Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Have Mercy on Us!

O my Savior, on that first Holy Thursday evening, Thy thoughts were only of peace, charity, and good will for men, whereas man thought only of malice and cruelty.

​Thou didst seek only to save them; they sought only to do away with Thee. Thy whole Heart and Thy whole mind were bent on breaking the chains that held them bound as the slaves of demons; and they would sell Thee, betray Thee and deliver Thee into the hands of Thy cruel enemies. Thou wast preoccupied with establishing an adorable Sacrament whereby always to abide with them, but they were striving to drive Thee from the world, to banish Thee from off the earth, and even to destroy Thee if they could but do so. Thou didst prepare for them on earth boundless graces and in heaven thrones magnificent and glorious crowns, if they were willing to render themselves worthy of them, but they were preparing for Thee ropes, lashes, thorns, nails, lances, crosses, spittle, revilings, blasphemies and all sorts of shameful outrageous cruelties. 

​Thou didst set before them a most delectable feast of Thy own flesh and blood, and they gave Thee gall and vinegar to drink. Thou didst give them Thy holy and immaculate body and they bruised it by blows, they cut it with their lashes, they pierced it in a thousand places with thorns and nails, they covered it with wounds from head to foot, they dismembered it on the Cross, causing it to suffer the most atrocious tortures. Finally, my Savior, Thou didst love them more than Thy own life and blood since Thou didst sacrifice them for Thy enemies. In return, they rent Thy soul from Thy body by violence. 

What goodness! what charity! what love flowing from Thy adorable Heart, O my Savior! What ingratitude! what wickedness! what cruelty stemming from the heart of man! What happened then still happens today. Thy most loving Heart, O Jesus, dwells in this Sacrament, burning with love for us. It is there continually performing thousands of good deeds towards us. How do we repay Thee, O Lord? We repay Thee with ingratitude and injuries a thousandfold, in thought, word and deed, trampling under foot Thy divine commandments and those of the Church. Ungrateful wretches, our most gracious Savior so loved us that, while He was on earth, He would have died a thousand deaths for love of us if He had not miraculously preserved His life. He is still ready to die a hundred thousand times for us if it were possible and necessary for our salvation. Let us then die, die of sorrow in beholding our sins; let us die of shame that we have so little love for Him; let us die a thousand deaths rather than ever offend Him again. O my Savior, grant us this favor, we implore Thee! O Mother of Jesus, obtain for us this grace from thy Well-beloved Son!"

St. John Eudes on the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus