St. Peter Julian Eymard, Apostle of the Eucharist – The Eymard Library

The Eymard Library 9 volume set is an excellent resource recommended for your adoration chapel or library. It is ideal for ongoing formation of adorers, as well as for homiletics, catechetics, bulletin inserts and quotes. Makes a great gift for First Holy Communion, Graduation, Confirmation or Ordination.

It is available and you can order it on our website at this link: The Eymard Library – 9 Volume Set

St. Peter Julian Eymard (1811 to 1868)

St. Peter Julian Eymard is known as the Apostle of the Eucharist. His feast day is celebrated on August 2.

Throughout his Priestly life he worked to promote devotion and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In 1856 he founded the “Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament”, devoted to adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

He encouraged perpetual adoration as a response of love and frequent Communion as a source of strength for the Christian life.

Throughout his life, he was fascinated by the Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, which became the all-consuming focus of his life. He said: “The greatest grace of my life has been a lively faith in the Blessed Sacrament since my childhood. The Holy Eucharist is Jesus, past, present and future.”

He felt that the spiritual malaise of his times could only be changed by the fire of Eucharistic love. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament became the sign of that love.

Here are some of his quotes about the importance of Eucharistic Adoration in our lives.

Excerpts from St. Peter Julian Eymard, in The Eymard Library, Volume I, The Real Presence:

“The object of Eucharistic adoration is the divine person of our Lord Jesus Christ present in the most Blessed Sacrament. He is living there. He wants us to speak to him, and he will speak to us. Anybody may speak to our Lord. Is he not there for everybody? Does he not tell us, “Come you all to me”?”
“The grace of (Eucharistic Adoration) is given to everybody. In order, however, to succeed in it and avoid routine or dryness of mind and heart, adorers must seek inspiration in the grace of their vocation, in the various mysteries of the life of our Lord and of the Blessed Virgin, or in the virtues of the saints.”
“When your hour is particularly difficult, rejoice all the more; your love will be greater for its suffering more. It is a privileged hour that will count for two.”
“Love cannot triumph unless it becomes the one passion of our life. Without such passion we may produce isolated acts of love; but our life is not really won over or consecrated to an ideal. Until we have a passionate love for our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament we shall accomplish nothing.”
“Look upon the hour of adoration assigned to you as an hour in paradise. Go to your adoration as one would to heaven, to the divine banquet. You will then long for that hour and hail it with joy. Take delight in fostering a longing for it in your heart. Tell yourself, “In four hours, in two hours, in one hour, our Lord will give me an audience of grace and love. He has invited me; he is waiting for me; he is longing for me.”

“LET US LOVE THE BLESSED SACRAMENT.”

“Our Lord wants to instill in us a passionate love for Himself.” “Certainly, our Lord loves us passionately in the Eucharist; He loves us blindly without a thought for Himself, devoting Himself entirely for our good. We should love Him as He loves us.” pg. 180
“Love the Eucharist passionately. Love our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament with all the ardour with which people love one another in the world, but for supernatural motives.” pg. 181
“To ensure success in this, begin by placing your mind under the influence of this passion. Foster within you the spirit of faith. Convince yourself invincibly of the truth of the Eucharist and of the reality of the love which our Lord shows you therein.” p. 182
“Value highly the love and the Presence of Our Lord; contemplate them in an ecstasy of delight. You will thus add to your love a fuel that will feed its flame and ensure its constancy.”
“Fix your mind on our Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament and ponder on His love. Let this thought take hold of you; let it enrapture you.”…
“The heart leaps towards the Blessed Sacrament… the heart would burst its walls of flesh, if it could, to unite itself more intimately to our Lord.”
“Look at the saints. Their love transports them, makes them suffer, sets them on fire; it is a fire that consumes them…”
“Is there anyone in the world that you love? … transfer this love to our Lord… what we do for a creature is what we must do for God; with the difference, however, that we must love the Good God beyond all measures… more and more.”
“We cannot consider the Blessed Sacrament attentively without concluding ‘I must love Him, and come to visit Him. I must not leave Him alone; He loves me too much!'”
“But with the Eucharist, we must give ourselves; we must abide and live in our Lord! The Eucharist is the noblest aspiration of our heart.”
“If you love the Eucharist passionately, you will habitually have our sacramental Lord in mind; you will find your happiness at His feet; and you will be constantly seeking His good pleasure. Come, let us all be taken up with our Lord… Let us forget ourselves and give ourselves to this good Saviour? Let us sacrifice ourselves a bit!” p. 186
See below for more from this source.

