Table of Contents

Table of Contents .................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................. 2 The Annunciation ................................................................... 6 Divine Adoption ...................................................................... 9 Perfect Model of the Church ............................................ 11 Mary, Model of Adoration ................................................. 13 Marys humility ...................................................................... 15 Essential Spirituality .......................................................... 18 Praying Together ................................................................. 26 Marys Beauty ........................................................................ 28

Introduction
Mary and the Eucharist is the object of our meditations and reflections in this little book. What can we say about Mary and the Eucharist? We can say that never has there been anyone who has loved Jesus so much in the Blessed Sacrament as Mary because there was never anyone who has loved Jesus more than Mary and that was by Gods gift: he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. Now Mary wants us to love Jesus as she did, so we are always welcomed by her as her children, so that she can imbue us with that same spirit of love and devotion as she had towards the Son of God. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will guide our meditations and contemplations of Marys role in leading us to Jesus in the Eucharist.
Holy Spirit, you know all things and you watch over the children of God in this life, so that we can love you eternally in the next. Help us to come to an understanding of love and devotion of Marys love for the Eucharist, so that we can imitate her holiness and rejoice in your gifts. We ask this of you because you are love.

I want to study the relationship between Mary and the Eucharist in order to understand the significance Mary had in the early Church.There was no other person of more importance than Mary in the early Church after the Ascension of the Lord into heaven. The Church continued to grow one in mind and heart, and in the breaking of the bread. We know that the early Church came together to celebrate the Eucharist. What was the early climate of Christianity like? We do know that thee was heavy persecution in the early Church. Surely Marys presence was seen as a means of being united with Jesus who had already ascended to Heaven. Furthermore, in the early Church Mary was the bright Morning Star which shone on earth for those who were seeking the true light of faith. There was no stronger light that Mary could

have drawn other to than the Eucharist. Mary knew intuitively the words Jesus spoke at the institution of the Eucharist: this is my body. Do this in memory of me. When we turn our attention to the first days after the Crucifixion, we see Mary already given the place of being a true Mother to the children of the Church; Christ had entrusted John to Mary and Mary to John. This was a significant revelation of Jesus before his death. Could it mean that Jesus was signifying the role that Mary would play throughout the ages towards the children of the Church? Another reason I want to carry out this research is to find out how Mary can teach me to become a better adorer of the Eucharist. What are some of the actions of Mary that helped the early Church to grow into the kind of people that God intended for them? How can I still live these in my

life today? In this sense, we can learn much about Marys charity, purity of heart and faith. Without Jesus on earth, how was Mary consoled by the presence of the Eucharist, knowing that the Eucharist was the living presence of God? In all of these questions we want to come to a better understanding of Mary in her relationship to the Eucharist with the hope that we can imitate her devotion and her life.

The Annunciation
There is no better place to begin than the Annunciation. In the Annunciation we see Mary called to be the Mother of the Lord. First of all we can see from the Gospel writer that God was searching for a home for his Son who was to redeem us. He found no better home that in Mary. He chose no other place than Nazareth; he chose no other foster-father than the Just Man, Joseph:
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the Virgins name was Mary. (Lk. 1:26)

The wisdom writers of the Old Testament say that God has a time for everything under the sun:
There is an appointed time for everything, And a time for every affair under the Heavens. (Eccl.. 3:1)

In the same way, there was the perfect time for Mary, a time to reveal to her that she was the Mother of the Lord. MARY TEACHES US HOW TO RECEIVE THE SON OF GOD INTO OUR LIVES. Mary can teach us because she is eternally close to the Holy Spirit who overshadowed her at the Annunciation. The virtues that God so loved about Mary, were those He freely chose to place in her heart before the foundation of the world so that she could be holy and without blemish before him. (Eph. 1:4) Thru Mary, the world is taken up into the life of the Blessed Trinity. In short, Mary reveals to us the truth of God:
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except thru me. (Jn. 14:6)

