MY JESUS, THE COMMUNITY HAS NOTHING TO EAT
Year 1760 Italy
One day St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori was studying in his cell, when the Procurator of the house approached the saint and told him that the hour of the meal was near, and there were only three loaves of bread in the pantry.
-No, Father, make haste: God who sustains the birds of the air will also sustain us, his servants.
The Procurator admired his Superior's confidence in Divine Providence, and did not dare to insist.
Shortly after this dialogue, there was a knock at the door. The Procurator went to the door with all haste, waiting for the help that was going to get him out of trouble; but when he arrived, he found a beggar asking him for alms for the love of God.
The Father was perplexed and did not know what to do. But St. Alphonsus, who had heard the beggar's request, soon got him out of his perplexity:
-Give him, Father," he said to him, "two loaves of bread from the three that he has left in the pantry.
Having given this order, he went to the sacristy, put on his surplice and stole, approached the Tabernacle, prostrated himself before the Blessed Sacrament and prayed for a while. He stood up; and with the confidence of a saint and the candor of a child, he said to the Lord as he tapped on the Tabernacle:
"My Jesus, the Community has nothing to eat today, and it turns to You. Do not fail to help them. He prayed again, and confidently returned to his room, certain that the Lord would provide for them and would not delay in sending them sustenance.
There was another knock at the door of the convent.
"If he is another beggar," said the Procurator to himself, "I will give him the bread we have left.
With the bread in his hand, he went to the porter's lodge.
-God be with us, Father," said a gentleman of distinguished bearing, who was the caller, "here is alms for you, which, if it is not what I would wish, I hope will be of some use to you.
For many weeks, the Procurator was able to feed the community
Fr. Manuel Traval y Roset
Apostolado Eucarístico