On September 1, 1899, St. Charles de Foucauld wrote to his sister from the Nazareth Poor Clare monastery, where he was occupied with being the gardener and handyman for the nuns. In his letter, he wrote: “I am glad to know you are near to a church and the Blessed Sacrament. They are great graces, the Blessed Sacrament, the Mass, and Holy Communion. It is a grace to be at the feet of Our Lord and to receive Him. How blessed we are!”

. On September 2, 1792, some Franciscan priests were put to death during the French Revolution. This was a time of peril for many religious Communities, and the Poor Clares in Lyons were heckled and harried by impious soldiers as their chaplain tried to say Mass. Finally, the Sisters smuggled the chaplain into their Chapter Room at Midnight. This chaplain, much devoted to the Sisters, would not hear of leaving his dangerous post. The Sisters, finally, were able to convince him to go into hiding. On the day of his departure, the soldiers came to drag the chaplain away, along with fifteen other persons, and their throats were all slit.

“It is appropriate to remember the different meanings of ‘adoration’ in the Greek and Latin languages. The Greek word proskýnesis means the act of submission, the recognition of God as our true measure and by whose law we agree to abide. “The Latin word adortio, on the other hand, denotes the physical contact – the kiss, the embrace – which is implicit in the idea of love. The aspect of submission foresees a relationship of union because the one to whom we submit is Love. Indeed, in the Eucharist, worship must become union with the living Lord and then with His Mystical body.” – Pope Benedict XVI, May 22, 2008

“Christ took the bread and the chalice, gave thanks, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat and drink: this is my Body; this is the chalice of my Blood. Do this in memory of me.” Hence, the Church has arranged the entire celebration of the Liturgy of the Eucharist in parts corresponding to precisely these words and actions of Christ, namely: At the Preparation of the Gifts, bread and wine with water are brought to the altar, the same elements, that is to say, which Christ took into his hands. In the Eucharistic Prayer, thanks is given to God for the whole work of salvation, and the offerings become the Body and Blood of Christ. Through the fraction and through Communion, the faithful, though many, receive from the one bread the Lord’s Body and from the one chalice the Lord’s Blood in the same way that the Apostles received them from the hands of Christ himself.”

“The time you spend with Jesus in the Eucharist is the best time you will spend on earth. Each moment is precious and will deepen your union with Him, making your soul more beautiful each day.” - St. Teresa of Calcutta

“Each Holy Communion has a double effect: It unites Christ to us; but much more importantly it unites us to Christ. It is the sacrament of union. It is the further cementing of our unity. It brings Christ anew to us with the flowing of his grace.” – Fr. Daniel Lord, S.J.

In the month of September in the year 1234, St. Clare sent four nuns from San Damiano to begin a monastery dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian, commonly called San Cosimato. This monastery eventually merged with another monastery to found San Lorenzo-in-Panisperna, from which came the nuns who brought the Poor Clare life to the United States. The following is recounted of one of the nuns at San Cosimato: Sister Violante Savelli, by birth a Roman princess, was of most exemplary conduct. She received the habit of the Order at San Cosimato. During her novitiate, she was grievously tempted to pusillanimity, thinking she would never be able to persevere in the observance of the Rule. This affliction caused her great sadness and despondency. Yet she bravely battled against the temptation, praying earnestly for strength and support. Being one night in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, it seemed to her that a gleam of fire suddenly burst forth from the tabernacle, and rested upon her head. From that moment, all fear and timidity vanished, and, ever afterwards she excelled all the rest in the exact observance of the Religious life. Having reached the advanced age of one hundred years, she still attended midnight office, remaining standing the whole time, without ever leaning against anything for support.

Mother Maria Amparo, the foundress of the Poor Clare Monastery in Cantalapiedra, Spain, (see July 6th), met Father Juan Arintero, O.P., in 1913, both of whose Causes for Beatification have been introduced. Together they brought the nuns in Cantalapiedra to heights of charity and sanctity. Father Arintero writes: “The Holy Eucharist, the mystical Bread of Life … is surrounded with lilies not only in the Virgin Mary because of her immaculate purity, but in all those who worthily receive It as true nourishment for their souls, thereby to grow in grace and in virtue.”

Near midnight of September 8, 1845, Father Dominic Barberi was waiting for an Anglican priest who was asking his counsel and direction. There had been a great downpour of rain, and Father Dominic was near the fireplace, drying his clothes. Father Dominic later wrote: “The door opened – and what a spectacle it was for me to see at my feet John Henry Newman, begging me to hear his confession and admit him to the bosom of the Catholic Church! And there by the fire he began his general confession with extraordinary humility and devotion… In the morning … I received [his] profession of faith... On the following morning, I said Holy Mass for the first time in their private Oratory … At the Mass I gave Holy Communion to Mr. Newman and four other companions of his, formerly Protestant, and now most fervent Catholics.” John Henry Newman is now a Saint of the Catholic Church, and Father Dominic Barberi, a Passionist priest, is beatified.

