Today we honor St Peter Julian Eymard, canonized in 1962 at the height of the Vatican Council II. He started the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, devoted to the Eucharist and offering perpetual adoration. There is a church in New York City, St Jean Baptiste on Lexington Avenue and 76 th Street, where perpetual adoration is offered, and where the monstrance is placed high above the main altar, surrounded with candles and flowers. It has been staffed by the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament since 1900. Peter Julian Eymard was born in 1811 and became a priest in 1834. He first joined the Marists, but then founded his own order, the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in 1856. He encouraged people to receive frequent communion, and also organized the first holy communion for children, two customs that were eventually introduced by Pope St Pius X.
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| The sarcophagus with the body of St Peter Julian Eymard |
Eymard was friends with Saints John Baptist Vianney and Peter Chanel. He was also the spiritual director of Auguste Rodin, a famous French sculptor. He actually encouraged him to keep working as a sculptor after he had abondoned his trade because of the loss of his sister. As a tribute, Rodin sculpted a bust of Eymard in bronze. St Peter Julian died on August 1, 1868 and was beatified in 1925, and canonized on December 8, 1962. I am honored to have my two nephews named Julian and Peter, both of them now medical doctors.
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