Saint Who?
Saints Who Promoted Eucharistic Devotion
Saint Francis of Assisi
Founder († 1226) Feast: October 4
“Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by Him! Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves, that he who gives himself totally to you may receive you totally!” Francis Bernardone, the cloth merchant’s son who became the joyful beggar of God, was profoundly devoted to the Blessed Sacrament. A biographer notes that in his writings, Francis did not usually use the word “Eucharist,” preferring, with characteristic directness, the simple “Body and Blood of the Lord.”
Because of this love for the Eucharistic presence of the Lord, he also had an especially deep reverence for priests. Should he meet a saint from heaven and a priest on the same road, he said, he would greet the priest first and kiss his hands.
Francis also took physical care of churches, from literally rebuilding the ruined church of San Damiano to carefully sweeping out the churches he visited if they were in need of cleaning. When asked what he did during his long hours of prayer, Francis replied, “What does the poor man do at the rich man’s door, the sick man in the presence of his physician, the thirsty man at a limpid stream? What they do, I do before the Eucharistic God. I pray. I adore. I love.” Francis died in 1226 and was canonized within two years.
Lord Jesus, increase our reverence for the priests who bring us the sacrament of your Body and Blood.
