St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Margaret Mary, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Peter Julian Eymard, and St. Therese of Lisieux, do you find any commonality in them? Of course, they are saints, but another factor is that they ardently kept a devotion to the Eucharist of seven saints. We can call them Eucharistic saints. And also this title is misleading because every saint of the Catholic Church has been deeply devoted to the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, there is no sanctity without the Eucharist.
We have no choice but to choose just seven out of hundreds of saintly men and women who have been outstanding in their devotion to the sacrament of the altar. Here we can look at a few modern saints whose Eucharistic holiness is an inspiration for our day.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Saint Cyril is a doctor of the Church and as Bishop of Jerusalem, suffered deeply for his faith. He was the sworn enemy of the heretic, Arius, who denied Christ’s divinity. His most important writing was the catechetical compendium which has become the standard for all catechisms since the end of the fourth century.
St. Cyril wrote extensively on the Holy Eucharist as Sacrifice, Communion, and Real Presence. His writings are not only clear and uncomplicated, but they also show us how unqualified was the faith of the early Church in the priestly powers of changing bread and wine into the living Jesus Christ.
St. Thomas Aquinas
For the first thousand years of Christian history, there was no serious challenge to the Real Presence. Then Berengarius of Tours (999-1088) attacked the Church’s doctrine by claiming that Christ could not be simultaneously in heaven and in the Blessed Sacrament. He was condemned by the pope and required to profess his faith in the Real Presence. This Eucharistic creed was quoted verbatim by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council to meet the crisis of Eucharistic faith that has tormented the Church in our day.
St. Margaret Mary
St. Margaret Mary (1647 – 1690) is the apostle of the modern devotion to the Sacred Heart. From early childhood, she was intensely devoted to the Blessed Sacrament. After four years of suffering from paralysis, she was miraculously cured by our Lady. Having vowed to consecrate herself to the religious life, she entered the Visitation convent at Peray, where she was distinguished for obedience, humility, and love of suffering. Among the many visions she received of Christ, the most important were those in which Our Lord told her she was to promote devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
St. Alphonsus Liguori
By the eighteenth century, God raised up courageous defenders who spoke and wrote extensively in witness of the Real Presence. Among these, the most famous was St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787). During his long life he published some one hundred volumes on every aspect of Christian morals and spirituality. Among these, the most important for our purpose was his book on The Holy Eucharist. Once again the quotation will be extensive but deserves to be made.
St. Teresa of Avila
The Church in the sixteenth century was in desperate need of reform. So true is this that we may correctly speak of the Catholic Reformation which took place after the Protestant revolution. Among the Catholic reformers was a contemplative nun who has since been declared a Doctor of the Church, St. Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582)
As might be expected, Teresa of Avila was one of the staunch defenders of the Catholic faith in her day. Unlike her contemporary, St. Ignatius Loyola, she did not organize an academic crusade to defend the teachings of the one, true Church. She was a contemplative who spent the latter half of her life restoring Carmelite spirituality to its historic authenticity. However, under obedience of her spiritual directors she published some of the deepest and clearest expositions of Catholic Christianity. Her published writings span the whole gamut of the Church’s teaching.
What is St. Teresa saying? She is saying that God the Father bestows on us indescribable blessings through the humanity of His Only Son. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this truth. Certainly the graces we receive come to us from God. But they come to us through the humanity which the Second Person of the Holy Trinity assumed when He became man.
St. Peter Julian Eymard
If there is one person who qualifies as a Eucharistic saint it is Peter Julian Eymard (1811 – 1868). He had been a member of the Society of Mary, but received a dispensation to organize the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament for men, and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament for women.
St. Therese of Lisieux
We close this conference on Eucharistic saints with the Little Flower, better known as St. Therese of Lisieux (1873 – 1897). Her mother died when Therese was still a young child. She entered the Carmelite order at the age of fifteen and became directress of novices in 1895. The young Carmelite was remarkable for her humility, simplicity, piety, and patience in enduring the acute physical suffering caused by pulmonary hemorrhages.
There is one of her published writings that has been translated into all modern languages and has deeply affected the spiritual life of whole nations. Pope Pius XI had a great devotion to the Little Flower and canonized her in 1925 shortly after he began his pontificate.
One more quotation from St. Therese should be made. She declares, without reservation, that “The best means to reach perfection is through receiving Holy Communion frequently. Experience sufficiently proves it in those who practice it.” In other words, receiving our Lord in the Eucharist here on earth is the surest guarantee of joining Him in that everlasting home where He is waiting for us.
(Article edited from the Catholic Culture)