Quotations from Saints and Doctors of the Church on the Joy of the Blessed Sacrament

The amount of material written by the saints and blesseds in support of the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist could fill volumes.  In honor of today's Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, here is a short series of quotations that can help us in our meditations this day:

St. Cyprian (200-258), “More fortunate than the Jews who lived upon manna, holy souls here taste the most exquisite sweetness, infinitely surpassing the rarest pleasures of the world.”

St. Anselm (1033-1109), “O delicious Bread, heal my heart that I may taste the sweetness of Thy love; deliver it from lukewarmness, that it may taste no other sweetness than in Thee alone.”

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), “No one could express the ineffable sweetness of this mystery, by which we taste of spiritual delights at their very source.”

St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), “By virtue of this sacrament, my heart is so inflamed that material fire seems to me cold in comparison; I am so filled with joy that I can no longer contain myself, and I am astonished not to see my whole being dissolve.”

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), “Rejoice, O my soul, and thank God for having left thee in this valley of tears a present so magnificent, and a consolation so remarkable.”

St. John Berchmans (1599-1621), “O Jesus, my dear Master!  what is there after divine communion that can give me pleasure and content?”

St. Jean-Marie Vianney (1786-1859), “When we receive Holy Communion, we receive our joy and our happiness.”