Prayer formulated by H.E. Mons. Claudio Gatti on 14th September 2008

This is the prayer that H.E. Mons. Claudio Gatti, Bishop ordained by God, formulated spontaneously before the Eucharist that bled on the occasion of the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

O Lord, amid the whining of all these children it is not easy to concentrate and turn our thoughts to You. However we know that You have said: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Mt 19:14). My God, unfortunately, because of fatigue, prostration and exhaustion it is difficult to express everything we would like to tell You.

First of all we bow before You, really present in the Holy Eucharist. Together with You, God the Brother, we adore Daddy God and God the Friend: the Trinity is before us.

Before you, God One and Triune, our love is strengthened more and more, because we are before the source of Love. The world, My God, needs Your Love. Daddy God, You sent Your Son to give new fertility and vitality to the planet Earth. The divine blood of Jesus was poured on every clod of the Earth to make it fruitful, but, as You told us in the parable of the seed, the briers, thorns and stones have prevented these clods from giving the required fruits. You did everything to make the world and the Church resurrect, but we men have done little.

In particular I speak of all those who should have loved and make You loved, known and make You known and instead often they have tried to focus attention exclusively on themselves. The men of the Church have tried to interpose between You, my God, and our brothers to collect tributes and honors. Unfortunately, ecclesiastics who occupy important positions in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, even in Your presence, have addressed on themselves praises and acclamations, which instead had to be addressed to You, my God. How is all this possible? Those who should preach about You, instead of standing on one side on their knees, dominate and impose on the brothers, almost pretending to take Your place.

Henceforth come the evil that has afflicted Your Church for centuries, but now, O Lord, with Your triumph, with the triumph of the Eucharist and of the Mother of the Eucharist, the world is ready to welcome you and awaits only Your nod to shout in unison: "Praise, glory and honor to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit".

My God, today we wanted, if we can say so, to anticipate this triumph in the world and in the Church. You have defeated the evil, nailed on that cross that we love and to which we turn thirsty for light, eager for comfort and longing for grace. Yes, Jesus the Eucharist, You dominate from the Cross. The cross is salvation and hope, the cross is love. Without the cross there is no Eucharistic presence, because the Eucharistic sacrifice is the actualization of Your sacrifice in every corner of the Earth.

At this moment, my God, I feel that in their heart, each of my brothers, sisters, sons, daughters here present are crying out: "Jesus I love you, Jesus I want to follow you, I want to do Your will". Listen to their voices, accompanied by gestures of love and situations of suffering. My God, in order to reach You, man must purify himself and purification takes place through immolation, rejection of sin and acceptance of Your law.

How sweet it is, my God, to have Your presence, how sweet it is to be able to speak to You, how sweet it is to hear what You say: sometimes through Your Mother and sometimes through the inspirations that rest in the heart of each of us. My God, I would like to cry out to the whole world that each of us loves You and awaits Your embrace.

Today we know that You will admit to Your presence two popes and a layman. You announced it to us a few days ago and we too want to enjoy the joy that these three souls will have in being finally admitted to Your presence, to the Paradise of Beatific Vision. We hope that all the souls present in the Waiting Paradise may go to Paradise of Beatific Vision and for this, my God, we will pray as You asked us, so that our brothers may be inundated by the infinite joy that emanates from Your presence.

Now, lastly, I renew the tribute of the nations of the whole world. The symbolic gesture with which the flags bowed and formed a carpet on which You passed means exactly this: the tribute of all peoples to you, God, One and Triune, to you God the Father, to you God the Son and to You God the Holy Spirit. All peoples exalt You, together with the angels and saints and we, small, simple and humble creatures, join the chorus to sing: "Holy, holy, holy the Lord! To us your love forever, to you our faithfulness forever!"

For Christ our Lord.

+ Claudio Gatti

Bishop ordained by God

Bishop of the Eucharist