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The National Eucharistic Congress takes place in Brasilia from 13 to 16 May.

by Cancao Nova Editorial Staff | Source: CancaoNova.net

Listen to the Cancao Nova report on the Brazilian Eucharistic Congress.

The Holy Father
After praying the Regina Coeli on May 10, the Pope addressed a message to the people of Brazil: "The theme of the Congress", said the Holy Father, "includes the words used by the disciples at Emmaus: 'stay with us', an expression of the desire that palpitates in the heart of every human being. May all of you, pastors and faithful, rediscover that the heart of Brazil is the Eucharist. It is precisely in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar that Jesus reveals His will to be with us, to live in us, to give Himself to us. Adoring Him leads us to recognise the primacy of God, because He can transform the hearts of man, raising them to join with Christ in a single Body".

"In fact", he went on, "by receiving the Body of the risen Lord we experience communion with a Love that we cannot keep to ourselves; we have to communicate it to others in order to build a more just society. As we approach the close of the Year for Priests I invite all members of the clergy to cultivate a profoundly Eucharistic spirituality, following the example of the saintly' Cure of Ars' who, seeking to unite his own personal sacrifice to that of Christ renewed on the altar, exclaimed: 'How right it is for the priest to offer himself in sacrifice to God every morning!'. While invoking, through the intercession of Our Lady of Aparecida, the abundant grace of heaven that, nourished by the Eucharist, the bread of unity, you may be true missionary disciples, I willingly bestow my apostolic blessing".

Going on then to greet English-speaking faithful present in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI recalled how on Tuesday 11 May he will begin his apostolic trip to Portugal for the tenth anniversary of the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco, the shepherd children of Fatima. "I ask for your prayers for the success of this journey, and I in turn assure you of my prayers to Our Lady of Fatima for the whole People of God".