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Origins and Founder
The
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (S.S.S., in Latin,
Societas Sanctissimi Sacramenti) was founded in Paris,
France, in 1856, by a French priest, Peter Julian Eymard, to
foster appreciation of and devotion to the Holy Eucharist. Fr.
Eymard also established the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament,
for women, in 1858. He was canonized by Pope John XXIII on
December 9, 1962, at the end of the first session of the Second
Vatican Council.
Challenged by the
religious ignorance and indifference of his time, he searched
for an answer to the world's needs and found it in the love of
God manifested in a special way in the gift of Christ in the
Eucharist.
Since its
founding, the Congregation's priests and brothers have spread to
the corners of the globe, with 100 foundations in some 30
countries, to continue the work begun by Saint Peter Julian
Eymard. Like him, we Blessed Sacrament religious want to live
the Eucharistic mystery fully. We believe that Christ has the
power to effect the radical transformation of our society when
those who celebrate the Eucharist appreciate its power and
demands. This motivates and strengthens us to work for the
establishment of Christ's reign here on earth.
 Pope
John Paul II said that the religious of the Blessed
Sacrament have the special task of contributing to the "new
evangelization" by a "deeper
penetration of the Eucharistic mystery, together with a
commitment to proclaim the Gospel in the diversity of their
situations and in harmony with the spirit of their particular
times. . . ." The Holy Father at the same time asked
that the priests and brothers always
"consider the Eucharistic mystery in its totality, in the
celebration of the Mass as well as in the cult given to the holy
species (the bread and wine) conserved after Mass in order to
extend the grace of the sacrifice." The religious of
the Blessed Sacrament should "be faithful
to the contemplation of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in order
to interiorize what the church celebrates. Know how to
introduce the faithful to this special form of prayer through
your witness and your ministry", he said.
If you would
like more information about the Blessed Sacrament Community,
please don't hesitate to ask one of the priests here at Saint
Vincent de Paul Church, or call us at (727) 938-1974.
We hope you
will find our parish to be a dynamic community of faith and an
oasis of prayer —
a place of joy and peace, of
healing and affirmation, where you can worship, pray, and come
to appreciate more and more the love of God.
WHAT DO BLESSED
SACRAMENT RELIGIOUS DO?
We Blessed
Sacrament religious see our liturgical and prayer life as a part
of our mission, an apostolate of witness given to the church of
our belief in Christ's continued presence among us, and of his
power to transform human life today. In line with this, we work
in parishes, give retreats, preach Eucharistic missions, publish
books and materials on the Eucharist, teach, counsel, engage in
sacramental ministry, work among the poor and disadvantaged, and
even reach out to mission lands. The American Province has been
responsible for setting up the Australian, British-Irish and
Philippine Provinces of the Congregation of the Blessed
Sacrament, as well as a mission to Uganda. In all we do, Christ
in the Eucharist is our inspiration and our strength.
Called to
see everything in the light of the Eucharist, we seek to give a
more explicit witness to the life of Christ which springs from
this sacrament:
By our life and
activities, we share in the mission of the church, so that the
Eucharist may be celebrated in truth, that the faithful may grow
in their communion with the Lord through Eucharistic adoration
in the setting of exposition, that they may commit themselves to
the renewal of their Christian communities and collaborate in
liberating individuals and society from the forces of evil.
United in the
Spirit with those who are poor and weak, we oppose everything
which degrades human dignity and we proclaim a more just and
brotherly world as we await the coming of the Lord. (Rule of
Life 3)
Again, in
number 4 of the Rule of Life:
We cannot live the
Eucharist unless we are animated by the Spirit which led Christ
to give his life for the world.
When he proclaimed
the new covenant by the gift of his body and blood to his
disciples, it was out of love that the Lord gave himself up.
Sharing in this
gift of himself to us, we place ourselves at the service of the
kingdom, fulfilling the words of the Apostle: "It is no longer I
who live, but Christ who lives in me" (cf. Gal 2, 20).
