Saint Peter Julian Eymard

Peter Julian Eymard was born in La Mure, in the French Alps, on February 4, 1811. His father wanted him to follow the family trade, but Peter persevered in his vocation and was ordained a priest for the diocese of Grenoble in 1834. A few years later he joined the Society of Mary, the Marists, where he served as a teacher and provincial leader.

His love for Christ present in the Eucharist kept growing, and in 1856 he founded the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, a community of priests and brothers dedicated to perpetual adoration and to preparing people, especially poor adults, for First Communion. In 1858 he founded the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament for women, and he also organized associations for lay people and priests. Worn out by work, he died in La Mure on August 1, 1868. Pope John XXIII canonized him in 1962, at the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

His spiritual family, the Blessed Sacrament Fathers and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, mark his day with Eucharistic adoration, holy hours and processions in their churches in the Americas and Europe.

Many parishes take the occasion to invite families to sign up for a regular hour of adoration.