possible [...] at least I will not let Sunday pass without eating this bread [ ... ]; for how could Sunday be for me a ‘day of Sabbath and rest’ if I remained deprived of receiving the author of my eternal rest?” (OA XXII, 43)
Leaving the floor to the holy Doctor of Charity, we are led by his writings through five simple steps that can accompany us during this Advent season to recognise that the Lord, born for us in Bethlehem, in the gift of the Eucharist makes Himself present today, at the heart of our present, giving us His Love that saves us and makes us one with Him and with our brothers and sisters.
In the Eucharist:
a. God comes to meet us and encounters our life in this present:
“I have not yet spoken to you about the sun of the spiritual exercises: the most holy and supreme Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Mass, the centre of the Christian religion, the heart of devotion, the soul of piety, the ineffable mystery that manifests the abyss of divine charity; through it God truly unites Himself to us and communicates His graces and gifts to us in a wonderful way. Prayer raised in union with this divine Sacrifice possesses a power that cannot be expressed in words, O Philothea. Through it, the soul abounds with heavenly gifts, because it embraces the Beloved who fills it so full of perfumes and spiritual sweetness that it resembles a column of smoke from aromatic woods, myrrh, frankincense and all the essences used by the perfumer, according to what the Canticle says. Arrange to attend Holy Mass every day, to offer, together with the priest, to God the Father, the sacrifice of the Redeemer, for your good and that of the whole Church” (Philothea, II, ch. 14).
b. To reveal His infinite Love for us:
“I know of no other thing in the world of which we have such absolute possession and dominion as we have over food which we consume to preserve ourselves. And our Lord has gone to this excess of Love, to the point of making Himself food for us. And whatelse shall we do so that He may possess us, handle us as He wills, take us and do with us whatever He wills?” (Letter to Mother Angelica Arnauld, 25 June 1619)
c. And to help us grow in Love day by day:
“Your first intention in communion must be to progress, strengthen and stabilise yourself in the Love of God; for what is given to you out of Love, you must receive with love. It is not possible to imagine the Saviour engaged in an action more full of Love and more tender than this, in which he can be said to sacrifice Himself by reducing Himself to food in order to enter our souls and unite Himself intimately with the hearts and bodies of the faithful. If they ask you why you receive Communion so often, answer that it is to learn to love God, to purify you from imperfections, to free you from miseries, to console you in afflictions, to find support in weaknesses. Answer that there are two categories of people who must take communion often: the perfect, because, being well disposed, they would do much to approach the spring of perfection; and the imperfect so that they may walk towards perfection; the strong so as not to risk becoming weak, and the weak to become strong; the sick to heal and the healthy not to become sick; you then, an imperfect, weak and sick creature, need to commune often with perfection and strength. Answer that those who do not have many occupations, must receive Communion because they have the time; those, on the other hand, who are very busy, must receive Communion because they need it, for those who work a lot and are laden with worries must eat hearty food and eat often” (Philothea II, ch. 21).
d. Becoming a reflection and light of Christ for the brethren:
“But how do you think the spiritual integration of Jesus Christ takes place? Those who have a good bodily digestion feel an invigoration in the whole body, because of the energy of the food to all its parts. In the same way, my daughter, those who have good spiritual digestion feel that Jesus Christ, who is their food, expands and communicates Himself to their soul and to all parts of their body. They have Jesus Christ in their brain, heart, chest, eyes, hands, tongue, ears and feet. And what does this Saviour do in all these places? He mortifies everything, corrects everything, purifies everything and vivifies everything. He loves in the heart, intends in the brain, encourages in the breast, sees in the eyes, speaks in the tongue and so all the rest. He does everything and so it is no longer we who live but it is Jesus Christ who lives in us”. (Letter to the Baroness of Chantal, 24 January 1608)
e. In the ordinary and concrete workings of daily life:
“On the day you receive Communion, you run no danger by doing all kinds of works and chores; you would run greater dangers by doing nothing. In the early Church, when everyone received Communion every day, do you think they stood idle? And St. Paul, who celebrated Mass every day, earned his bread by the work of his hands. In the days of Communion, only two things should be carefully avoided: sin and the satisfactions and pleasures sought for oneself”. (Letter to President Brulart’s wife, February-March 1606).
To conclude our brief journey, let us once again leave the floor to the holy bishop of Geneva, allowing the most spiritual wish for our Advent journey to flow from his heart inflamed with Love for God and our brothers and sisters:
“Hares, here among us, in our mountains, turn white in winter because they see and eat nothing but snow; you too, by dint of adoring and nourishing yourself with beauty, goodness and the very purity of this Divine Sacrament, will become beautiful, holy and pure” (Philothea II, ch. 21).
