Blessed Carlo Book Review

 "To always be united to Jesus--this is my life's plan."--Blessed Carlo Acutis

Recently I was asked by Holy Heroes to review the book Blessed Carlo Acutis: The Amazing Discovery of a Teenager in Heaven by Sabrina Arena Ferrisi.  Before reading this story, I had only heard of the name Blessed Carlo Acutis, but I did not know anything about this 15 year old Italian boy.

Blessed Carlo Acutis is a fairly simple read, although it is 106 pages in length.  Most 3rd grade and older kids could read this book themselves, but younger children would also enjoy it being read to them.  Since Blessed Carlo is a more modern individual, the book is filled with photographs of him as he grew up.  In the past the Saint books I have read were in a story format, but this book is written in more of a informational manner.  The style difference does not detract from the story of Blessed Carlo, however.  His life is interesting and quite inspirational.  I did notice a few details that I felt the author would have benefitted from more precise writing, but again they are quite insignificant to the overall story.  For example, at one point Ferrisi writes, "After receiving his first Communion, Carlo went to Mass every day from the age of seven until he died at the age of fifteen.  On the rare occasions when he could not go to Mass, he would say a prayer of spiritual communion."  These two statements contradict each other.

Overall Blessed Carlo Acutis is a very interesting book, and I think most people would enjoy reading it.  He was widely known for his great charity for all people, his immense love and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and his love for the Blessed Mother.  The book makes it clear that Blessed Carlo was a boy with normal interests, but he was not ordinary.  The word holiness means set apart, and Blessed Carlo, although enjoying similar interests to his friends, was set apart with his focus on God, always striving to live and use each moment of his life to serve God in some way.  

"Holiness is not a process of addition, but subtraction, the less I am, the more I give space to God."  --Blessed Carlo Acutis 

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Currently you can preorder Blessed Carlo Acutis: The Amazing Discovery of a Teenager in Heaven.  Holy Heroes has generously offered my readers 15% off this new book, the Blessed Carlo Glory Story CD, and Blessed Carlo coloring book.  Use the code Carlo 15 to get the discount on these products.  With the feast of Corpus Christi on June 19, Blessed Carlo would be a fitting youth to read about, learning more about his great love of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

God bless!

+JMJ+

Prayer for Making a Spiritual Communion

Cardinal Merry del Val, Secretary of  State to St. Pope Pius X, held a great love for the Most Blessed Sacrament.  He always advised people to make frequent acts of spiritual Communion throughout our day to keep our Lord constantly within us.  Each morning before saying Mass, the cardinal would recite a prayer he composed, titled "Morning Offering to Almighty God."  Through it he prayed each morning,

 "...I detest and weep over my sins and negligences, which like a huge mountain rise up before me, and which I oppose with the Passion of my Lord.  I weep over the sins and iniquities of the whole world, especially over the sacrileges and indifference which is shown to Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament of Thy love. I desire to make reparation and expiation for all these faults. I desire to live spiritually within the tabernacle with Thee, to visit thee and adore Thee and receive Thee spiritually wherever thou art present under the sacramental veil and there, at the foot of Thy Eucharistic throne, to live and die..." 

The following prayer was composed by Cardinal Merry del Val for the purpose of making Spiritual Communions.

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Prayer for Making a Spiritual Communion

At Thy feet, O my Jesus, I prostrate myself, and I offer Thee the repentance of my contrite heart, which is humbled in its nothingness and in Thy holy presence. I adore Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love, the ineffable Eucharist. I desire to receive Thee into the poor dwelling that my heart offers Thee. While waiting for the happiness of sacramental Communion, I wish to possess Thee in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, since I, for my part, am coming to Thee! May Thy love embrace my whole being in life and in death. I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee. Amen.

--Cardinal Merry del Val

God bless!

+JMJ+

An Act of Spiritual Communion

An Act of Faith before Communion

My Lord Jesus Christ, I firmly believe that I am about to receive in Holy Communion, Your Body, Your Blood, Your Soul, Your Divinity.  I believe it because You have said it, and I am ready to give my life to maintain this truth.  Amen.

