168 Adoration Companion Saints Who Loved the Eucharist Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Mt 19:14). These words of Christ seem to be a call from the tabernacle—for so many of the saints who exhibited an intense love for our Eucharistic Lord were drawn to him as children. Little Peter Julian Eymard stole into the church to rest his head on the altar. Geltrude Comensoli hid herself in her mother’s shawl and sneaked early to the Communion rail. The altar boy Tarcisius suffered death rather than relinquish the Holy Body. And, to these “official” saints, we might add the unnamed Chinese girl who went to a desecrated church each night for a month to consume the hosts that were spilled there. On the last night she was caught and killed by the Boxer rebels. This child inspired the Eucharistic devotion of Venerable Fulton Sheen, who declared, “The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white Host.” Every spring, in parishes all over the country, sevenyear-olds receive our Lord for the first time—the boys uncharacteristically serious, the girls arrayed in white. Let us preserve that same joy and expectation all our lives, letting our hearts be drawn to him whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. Lord of all, draw me to the altar where I receive the food for my journey, the blessed and broken Body of your Son.
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