I praise and glorify Thee for the measureless abundance of Thy wondrous love, in that, after eating of the Paschal lamb, that so Thou mightest fulfil the old Law, Thou didst for the first time celebrate the Sacrament of Thy own most precious Body and Blood, as a memorial of Thy Passion, and of Thy everlasting love for us. At that first Eucharist, Thou didst Thyself, with yearnings of intense devotion, deliver with Thy own ever-blessed Hands, the self-same Sacraments which we now receive to Thy disciples, to be eaten by them; and didst also at the same time make known the form of Its Consecration to be used by them, and by the Priests to be afterwards ordained by them; giving to them, and to their successors, full power to celebrate Mass, so long as the world shall last.
O matchless and wondrous outpouring of love! O the supreme generosity of the bounty of God, — the Giver coming into the Gift; the Gift being wholly the same with the Giver! O worthy and ever to be observed memorial, in which the faithful soul calls to mind that its own death has been put to death, and that in its Beloved, Whom it has received, it has found Life everlasting! O wonder of all wonders the most stupendous, O joy of all joys the greatest, to have God verily present with us, though hidden beneath the wondrous Sacrament; God, Whom the Holy Angels in Heaven adore, as infinitely above themselves, showing Himself to us under a form which all may look upon.
O my sweet Jesus, grant to me, I pray Thee, for the worthy reception of this most Holy Sacrament, a heart contrite for my sins; a conscience made pure in confession; a mind lifted up in prayer; firm faith, strong hope, and fervent
