Patron of Eucharistic Congresses: St Paschal Baylon, feast 5/17

"Give me your lowest job."

The friars offered him roles in the kitchen, garden, the refectory and stables. St Paschal shook his head. He wanted the porter’s job—the one no one wanted.

St. Paschal Baylón was birthed in 1540 tucked in the poverty-laden Spanish hills, a place where prayer came easily. As a shepherd boy, he listened—to the wind, to church bells and movements of God. Los locales said he had a strange sensitivity to the sacred. When the church bells rang, St Paschal knelt shouting, “He calls us.” His faith was startlingly pure. He once journaled, “If you cannot pray with your lips, pray with your life.”

At age 20, Paschal knocked on the Franciscans' door, a local branch with charisms of silence, fasting and austerity. He asked for the lowest job—porter—so he could greet every visitor as Christ Himself. His days were humble: sweeping floors, carrying water, answering the door, and slipping into the chapel whenever he could. His brothers said the chapel seemed brighter when he prayed, "as if the Eucharistic Lord leaned in. St Paschal’s spirituality was not complicated. He wrote, “Love the Eucharist, and you will love everything that is good.” His fidelity was quiet, stubborn and radiant.

St Paschal’s devotion to the Eucharist was the pinnacle of his entire life. During Holy Mass, he often dripped with tears at the elevation of the Host. He was canonized by Pope Alexander VIII on 16 October 1690.

Friars testified that he levitated from the ground while in Adoration.
Tradition holds he bilocated to defend the doctrine of Transubstantiation during a fierce theological Congress, while at the friary doing chores.
His love for the Eucharist was visceral. He once said, “The Lord in the Host is my life, my light, and my Love.”

On May 17, 1592—Pentecost Sunday—St Paschal died, eyes fixed on the Eucharist adoration created for his room. Repeatedly, his final whispers were the Act of Love to the One adored since childhood.

O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul,

because you are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you.

I forgive all who have injured me and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured.

Amen

At his funeral, a child tugged at his mother’s sleeve pointing, “who is that man in white, kneeling behind altar?” The mother saw nothing. But the child insisted, “see the one talking to the gold box?” At the child's description, the friars believed St Paschal was in his "perpetual" adoration.

St. Paschal reminds the modern believer that holiness begins with attention—attention to Christ, Who waits for us in the Host. Paschal teaches that the Eucharist is a Person, to be loved. His life is a gentle rebuke to bustle, tedium, noise and distraction. He invites us to rediscover the slow, steady fire of Eucharistic devotion. Here are his lessons.

Spend 5 minutes before the tabernacle each week. Driving by any church in daylight, is a perfect time to stop and say hello.
During the elevation at Holy Mass, whisper to God what weighs on our hearts, in addition to, “My Lord and my God."
In daily morning prayer, add the Spiritual Communion, even on Sundays. Think of it as Viaticum, since there are no guarantees.
Greet each person as Christ, as St Paschal did at the monastery door daily.
Adopt his habit of humble hospitality-- by smiling at strangers.

His feast day is May 17.

Sources

Catholic Encyclopedia. St Paschal Baylon. New Advent.

Franciscan Media. St Paschal Baylon. Miracle Hunter.

Vatican News. St Paschal Baylon: Patron of Eucharistic Congresses.