Visits to the Blessed Sacrament (1)

Our Catholic Faith teaches us and we must believe, that in the consecrated Host Jesus Christ is really present under the species of bread. He is present on our altars as on a throne of love and mercy, to dispense graces and to show us the love He has for us. Our Church has frequent Eucharistic Expositions, so we may be moved gratefully to acknowledge and honour this loving presence and dwelling of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. But that is not always the case, because Jesus has complained to St Margaret Mary: "Behold that heart which has loved men so much, and which has spared itself nothing; and has even gone so far as to consume itself, thereby to show them its love; but in return the greater part of men only show me in gratitude, and this by the irreverence, tepidity, sacrileges, and contempt which they offer me in this sacrament of love..." So Jesus wished that on the Solemnity of His Most Sacred Heart that all souls who loved him should endeavour, by their homage and the affections of their souls, to make amends for the insults which men have offered him in this sacrament of the Altar; and He promised abundant graces to them. Behold our Jesus, who is not satisfied with dying on earth for our love, even after His Death He is pleased to dwell night and day hidden amongst us in the Most Holy Sacrament, declaring that He finds His delights with the children of men; since He is unable to tear Himself from us even when we abandon and despise Him. This shows us how pleasing are all those to His Heart who frequently visit Him and/or remain in His company in the Churches. When visiting the Most Blessed Sacrament a spiritual Communion is recommended, which consists in an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, and in lovingly embracing him as if we had actually received Him. We can receive many graces through this way, in fact, each time we communicate spiritually we receive a grace of the same kind as the one that we receive when we really communicated. This devotion is so easy to practise, as it can be made without fasting, and at any time we wish to: an act of love does all.

(Reference: The Complete Ascetical Works of St Alphonsus de Liguori, Volume VI - The Holy Eucharist, St Alphonsus de Liguori, edited by Rev Eugene Grimm, New York: Benziger, 1887)