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Blessed Sacrament Fathers
and Brothers
This not
only impels the religious of the Blessed Sacrament to live a
strong community life, but to work at forming communities in the
parishes we staff. These living communities are intended to be
communities formed by the word of God as well as challenged by
that word to become prophetic witnesses of a truly Christ-like
way of life. We are committed to making these parishes places
where people are nurtured by Christ in such fashion as to become
nurturing (evangelizing) communities themselves, imbued with a
deep sense of mission and responsibility for the work of the
Gospel:
We will make our
parishes into authentic communities shaped by the Eucharist,
source and center of their life.
They shall be: places of proclamation and the living of the
gospel, places of prayer, Eucharistic adoration, and festive
celebration, places of sharing and fellowship, places of freedom
and human development.
United among
themselves, our religious engaged in parish ministry shall
collaborate in a special way with committed lay people. (Rule
of Life 41)
Houses
of the American Province are spread over the United States in
many major cities. Though the work done there may vary, the
basic inspiration is the same: the Eucharist, seen as the light
enabling people to understand all of reality.
Unlike
most parishes, Saint Vincent de Paul is administered not by
Diocesan priests, but by a religious Congregation. As our name,
the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament,
indicates, we are a community dedicated to the Eucharist. As a
community, the religious here live together as a family, sharing
life, prayer, and ministry. Like other religious, men and
women, we consecrate our lives to God and to the church by the
three vows of poverty,
chastity, and
obedience, in the service of human beings everywhere.
Our Rule of Life states:
By our profession
of religious life, we respond to the call of the Lord who
invites us to leave all things to follow him, and we publicly
commit ourselves within the church to live in chastity, poverty,
and obedience.
Religious
profession incorporates us into a community of brothers and
expresses our determination to live the Gospel in a radical way.
Nourished by
Christ, who gives himself to us totally in the Eucharist, we
express, in our form of life, the gift of ourselves
as it was lived and taught by our Holy Founder.
Our vows express
our consecration to God in the service of our fellow human
beings, and witness to a world yet to come in the spirit of the
beatitudes.
The
priests and brothers at Saint Vincent de Paul are part of a worldwide
Congregation whose "ideal
is to live the mystery of the Eucharist fully" (Rule
of Life 1). We believe that the Eucharist has the power to
transform individuals and society itself so that the mercy and
love characteristic of God's kingdom can be clearly manifested
and lived. Our spirituality centers on the Eucharistic
celebration, the Mass, the sacramental representation of
Christ's paschal mystery, in which the love of Jesus as
expressed in his life, death, and resurrection are shared with
his people. Rule of Life 21 expresses it this way:
Called to live as
a Eucharistic community, we seek, by our vocation and way of
life, to give a more explicit witness to the life of Christ
which springs from this sacrament.
The celebration of
the memorial of the Lord is at the center of our personal and
communal life.
It is the starting
point for our understanding of the Eucharist and inspires our
prayer and ministry.
Placing
emphasis on the celebration of the Eucharist, religious of the
Blessed Sacrament also stress prayer before the Blessed
Sacrament as a key means of interiorizing the Gospel values
celebrated at the altar. Number 31 of the Rule of Life
states:
By drawing our
attention to the signs of the sacrament, exposition of the Holy
Eucharist calls to mind the celebration of the memorial of the
Lord.
It invites us to
recognize and adore the presence of Christ in the gift of his
body given up for us and of his blood poured out for a new
covenant.
Thus exposition
facilitates our communion with Christ who offers himself to us
as the bread of life, nourishment shared for a community of
brothers.
We practice and
encourage it, mindful of the pastoral needs of the local church.
That
is why Monday through Friday, from 11 AM to Noon, the Blessed
Sacrament is exposed on the altar for Eucharistic adoration and
contemplation, so that parishioners, visitors, and those going
and coming from work nearby can stop for a few moments of quiet
prayer, or, for a longer period of time. Some commit to a
regular program of prolonged prayer before the Blessed
Sacrament.
Saint
Peter Julian Eymard
Blessed
Sacrament
Vocation
Office
Eucharist
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