Feast of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

Feast Instituted by Benedict XV
On 9 November 1921, Pope Benedict XV instituted the feast of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus to be celebrated on the Thursday within the Octave of the Sacred Heart with a Proper Mass and Office. The feast continues to be celebrated in some places and by some communities, notably by the Redemptorists who maintain it in their Proper Calendar. In instituting the feast, Pope Benedict XV wrote:

The chief reason of this feast is to commemorate the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the mystery of the Eucharist. By this means the Church wishes more and more to excite the faithful to approach this sacred mystery with confidence, and to inflame their hearts with that divine charity which consumed the Sacred Heart of Jesus when in His infinite love He instituted the Most Holy Eucharist, wherein the Divine Heart guards and loves them by living with them, as they live and abide in Him. For in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist He offers and gives Himself to us as victim, companion, nourishment, viaticum, and pledge of our future glory.

Even to the Consummation of the World
The adorable mystery of the Eucharist sums up, contains, and communicates to us the entire mystery of Christ: His incarnation, life, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension, and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. If you seek the open Side of the glorious ascended Christ, you will find it in the Eucharist. If you seek the pierced Heart of Christ, beating with love for the Father and with mercy for sinners, you will find it in the Eucharist. The Communion Antiphon of the Mass of the feast is meant to be repeated and treasured. It is, at once, a promise and an invitation: “Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Mt 28:20). Here, apart from the Epistle, Gradual, Alleluia, and Gospel, is my own translation of the Proper of the Mass of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, together with (optional) General Intercessions.

Introit
SCIENS Jesus quia venit hora ejus ut
transeat ex hoc mundo ad Patrem:
cum dilexisset suos, qui erant in
mundo, in finem dilexit eos. Alleluia,
alleluia. Ps. 97. 1. Cantate Domino
canticum novum: quia mirabilia
fecit. Gloria Patri.

Jesus, knowing that His hour had come
to pass out of this world to the Father,
having loved His own who were in the world,
loved them to the end (Jn 13:1).

Collect
DOMINE Jesu Christe, qui divitias
amoris tui erga homines effundens
Eucharistiæ Sacramentum condidisti:
da nobis, quæsumus; ut amantissimum
Cor tuum diligere, et tanto
Sacramento digne semper uti valeamus:
Qui vivis.

Lord Jesus Christ,
Who in pouring out the treasures of Your love for mankind,
instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist,
grant us, we beseech You,
always to cherish Your most loving Heart,
and worthily to avail ourselves of so great a Sacrament.
Who live and reign with God the Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Epistle: Ephesians 3. 8-12, 14-19

Brethren: To me, the least of all the Saints,
is given the grace, to preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ:
and to enlighten all men, that they may see
what is the dispensation of the mystery
which hath been hidden from eternity in
God, Who created all things: that the
manifold wisdom of God may be made
known to the principalities and powers in
heavenly places through the Church, according
to the eternal purpose which He
made in Christ Jesus our Lord: in Whom
we have boldness and access with confidence
by the faith of Him. For this cause I
bow my knees to the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, of Whom all paternity in
Heaven and earth is named, that He would
grant you according to the riches of His
glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with
might unto the inward man, that Christ
may dwell by faith in your hearts: that being
rooted and grounded in charity, you
may be able to comprehend with all the
Saints, what is the breadth and length, and
height and depth: to know also the charity
of Christ which surpasseth all knowledge.
That you may be filled unto all the fullness
of God.

Gradual
EXSULTA et lauda, habitatio Sion,
quia magnus in medio tui Sanctus
Israel. Notas facite in populis adinventiones
ejus.

Exult and praise, O abode of Sion, for
great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst
of thee. Among the people make known His
works.

Alleluia
ALLELUIA, alleluia. V. Quid bonum
ejus est, et quid pulchrum ejus, nisi
frumentum electorum, et vinum
germinans virgines. Alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia. V. What is His good and
what is His beauteous thing, but the wheat of
the elect, and wine bringing forth virgins?
Alleluia.

Gospel: Luke 22:15-20

At that time Jesus said to His disciples:
With desire I have desired to eat this pasch
with you, before I suffer. For I say to you
that from this time I will not eat it, till it be
fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And having
taken the chalice, He gave thanks and
said: Take and divide among you. For I say
to you that I will not drink of the fruit of
the vine, till the kingdom of God come.
And taking bread, He gave thanks and
brake and gave to them, saying: This is My
Body, which is given for you. Do this for a
commemoration of Me. In like manner,
the chalice also, after He had supped, saying:
this is the chalice, the new testament
in My Blood, which shall be shed for you.

