Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Saint of the day for August 3rd

(February 4, 1811 - August 1, 1868)

The story of Saint Peter Julian Eymard
Born in La Mure d'Isère in southeastern France, Peter Julian's journey of faith led him from being a priest in the diocese of Grenoble in 1834, to joining the Marists in 1839, to founding the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in 1856.

In addition to these changes, Peter Julian faced poverty, his father's initial opposition to Peter's vocation, severe illness, an excessive Jansenistic emphasis on sin, and the difficulties of obtaining diocesan and later papal approval for his new religious community.

His years as a Marist, including serving as provincial leader, saw the deepening of his Eucharistic devotion, especially through the preaching of the Forty Hours in many parishes. Initially inspired by the idea of ​​reparation for indifference to the Eucharist, Peter Julian was eventually drawn to a more positive spirituality than Christ-centered love. The members of the male community founded by Peter alternated between an active apostolic life and the contemplation of Jesus in the Eucharist. He and Marguerite Guillot founded the Women's Congregation of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament.

Peter Julian Eymard was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1962, one day after the end of the first session of Vatican II.

Reflection
In every century, sin has been painfully real in the life of the Church. It is easy to surrender to despair, to speak so strongly of human failures that people can forget the immense and selfless love of Jesus, as his death on the cross and his gift of the Eucharist highlight. Peter Julian knew that the Eucharist was the key to helping Catholics live their baptism and preach the Good News of Jesus Christ with words and examples.