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When we wrote of other Saints and powerful Men and Women in the Church, you complained we had not written enough about lay persons who had become Saints. Well, here we have not only a lay person who became a Saint, but he is Saint of the Eucharist, Patron to Eucharistic Congresses and Confraternities of the Blessed Sacrament. Our last two Popes, in particular, have been turning to the laity to evangelize, telling us by virtue of our Baptism, we are mandated to evangelize. It is not only their Church, as we so conveniently used to pass the buck. We are part of them. It is our Church, and we can lose her or save her. It is up to us. When a Eucharistic Minister asked a priest: What should we do if we see someone leaving the Altar with the Eucharist in his hand? And he replied, "Nothing, it is between that person and the Lord." What do you think St. Paschal Baylon would have done? So do we visit Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament? Do we sign up for only one hour per month to spend with the Lord, so that our church can have Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration? What do you think St. Paschal would have done? He never had as close a relationship with the Eucharist as a priest would have. And while we were surprised to hear it, we have been saying for years that the laity is the strength behind the Church. And while we don’t put ourselves in the same category as St. Paschal Baylon, in the Catholic world, our name is synonymous with the Eucharist also. Another interesting thing about Paschal Baylon is that outside his little town in Spain, his name is virtually unknown. We first heard the name Paschal Baylon when we lived in Westlake Village in California. Our parish church was St. Jude’s. But the neighboring town, Thousand Oaks, has as their parish church, St. Paschal Baylon. So we knew there was a Paschal Baylon, and that he was a Saint. We must say, after having read about him, he is a most fascinating Saint, and truly a Powerful Man in our Church. He was born in a very small village in between Castille and Aragon in Spain. He lived a very simple, very focused life. He always knew what he wanted, to be with his Lord Jesus in His Eucharistic Presence. That was it; that was his total goal in life. But he was an obedient member of his family. As long as they needed him, he was there for them. As a young man, actually until he was twenty-four years old, he was a shepherd for his poor family. In this job, he couldn’t always get to Mass. On these occasions, he would put his flock away for a short time, kneel in the fields, facing in the direction of the chapel where he knew the Mass was being offered, and stare at the sanctuary. Shortly after Paschal’s death, an old shepherd who had known him in those young days, testified that more than one time, he saw Angels flying gently from the Chapel to where Paschal was kneeling, and brought the young man the Blessed Sacrament suspended in air above a chalice, not for Paschal to receive the Lord, but that he might gaze on his Lord and Savior, and venerate Him in the Blessed Sacrament. He joined the Franciscan Order as a lay brother. He became part of the community of St. Peter of Alcantara, who was very instrumental in the life and spirituality of St. Teresa of Avila, who was living at that time. Paschal longed to spend all his time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. His biographer tells us that whenever he was not required to be somewhere else, Paschal was in the chapel, on his knees, before the Blessed Sacrament. He spent long hours in front of the Tabernacle, kneeling without support, his clasped hands held up in front of, or higher than his face. Whenever he had time free from his duties, he always made his way to the Church to spend time in the Presence of Our Lord. It was his delight to serve Mass after Mass in succession, just to be there. He would pass whatever time he could, starting early in the morning, and ending late at night, after everyone had gone off to bed. While he was never disobedient to the rules of the community, he always just managed to be the first one at the chapel in the morning, and the last one to leave the chapel at night. As much as he loved Jesus in His Eucharistic Presence, he never would have disobeyed a legal order to be with His Lord. He was a Saint; he was always a Saint even while he was alive. Everyone in his community, indeed everyone he had ever met, agreed that he was a Saint. During his lifetime, miracles took place, especially where the sick and poor were concerned. However, the miracles accelerated to gigantic dimensions as he lay on his funeral bier. He died at age 52 in the year 1592, on the same Feast day of the year that he was born, Whitsunday, or Pentecost Sunday. He was beatified in 1618, which is some kind of a miracle, because it was before his founder, Peter of Alcantara’s beatification, and Peter died thirty years before Paschal. There was an unusual happening which may have had some effect on how swiftly Paschal was canonized. There are reports that the sounds of someone knocking from his tomb went on for hundreds of years. We know that would get anyone’s attention. When the Lord wants to get your attention, He’s not beyond using a baton, or a 4 x 4, or having strange sounds coming from your tomb. Whatever the case with St. Paschal Baylon, he is one of the understated, powerful men in our Church, who loved His Lord in the Eucharist. We are all called to be Saints and Lovers of the Eucharist. St. Teresa of Avila was called "Daughter of the Eucharist" We have been chosen to be Sons and Daughters of the Eucharist. Let the Lord take over in your life; allow yourself to be "consumed by the Eucharist," as St. Augustine tells us, and be changed. Take "food for the journey" as the Angel told Elijah, "else the journey will be too long for you.
For More Information about Eucharistic Saints and Fasters click here For More information about Saint Paschal Baylon click here
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