General Intercessions
That the Church may more worthily celebrate, adore, and contemplate
the Sacrament that reveals the Face of Christ shining for all peoples
and the Sacrifice that presents to all His Pierced Side
flowing with living water,
to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. CHRIST, GRACIOUSLY HEAR US.

That the leaders of nations
may turn from every temptation
to greed, violence, and the abuse of power,
and seek the things that make for peace,
to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. CHRIST, GRACIOUSLY HEAR US.

That those who are enemies of the Cross may find
reconciliation and healing in its embrace;
that the sick may find strength in the Body and Blood of Christ;
and that those tempted against hope
may find comfort and peace in the Sacrament of the Altar,
to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. CHRIST, GRACIOUSLY HEAR US.

That families broken by divorce,
divided by misunderstandings,
or wounded by the refusal to forgive and be forgiven,
may be repaired and healed
by the love that ever streams from the Eucharistic Heart of Christ,
to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. CHRIST, GRACIOUSLY HEAR US.

That by offering our adoration to the Eucharistic Heart of Christ today
we may in some way make reparation
for those who fail to recognize in the Sacrament of the Altar
a mercy ready to forgive every sin,
a love capable of healing every wound,
and a joy surpassing all joys,
to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. CHRIST, GRACIOUSLY HEAR US.

Collect at the General Intercessions
O God, who, in the Heart of Your Son, wounded by our faults,
have opened for us the treasures of Your infinite love,
grant that, with all the saints, we may contemplate this mystery
and, in the gift of the Most Holy Eucharist
recognize the wedding feast of the Lamb,
the sacrifice that saves the world,
and the abiding presence of Him who with great desire
longed to share the paschal meal with His disciples
before He suffered.
Who lives and reigns forever and ever.

Offertory Antiphon

QUAM magna multitudo dulcedinis
tuæ, Domine, quam abscondisti timentibus
te. Alleluia

O how great is the multitude of Your sweetness, O Lord,
which You have hidden away for them that fear You, alleluia (Ps 30:30).

Prayer Over the Oblations
TUERE nos, Domine, tua tibi holocausta
offerentes: ad quæ ut ferventius
corda nostra præparentur, flammis
adure tuæ divinæ caritatis. Qui
vivis.

Look upon us, Lord,
as we offer You this Your holocaust;
and to prepare our hearts for offering it more ardently,
make them burn with the flame of Your divine charity.
Through Christ our Lord.

Preface
VERE dignum et justum est, æquum
et salutáre, nos tibi semper, et ubíque
grátias ágere: Dómine sancte,
Pater omnipotens, ætérne Deus per
Christum Dominum nostrum. Qui
pridie quam pro nobis immolaretur
in ara crucis, dilectionis suæ in homines
divitias velut effundens, de
Cordis sui thesauro Eucharistiæ
prompsit mysterium. In quo credentium
fides alitur, spes provehitur,
caritas roboratur, et futuræ gloriæ
pignus accipitur. Et ídeo cum Angelis
et Archángelis, cum Thronis et
Dóminatiónibus, cumque omni
milítia coeléstis exércitus, hymnum
glóriæ tuæ cánimus sine fine dicéntes:

Truly it is right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
Who on the day before He was sacrificed
on the altar of the cross,
desiring to pour out upon men the riches of His love,
brought forth from the treasury of His Heart
the mystery of the Eucharist.
In this mystery the faith of believers is nourished,
their hope increased,
their charity strengthened,
and they receive the pledge of future glory.
And therefore with Angels and Archangels,
with Thrones and Dominations,
and with all the hosts of the heavenly army,
we sing a hymn to your glory,
ceaselessly saying:

Communion Antiphon
ECCE ego vobiscum sum omnibus
diebus, usque ad consummationem
sæculi, dicit Dominus. Alleluia.

Behold I am with you all days,
even to the consummation of the world (Mt 28:20).

Postcommunion
DIVINIS donis Cordis tui satiati:
quæsumus, Domine Jesu, ut in tui
semper amore permanere et usque
in finem crescere mereamur. Qui vivis.

Filled with the divine gifts of Your Heart, Lord Jesus,
we pray that we may be found worthy
ever to abide in Your love
and to grow therein unto the end.
Who live and reign forever and ever.