Holy Scripture says of the manna that was sent from heaven to the Israelites, that it was "The food of the angels . . . bread from heaven . . . having in it all that is delicious and the sweetness of every taste . . . and serving every man s will, it was turned to what every man liked" (Wisd. xvi. 20, 21). The manna was a figure of the Blessed Eucharist. The fruits of Communion are most rich and varied; they are accommodated to the tastes and necessities of each person; they meet all the wants of life; they vary according to the constitution and capacity of each, as the effects of natural food depend on the age, health, appetite, and occupation of different men. Food supplies the constituents of the blood, muscles, nerves, bone, and brain; it sustains us in every kind of labour, bodily and mental; it keeps off disease or helps to cure it. So too the spiritual food of souls is necessary for all men, and adapted to all conditions, to priest and layman, recluse and man of business, to the strong and the weak, the young and the old, the passionate and the mortified, the stumbling sinner and the aged saint. Never think that you do not need this food, or that it will not meet your wants, or that your state makes you unsuited for it, or that you cannot properly prepare for it. Be assured that it is the prime necessity of your life, the one panacea for every disease and weakness, the delight of every palate.