When we come to Mary, she reveals to us the

Father, since when we come to Jesus we also see the Father:

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. (Jn. 14:9)

Divine Adoption
Mary reveals to us the status of our divine adoption:
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. (Eph. 1:5-6)

In God there is no time as we see it, there is

just eternity, yet all time is in him in another way, since there would be no time without his creative power. In other words, after all of the patriarchs and prophets had been revealed to Israel, Mary came to the people of Israel and by her humble virtues she brought to birth the Son of God. It was from Marys giving birth to Jesus that all of the other miraculous deeds would flow from Jesus Christ.

In other words, when we come to Mary she shows us our status as adopted children of God, since it was from her that the adoption took place. In Mary we find our home in God. Not only does God find a home in Mary, but all those who come to Mary, will be led home thru her. Mary has no other desire than to have other say along with her:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. (Lk. 1:46-47)

Perfect Model of the Church

The Fathers of the Church call Mary is its type and outstanding model in faith and charity.(Lumen Gentium, 53) In other words, God made Mary the model of Christian faith; therefore, we honor Mary because of Gods loving choice of her and the work of his own creation. We can see now how intimately close Mary is to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and how she longs to have us become more like him. Just as she rejoices eternally for the gifts God bestowed upon her for all of mankind, so she desires to draw each of us to Jesus in the Eucharist who gives us eternal life:
I am the living bread come down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. (Jn. 6:51)

St. Paul spoke of this moment when the Word became flesh in these words:
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption. As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, Abba, Father! So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. (Gal. 4:4-6)

We can say that in the fullness of time, Mary gave

birth the Savior and brought forth from mankind an eternal thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is gratitude for gifts received. Jesus would tell his disciples:
No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for ones friends. (Jn. 15:13)

It is thru Mary that the fullness of revelation, Jesus Christ, was revealed to mankind:
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe (Heb. 1:1-2)

Mary gave birth to him thru whom the Father brought into being all things.

Mary, Model of Adoration

When we turn our attention to Mary and the Eucharist we first come to the awareness that she among all creatures was closest to the Son of God. This closeness was designed by God from all eternity. Adoration is the effect of knowing the infinite Good God and giving our entire being to Him both in spiritual and in bodily adoration. We adore him with our minds because he is the infinite truth; we adore him with our hearts because he is the infinite truth; lastly, we adore him with our bodies, because he is worthy of every action of our lives with the greatest homage. We read of this homage of God in several places in the Book of Revelation:
The twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne and worship him, who lives forever and ever. They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming: Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will them came to be and were created. (Rev.4:9-11)

When the three wise men from the East came to find the newborn King of the Jews they wanted to do him homage:
Where is the newborn king of the Jews We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage. (Matt. 2:1)

Among all creatures, Mary is the one who can lead us to true adoration, since she is the one to whom God has revealed himself as redeemer and savior:
The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. (Lk. 1:35)

God appointed Mary , Queen of adoration, since she was the first person to adore the Son of God in her womb. She adored with her whole souls assent in faith:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; My spirit rejoices in God my savior. (Lk. 1:46-47)

Mary consecrated her whole being to God in response to the grace given to her:
Hail favored one! The Lord is with you. (Lk. 1:28)

Mary s Humility

We are drawn to Marys humility because that humility drew down God to earth. As hard as it is for us to comprehend, it is a reality worthy of our deepest devotion. The Saints say that humility is truth; that is, knowing our place before God, others and ourselves. Mary expresses this humility in the Canticle she spoke to Elizabeth. Mary spoke of the lowliness of herself as a handmaid of God. A handmaid is simply a female servant. In other words, Mary realized that she was a servant of God. Mary comes into our lives in order to teach us the true humility of the savior. She lived with Jesus daily for all those years at Nazareth and understands God ways are different from our own fallen ways; she will enlighten us what will be pleasing to God. Those who worship the Father must worship in spirit and in truth; Mary, was established in the Spirit from the first moment of her conception, so she can lead us to a Spirit filled life