THE EUCHARIST OUR WAY

“Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is the unchanging way to holiness. He is the means as well as the model…. In the Blessed Sacrament Jesus is the model of every virtue…”
“There is nothing so beautiful as Jesus in the Eucharist. But only the pious souls who have the habit of receiving Communion and of meditating are able to understand it… Few people think of His virtues, of the life or of the state of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. We treat Him like a statue; we live under the impression He is there merely to forgive our sins and listen to our prayers. This is a wrong viewpoint. Our Lord lives and acts in the Eucharist. Look at Him, study Him, and imitate Him. .. Men may show you the way of acquiring virtues, but no one other than our Lord can give them to you and see to the education of your soul. .. as we grow to know His voice better, and our hearts become more detached and more in sympathy with Him, our Lord reveals Himself in a clearer light and with an intimacy know only to those who love Him.” p. 192
“All our virtues must come from the Eucharist. For instance, if you wish to practise humility; see how Jesus practises it in the Blessed Sacrament. Start with this…”
“Self-abasement is a characteristic of Eucharistic holiness”.

Excerpts from St. Peter Julian Eymard in The Eymard Library, Volume 2, Holy Communion, Directions for Thanksgiving After Holy Communion:

“The most solemn moments of your life are those you spend in thanksgiving, when the King of heaven and earth, your Savior and your Judge, is yours, fully inclined to grant all you ask of Him. Devote half an hour, if possible, to this thanksgiving… Thanksgiving is absolutely necessary if the act of Communion, so holy, is not to degenerate into mere pious habit…. enjoy the Savior… pay homage to Him for His love… taste at the same time the comforting sweetness of this happy possession… rest in silent adoration, prostrate yourself in the spirit… contemplate Him, filled with wonder… Proclaim Him King of your heart, Spouse of your soul, and hearken to His voice…. then begin your thanksgiving… Adore Jesus… Thank Him… Be sorry again for all your sins… Entreat of Him the grace to never offend Him again… Ask whatever you will… Pray for the reign of His sanctity… for the conversion of sinners… that Jesus may be known, loved and served by all mankind… Give an offering of love, some sacrifice that you will make for Him during the day”.

“A Forgotten Source Of Blessings: Solemn Exposition Of The Blessed Sacrament” By St. Peter J. Eymard

“Let us never forget that an age prospers or dwindles in proportion to its devotion to the Holy Eucharist. This is the measure of its spiritual life and its faith, of its charity and its virtue.”

“St. Joseph: Perpetual Adorer” Book By St. Peter J. Eymard

“Among the graces which Jesus gave to His foster-father is that special to an adorer of the Blessed Sacrament. That is the one we must ask of St. Joseph. Have confidence, strong confidence in him. Take him as the patron and the model of your life of adoration.”

“With Mary Let Us Adore Him!” By St. Peter J. Eymard

“Society will again someday become Christian won to Jesus Christ by the apostolate of Eucharistic Prayer.”
“Eucharistic Adoration is the most necessary mission to the Church, which has even more need of prayerful souls than of powerful preachers or men of eloquence.”
“Eucharistic adorers share Mary’s life and mission of prayer at the foot of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is the most beautiful of all missions, and it holds no perils. It is the most holy, for in it all the virtues are practiced.”
“Today more than ever have we need of men who, by their self-immolation, disarm the anger of God inflamed by the ever increasing crimes of nations. We must have souls who by their importunity re-open the treasures of grace which the indifference of the multitude has closed. We must have true adorers; that is to say, men of fervor and of sacrifice.”

