The Congregation’s memory holds days that are, in themselves, sacraments — visible signs of a presence that precedes and sustains us. On November 9th, the “first Eucharist” celebrated by the young founding community in Auteuil is not merely a historical date; it is a liturgical event that continues to shape our identity: the house where “the Lord deigns to dwell” and the gathering of believers who learn to become a “continuous Mass.”
According to the foundational sources, the first Mass in the Assumption took place on November 9, 1839. It was a modest chapel, prepared with love and simplicity, yet consecrated ever since as a place where consecrated life and the Eucharist meet in deep intimacy. Mother Marie Eugenie, looking back, turned that occasion into a theology of daily life: God hosted in the home, the joy of “living under the same roof as our Master,” and the invitation never to grow accustomed to His nearness, but to guard it with reverence and gratitude.
This “domesticity” of the Eucharist—God dwelling within the ordinary—does not diminish the mystery; it makes it more demanding. How can we embrace, in our lives, the tension between the transcendent (the Mystery beyond us) and the everyday (the Lord who dwells in our homes, families, and communities)? Marie Eugenie urges us not to let familiarity turn into routine, and to allow Communion to transform our relationships, families, and groups into a sacramental body, a Eucharistic presence in the world.
In her Instructions on Communion and Adoration, Mother Marie Eugenie affirms that the Eucharist must “sanctify us”: producing peace, modesty, recollection, and that ineffable something which distinguishes Christian life. The 1870 text insists on attentive preparation and renewed fervor, so that receiving the sacrament never becomes mere habit. This pedagogy of Communion as bodily and spiritual transformation remains a mandate: the Eucharist is not supplementary, it is formative.
If Communion engraves in our bodies a “seed of resurrection” (Jn 6:54), does this not call us to continual conversion—in ourselves, in our mission, and in our fraternal relationships? The Eucharist directs us toward the fullness to come.
The universal Church has repeatedly returned to this intuition: the Eucharist is “the source and summit” of life and mission (cf. Sacramentum caritatis, n. 7). Sharing the Lord’s table shapes believers into a missionary and charitable body; the Eucharist builds the Church, and by analogy, makes of every faith community—religious, family, or parish—a “Eucharistic community.”
John Paul II, in Ecclesia de Eucharistia (nn. 20–25), reminds us that the Eucharist makes present the Paschal mystery and forms the bond uniting the communion of believers. Read with the eyes of the Assumption, this teaching asks us: to what extent are our celebrations, our formation, and our daily lives truly Eucharistic—manifestations and communications of the Paschal life for the world?
Marie Eugenie’s insistence on adoration is not mere devotion. By declaring that we must not grow used to the Lord’s presence, she offers a new insight: the sacramental presence demands vigilance, humility, and reparation. When believers gather for adoration or Eucharistic prayer, they do not simply recall a memory; they receive an outpouring of grace that sustains faith and mission in times of trial.
The Church’s tradition, expressed in Redemptionis Sacramentum and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, reminds us that liturgical signs, rites, and reverence are not ornaments but theological languages shaping the mind and heart of God’s people. Our loving devotion before the Eucharist reveals that the truth of worship depends less on display and more on the disposition of the heart.
Commemorating the first Eucharist in the Assumption is thus a theological act: an affirmation that the grace which once formed us still acts today. It is not mere nostalgia, but a prophetic responsibility—to guard the tabernacle as a sign of divine hospitality toward the world. What prophecy can we draw from that poor and joyful Mass for our presence in today’s Church and society?
Conclusion: a memory that commits
To commemorate the first Eucharist in the Assumption is not merely to recall a past event; it is to answer the call to let the Eucharist continue to shape our lives. The chapel where that first Mass was celebrated teaches us that the Eucharist is not a memory but a living presence: the One who forms us, sends us, and enables us to transform the world through the gift of the Bread given.
May the celebration of this day find us renewed in gratitude, steadfast in adoration, and courageous in charity; and may our homes, communities, and churches always be places from which we receive light for our mission.
Sr. Brigitte Coulon, Ecuador and Mexico Province
Almudena de la Torre, Communications Team
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