Eucharist of Martyrs

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Oct 12, 2005

One bishop's account of the price paid for the Eucharist (from Sandro Magister):

Bishop Lucian Muresan, president of the Romanian bishops’ conference, stunned and moved his hearers with an account of a Eucharist of martyrs:

“In our country, Romania, the communists tried to give man material bread alone, and wanted to chase ‘the bread of God’ from society and from the heart of the human person. Now, we realize that, outlawing our Greek Catholic Church, they were very afraid of the God present in the Eucharist.

“The priests we imprisoned for the only reason that they were Catholic so that they could not celebrate or speak about God. Even the lay persons who participated in the Holy Masses clandestinely celebrated suffered the same [fate]. In the famous period of ‘re-education’ and ‘brainwashing’ in the Romanian prisons, to compromise priests, to ridicule the Eucharist and to destroy human dignity, the persecutors made them celebrate with excrements, but never managed to take away their faith.

“Instead how many Masses have there been, clandestinely celebrated in a spoon rather than the chalice and with wine made from grapes found in the street; how many rosaries made by a thread with pieces of bread; how many humiliations, when during winters at minus 30 degrees they were undressed for body searches; how many days spent in the famous ‘black room,’ as the punishment for having been found in prayer? No one will ever know, ever. These modern martyrs of the 20th century offered all their suffering to the Lord for dignity and human freedom.

“Today, we live the freedom of the sons of God truly hungry for the eucharistic bread. I confirm this affirmation with the participation in the divine liturgy of 80% of our faithful; with vocations to the priestly and religious life that are not lacking; with so many people of great intellect who are so close to the Church.”