The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament was founded in Paris, France, in the year 1856, by Saint Peter Julian Eymard. As he searched for response to the needs and challenges of his time, he found the answer in the love of God manifested in a special way in the Eucharist. Inspired by this sacrament, he inaugurated a new way of life in the church, one completely shaped by the Eucharist celebrated, contemplated, and lived in communion.
We are a Catholic religious congregation who answer’s the call of God, by sharing the riches of God’s love manifested in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the center of our life and faith, a Sacrament and a Sacrifice, the Eucharist is Christ; it has the power to transform society and in all people. For the Eucharist is the royal truth of faith; it is the virtue and sovereign act of love, the whole of religion in action. Our founder, Saint Peter Julian Eymard, understood this and proclaimed it with his whole heart and being. All his life, he searched for an answer to the deep spiritual hungers of his day, and he discovered it in the Eucharist.
By our life and activities, we share in the mission of the Church, so that the Eucharist may be celebrated in truth, that the faithful may grow in their communion with the Lord through Eucharistic adoration in the setting of solemn exposition, that they may commit themselves to the renewal of their Christian communities, and collaborate in liberating individuals and society from the forces of evil.
We proclaim the reality of God’s love in the Eucharist by our “gift of self” to Him and our brothers and sisters. Belief in the Eucharist is a treasure we must seek by submissiveness, preserve by piety, and defend at any cost. Not to believe in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest of misfortunes.
By prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and an active apostolic life, we strive to make Christ in the Eucharist better known and loved. It is the love of Jesus Christ; the love which He manifests to us in the Eucharist, a love that is He, a living and infinite love. In all that we do, Christ in the Eucharist is our inspiration and the center of our personal and community life.
We seek to understand all human reality in the light of the Eucharist, source and summit of the life of the Church.” (Rule of Life No. 34)
The life and mission of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament inspired many people, by the mystery of the Eucharist. This gracious gift of God sustains our life together. Formed by the Sacrament of the New Covenant, which frees us from the domination of sin, we commit ourselves to building up the Body of Christ. We speak different languages, but tell a common story of life transformed by the power of table, word, bread, and wine; the sacrament of Christ’s presence and love. Drawing life from the bread given for the life of the world we proclaim in the thanksgiving prayer the Passover of Christ, and we welcome the Lord Jesus in his Eucharistic Presence by a prolonged prayer of adoration and contemplation.
We live together and work together to show the fruits of the Eucharist. Drawn by the love of the Eucharist, we commit ourselves to live in community as priests, deacons and brothers. We pledge ourselves to pray in communion with the Lord and to break bread for the life of the world, as Jesus commanded.
United in the Spirit with those who are poor and weak, we oppose everything which degrades human dignity, and we proclaim a more just and brotherly world as we await the coming of the Lord.