The Poor Clares in Lyons, France, were harassed and menaced during the French Revolution in 1792. After the eighth of September of that year, they still were able to stay in their monastery for one month longer, during which time they were without the Sacraments. They were able, however, to retain one consecrated Host which the sacristan guarded carefully, and which she was prepared to consume if danger threatened. After their arrest, the Sisters were released in prison on July 28, 1794, only being spared guillotined because on that day Robespierre was execution.

On September 11, 1898, Charles de Foucauld returned to the Poor Clares in Jerusalem to work as a gardener and servant. Mother Elizabeth repeatedly urged him to become a priest. “We should try to be so closely united to our Lord that we reproduce his life in our own, that our thoughts and words and actions should proclaim his teaching, so he reigns in us. He so often enters within us in Holy Communion. May His kingdom reign in us.” - St. Charles de Foucauld, letter of September 30, 1897

It is a tradition in our Community to have each Sister have the first name of “Mary.” This custom was introduced by our American foundress, Mother Mary Maddalena. “What would we be without the Blessed Virgin!” she exclaimed one time. “In her office room she had a little statue of the Sacred Heart of Mary. She used to point to the heart and say: ‘That heart will get everything from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.’ The rosary was in her hands habitually; as she walked along the corridors, or in any other spare moment, she would be praying at least a part of it. Even though she was so devoted to the Blessed Virgin, one time she did not want the Sisters praying the rosary during Mass, as was done at that time, when the liturgy was in Latin. She instructed us that holy Mass is one of our principal meditations. ‘She constantly instructed us never to use the book or beads, but to talk heart to heart with our Lord as if we were at the foot of Calvary,’ said one Sister.” - Bentivoglio of the Bentivoglio, page 207

“Continuing progress in the study of the holy Fathers has also shed upon the theology of the mystery of the Eucharist the light brought by the doctrine of such illustrious Fathers of Christian antiquity as St. Irenaeus, St. Ambrose, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and St. John Chrysostom.” - GIRM #8 “This fountain – the Blessed Sacrament – is a fountain of light, shedding abundant rays of love.” - St. John Chrysostom

- Father Juan Arintero, O.P., was a prime force reintroducing many of the mystics to the Catholic faithful. He worked with Mother Amparo of the Sacred Heart of Cantalapiedra, Spain, who revitalized the Poor Clare life in that country. Both of their Causes for Beatification have been started in Rome. He writes: “The palm tree, the symbol of victory, recalls the triumph won by Christ on the cross. From this blessed tree reddened with the Divine Blood… are suspended the fruits of the sacred Passion, especially that most precious fruit of the Eucharist whereby the soul becomes united with, and conformed to the suffering Christ, Who is the ‘true vine.’” - The Song of Songs, ch. VII, page 505

- “One day during the celebration of the Eucharist, [St. Catherine of Bologna, a Poor Clare], stood on her feet as on the cross, according to her expression, not only regarding her bodily position, but also from the effort to stay awake, which cost her a great struggle. While the priest was reciting the Sanctus, she heard the angels singing this word. The melody was sweet and gentle to the point that it seemed to her that her soul had escaped her body. She described it as the briefest instant, happening without enough time even to hear the whole word, but so intense that, if it had lasted a moment longer, she would have fainted.” - Sister Chiara Giovanna Cremaschi O.S.C.

St. Cyprian, the great north African bishop and martyr, lived during a time of confusion regarding the doctrine of the Eucharist and the priesthood, and he experienced harassment himself as he led the faithful entrusted to his care. At that time, the religious leaders were particularly singled out for persecution by the Emperor Decius, and Cyprian wrote to Pope Cornelius to encourage him. Cyprian wrote regarding the Christians who had remained firm in the persecution: “Your lips pronounced the name of Christ and acknowledged your unchanging faith in Him; … your lips, [were] sanctified by the food of heaven, Our Lord’s body and blood…” - The Lapsed, #3

In medieval times, anchorites would have a small cell next to a church. They would spend time in prayer and manual labor. St. Colette of Corbie, a Poor Clare, began her religious life in an anchorhold. Her biographer, Sister Perrine writes of this ceremony, which occurred on September 17, 1402: “In a short time, the abbot had a little anchorhold made… in which she could hear the whole Divine Office, see our Lord in Holy Mass, and receive the most precious Body of our Lord. And when the anchorhold was completed, the good Father, Brother Jean Pinet, preached a most beautiful sermon on contempt of the world. Then she entered the Third Order of St. Francis, vowing poverty, obedience, chastity, and perpetual enclosure. After that the abbot and his venerable convent, the good father, and many prominent persons solemnly placed her in the anchorhold… Sister Katherine … heard her say that she was about eighteen years old when she entered the anchorhold.”

- This Franciscan saint is well known for his levitation, and even for soaring into the air when at prayer. He told his Father Guardian [superior] of the monastery where he lived that “You can be sure that I will depart into the next life on the day I cannot receive the Pecoriello,” [the Little Lamb], as he affectionately called our Lord in holy Communion. And so it happened. He became severely ill, and he was not able to receive the Eucharist. It was on that very day he died.

