In both the spiritual and the mystical experience of the stigmatized Saint, the Holy Eucharist has an absolutely central role. For Veronica, in fact, “all proceeds from the Eucharist, all passes through the Eucharist, all returns to the Eucharist, all is drawn together in the Eucharist.”
Amongst all the Sacraments, the Eucharist attracted Veronica’s soul in an absolutely unique and incomparable way. For her, as for every soul who loves the Eucharist, “all proceeds from the Eucharist, all passes through the Eucharist, all returns to the Eucharist, all is drawn together in the Eucharist.” In 1702, she wrote: “God permitted me to understand some of the infinite love (that He has shown us) in all the works done for our salvation and for our learning and discipline. After having done all this it wasn’t enough. At the end of His life, nearing the time of His death, He hadn’t the heart to leave us, thus finding a loving invention of leaving us Himself as food for our souls, in order to remain with us always.”
The Eucharist soon became the privileged place of the Saint’s mystical experiences (raptures, ecstasies, elevation, etc.,) Such distractions did not divert her from liturgical participation, but on the contrary, facilitated it , especially when those experiences granted her a supernatural vision of the celebrations.
Of these, two examples will suffice:
“This morning, after Holy Communion, I had a vision of the Child Jesus….It seemed to me that…He was on the altar each time the priest performed the principle acts such as, The Consecration, Communion and during the two momentos. I seemed to be there in spirit, witnessing everything. Often Jesus offered His Heart together with the offerings made by the priest.….during the Consecration of the most Divine Sacrament, while the priest was raising the Sacred Host, Most Holy Mary told me to make that offering which I always make of myself, in union with that which Jesus made for us on the altar.”
Therefore there is a participation, which is not only exterior (the vision), but also interior with the donation of self – of the heart – united to the One that Christ accomplished on the Cross and actualized in the Sacrament. In the Saint’s experience, the Consecration in the Mass is the effective rite of the objective presence of Christ in the act of His Sacrifice and of His Paschal Mystery, which involves us and assimilates us in His oblation and in His perfect act of worship to the Father.
EFFECTS OF THE EUCHARIST
On the effects that the Most Divine Sacrament causes in souls when one receives Him with faith, the Saint writes: ….the Lord revealed to me, that whenever we approach the font and to be more precise, the immense sea of the Most Divine Sacrament, with faith, love and purity, our soul is immersed in God and does what a fish does, as it were, in the middle of the sea. Oh God! Wherever she is, wherever she turns, wherever she rests, all is God; and this God so enriches our souls with His graces and gifts, that every Communion enables our soul to continuously take giant steps on the way to perfection.”There is a particularly interesting letter written by the Saint which dates back to1697. It is addressed to the Bishop of Citta di Castello, who was suffering from a strong temptation to stop celebrating Mass. In it she exhorted him never to give up the celebration of the Eucharist which is “our true medicine.” Here is how she addressed him:
“….do not give up celebrating the Holy Mass no matter how much you might have scruples…it is all the work of the tempter so that you will not receive in your soul that Divine Food. Oh, how much I urge you on this point! I would not want one day of your life to go by without receiving this help and support… It will do you more good than anything else; this is the true medicine for all our ailments; if we are weak It gives us strength, if we are cold, It warms us; if we are afflicted, It consoles us.”She really understood the infinite value of every Eucharistic Celebration and she felt such gratitude and respect for all priests that she was almost beside herself at the thought of the dignity with which they were invested by God Himself. According to her: “from every priest depends our well-being; each of them should go to celebrate the Mass as clear as crystal.”
And addressing priests she would say: “…think of he who holds The Eucharist in his hands just as you priests do! I think that you are not in yourselves at that moment of the Consecration, or that you feel yourselves changed into God Himself. I believe that you become as fire, and, holding the Divine Love in your hands, I think that you burn, and that you are unable to express in words what the Divine Maker does at that moment in your souls.”She continues:“I believe that you priests never sleep nor can you feed yourselves upon any other food than that of spiritual things. I believe that in this alone do you find your support; and may this most Divine Food of the Blessed Sacrament be a vital sustenance for you all and may you savour nothing else.”
OFFENCES AGAINST THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT
Having reached this point, we cannot omit a well-known vision that the Saint had of priests who mistreat or even profane the Body of Christ. We are in 1697:“Last night…the Lord showed me a multitude of Priests, all wearing priestly vestments: but, at the same moment, He led me to understand that among them there are many Judases and His chief enemies.In an instant, a number of them took the forms of infernal beasts and they were worse than the demons themselves. At such a horrifying sight, the Lord, from Head to foot, was sweating Blood; and at this time, He told me that the reason He was shedding this Blood was for the sins and sacrileges committed by the aforesaid priests, (and they) were like many swords and knives, like many wounds and blows inflicted on His Divine Majesty. He then showed me that Most Precious Blood flowing, like a river, to the ground, so that I would see with what poor esteem and little attention those who had been given such liberty (power) to hold Him in their own hands treated Him, and how they received Him unworthily. Such is what all of those whom He had shown me were doing.I asked Him if He would deign to reveal to me who they were. But he answered: No, these will not be known until Judgment. All of them are already damned to the eternal fires… There is no remedy for them, because they continuously trample Me underfoot and scourge Me. After saying this, with a severe look on His face, He said: Ite maledicti. Oh God! In an instant, I saw them disappear like dense smoke. To all of those who remained with the priestly vestments, He gave His blessing, and He confirmed them as masters of His Body and Blood.”
To say the least this vision is frightening and would need no comment. It cannot help but admonish everyone –but, alas, (according to the Saint’s vision) above all, priests – to treat the Body and Blood of Christ with the utmost reverence. It is very interesting to note the detail, revealed in the vision by Jesus Himself, that he who mistreats the Sacred Species scourges and tramples Our Lord under foot (continuously – He says- they trample Me underfoot and they scourge Me). Yet another detail not to be overlooked is the extreme awareness of the dignity which- for St. Veronica- the priests had, and in what respect they were held. They are, in fact, defined by her “as masters of the Body and Blood of Christ.” “ministers of the Eucharist” and “Christs” of God.
THERE IS A HELL
Mary Most Holy said to St. Veronica: My daughter, I want you to describe the seven places found in Hell where most pain is suffered and for whom they are reserved. The first is the place where Lucifer is chained up, and with him, as his stool, is Judas, and all of those who have been the followers of Judas. The second place is where all of the priests and prelates of Holy Church are, since being elevated in dignity and honours they perverted the Faith to a greater degree, trampling on the Blood of Jesus Christ, My Son, with so many enormous sins…. In the third place that you saw, are all the souls of religious men and women. In the fourth are all the confessors, for having deceived so many souls who were their penitents. In the fifth are all of the judges and governors of justice. The sixth place, instead, is destined for all of the religious superiors. Finally, in the seventh are all those who wished to live according to their own self-will and who have committed every type of sin, especially sins against purity. (Diary IV, 744)
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From: De vita Contemplativa – Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate (Italy)
[CONTRIBUTOR: Francesca Romana]