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The above simple, but beautiful prayer is one to be said before receiving our Lord in Holy Communion. However, unfortunately we are not always able to receive our Lord for various reasons.  In these instances Holy Mother Church teaches the efficacy of making a spiritual communion.  Spiritual communion, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament and a loving embrace as though we had already received Him.”

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St. John Vianney states, “If we are deprived of Sacramental Communion, let us replace it, as far as we can, by spiritual communion, which we can make every moment; for we ought to have always a burning desire to receive the good God."  He continues, saying, "Spiritual communion revives the soul as a bellows does the fire which is covered with ashes and about to die. When we feel the love of God growing cold, let us make hastily a spiritual communion!"

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St. Leonard of Port-Maurice offers this advice for receiving spiritual communion:

"In order to facilitate a practice of such great excellence, ponder what I have to say...  [K]eeping composed externally and internally, excite in your heart an act of true contrition, and humbly striking your breast, in token that you acknowledge yourself unworthy of so great a grace, make all those acts of love, of self-surrender, of humility, and the rest, which you are accustomed to make when you communicate sacramentally, and then desire with a lively longing to receive your good Jesus, veiled in the sacrament for your benefit. And to kindle your devotion, imagine that most holy Mary, or some saint, your holy advocate, is holding forth to you the sacred particle; figure yourself receiving it, and then, embracing Jesus in your heart, reply to Him, over and over again, with interior words prompted by love: 'Come, Jesus, my Beloved, come within this my poor heart; come and satiate my desires; come and sanctify my soul; come, most sweet Jesus, come!' This said, be still; contemplate your good God within you, and, as if you really had communicated, adore Him, thank Him, and perform all those interior acts to which you are accustomed after sacramental Communion."

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With the words of the holy Saints resounding in our minds, may we remember to make use of this practice of spiritual communions, offering a spiritual communion especially if we are unable to receive our Lord at Mass, but also frequently throughout our day.  As our Lord told St. Mechtilde, "At your awakening, long for Me with all your heart. Draw Me to you by a sigh of love, and I will come, I will perform in you all your works, and I will suffer in you all your pains."  

Also St. Pio directed one of his spiritual daughters thus, “In the course of the day, when it is not permitted you to do otherwise, call on Jesus, even in the midst of all your occupations, with a resigned sigh of the soul and He will come and will remain always united with your soul by means of His grace and His holy love. Fly with your spirit before the tabernacle, when you cannot stand before it bodily, and there pour out the ardent longings of your soul and embrace the Beloved of souls, even more than if you had been permitted to receive Him sacramentally.” 

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Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that Thou art present in the Blessed Sacrament. I love Thee above all things, and I desire Thee in my soul. Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. As though thou wert already there, I embrace Thee and unite myself wholly to Thee; permit not that I should ever be separated from Thee. Amen.
--St. Alphonsus Liguori

God bless!

+JMJ+

Easter Prayer for Holy Communion

In The Liturgical Year Abbot Gueranger writes,
"Our Savior Himself teaches us . . . He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last day.' [St. John vi 49, 5O, 55]

We shall all resume these bodies of ours on the Last Day, either for glory or punishment eternal; but he that worthily unites himself by holy Communion with the glorious and risen Body of the Man-God contracts an alliance and intimacy with Him which forbid this Divine Guest to leave in corruption these members made His own by the sublime Mystery.

We must, therefore, approach the holy Table during Eastertide with an ardent ambition for our resurrection, knowing as we do that we then receive into our bodies an element which is to preserve them even when turned into dust; and which, moreover, confers on them a right to the qualities or glorified bodies, whose beauty and happiness will be like those of our Jesus, after he had risen from the grave.

Now, if our Redeemer does all this for our bodies by means of holy Communion-----giving them, by it, the pledge of immortality-----what must he not do for our souls, in order to strengthen and increase within them that new life, that Resurrection-----life, which is the fruit of Easter, the object of all our past efforts, the reward of all the victories we have gained over ourselves during the campaign of Lent? Nay, unless this new life be fostered by frequent Communion, it is in danger of growing weak, perhaps even of becoming extinct within us. The Apostle tells us that 'Christ, having risen from the dead, dieth now no more;' [Rom. vi 9] we, then, must die no more, for we are risen with Him. To this end, we must hunger after the Bread of Heaven, of which our Jesus says: 'If any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever.' [St. John vi. 52]"

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During this holy Easter season may we humble ourselves before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, thanking Him and adoring Him especially after receiving Him in Holy Communion.  The following prayer is an Easter prayer to be recited after receiving Holy Communion.

