THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT

The Sacred Host being held above a golden chalice; one of the MFVA friars elevating the monstrance outside the Shrine church.

WHAT IS THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT?

The Most Holy Eucharist, also called the Most Blessed Sacrament as in the name of the Shrine, is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

AS CATHOLICS WE BELIEVE:

- From the very beginning, the Catholic Church has believed and celebrated according to the teaching of Jesus himself: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him (Jn. 6:54-56). It is not "ordinary bread and ordinary drink" that we receive in the Eucharist, but the flesh and blood of Christ, who came to nourish and transform us, to restore our relationship to God and to one another.

- How can Jesus Christ be truly present in what still appears to be bread and wine? In the liturgical act known as the epiclesis, the bishop or priest, speaking in the person of Jesus Christ, calls upon the Father to send down his Holy Spirit to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and this change occurs through the institution narrative, by the power of the words of Christ pronounced by the celebrant.

- The reality that, in the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ without ceasing to appear as bread and wine to our five senses is one of the central mysteries of the Catholic faith. This faith is a doorway through which we, like the saints and mystics before us, may enter into a deeper perception of the mercy and love manifested in and through Christ's sacramental presence in our midst. While one thing is seen with our bodily eyes, another reality is perceived through the eyes of faith. The real, true, and substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist is the most profound reality of the sacrament. "This mysterious change is very appropriately called by the Church transubstantiation."

*taken from the USCCB's document on The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church

One of the greatest graces Our Lord gives at the Shrine is a deeper faith in the mystery of the Eucharist. The Shrine is intentionally set apart from the world, and is as beautiful as possible, so that we can slow down and come to adore Him.

Father Mark Mary, one of the MFVA friars, standing at the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Among the first things we are told by the Apostle John in his Gospel is that "in Him [the Word] was life, and this life was the light of men" (Jn. 1:4). This theme of light and life continues throughout the Gospel, calling us to turn toward this Light of the World and believe in Him. The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a place fully devoted to lifting this Light of the World on high that all might be illuminated and transformed by It. Our Lord proclaims in John 12:32, that when He is lifted up, He will "draw all men to himself." In being drawn to Him, we are enlightened by Him, and we begin to see ourselves, and the world, and everything around us by His light. When we allow our lives to be touched by His light in this way, we begin to experience how true it is that "it would be easier for the world to exist without the sun" than for us to live without Jesus present among us in the Holy Eucharist and in the redeeming sacrifice with which it is inseparably linked.

Our Holy Mother Clare said in her Testament that "the Son of God became for us the Way." He did this by becoming one of us, remaining with us, and giving us the Holy Eucharist as a way of entering into and being transformed by His life. In John 6:56, Jesus says that "he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." On Holy Thursday, He called his Apostles once more to "abide in [His] love" (Jn. 15:9). Jesus longs for us to receive Him, to remain with Him, and to adore Him. As we remain in His Presence in Eucharistic Adoration, we behold "the glory of the Lord," and "are being transformed from one degree of glory to another" (2 Cor. 3:18).

Our Holy Mother Clare writes in her Third Letter to St. Agnes of Prague: "Place your mind in the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance! And transform your whole being into the image of the Godhead itself through contemplation! So that you too may feel what His friends feel as they taste the hidden sweetness which God Himself has reserved from the beginning for those who love Him."

We pray that all who come to Our Eucharistic Lord at His Shrine may be drawn into His sweetness and find peace and rest in the Father of Mercies. Our Lord said, "All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out" (Jn. 6:37). Just as on the night before Our Lord said this, the Apostles had crossed the sea amid peril and darkness and found their destination - their destiny and their rest - in the presence of Jesus, so now we find our destiny and our peace in the embrace of Our Eucharistic Lord. This is where we receive the light that reveals to us the life for which we were made.

Encounter the Eucharist

John Paul II Eucharistic Center

The John Paul II Eucharistic Center is an interactive tour for visitors of all faiths to learn and understand the Catholic belief of the Holy Eucharist. To register for a free John Paul II tour, please email our Pilgrimage Department at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Built in order to teach the Biblical and historical roots of the Church's teaching, tour guides lead visitors through scriptural scenes which lead us to see that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and the Bread of Life come down from Heaven.

Eucharistic Stations & Garden

The Eucharistic Stations & Garden is a walk through the history of salvation here at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Stations, or signs, line the flowered walkway to guide us from the prefigurements of the Eucharist to its fulfillment in Heaven. Scriptural texts and references from the Fathers of the Church are provided for meditation. Come at different times of the year to see the different flowers or the crepe myrtles blooming.

The ornate sign at the entrance to the Eucharistic Stations of the Cross Garden which reads: From Promise to Fulfillment.

More Things to Do at the Shrine