Mother of Surrender To abandon oneself entirely is to surrender. In our time before the Lord we often are called to renew our entire surrender to the will of the Lord in our lives. Mary gives us a perfect example of selfless surrender. From the first moment of her conception to the moment when she was taken up to heaven she gave this surrender to God. Mary had the intuition that God always wills the perfect thing for each of us; for God to be anything less than perfect would not be in keeping with his nature; therefore, God always acts perfectly in our lives. Our union with that will is our peace. We can speak of peace in two ways. The first way of speaking of peace is a feeling of harmony; the second way of speaking of peace is giving our will in union with another without thought of our self. We give ourselves to the other because we want that other person to be happy. That is love. Jesus surrendered himself to God in this way when he said, not my will, but your will be done. This was Jesus most intense love for the Father and for mankind.

Mary showed this surrender at the wedding of Cana when she told the waiters :do whatever he tells you. (Jn. 2:5) She in effect will always to do whatever the Lord tells us, since the Father has put all authority into his hands. Sometimes we may not be able to see beyond this present day and this situation, yet in faith, by willingly obeying the Lord, we will gain his virtue and be blessed because of our willingness to believe rather than understand. There is nothing wrong with understanding, but sometimes God asks us to simply believe he will turn everything to our good rather than trying to understand how he will carry out his will. Gods will is always infinitely above our own will and understanding. He may allow us to see partially what he is doing because of our weak faith. He will faith more than anything, since he told his followers: all things are possible to him who has faith. (Mk. 9:23)

Essential Spirituality
When we speak of essential spirituality what are we referring to? We mean the substance of our spirituality. The Church places essential truths before us as food for our souls and as guiding stars to our final fulfillment. These truths have the most essential importance for the health of our faith. The Church uses a special term for them: De Fide. There is no greater mode of assent to our faith than to De Fide statements. Actually, De Fide statements are so important that we cannot say we are followers of Christ and members of his Church without holding them with the greatest fidelity.

Mary is Mother of God (De Fide) That Mary is truly the Mother of Christ Jesus is a De Fide statement. The humanity of Christ and the Motherhood of Mary are intrinsically linked as One. How does this refer to the Eucharist? As was said earlier, Mary made possible, thru giving birth to the Word Made Flesh, the works of Christ Jesus. The Sacraments of the Church are such works of Christ. Mary made these possible, because God made her possible from all eternity to be the Mother of Christ. We honor Mary, but we adore God. To Mary is given the highest honor possible to a creature but to Jesus Christ we owe eternal adoration for redeeming and sanctifying humanity. He restored the lost privileges of our humanity because of original sin. Mary played a significant part in this restoration by giving to Christ his true body thru her fiat at the Annunciation. These are infallible truths we assent to without having the ability to fully comprehend them in this life. God does provide to us insights into their truths.

Foretold in Sacred Scripture The prophet Isaiah foretold the role a woman would play in the birth of the Savior of Israel:
The virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. (Isa. 7:14)

The Church has always interpreted these words as

referring to the birth of the Messiah thru the Virgin Mary. The early Fathers of the Church, notably St. Ignatius of Antioch spoke of these words in relation to Jesus Birth and Marys Motherhood:
Let my spirit be counted as nothing for the sake of the cross, which is a stumbling-block to those that do not believe, but to us salvation and life eternal. Where is the wise man? where the disputer? Where is the boasting of those who are styled prudent? For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water.

The cross of Christ is indeed a stumbling-block to those that do not believe, but to the believing it is salvation and life eternal. Where is the wise man? where the disputer? Where is the boasting of those who are called mighty? For the Son of God, who was begotten before time began, and established all things according to the will of the Father, He was conceived in the womb of Mary, according to the appointment of God, of the seed of David, and by the Holy Ghost. For says [the Scripture], Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and He shall be called Immanuel. [ANF01, Ephesisns, Ch. 18]

St. Ignatius of Antioch boasts in our Lord Jesus Christ and his Mother, since it was from her that the world received God in the flesh thru a humble Virgin. He shows here that though the Word had established all things in creation, yet he humbled himself to be born of his own creation, defying any boast of greatness.