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Act of Adoration after Holy Communion

O infinite majesty! Thou art in me, and I am in Thee. The earth shook when Thou didst rise from the tomb; and now, at this blissful moment, feeling Thee within me, my whole being thrills with delight. Thou art here in my heart; Thou the great God, Whose will alone created the light and Whose almighty power reunited Thy Soul and Body for a glorious Resurrection. I most profoundly adore Thine omnipotence, which is now united to my poor nature. No, my Almighty Father! Thou shalt find no resistance here; Thou art my Sovereign Lord, and I delightedly confess it. Thou hast come down from Heaven to this lowly dwelling of my misery, my nothingness, in order to receive my adoration; Thou shalt have it, dear Lord! the humblest and best I can give: for my soul is overpowered by the wondrous honor Thou art now conferring upon me! Thou art the infinite Being, the Creator and Preserver of all things! I adore Thee as my King and Lord and Master: my happiness and glory is in my total dependence upon Thee; the one ambition of my heart is to serve Thee.  Amen.
Taken from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Guéranger

God bless!

+JMJ+

A Prayer to Our Lady after Receiving Holy Communion

On this blessed feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, may we remember to honor Our Lady in a special way, perhaps by attending Mass or reciting the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows.  You can find many prayers on Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam to our Lady of Sorrows here and here.  They would be fitting to recite today and throughout the month of September, which is dedicated to her under this title.

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Recently I discovered a prayer to Our Lady, which is to be recited after receiving the Blessed Lord in Holy Communion.  Of course, after receiving the Most Blessed Sacrament, priority should be given to showering our Lord with adoration, love, and thanksgiving for allowing us to receive Him, for His great sacrifice on the cross and remaining in the tabernacle, waiting for our visit, and for all of His blessings.

However, it also seems fitting to express gratitude and love to the Blessed Mother, our Lady of Sorrows, who also experienced great sacrifice and grief upon the sufferings and death of her Son.  Yet she lovingly obeyed the will of God and silently endured these pangs for love of Him and us.  May we remember to pause and thank her and love her also.  Mother Mary, our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!

A Prayer to Our Lady

O Mary, most holy Virgin Mother, lo, I have received thy well-beloved Son, Whom thou didst conceive in thy stainless womb,
didst bring forth and suckle, and enfold in thy sweet embraces. See, humbly and lovingly I give back to thee the Son, Whom it was all rapture and delight for thee to look upon; I offer Him to be clasped in thy arms, to be loved with all thy heart, and to be offered up to the Holy Trinity in the supreme homage of adoration, for thy honor and glory, and for my needs and those of all mankind. Most loving Mother, I beg thee to obtain for me forgiveness of all my sins, grace in abundance to serve Him more faithfully from now onward, and lastly, final perseverance, so that I may praise Him with thee forever and ever.  Amen.

God bless!

+JMJ+

Prayer to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

Saint Peter Eymard stated, "The life of Christ in the Eucharist is a life of love for His Father, to Whom He is incessantly offering His actions, His sacramental presence, His previous Passion now commemorated in the Mass. It is also a life of love for men who have to be saved. His Heart is the centre of all hearts."

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Holy Mother Church dedicates the month of June to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.  While the two major aspects of devotion to the Sacred Heart are reparation and confidence, another focus, often overlooked, is that of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, the Heart which loves with such love that He chooses to remain in all of the tabernacles of Catholic Churches throughout the world, waiting for us to visit Him, pray to Him, and love Him in return.  As Pope Benedict XV stated about this devotion to our Lord,

"...the Church wishes... the faithful to approach this sacred mystery with confidence, and to inflame their hearts with that divine charity which consumed the Sacred Heart of Jesus when, in His infinite love, He instituted the Most Holy Eucharist, wherein the Divine Heart guards and loves them by living with them, as they live and abide in Him. For in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist He offers and gives Himself to us as victim, companion, nourishment, viaticum, and pledge of our future glory."