“A Eucharistic Handbook” By St. Peter J. Eymard, Emmanuel Publications

“The adoration of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament is the end of the Church Militant, just as adoration of God in His glory is the end of the Church Triumphant. A holy rivalry, a concert of prayer, a harmony of divine service should exist between the heavenly court and the Eucharistic court here below, between the adorer and his mother the Church.”
“Eucharistic Adoration is the greatest act of holiness on earth.”

Let Us Love the Most Blessed Sacrament

by St. Peter Julian Eymard

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.”

It was from the height of His Cross that our Lord first drew all the souls to Himself by redeeming them. But when our Lord uttered these words, He certainly also had in mind His Eucharistic throne, to the foot of which He means to draw all souls, so as to bind them there with the chains of His love.

Our Lord wants to instill in us a passionate love for Himself. Any virtue or idea which does not end by becoming a passion will never produce anything great. A child’s affection is not love. A child loves by instinct and because it feels that it is loved; it loves itself in those who do it good. A domestic servant may be devoted; his love will be real only if he is devoted out of affection for his master, without any thought of personal advantage.

Love cannot triumph unless it becomes the one passion of our life. Without such a passion we may produce isolated acts of love; but our life is not really won or consecrated to an ideal. Unless we have a passionate love for our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we shall accomplish nothing.

Certainly, our Lord loves us passionately in the Eucharist; He loves us blindly without a thought for Himself, devoting Himself entirely for our good. We should love Him as He loves us.

In order to become a passion, our love must submit to the laws of human passions. I am speaking of honorable passions, which are naturally good; for of themselves passions are indifferent. We make them evil by directing them to an evil end. It is up to us to make good use of them.

When a man is ruled by a passion, he concentrates on it. A man wants to attain a certain honorable and lofty position. He will work only for that; whether it takes him ten or twenty years does not matter. “I’ll get there,” he says. He motivates his life; he directs everything to the realization of this one idea or desire; and he discards everything that may turn him away from his goal.

Another man wants to amass a fortune. He determines the size of it. “I will own this much wealth,” he says. He exerts himself without counting the pains He uses everything as a means to his end and is indifferent to whatever is not in line with it. Still another says: “I want to marry into this or that honorable family.” To him as to Jacob’s seven years of service seem as nothing. If it is necessary, he is ready to serve an extra seven years. “I will have Rachel!” And all the labors of Jacob, Scripture tells us, “seemed to him as nothing because of the greatness of his love.”

This is how people succeed in the world. These passions may become bad and alas! Are very often but one continual crime. But after all, they can be and still are, in themselves, honorable. Without a passion we come to nothing; we live an aimless life and lead a useless existence.

Well, in the order of salvation, we are also in need of a passion that rules our life and makes it bring forth, for the glory of God, all the fruits our Lord expects of it.

Have a passionate love for such and such a virtue, or truth, or mystery. Devote your life, and dedicate your thoughts and labors to it. Otherwise, you will come to nothing; you will remain a day-laborer doing piece-work; but you will never be a hero.

Love the Eucharist passionately. Love our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament with all the ardor with which people love one another in the world, but for supernatural for supernatural motives.

To ensure success in this, begin by placing your mind under the influence of this passion. Foster within you the spirit of faith. Convince your-self invincibly of the truth of the Eucharist and of the reality of the love which our Lord shows you therein. Value highly the love and the presence of our Lord; contemplate them in an ecstasy of delight. You will thus add to your love a fuel that will feed its flames and insure its constancy.

A genius conceives a masterpiece; he pictures it in his mind; he is delighted with it; he will realize it by every possible means and at the cost of any sacrifice; he will know neither fatigue nor discouragement; he is dominated by his masterpiece; he sees it continually; he cannot turn his mind away from it.

Well, fix your mind on our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament and ponder on His love. Let this thought take hold of you; let it enrapture you. “What! Is it really possible that our Lord loves me to the point of always giving Himself to me without ever growing tired?”

Your mind then adheres to our Lord; all your thoughts seek and study Him; you want to fathom the reasons of His love; you are struck with amazement and are enraptured; and your heart cries out spontaneously: “How can I make answer for-so much love!” And your love increases; for we love well only what we know well.

