St Catherine And The Eucharist
St Catherine of Siena: The Dictation of The Dialogue
I didn't want to let the day end without honoring St Catherine of Siena whose feast it is today. Today being Sunday, the Lord's Day takes precedence over saints' feast days. (Somehow I don't think they mind.)
The Dialogue are the words spoken to Catherine by God the Father. This is an excerpt from that Dialogue on the Holy Eucharist and its effect on the soul.
Nor is the sacrament itself diminished by being divided, any
more than is fire, to take an example. If you had a burning lamp and all the
world came to you for light, the light of your lamp would not be diminished by
the sharing, yet each person who shared it would have the whole light. True,
each one's light would be more or less intense depending on what sort of
material each brought to receive the fire. I give you this example so that you
may better understand me. Imagine that many people brought candles, and one
person's candle weighed one ounce, another's more than that, and they all came
to your lamp to light their candles. Each candle, the smallest as well as the
largest, would have the whole light with all its heat and color and brightness.
Still, you would think that the person who carried the one-ounce candle would
have less than the one whose candle weighed a pound. Well, this is how it goes
with those who receive this sacrament. Each one of you brings your own candle,
that is, the holy desire with which you receive and eat this sacrament. Your
candle by itself is unlit, and it is lighted when you receive this sacrament. I
say it is unlit because by yourselves you are nothing at all. It is I who have
given you the candle with which you can receive this light and nourish it
within you. And your candle is love, because it is for love that I created you,
so without love you cannot have life.
~The Dialogue
St. Catherine of Siena
St. Catherine of Siena
Comments
Glad you liked this. I haven't read all of the Dialogue; it is not an easy read. I find St Faustina a little easier. I have only read bits and pieces of Gertrude as well, but she too has some powerful writings. All the saints who write about the Eucharist seem to have the same common thread running through them~ we get what we are disposed to to receive which is why it is so important to pray that we receive Jesus properly disposed as well as take advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation.
Thanks for your thoughts on this one and God bless.