“In the Lord’s Prayer a petition is made for daily bread, which for Christians mean principally the Eucharistic Bread, and entreating also purification from sin, so that what is holy may in truth be given to the holy. The Priest pronounces the invitation to the prayer, and all the faithful say the prayer with him; then the Priest alone adds the embolism, which the people conclude by means of the doxology. The embolism, developing the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer itself, asks for deliverance from the power of evil for the whole community of the faithful.” - GIRM #81

From the Chronicles of the founder of the Poor Clares in the United States: September 20th [1875], we landed at Almeria, where we were delayed several days. Our first visit was to the Cathedral. Upon entering it, our attention was attracted by a magnificent large oil painting of the glorious Martyr S. Lawrence. We stood to have a good view of it. How it reminded us of our dear San Lorenzo in Rome! We then went to pray before our Divine Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. – Mother Mary Maddalena Bentivoglio, Princess of Poverty, p. 261

Thomas á Kempis praises Christ in the Eucharist in these words, quoting the gospel of Saint Matthew: Thanks be to You, Jesus, everlasting Good Shepherd, Who have seen fit to feed us poor exiled people with Your precious Body and Blood, and to invite us with words from Your own lips to partake of these sacred Mysteries: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” – Imitation of Christ, chapter Four, Book 1

“Jesus, at the Last Supper, turns to the Apostles with these words: ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you’ (Jn 15:16). They remind us all, not only those of us who are priests, that vocation is always an initiative of God. It is Christ who called you to follow him in the consecrated life and this means continuously making an "exodus" from yourselves in order to center your life on Christ and on his Gospel, on the will of God, laying aside your own plans, in order to say with St Paul: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. (Gal. 2:20). - Rejoice! #4, Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life

A Sister who lived with Mother Maddalena, the foundress of the Poor Clares in the United States remembered: In time of trial of the Church she often had a novena to the Blessed Sacrament which then was exposed night and day. In the case of a hardened sinner she would expose the Blessed Sacrament, to intercede that the soul would make its peace with God, I know that this happened three times. (See also October 24th) In the Eucharistic Prayer, thanks is given to God for the whole work of salvation, and the offerings become the Body and Blood of Christ. – GIRM #72b

Permission was given on this date in 1412, for the erection of a Poor Clare convent in Auxonne “for the honor of God and of His divine service, a monastery of the Franciscan nuns of the Order of St. Clare; and that our most dear and most beloved consort the duchess, and our heirs and successors shall participate in the Masses, prayers, intercessions, and other works of charity which shall take place in the said monastery.’ (signed) Jean sans Peur, of Burgandy

“This is the blessed and holy place where the… Order of Poor Ladies [Clares] had its joyful origin.” (Thomas of Celano) The monastery of Saints Cosmos and Damian was the first home of Poor Clares, and in it was a small tabernacle with the reserved Blessed Sacrament. At that time in the Church, it was unusual to keep the Holy Eucharist in the tabernacle, and St. Clare was ahead of her time in her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

“When you have received Jesus into your hearts, can any sacrifice be impossible for you?” - St. Vincent de Paul

Mother Maddalena and her companions left the Sisters of Mercy and moved to their new home. In the evening the Rev. Fr. Quinn, of the Church of the Holy Family, came to bless the house. A little Altar had been erected in a small room behind the parlor. Here the Sisters assembled to say their office and perform their other devotions. September 28th, they were visited by the Bishop, accompanied by Fr. Quinn. Seeing the little oratory, he told Fr. Quinn to get everything ready for the celebration of Holy Mass and the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament. When Mr.[John] Creighton heard of it, he at once had a larger table put up. The Bishop sent a tabernacle, used at the Cathedral during Holy week; Fr. Quinn sent a crucifix; and by October 4th, the feast of the holy Patriarch, S. Francis, everything was in readiness for the first Mass in their new little home. What a beautiful day on which to have their first Mass ! How they thanked their dear Lord that day in Holy Communion for all His tender mercies towards them! How they begged of Him to fill them with the true spirit of their Seraphic Father S. Francis ! How happy they now felt to have their dear Lord constantly residing with them in their humble oratory ! With what fervor and earnestness they tried to pray before His Divine Presence ! - The Princess of Poverty, page 286

“It is said that Saint Michael presides over the worship of adoration rendered to the Most High and offers to God the prayers of the faithful symbolized by the incense whose smoke rises toward heaven.” -- St. Michael and the Angels, page 73

- Saint Jerome was brought Holy Communion as Viaticum at the end of his life, and he prostrated himself in adoration with the words of Elizabeth, “ How is this, that my Lord should come to me?” He then repeated, “Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man.” St. Francis Borgia is famous for the help he gave to St. Teresa of Avila as she was founding her first Carmels. Francis made it a practice to visit the Blessed Sacrament seven times a day. After the death of his wife, Francis joined St. Ignatius of Loyola as one of the first Jesuits.