Today is Father Paul Wattson's 70th anniversary of death-- the great Catholic ecumenist and convert. I pray that he lives with the Lord: May his memory be eternal.
O God, Who did raise Thy servant to the dignity of priest in the apostolic priesthood, grant, we beseech Thee, that he may be joined in fellowship with Thine Apostles forevermore.
This essay on Father Paul Wattson, "Father Paul of Graymoor: Founder of the Society of the Atonement and Father of the Church Unity Octave" written by Eleanore Villarrubia, is a great overview of Father Paul's life.
Now that which fosters this love and causes it to burn
up and kindle within us, is the gift of our Lord himself to us in the Blessed
Sacrament. That is the very heart and center of the religious life. It is our
exceedingly great privilege to
have come out of the world and assemble ourselves in the religious houses,
where we practically live under the same roof with our heavenly bridegroom.
In
a most intimate manner we receive Him every morning in Holy Communion. When we
receive our Lord in Holy Communion, we receive God's body, blood, soul and divinity,
the whole Christ, entering our lips and penetrating the inmost recesses of our heart
even as he said, "He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood, abides in me
and I in him." [John 6:56] Consequently our life is a life of most intimate
union. Our divine Savior would not only have us live under the same roof with
him and dwell in our chapels, which are for the time being a part of the court
of Heaven, but he enters into our interior and penetrates our whole being and
lives in us in this wonderful union. And all this is the fruit and the result
of the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, we should have a most wonderful devotion
to the Holy Eucharist. (Father Paul Wattson, SA, Retreat Conference August 19, 1926)
A brief
remembrance of Father Paul Wattson from a 2009 Communio
blog entry.
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