Eucharist

Father Hardon’s writings on the Eucharist explore the central mystery of the Catholic faith and the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. These articles examine Holy Communion, the Mass, Eucharistic devotion, adoration, sacrifice, and the spiritual power of the Eucharist in Christian life.

Devotion to the Holy Eucharist Advances Devotion to Jesus’ Person

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Most Catholics take for granted the intimate relationship between the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart. They have come to associate the practice of the nine First Fridays, when Holy Communion is received, with the promises of our Savior to St. Margaret Mary for the grace of a happy death. […]

Institution of the Real Presence

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. We reserve our meditation on the Real Presence after reflecting on the Mass and Holy Communion. Yet the Real Presence is logically prior to the Eucharist as Sacrifice and Communion. The reason is obvious. Christ must first be really present on earth in the Eucharist, before we can intelligently […]

Basic Catholic Catechist Home Study Course on the Eucharist

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The center of the whole Catholic liturgy is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is most important in the life of the Church because it is Jesus Christ. It is the incarnation continued in space and time. The other sacraments and all the Church’s ministries and apostolates are directed toward the […]

Easter and the Holy Eucharist

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. We do not usually associate Easter and the Holy Eucharist. But we should. Our faith tells us that God became man in order that, by His death on the Cross, He might redeem the world. But this same faith tells us that, when Christ died on Calvary, the Church […]

The Holy Eucharist is the Whole Christ

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The most fundamental question to ask about the Blessed Sacrament is, “Who is the Holy Eucharist?” And the correct answer is: The Holy Eucharist is Jesus Christ. There is more behind this answer than many Catholics realize. When the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century defined the meaning […]

The Sacred Heart Is The Holy Eucharist

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus goes back to the early Church in the time of Divine Revelation. Like all other true devotion in the Catholic Church, devotions to the Sacred Heart is based on divine revealed truth. Two passages in Sacred Scripture are the revealed foundations for […]

Understanding the Eucharist – The Greatest Need in the Church Today

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. How can we justify this superlative? On two grounds: What are we saying? Remember the parable that Christ gave to His Disciples about the sower who went out to sow his seed. It was all good seed. But it was not all good ground on which the seeds fell. […]

Eucharistic Theology

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. In the sixteenth century, theories concerning the Holy Eucharist ranged from complete symbolism to some kind of spiritual presence. To meet this challenge to the Catholic faith, the Council of Trent defined the Real Presence in a series of four canons: The Church condemned “anyone who denies that the […]

The Real Presence and Perpetual Adoration

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Errors regarding the Real Presence crept into the Church starting in Europe about 30 years ago. By now it has had a devastating effect all over the world. The work of the Evil Spirit has been phenomenally successful during this period. Re-conversion by natural means is not just inadequate, […]

The Real Presence

Father John A. Hardon, S.J. When Pope Paul VI published his now historic Encyclical Mysterium Fidei on the Real Presence, he reminded especially us priests, that there is a crisis of faith regarding the Eucharist and that Catholics had better awaken to the fact. Otherwise they are liable to be swept off their feet by […]

XV. The Real Presence: Profession of Hope

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. We continue our reflections on why Christ instituted the Real Presence. In this chapter, we will consider the fact that Christ gave us the Real Presence so we might profess our hope in Him as our final destiny. What is Divine Hope? Just as we saw how every human […]

Imitating Christ in the Eucharist

Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The most popular book in the world, after the Bible, is The Imitation of Christ. Since it was published in the early fifteenth century, it has deeply influenced the spirituality of millions of believing Christians. Its basic theme is that, since Jesus Christ is true God and true man, by […]

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