Some years ago, a young man was unhappily led astray into the
paths of Jewish infidelity. While still in the flower of youth, his
heart was filled with dreams of glory to be attained as a
distinguished musician. One evening he was asked to play the organ in
one of the principal churches in Paris; there in that church God
awaited him, and prepared for him, not a triumph of his self-love,
but a humiliation a thousand times more glorious. Already the roof of
the sacred edifice re-echoed the sound of the solemn chants, and the
melodious tones of the organ had filled all hearts with recollection
and prayer; every head was bowed and the God of the Eucharist had
blessed His children prostrate in lowly adoration. The unbelieving
musician, alone, dared to raise his haughty brow before that God
despised by his forefathers, but in vain. A mysterious and invisible
hand bowed his head and humbled him to the ground. A miracle of grace
was effected; the young man was conquered; he knelt down a Jew; he
rose up a Catholic. His heart wounded by the Real Presence in the
Sacred Host, he left the church; soon the waters of Baptism were
poured upon him, and exchanging his fashionable attire for the coarse
serge of a monk, he bade an eternal farewell to the pleasures of the
world. A living example of the power of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in
the Blessed Sacrament, he went from city to city, and from village to
village, proclaiming the love of God, repeating again and again: "The
days of grief are departed. I have found peace of heart since I have
tasted the delights of the tabernacle of the Lord." If you would know
the name of this privileged soul, ask it at the cloister of Mount
Carmel, and they will tell you it was Father Augustine of the Most
Blessed Sacrament. If one single visit to the God of the Eucharist
transformed an obstinate Jew into a good Catholic, what may we not
hope to obtain by devout visits to the Blessed Sacrament?
PRAYER: O my Jesus, I adore Thee in this Holy Sacrament, as my Lord
and my God, as my Redeemer and Savior.