During this month of our Lord, as we strive to make reparation for the sins committed against His most adorable Heart, may we also remember to give Him due honor and love by visiting Him and adoring Him in adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament.  May we always call to mind the Love that awaits for us in the tabernacle.  Let us draw near to His Sacred Heart, which is waiting in silence for us, and remain, listening out of love, in silence with Him.  The prayer that follows is a beautiful prayer to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

Prayer to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, gracious companion of our exile, I adore You.  Eucharistic Heart of Jesus -- lonely Heart -- humiliated Heart -- abandoned Heart -- forgotten Heart -- despised Heart -- outraged Heart -- Heart ignored by men -- Heart which loves our own hearts -- Heart pleading for our love--Heart so patient in waiting for us--Heart so eager to listen to our prayers -- Heart so anxious for our requests -- Heart, welcome refuge of the hidden life -- Heart, teacher of the secrets of union with God -- Heart of Him who sleeps but watches always -- Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

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O Jesus Divine Victim, I desire to comfort You; I unite myself to You; I offer myself in union with You.  I regard myself as nothing in Your presence.  I long to forget myself in order to think only of You, to be despised and forgotten for love of You.  I have no desire to be understood or loved by anyone but You.  I will keep silent in order to listen to You, and I will abandon myself in order to lose myself in You.

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Grant that I may thus satisfy Your thirst for my salvation, Your burning thirst for my holiness, and that once purified I may give You a sincere and pure love.  I am anxious not to tire You further with waiting; take me, I hand myself over to You.  I give You all my actions, my mind to be enlightened, my heart to be directed, my will to be stabilized, my wretchedness to be relieved, my soul and body to be nourished by You.

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Eucharistic Heart of my Savior, whose blood is the life of my soul, may I myself cease to live and You alone live in me.  Amen.

God bless!

+JMJ+

For the Feast of Corpus Christi

May you have a blessed Feast of Corpus Christi!  On this most holy feast may we remember to give of our time, love, and adoration to our Blessed Lord, Who remains within the tabernacle, waiting for us to come to Him in silent conversation and devout adoration.  May we also offer our Lord our hearts, minds, and very beings when we have the great privilege of receiving Him in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.  On this great feast of Holy Mother Church, may we always remember the great gift of this most sacred Sacrament, our Lord Himself.  

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"When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence." 

--- St. Francis de Sales

The following prayer, the Litany of the Most Blessed Sacrament, was penned by St. Peter Julian Eymard, and its recitation stands as a beautiful way to honor our Lord on the feast of Corpus Christi.

Litany of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Lord, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.  Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Jesus, Eternal High Priest of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Divine Victim on the Altar for our salvation, have mercy on us.
Jesus, hidden under the appearance of bread, have mercy on us.
Jesus, dwelling in the tabernacles of the world, have mercy on us.
Jesus, really, truly and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament, have mercy on us.
Jesus, abiding in Your fullness, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Bread of Life, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Bread of Angels, have mercy on us.
Jesus, with us always until the end of the world, have mercy on us.

Sacred Host, summit and source of all worship and Christian life, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, sign and cause of the unity of the Church, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, adored by countless angels, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, spiritual food, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, Sacrament of love, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, bond of charity, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, greatest aid to holiness, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, gift and glory of the priesthood, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, in which we partake of Christ, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, in which the soul is filled with grace, have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, in which we are given a pledge of future glory, have mercy on us.

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

For those who do not believe in Your Eucharistic presence, have mercy, O Lord.
For those who are indifferent to the Sacrament of Your love, have mercy on us.
For those who have offended You in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, have mercy on us.

That we may show fitting reverence when entering Your holy temple, we beseech You, hear us.
That we may make suitable preparation before approaching the Altar, we beseech You, hear us.
That we may receive You frequently in Holy Communion with real devotion and true humility, we beseech You, hear us.
That we may never neglect to thank You for so wonderful a blessing, we beseech You, hear us.
That we may cherish time spent in silent prayer before You, we beseech You, hear us.
That we may grow in knowledge of this Sacrament of sacraments, we beseech You, hear us.
That all priests may have a profound love of the Holy Eucharist, we beseech You, hear us.
That they may celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in accordance with its sublime dignity, we beseech You, hear us.
That we may be comforted and sanctified with Holy Viaticum at the hour of our death, we beseech You, hear us.
That we may see You one day face to face in Heaven, we beseech You, hear us.

