On August 28, 1924, Sister Josephine had confided: “I will not die until I have seen the Blessed Sacrament exposed day and night. In this, her expectation will be fulfilled: she will be the grain of wheat buried, in view of future harvests [1]”.
On 31 August 1924, Bishop Barlassina, Patriarch of Jerusalem, solemnly consecrated the church. In 1925, the Patriarch granted a singular grace to the shrine of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant and to the Sisters of St. Joseph who were its founders and guardians: permission was given for an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for two hours three times a week. The presence of the Assistant General, Mother Gonzaga, put the seal of the congregation on this Eucharistic orientation which would develop later. Of course, Sister Josephine was jubilant, but her hope of seeing perpetual adoration established in these places was diminishing a little [2].
Let us note that 31 August is a very special day. After the First World War, there was a large movement in Belgium to honour in a special way the universal mediation of Mary through the feast of Mary Mediatrix of All Graces on 31 August. The Pope approved an office for this feast and granted it to all churches that requested it.
On the leaflet she had made in 1924 for the consecration of the basilica, Sister Josephine had written
“All the friends of God will be happy with the consecration of the new sanctuary: they will glorify with us the thrice-holy Lord who wants to renew his presence and his graces on this blessed summit.
All the friends of Jesus will ask for his glory in the Holy Host.
All the friends of the Blessed Virgin will exult with joy and from now on with greater love, they will invoke Mary under this honourable title: 'Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant, pray for us. Just as the manna fell from the ancient Ark in the desert as a symbol of divine graces, and the temporal blessings themselves filled those who knew how to honour worthily the Throne of God on earth, so the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of the divine Covenant, Mediatrix of all graces, now wants to pour out with her hands the new heavenly manna and the treasures she has the mission to dispense. Above all, she wants to show and give Jesus to everyone”.
Let us continue our meditation.
The Ark of the Covenant kept some of this manna in a golden jar. Indeed, during the Exodus, the Lord gave his people manna: “Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat” (Ex 16:21).
In the synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus said:
“47 Amen, amen, / I say to you:
He who believes in Me, / has life that is forever!
48 I [am] Me / the bread of Life!
49 Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, / and they died!
50 Now this is the bread / that came down from heaven,
and from which man eats / and he dies no more!
51 I [am] the bread of Life, / which came down from Heaven,
and if a man eats of this bread, / he lives forever!
And the bread I give / is my body!
for the life of the world / I offer it”. (Jn 6:47-51)
To come to Eucharistic adoration is to prepare for or prolong Eucharistic communion, and to receive the divine Life, each according to what he or she can receive, the capacity to receive increasing with fidelity.
If we love Him, He feeds us with His love, His merciful love. If we reflect on events or our actions, He feeds us with His divine Wisdom.
To come to this place is to be invited to speak to the Lord about your successes, your joys, your sorrows, your surroundings, the sick, the difficulties of relationships or work, your desires. Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant, who knows so well the ways of holiness and love, can teach you to raise your mind and your heart often to the Trinity, to fix your respectful and affectionate attention on her...
The Eucharistic consecration transformed the bread into the real presence of Jesus, but its purpose is the transformation of our human will into His divine will, so that we participate in His divine life, His life that is forever, the life of the living God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In His will, if you love, God feeds you His love; if you understand it, He feeds you from His Wisdom. We can pray, for example, with these words:
“O my beloved Jesus, Thou hast given me the gift of all that Thou hast done and suffered. Thou hast even given me the gift of Thyself by instituting this Sacrament of Love. I make mine: Thy work, Thy steps, all Thy reparations, Thy sufferings, and all Thy Love. I immerse myself in Thy Divinity united to Thy Humanity. May Thy holiness invade me, may Thy power consecrate me, may the immensity of Thy Love submerge me in such a way that nothing but Thee can live in me, and that I know how to do nothing but work with Thee...”
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Moses spoke with the Lord who manifested himself from between the two cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:22) and “when he came out, and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone” (Ex 34:34-35).
In the desert, to protect the Hebrew people from snakes, God asked Moses to raise a bronze serpent. But Jesus said to Nicodemus, a prominent member of the great council:
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, / so will the Son of Man be lifted up,
That every man who believes in Him / may not perish;
But let it be for him / the life that is forever.
For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, / but that the world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:14-17).
To heal people in our world today, Jesus wants to be lifted up in the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament like a radiant sun that gives life to the world. Elevated and exposed in the Host, Jesus draws to Himself a multitude (Jn 12:32): we who come to adore Him and all those we present to Him.
The mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant is the place par excellence of Forgiveness and Blessing. Jesus said to Saint Anthony Mary Claret: “Perhaps you are sad or in a bad mood? Tell Me in all the details of what saddens you, what has offended you, what has hurt your self-esteem, what has humiliated you. Tell Me everything and soon you will reach the point where you will tell Me that you forgive everything according to my example, that you forget everything. As a reward, you will receive My consoling blessing”.
The novena to the merciful Christ revealed to Saint Faustina can also be used as a source of inspiration. We give here only the prayer for the first day:
“Today, bring to Me all mankind, especially all sinners, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy.
Thus, you will console Me from the bitter sadness in which the loss of souls plunges Me.
Decade of the Divine Mercy Chaplet :
- Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in reparation for our sins and those of the whole world.
- By His painful passion - Be merciful to us and to the whole world. (10 times)”
In the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies. The one High Priest enters the Holy of Holies - and only once a year - to make contact with God and then pass on His blessing. The Hebrews gradually discovered that the Lord was not simply their God - a God above other gods - but THE one God of all creation, the Creator. The prayer to this God therefore has a universal dimension, beyond any nation or language. In Jerusalem, from then on, all peoples were concerned by what was happening there.
Since Jesus is the High Priest (Heb 5) and the apostles exercise a great priesthood in His, Eucharistic adoration always has a universal dimension.
When you intercede for one unfortunate person, pray also for all unfortunate people,
When you pray for peace in your country, pray also for peace in all countries,
When you bless God for the life you have received and for all creation, bless on behalf of all, from Adam to the last man.