The heart leaps toward the Most Blessed Sacrament. It leaps; for it has not the patience to walk. “Jesus Christ loves me! He loves me in His Sacrament!” The heart would burst its walls of flesh, if it could, in order to unite itself more ultimately to our Lord.

Look at the saints. Their love transports them, make them suffer, sets them on fire; it is a fire that consumes them, uses up their strength, and ends by giving them death. A blessed death, indeed!

But if we do not all of us go that far, we can at least love our Lord passionately, and allow ourselves to be dominated by His love.

Is there not anyone in the world that you love? Mothers, do you not love your children passionately? Wives, do you not love your husbands passionately? Children, is there room in your heart for anyone other than your parents? Well, transfer this love to our Lord.

There are not two loves; there is only one. Our Lord does not ask you to have two hearts, one for him and one for those you love here below. Mothers, love our Eucharistic Lord with a mother’s love. Love Him as your son. Wives, love Him as your husband. Children, love Him as your Father. There is only one faculty of love in us, although it is drawn towards diverse objects for diverse reasons.

There are certain people who love madly their parents or friends but do not know how to love God. But what we do for a creature is what we must do for God; with the difference, however, that we must love the Good God beyond all measure, and love Him always more and more.

A soul that loves in that manner has only one power, one life: our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. He is there! … The soul lives under the influence of that thought. He is there! … And there results an exchange of love, a fellowship of life.

Ah! Why do we not actualize our love? We go back more than eighteen centuries to seek for examples of virtue in the mortal life of our Lord. But our Lord could say to us: “You have loved Me on Calvary because there I washed away your sins. You have loved Me in the Crib because there I was meek and lovable. Why then do you not love Me in the Blessed Sacrament where I am always with you? You have only to come. I am there, alongside of you.”

Ah! Our sins are not so much what we should fear being reproached with at the Last Judgment: they are pardoned forever. But our Lord will reproach us our little love for Him. “You loved Me less than creatures. You did not seek the happiness of your life in Me. You loved Me enough not to offend Me mortally, but not enough to live of Me!”

But we may say: “Are we then obliged to love to that extent?” I am fully aware that there is no written precept to love that much; there is no need for one. Nothing commands it; but everything proclaims it; that law of love is written in our hearts.

Yes, what frightens me is the fact that Christians will gladly and seriously think of all other mysteries and be devoted to some saint; but they will do nothing for our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

But why this state of things? Because we cannot consider the Most Blessed Sacrament attentively without concluding: “I must love Him, and come to visit Him. I must not leave Him alone; He loves me too much.”

In the case of other mysteries, every-thing is far away; it is past history and does not so easily get a hold on the heart; we do little besides admiring them. But with the Eucharist, we must give ourselves; we must abide and live in our Lord! The Eucharist is the noblest aspiration of our heart. Let us therefore love it passionately!

Some say: “But all this is exaggeration!” Love is nothing but exaggeration; to exaggerate is to go beyond the strict requirements of the law. Love must exaggerate. Is not the love our Lord shows us by remaining with us without honor and without servants an exaggerated love? He does not love who intends limiting himself to his strict duties. We love only when we feel the passion of love within us. If you love the Eucharist passionately, you will habitually have our sacramental Lord in mind; you will find happiness at His feet; and you will be constantly seeking His good pleasure.

Come! Let us be all taken up with our Lord! Let us love Him a little for His own sake. Let us forget ourselves and give ourselves to this good Savior! Let us sacrifice ourselves a bit! Look at the candles and the sanctuary lamp, which burn without leaving any trace, without reserving anything for themselves. Why should we not be for our Lord’s sake a holocaust of which nothing would be left? No! Let us live our own life no longer; let Jesus’ Host alone live in us. He loves us so much!

From “The Real Presence” by St. Peter Julian Eymard (Provided courtesy of http://www.ewtn.com/library/SPIRIT/LOVEBLSA.TXT)

Eymard let us love the Blessed Sacrament by St. Peter Julian Eymard.pdf – print as double sided 2 page flyer or homiletic