Franciscan Brother (1540-1592)
Paschal was born in Spain in 1540. As a young shepherd he developed a great devotion to the Holy Eucharist. In 1564 he joined the Alcantarine Franciscans. God gave him the grace to advise others and to write of his religious experiences. He died on 17th May 1592, was canonized by Alexander VIII in 1690 and was nominated in 1897 by Leo X III as the Patron of Eucharistic Confraternities and Congresses.
From the writings of Saint Paschal Baylon
ed. Sala 1811, pages 78 and 85
We must seek God above all else
Since God desires above all else to shower his blessings on us, have a confident faith in all your petitions that he will give you what you ask. Do not ask for things without God’s prompting. He is more ready to answer than we are to ask, but he waits for us to ask. We should be moved to such prayer by the will of God who wants to give, rather than by our own need to ask, for our prayers are always to be made through the merits of the mystery of our Lord’s life. Your soul needs constant disciplined exercise in seeking what God seeks by emptying your desires of all thought of what you might gain from petitionary prayer. The important thing is this ‐ God is to be sought above everything. It is only right that God should be our first goal in prayer before and beyond anything else. His divine majesty wants us to have what we ask so that we may be better suited to serve him, and be able to love him with ever greater perfection. All our prayers should be marked by this intention and when you ask of love for love’s sake it should be urgent and unremitting prayer. Keep your heart free from worldly desires and remember that there is only God and yourself in this world. Never even for a moment, let your heart lose touch with God; keep your thoughts of him simple and humble; keep a close watch on yourself always, and let the love of God flow like oil over everything.
Thanksgiving to God for blessings received is an interior action of the soul. It is the recognition of the greatness of God, lord of the universe, source of every blessing. It is to rejoice at the all‐pervading glory of God. It is the appropriate habitual disposition of a soul faced with God’s generosity that it may be prepared always to be deepening its love of God and serving the giver of all good things.
When you receive God’s gifts, offer your whole self back to him, gladly and willingly. Be humble a n d conscious of your unworthiness, and renounce your self-will that you may give yourself body and soul to his service.
Make frequent acts of infinite gratitude to God. Rejoice at his power and goodness in all his abundant giving which enables you to give him thanks. If you want your thanksgiving to be acceptable to God, start by humility, self‐denial, and recognition of your littleness before him. Recognise your deep need and wretchedness in order to appreciate that what you have comes from his boundless generosity. Rejoice and be glad to see yourself enriched by his graces and blessings and make little of any consequent gain or benefit you obtain, that you may serve God better.
Prayer
Lord God,
you gave Saint Paschal Baylon
a great love for the Holy Eucharist.
May we also share in the graces he received
from this heavenly banquet.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.