Apostle Of The Blessed Sacrament

One of the saints whose feast we celebrate today is St Peter Julian Eymard. He had tremendous devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and so has been called the Apostle of the Blessed Sacrament. His writings are some of the most beautiful written on Our Lord's Real Presence in this sacrament.
Here is some advice on adoring Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament from this great saint.

ADORATION IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH
The Father seeks such to adore him . . . in spirit and in truth.  (Jn 4:23)

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"?

This conversation between the soul and our Lord is the Eucharistic meditation, i.e., adoration.

The grace of it 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.  In this way, they will honor and glorify the God of the Eucharist through the virtues of his mortal life as through those of all the saints, of whose holiness he was the grace and end as he is now its crown of glory.

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."

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.

When on account of illness, infirmity, or some other reason, you cannot make your hour, let your heart be saddened for a moment.  Then in spirit imagine yourself at adoration in union with those who are actually adoring.  On a bed of sickness, or on a journey, or at a task that detains you, be more recollected, and you will derive the same fruit as if you had been able to kneel at the feet of the good Master.  That hour will be written down to your credit and perhaps even counted for two.

Go to our Lord just as you are.  Be natural in your meditation.  Use up your own stock of piety and love before resorting to books.  Cherish the inexhaustible book of a humble love.  It is all very well to take a pious book with you to regain control of yourself in case the mind wanders or the senses grow drowsy; but remember that our good Master prefers the poverty of our heart to the most sublime thoughts and affections from others.

You can be sure that our Lord wants our heart and not that of someone else.  He wants the thought and prayer of that heart as the genuine expression of its love for him.

It may be that we do not want to go to our Lord because we are ashamed of our misery and wretchedness: that is the fruit of subtle self-love, impatience, or cowardice.  Our Lord prefers our helplessness to everything else; he is pleased with it and blesses it.

You are suffering from spiritual dryness?  You can at least give glory to God's grace without which you can do nothing.  Open your soul toward heaven just as a flower opens its petals at sunrise to receive the refreshing dew.

You are stricken with utter powerlessness; your mind is lost in darkness; your heart is crushed with the weight of its nothingness; your body is ailing.  Offer him the adoration he should expect from one so destitute; forget your poverty and abide in our Lord.  Or again, present your poverty to him that he may make it rich; that is a masterpiece worthy of his glory.

But you are in a state of temptation and of sadness; everything rebels in you; everything induces you to leave your adoration under the pretext that you are offending God, and that you are dishonoring rather than serving him.  Do not listen to that insidious temptation; you adore him by resisting, by being loyal to him against yourself.  No, no, you are not displeasing him.  You are bringing joy to the Master who is looking on and who permitted Satan to upset you.  He expects you to honor him by remaining with Him to the last minute of the time you were to devote to him.

May confidence and simplicity and love bring you to adoration.

St Peter Julian Eymard also had a special devotion to Our Lady and because of her special relationship with Our Lord, gave her the title of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. As August begins the month dedicated to The Immaculate Heart of Mary, I thought I would share this prayer to Our Lady under this beautiful title.

Prayer to Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament

                                          O Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament,

you are the glory of Christians,
the joy of the universal church,
the hope of the world,
pray for us.
Bring to life in all the faithful
a devotion to the most Holy Eucharist.
Hence, we will be worthy
to receive Holy Communion every day.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us.

Today is also the feast of St Eusebius. He lived in the 4th Century and did much as bishop to defend the Church against the Arian heresy. You can read more about him by clicking the above link.