Saint Peter Julian Eymard at times drew inspiration from nature to speak about the Eucharist and Catholic spirituality. Here are two intriguing offerings for May and June. May 2020 Mme. Natalie Jordan was a close friend of Father Eymard. She was only one year older than him. They both had roots in the Dauphine region […]

Eucharistic Spirituality
Eucharistic Spirituality · March / April 2020
Pain as Prayer
After a lifetime of ministering to people dealing with pain and suffering Fr. Dennis Ruane, SSS penned these thoughts and experiences. He wrote them by hand, not long before he died. We are honored to share them with you. As an ordained priest, well beyond the golden mark, I have witnessed people experience pain on […]
Eucharistic Spirituality · March / April 2020
Images and Ideas of Prayer
Living in an increasingly visual culture, what images and ideas might help your prayer? For about a year now—I’m not really sure when I started—I have been noting down various images or ideas about prayer that I have come across in various places and times of reflection. These images and ideas have helped me quite […]
Eucharistic Spirituality · March / April 2020
Eymard Along the Journey: Eucharistic Reflections of Saint Peter Julian Eymard
March 2019 On March 15, 1860 Peter Julian Eymard wrote a letter to his sister Marianne and Nanette.1 Marianne was the eldest sister and godmother of Peter Julian. Nanette Bernard was an orphan that was taken in by Mr. and Mrs. Eymard, whom Peter Julian loved as sister. Peter Julian’s mother had died when he […]
Eucharistic Spirituality · January / February 2020
Pondering the Parables: The Parable of the Faithful and Wise Servant (Mt 24:45-51)
Jesus asks us, “Who is the faithful and wise servant… ?” (Mt 24:25) The parable of the faithful and wise servant begins with a rhetorical question: “Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant …?” which sets the tone for this and the two parables that follow (Mt 25:1-13 and 25:14-30). Since the parable makes […]
Eucharistic Spirituality · January / February 2020
Eymard Along the Journey: Eucharistic Reflections of Saint Peter Julian Eymard
January On January 25, 1865, Father Peter Julian Eymard began what became known at the “Great Retreat” in Rome at the Redemptorist Villa Caserta on Via Merulana, which is near the Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore, the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome. He was awaiting a response from the pope on what he referred […]
Eucharistic Spirituality · November / December 2019
“A Crib Fit for a King”
Can a crib modeled on a Medieval counterpart awaken faith and wonder in the minds and hearts of modern, restless onlookers? For almost a decade, I have been building original Nativity scenes to display at Christmastime on the campus of the Catholic university where I teach courses in the fine arts and theology. I consider […]
Eucharistic Spirituality · November / December 2019
Pondering the Parables: The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Parables were integral to Jesus’ teaching ministry. His stories engaged the minds and hearts of his listeners and revealed the deeper meaning of their lives and God’s power at work in and around them. The Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1-14 is also found in Luke 14:16-24, but in a form that reflects […]
Eucharistic Spirituality · November / December 2019
Counsels for Spiritual Life from Saint Peter Julian Eymard
Mary Has Led Me by the Hand The Apostle of the Eucharist was also a guide to the interior life and to Eucharistic spirituality for many. From childhood, owing to visits made with his mother to Marian shrines near his birthplace, La Mure d’Isère, Saint Peter Julian Eymard had a deep love for the Blessed […]
Eucharistic Spirituality · September / October 2019
The Rule of Law, Not the Law of Rules: A Gospel Perspective
I. The Rule of Law versus the Law of Rules Oliver Wendell Holmes observed that, “The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.” That pithy sentence in his 1881 classic, The Common Law, clarified the reasoning process employed by the better judges in the legal world.1 They do not simply […]