For some years the “French Pious Establishments” (Pieux Établissements français) have begun to restore the Rectory of Saints Claudio and Andrea of the Burgundians in Rome in preparation for the next Jubilee of 2025. In the meantime, we, religious of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, who had been entrusted with this church since 1886, have been requested to continue celebrating and praying in the adjacent sacristy used as a chapel, so the restoration work can be continued and completed by December at the opening of the Jubilee.
In view of this it was proposed that this year the feast of St. Claudio be observed in the church of S. Luis of the French with a solemn celebration of the scheduled Mass (7:00 pm) in French. For this the Rector of the church of S. Claudio was invited to give the homily in Italian, which is presented below, in order to inform those still unaware about this church in the centre of Rome being a Eucharistic Sanctuary.
“Brothers and sisters, let me introduce myself: I am Fr. Giancarlo Breda, a Blessed Sacrament religious, Rector of the church of Saints Claudio and Andrea of the Burgundians. As you can see this year we are celebrating the feast of San Claudio "away" on our church since it is undergoing the restoration work.
I thank Mons. Laurent Bréguet, Rector of St. Louis of the French, who hosts us and Br. Renaud Escande, Administrator of the “French Pious Establishments”, who organized this feast and all of you who are participating in this celebration.
First, to recall three historical facts:
1) For the Church of S. Claudio, let us only remember that in the mid-15th century the Burgundians who emigrated to Rome had the idea of building a hospice and a chapel dedicated to S. Claudio to gather together to pray and to work for the good above all of emigrants and refugees from the French County.
2) St. Claudio was Bishop of Besancon and then abbot of the monastery of Condat. The biographer states that ‘he knew how to combine the oil of mercy with the wine of a discreet severity, imitating the lovable Samaritan, to heal the wounds of vices.". But he was also involved in material things: he repaired and embellished ancient buildings and placed the relics of the saints in precious caskets. This is what is also being done in the Rectory of St. Claudio. The restoration works will bring the church to a new beauty and a particular functionality – ancient and contemporary – appropriate to its particular setting.
3) Since 1886 the church of St. Claudio has been entrusted by the Cardinal Vicar General of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII to the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, which was founded by the French saint Peter-Julian Eymard, an eminent apostle of the Eucharist.
Entering the church on the right side you will find the precious urn containing the illustrious relic of the Head of St. Peter-Julian Eymard. Now a reliquary of St. Charles de Foucauld is also being prepared to be placed on the left side. Two French saints, lovers of the Eucharist, facing each other. St. Charles de Foucauld, when passing through Rome, stopped to pray at St. Claudio. In a letter to his cousin Marie de Bondy (Rome, 3 September 1900) he himself wrote: “I am in Rome in a small nest that the good Lord seems to have prepared on purpose: right in front of the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament which, in S. Claudio of the Burgundians, have the Blessed Sacrament exposed day and night; these good Fathers, from whom I had asked for hospitality and who were unable to give it to me due to lack of space, found me a small room in a very pious house, where I am quiet and solitary and where I can visit the Blessed Sacrament as if you were in the convent itself.”
Many other Saints, Blesseds and Venerables – founders of various Congregations – have come to pray in this church and can be discovered by visiting the website www.sanclaudio.it.
Allow me a joyful joke: right in front of the church of S. Claudio, sixteen (16) bus lines in Rome stop today. It is nice that just before arriving there is an announcement: “next stop San Claudio”. It almost seems like an invitation to stop where the Blessed Sacrament awaits us for a moment of peace and dialogue with the Lord Jesus truly present in the Eucharist.
And now we come to us. We are celebrating the Eucharist which is thanksgiving to God through Jesus Christ for everything he has done and still wants to do in our lives.
In the first reading of today's liturgy, St. Paul announces to us that Christ is truly risen and thanks to Him we can therefore reach salvation. The apostle exhorts us to strive to be holy people who seek justice, faith, charity, peace, together with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.
Jesus, in the Gospel, speaks to us about love. And that's why we're here. Invited to participate in His love, in His total gift of His Body and His Blood. St. Peter-Julian Eymard states that Jesus Himself defines himself: “I am the bread of life” (Jn 6:35). And the properties of bread are: nourishing, fortifying, giving joy, new life. Jesus accomplishes all this and much more now by incorporating us into Himself.
Brothers and sisters, let us rejoice because this happens every time we participate in Holy Mass, in the Eucharistic celebration, as the celebrant proclaims in Eucharistic Prayer III: ‘grant that we who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit , may become one body and one spirit in Christ.’
Not only that, but we are invited to continue in this communion with Jesus the Eucharist during a time of adoration. Pope Francis, in preparation for the Jubilee now approaching, hopes that the year 2024 will be a great ‘symphony of prayer, above all else, to renew our desire to be in the presence of the Lord, to listen to him and to adore him.’
It is so beautiful that in the very centre of Rome, near the buildings of political and economic power, amid the chaotic traffic of vehicles and people, there is the church of St. Claudio, with the solemn exposition of Jesus in the Eucharist, to stop us and make us repose, contemplate, adore (that is, remain heart to heart, as Pope Benedict XVI said), listen to Jesus who is the Word of the Father, Abba, a good Father, who wants to communicate His Love to us so that we may be strengthened, regain courage and hope to bring many people the love we receive.
May Saints Claudio and Andrew accompany us with Most Holy Mary whom St. Peter-Julian Eymard wanted to honour with the new title of “Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament”, without forget-ting St. Charles de Foucauld.
The Religious of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament who followed one another over these 138 years (1886-2024) did nothing other than give prestige to this Rectory of St. Claudio, now recognized in Rome and also in the world, as the Eucharistic Sanctuary, the church of worship and adoration of the Eucharist. The presence of the faithful who frequent it is always an encouragement to continue our mission as Religious of Blessed Sacrament in Rome.”
Father Giancarlo Breda, sss
Rector of the Sanctuary
