Here begins the fourth virtue of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist: purity. It is no secret that purity is under attack in our world. The Holy Eucharist empowers us to live a life of heroic purity, according to St. Peter Julian Eymard.
Our Lord endeavors also by His eucharistic state to instill in us a love of purity. What purity in the altar bread! It is pure wheat. Freed of its shell, it has been converted into flour; what is there purer than white flour? It is kneaded without yeast, which is a source of corruption in bread. Our Lord could have selected another substance of a different color, but we would not have found in it all these lessons of purity.
His purity in the Host is so great that He does not unite Himself to any material substance, not even to that of the bread—since He replaces it, nor to the visible accidents—since He is not united to them either substantially or personally. His sacred humanity has nothing left of its mortal life: His body enjoys the privileges of the spirits; all senses are glorified.1
The grace of purity, after all, comes only from our Lord. Communion gives, increases, strengthens, preserves and maintains it against all the assaults of the devil, the world, and the flesh. It is a truth beyond question that without Communion we cannot be chaste.2
The purer we will be, for there are degrees of purity, the more glorious we will be in Heaven, the nearer God will draw us to Himself. It is purity of life which decides the measure of glory for each saint.3
God could have chosen any color to make the Holy Eucharist, but in His infinite wisdom it was to be white. Why is that? Perhaps to reveal that the Holy Eucharist is the height of purity, just as He revealed His humility more so in the tiny host than anywhere on earth, as St. Peter Julian Eymard declared previously.
Moreover, Our Lord wants us to never forget His words on the Sermon of the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). The more we gaze on Him, Who is totally pure, the more pure we become. The Lamb of God beckons us to not only look at Him, but to receive Him worthily as much as our duties permit. The white, Eucharistic Host ought to be like a mirror whereby each day we decrease, and He increases. Yes, our Lord longs to see Himself in us. He longs to see His virtues, especially purity, reflected in our souls.
There is a reason the Church teaches that our venial sins are washed away by each Holy Communion, provided we have the proper dispositions. Or so beautifully spoken in scripture, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isa. 1:18).
The Holy Eucharist makes us pure for God Himself is pure. Our Lord is not corrupted by the things of this world and gives us Himself to elevate our senses to that which is above and not below. To show forth the Holy Eucharist’s power, many saints’ bodies have been incorruptible, which is a miracle that defies science. And yet, did not God say, “He who eats My flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”? (John 6:54). Only Holy Communion can produce such a miracle, for when we receive Jesus, our body and souls are defied—they become filled with God Himself.
The greatest remedy in our battle to be pure sons and daughters of God is to partake frequently of the Holy Eucharist, provided we have no mortal sin on our conscience. No soul can live purely without the Holy Eucharist. And no soul can become a saint without the Holy Eucharist.
Even though the temptations to lust appear greater than ever, the Eucharistic graces are always stronger. Hence St. Peter Julian Eymard encourages to us receive Holy Communion frequently. He declares, “But if we often receive Communion, oh, how much easier it is to preserve grace in its first purity!”4 Moreover he states, “How could the soul that communicates every day and to which Communion means so much yield to temptation? It knows that sin would deprive it of what it so greatly desires. The thought of its next Communion rises before the soul, strengthens it, encourages it, and prevents it from falling. I confess that the state of grace is incomprehensible to me unless it is supported by Communion.”5
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1St. Peter Julian Eymard, In the Light of the Monstrance, trans. Rev. Charles De Keyser (New York: The Sentinel Press, 1947), 80-81.
2St. Peter Julian Eymard, In the Light of the Monstrance, trans. Rev. Charles De Keyser (New York: The Sentinel Press, 1947), 83.
3St. Peter Julian Eymard, The Eucharist and Christian Perfection (Part I), trans. by Amy Allen (New York, The Sentinel Press, 1948), 184.
4St. Peter Julian Eymard, Holy Communion, trans. Clara Morris Rumball (New York, The Sentinel Press 1940), 92.
5St. Peter Julian Eymard, Holy Communion, trans. Clara Morris Rumball (New York, The Sentinel Press 1940), 92.