Communal Life Communal life in the Church were not much different than they are today. Here is a summary given by the author of the Acts of the Apostles:
They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. (Acts 2:42)

We can see in this passage a brief overview of the major activities in the early Church. First, there was a deep devotion. This devotion was expressed in carrying out he teachings of the apostles; in other words, the apostles were held in great esteem. Mary would have been one of those people who gave this devotion to the apostles, knowing that they were chosen by Jesus himself to give witness to the world of his teachings. Nest, the author recalls the communal life. Unlike those who were trying to destroy the early Church by their persecutions, the early Christians came together to support one another in their care for one another. When we think of the Eucharistic celebration we surely think of building community in a profound sense. When we celebrate the Eucharist we relive that night when Jesus died to save us from sin and to bind us together in an eternal charity in the Church. In this sense, Mary would have been a great sign of hope for all those who were preparing for the eternal celebration of the heavenly Church. The Book of Revelation gives witness to this triumphant rejoicing in the early Church:

The community of the believers was a foreshadowing of the Kingdom that Jesus had made his own thru his life, death, and resurrection. Mary, was a witness of this Kingdom. She truly gave witness to this reigning of the Son of God thru his Eucharistic presence. Mary would have been the person who fulfilled Jesus words to do this in memory of me. This is why the author of the Acts of the Apostles says :
They devoted themselvesto the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. (Acts. 2:42)

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. (Rev. 1:5-6)

In other words, the early Churchs devotion was thorough and applied to all aspects of their life; it applied to their life of instruction, fellowship, prayer and worship. This life was an eternal life, begun on earth and lived eternally. It was a life that was nourished by the Eucharist and shared with the world; it was a life that was inspired by the sacred teachings of the apostles, who received the sacred teachings from Christ and the Holy Spirit, and gave bod witness to a world that had fallen from grace or who had fallen victim to false teachings. It was in community that each could strengthen one another and fulfill the various ministries that had been distributed by the Holy Spirit.

Praying Together
We do find another image of Mary on the day of Pentecost that give us another insight into the role she played in the early Church. Not only were there prayers which were recited daily in the temple or in the feast of agape, but there was communal prayer of another kind:
When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying with, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. (Acts 1:13-14)

This is the first time we see the apostles together as a group after the Lords Ascension to heaven. These are the men that Jesus chose to build his Church and to teach others the way. What are they doing? They are known as men and women of prayer. In other words, the Church has always been a divine institution that depends upon its life thru prayer. What is the greatest prayer of the Church? It is the Eucharistic prayer. The author says very clearly here that all these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer.. We can see clearly here that Mary was always at the center of the unity of the Church. Prayer reveals its fruits in unity and community among its members. St. Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, selfcontrol. (Gal.5:22-23)

These are the fruits of the Spirit so evident in Mary, for she was filled with the Holy Spirit. She was the Most Holy among Christ disciples. Her presence in the early Church resonated the fruits of the Holy Spirit and strengthened the unity of the Church. I believe that at the Eucharistic sacrifice these gifts of grace were most evident to those who were striving to remain faithful to their Christian vocation. Mary being full of grace, these fruits of the Spirit would have been very evident in her worship during the Eucharistic celebrations I the early Church; after all, it was her Resurrected Son that she was celebrating.

