St. Louis of France: Man of the Holy Eucharist

In his Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, “On the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission,” Pope Benedict XVI recalls a passage from the Confessions of Saint Augustine, regarding the Holy Eucharist. Saint Augustine writes about the different effect of consuming the Heavenly Bread of the Holy Eucharist in comparison with the effect of eating earthly food. Earthly food is assimilated into our very being; it becomes a part of us. The Body of Christ, the Heavenly Food of our earthly pilgrimage, on the contrary, transforms us into the Food we consume, that is, Christ Whom we receive in Holy Communion.
Through the Eucharistic Sacrifice, our Lord Jesus Christ unites us to Himself, draws our hearts into His glorious Sacred Heart. By so doing, He heals and purifies our poor, fearful and doubting hearts. He gives rest and strength to our hearts. In short, He gives us the grace to live in Him always, to reflect His likeness in every moment of our lives, in everything that we think and say and do. In the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus, we receive the strength to “remove from [our] midst oppression,” to “bestow bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted,” trusting that “the Lord will guide [us] always and give [us] plenty even on the parched land” (Is 58:10-11). In the Heart of Jesus, we find the refreshment and fortitude to become for our neighbor “a spring whose water never fails” (Is 58:11). In the words of Saint Paul, our Lord Jesus Christ gives us the grace to offer our bodies “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1) (Pope Benedict XVI, Post-synodal Apostolic ExhortationSacramentum caritatis, “On the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and