Eucharistic Saints

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

by Gary Penkala

As we continue with the National Eucharistic Revival, it would be profitable to recall those saints who had a special devotion to the Blessed Eucharist. Over the next few articles we'll study these saints, their lives, their devotion to the Blessed Eucharist, and music connected to them.

Life

As a child living in the Burgundy region of France, Margaret suffered from ill health. Paralysed for four years from rheumatic fever, she vowed to the Blessed Virgin Mary to consecrate herself to religious life if she was cured. After recovery, she added Mary to her given name.

Encouraged by her family to socialize, she forsook her vow, hoping to meet a suitable husband. After a Carnevale dance, she experienced a vision of Christ suffering, who reminded her of the vow she made to his Mother. At 24, Margaret Mary entered the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial.

Visions of Jesus, begun in her childhood, continued at the monastery. For a year and a half, beginning on 27 December 1673, she had visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Our Lord revealed to her a particular devotion, consisting in Reception of Communion on the First Friday of each month, a Eucharistic Holy Hour on Thursdays, and the celebration of a Feast of the Sacred Heart. This celebration was universally recognized by the Church in 1856.

Devotion to the Eucharist

In a letter to a fellow nun, Margaret Mary accounts the various Eucharistic lives of the Lord, meant as meditations on the days within the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi

1. Today the Lord destines you to honor His glorified life in the Blessed Sacrament. That is why He wishes you to enthrone yourself on the Cross. He wants you to glorify Him by carrying lovingly all those crosses which He presents to you, without ever letting yourself grow weary or complaining of their length or weight.




2. Today the Lord chooses you to honor His life of sacrifice in the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, you must offer yourself to His Sacred Heart as a victim of immolation before the Divine Sacrificing Priest.




3. Today the Lord has chosen you to honor His humiliated life in the Blessed Sacrament. So you must offer yourself to Him as nothingness to its All. Your whole attention must be concentrated on annihilating self and rejoicing when others help you to do so.




4. Today the Lord has chosen you to honor His active life in the Blessed Sacrament. As a faithful servant, you must do violence to yourself to labor fervently in the service of your Master.




5. Today the Lord wants you to honor His life wholly given to us in the Blessed Sacrament. You must be as a burning candle with no other desire than to be consumed in His honor. Surrender yourself to the Mercy of Providence and let Him do with you according to His designs.




6. Today you will be the Sulamitess, the spouse of the Well-Beloved who wishes to honor the Life of love of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Thus you must attend carefully surrendering yourself pure and innocent to please this Divine Spouse.

Related Music

1. Adoro te devote and Ubi caritas in Booklet of Chant, Volume 3 (Gregorian chant) — Adoro te devote is one of the five beautiful hymns Saint Thomas Aquinas composed in honor of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at Pope Urban IV's request when the pope first established the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. The hymn is found in the Roman Missal as a prayer of thanksgiving after Mass.

   Ubi cartitas is taken from the antiphons sung during the ceremony of the Washing of the Feet at the Mass of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. As is the entire Mass of the Last Supper, this hymn is intimately connected with the Eucharist, and is thus often used during the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

2. Anima Christi (Alex E. Hill) —
   This profound 14th century prayer was quoted by Saint Ignatious Loyola to begin his Spiritual Exercises, leading to its erroneous but oft-mention attribution to his authorship. Nonetheless, it remains a mvoing meditation on the Eucharist, recalling our own Baptism and placing all this in the context of the saving Passion of Christ. The prayer is richly indulgenced by Pope John XXII (reigning 1316-34).

   The 8th mode chant melody associated with this prayer [see #180 in the Parish Book of Chant ] has been set by Alex Hill for unison choir, with an optional (and very easy) Alleluia descant for use outside Lent. Very soft, mystical chords in the organ accompany it, providing a delicate pillow on which the chant rests. CNP provides the prayer text in its original Latin; singing texts in both English and Spanish are also included.

   This setting is perfect for a high school choir, but can also be sung by a good children's choir or certainly by an adult choir or schola. Having heard it a number of times, a congregation might even be encouraged to join.

   As this prayer text has often become a personal meditation after receiving Communion, our setting here can easily be sung in any parish as a corporate aid to that reflection.

   Alex Hill's setting is very effective — easily performed, with remarkable impact. In some parishes it has become one of the most "commented-upon" pieces in the repertoire.

3. O quam suavis est (Calvert Shenk) —
   The Office for the new feast of Corpus Christi was written by Saint Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century when the feast was instituted by Pope Urban IV. The text of this motet for SATB choir and tenor soloist is the Magnificat antiphon for First Vespers of Corpus Christi. It translates: "O how loving is Thy spirit, Lord! To show sweet kindness to Thy children Thou providest the most delicious heavenly Bread; Thou fillest the hungry with good things, and send the haughty rich away empty."

   Calvert Shenk set the text freely, with chant-like rhythm that alternates groups of two and three notes. His mastery of choral sound explores the resources of a cappella singing, from the lowest bass notes, with limited divisi, to the soaring soprano pitches which are always well supported by vocal parts in good range. Two short tenor solo passages divide the three choral sections.

   Ideal for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, CNP's setting by Calvert Shenk, former Director of Music and Associate Professor at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, would also make an ideal choral piece during Communion or as a meditation at any Mass.

Article written 10 June 2023