Mary s Beauty

We would like to briefly touch on the topic of Marys beauty and how it influences out relationship with Christ. Again, when I speak of beauty I am referring to the inner purity and glory given to the Mother of God. As we spoke of earlier there are essential truths called DeFide statements which all Catholics are to assent to. One of those statements is that Mary, is truly the Mother of God. When we assent to the truth behind this we are entering into the world of Gods Mysterious plan of salvation. In this sense, Marys beauty is a sharing in the eternal beauty of God. St. Thomas Aquinas says that there are three essential parts to beauty: integrity, harmony, refulgence. Integrity is what a thing is; it is true to its form; harmony, is that all the parts of a thing, fit perfectly to make that thing work and that there is no part of that thing which works against the whole; lastly, refulgence, is the light that shines because of the things integral parts. In this sense when we speak of Marys beauty we are referring to her Immaculate Conception. Her Immaculate Conception made her free from all sin from the first moment of her conception. This was

so that she could be the Mother of the Incarnate Word. Marys integrity is in union with the glory of God; she comes into being as the handmaid of the Lord. When we speak of Mary we are immediately drawn into the Mystery of God, the Mystery of the Incarnation, the splendor of Creation, the Redemption of Mankind and the Immaculate Conception. In short, Mary is a ray of the divine beauty of God, shining thru his creature. Since Mary is so associated with the glory of God and we as creatures, as created out of nothing by God, can identify more with Mary, because of the abundance of grace bestowed on her, we can easily praise God for his wonderful gifts to creation thru Mary. Thru Mary, we are given a spotless mirror to see into the divine attributes of God: love, mercy, eternity, power, omniscience. Ps. 45 speaks nobly of this beauty of Mary:
Listen, my daughter, and understand; Pay careful heed. Forget your people and your fathers house, That the king might desire your beauty. (Ps. 45:11-12)

This psalm tells of a royal wedding, but when it applied to Mary we can understand one thing. The beauty of the Queen is desired by the beauty of the King. Mary, being the greatest Queen of the Church is surely desired by the King of heaven and earth. Could anyone comprehend the beauty of Mary as God who created her. He who created her to be the Mother of God himself made flesh, but also the Mother of all of the adopted children of God. In another sense, all of the beauty of the communion of Saints is in Mary who is full of grace, and who while being the Mother of God, contains the beauty of all the Saints. Cannot we also say Mary contains the incomprehensible beauty of God?

Bibliography Catholic Biblical Association of America, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and Bishops Committee. The New American Bible. New York: Benziger, 1970. Roberts, Alexander, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004.

INDEX

A
Annunciation, 8, 10, 27 apostles, 30, 31, 33, 36

B
beauty, 39, 41, 42 Blessed Sacrament, 3 Blessed Trinity, 10 Book of Revelation, 17, 31

C
children of God, 4, 13, 42 Church, 5, 14, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 42 community of the believers, 32 Creation, 40 creatures, 17, 18, 40

D
De Fide, 25, 26, 27

E
Eucharist, 3, 4, 5, 14, 17, 27, 31, 33 Eucharistic Heart, 14 Eucharistic prayer, 36

F
faith, 6, 14, 19, 24, 25 Father, 10, 11, 15, 16, 21, 24, 29, 32 Fathers of the Church, 28

H
holy, 10, 18

Holy Spirit, 3, 4, 10, 33, 37 humility, 21

I
Immaculate Conception, 40 incomprehensible, 42 instruction, 33 Israel, 12, 28

J
Jesus, 3, 5, 11, 12, 14, 15, 21, 23, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36 Joseph, 8

K
King of the Jews, 18

L
love, 3, 4, 12, 15, 23, 37, 40

M
Mary, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42 Marys Beauty, 38 Mother of Christ, 27

N
Nazareth, 8, 21

O
Old Testament, 9

P
Pentecost, 35

prayer, 33, 35, 36

Q
Queen of adoration, 19

S
Savior, 15, 28 SON OF GOD, 10 St. Paul, 15, 36 St. Thomas Aquinas, 39

T
teachings, 31, 33

U
unity, 36, 37

V
virtues, 10, 12

W
worship, 18, 21, 33, 37