SSS Sri Lanka

In the life of our founder it is obvious that he was much closed to Mother Mary, as he was close to the Blessed Sacrament. So let me highlight some Marian references in the life of Saint Peter Julian Eymard. 1819-1820 Father Eymard at the age of nine intercedes, seeking the intervention of the Blessed Virgin and calling her, ‘my most worthy Mother.’ He had a great devotion to Mary and from the beginning of his vocation till the end he was walking with the same great devotion. It was clear to him that there will not be good vocations to the Blessed Sacrament, except those that Mary will have formed. August 1828 On hearing of his mother’s death, and missing her maternal love and care, Father Eymard took Mary as his Mother. He asked her incessantly to befriend him to be a priest someday. This dream of our founder shows how devoted he was to our Blessed Mother and for his vocation Father Eymard entered the novitiate of the oblates of Mary Immaculate at Marseilles on the 7th June 1829. There he prayed to Mary in a touching manner saying: … “I needed Marseilles to give me an exclusive love for the Eucharist and to make it the centre of my life”. (NR44, 22, V, 270) This clearly shows how the Eucharist has become the very root and the spiritual foundation of the congregation of the Blessed Sacrament with the guidance of Mary.
Years later, when he founded the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament on the 13th of May, 1856 and in his letter of farewell he made it known: “I can say in all simplicity, that I will always be at heart a son of the society of Mary.” Then again in 1858, on the 21st of November, Father Eymard honored Mother Mary with the title “Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament.”
On the 1st of August 1868, on his death-bed, Father Eymard was gifted with a vision of the Immaculate Virgin. He expressed his hymn of gratitude to Mary who chose him to give himself entirely to Jesus. Those are some references that I have taken from the life of Fr. Eymard. So today I invite all of you dear friends, to reflect on the life of our founder and very specially to capture those beautiful incidences wherein we say see him growing in his devotion to Mary. Likewise, let us ask our beloved Mother Mary to befriend and guide us always in all our decisions and undertakings. Let me end my reflection with the saying of our founder. ‘Mary is the royal doorway of the fatherland, the door par excellence. How good it is to pass through her! All the grace of salvation will be given to us through Mary! She will come herself to find us if we know to call her to our aid!’

– Bro. Santana Sabarathinam, SSS