GIRL WHO INSPIRED BISHOP FULTON SHEEN TO SPEND 1 HOUR DAILY IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

A little martyr who inspired Bishop Fulton Sheen to dedicate an hour daily to Eucharistic adoration all his life

A National Television Channel interviewed Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, few months before the death. He notified the Holy Bishop that he is an inspiration to a whole lot of people, so he would like to know where he got his own inspiration from, demanding to know which Pope inspired him to be who he is.

Replying, Bishop Sheen said that the person who inspired him was not even a Religious but a layperson. She was an eleven-year-old Chinese girl .

When the Communists took over China, they locked a Priest in his own Rectory, close to the Church. The Priest watched frightened, from his window, as the Communists invaded the temple and headed for the sanctuary. Filled with hatred, they desecrated the Tabernacle, took the Chalice and throwing it to the ground, the consecrated Hosts fell. Those were times of persecution and the Priest knew exactly how many Hosts were in the Chalice: thirty-two. When the Communists left, maybe they didn't notice or pay attention to a girl who was praying at the back of the Church and she saw everything that happened. At night, the little girl returned and sneaking pass the guard who was in the Rectory, she entered the temple. There, she made a holy hour of prayer, an act of love in reparation for the outrage committed against the Blessed Sacrament. After her holy hour, she entered the Sanctuary, knelt down and leaning forward, with her Tongue she received Jesus in Holy Communion (at that time lay people were not allowed to touch the Eucharist with their hands). The little girl returned every night, making it her holy hour and receiving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament on her Tongue. On the thirty-second night, after having consumed the last wafer, she accidentally made a noise that woke up the guard. He ran after her, grabbed her and beat her to death with the back of his gun. This act of heroic martyrdom was witnessed by the Priest who, deeply despondent, looked out the window of his room converted into a cell.

When Bishop Sheen heard the story, he was so inspired that he promised God that he would make a holy hour of prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament every day for the rest of his life.

If that little girl could bear witness with her life to the real and beautiful presence of her Savior in the Blessed Sacrament, then the Bishop was forced to do the same. His only desire from then on would be to draw the world to the burning Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

The little girl taught the Bishop the true value of devotion to the Eucharist; how faith can overcome all fear and how true love for Jesus in the Eucharist must transcend life itself.

A suggestion…

Prayer before Holy Communion (from Saint Thomas Aquinas) 

Almighty and eternal God, I approach the sacrament of your Only Begotten Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, as sick to the doctor of life, as stained to the source of mercy, as blind to the light of eternal clarity, as poor and beggar to the Lord of heaven and earth. I pray, then, Lord, to your infinite generosity that you deign to cure my illness, wash away my stains, illuminate my blindness, enrich my poverty, clothe my nakedness, so that I may come closer to receive the bread of the angels, the King of kings and Lord of those who dominate, with such reverence and humility, with such contrition and devotion, with such purity and faith, with such purpose and intention as befits the health of my soul. Grant me, I pray, to receive not only the sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord but also the grace and virtue of the sacrament. Most Gracious God, grant me to receive the body that your Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, took from the Virgin Mary, in such a way that it deserves to be incorporated into her Mystical Body and to be counted among its members.

May we be inspired through the Holy Spirit to love our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and that Our Lady mother of the Eucharistic Lord, will show us how to love her Son in the Holy Eucharist. Amen.