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord.

O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.

Let us pray.
Most merciful Father, You continue to draw us to Yourself through the Eucharistic Mystery.  Grant us fervent faith in this Sacrament of love, in which Christ the Lord Himself is contained, offered and received. We make this prayer through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

--St. Peter Julian Eymard

"How I loved the feasts!.... I especially loved the processions in honor of the Blessed Sacrament. What a joy it was for me to throw flowers beneath the feet of God!... I was never so happy as when I saw my roses touch the sacred Monstrance..."  

 -- from St. Therese's Autobiography: Story of A Soul

God bless!

+JMJ+

On the Feast of St. Pio of Pietrelcina

The feast of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, who was canonized in 2002, is celebrated on September 23. Ordained an Italian Capuchin priest in 1910, St. Pio was widely known for his virtues, his devotion to the Eucharist, prayer, sacrifice, and his desire to help souls. St. Pio received the visible stigmata on both of his hands in 1918 while humbly praying before the crucifix. He also was able to read the hearts of the penitents who flocked to him for the sacrament of confession; St. Pio spent ten to twelve hours in the confessional daily! Despite his popularity, he would state, "I only want to be a poor friar who prays." St. Pio spent hours during the day and night in prayer.

He once said, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry! Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer. Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips but with your heart. In fact, on certain occasions, you should speak to Him only with your heart.”

The following prayer, penned by St. Alphonsus Liguori, was recited daily by St. Pio.

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Prayer for A Visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament

O my Lord Jesus Christ, who for the love You bear mankind, remain night and day in this Sacrament, all full of tenderness and love, expecting and receiving all those who come to visit You: I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the altar; I adore You from the depths of my own nothingness and thank You for all the favors You have bestowed upon me; and especially for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament, and Your holy Mother Mary as my Advocate; and for having called me to visit You in this church. I pay homage this day to Your most loving Heart and this I intend to do for three intentions: first, in thanksgiving for this great gift; secondly, in reparation for all the insults You have received from Your enemies in this Sacrament; thirdly, by this visit I intend to adore You in all places upon the earth, where You are least adored and most neglected in Your Sacrament.

My Jesus, I love You with my whole heart. I repent of having in the past so many times displeased Your infinite goodness. I intend, with the help of Your grace never more to offend You in the future; and at the present, wretched as I am, I consecrate myself wholly to You. I give You, and utterly renounce, my entire will, all my affections, all my desires, and all that I possess. From this day forth, do with me and with all that is mine whatever is pleasing in Your sight. I ask and desire only Your holy love, final perseverance and the perfect fulfillment of Your will.

I commend to You the souls in purgatory, especially those who were most devoted to this Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I commend to You in like manner all poor sinners. Finally, my dear Savior, I unite all my affections with those of Your most loving Heart, and thus united I offer them to Your eternal Father, and I pray to Him in Your name graciously to accept and answer them for love of You.

---by St. Alphonsus Liguori

God bless!

+JMJ+

Act of Adoration and Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, let us remember to give thanks to God for all of the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Let us also especially remember to thank Him for the great gift of Himself in the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist.

An Act of Adoration and Thanksgiving

I adore Thee, Eternal Father, and I give Thee thanks for the infinite love, with which for my redemption Thou didst deign to send Thine only-begotten Son to be the food of my soul. I offer Thee all the acts of adoration and thanksgiving that are offered to Thee by the Angels and Saints in heaven and by the just on earth. I praise Thee, I love Thee, and I thank Thee, with all the praises, love and thanksgiving wherewith Thine own Son praises Thee, loves Thee and thanks Thee. And I pray Thee to grant that He may be known, loved, honored, thanked, and worthily received by all men in this Most Blessed Sacrament.
 ** 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1 Glory be.

I adore Thee, Eternal Son, and I thank Thee for the infinite love which caused Thee to become incarnate for me, to be born in a stable, to be brought up in the carpenter’s shop, and to be willing to endure hunger, thirst, cold, fatigue, hardships, contempt, persecution, scourges, thorns, nails and death on the hard wood of the Cross. I thank Thee, in company with Thy whole Church, militant and triumphant, for the infinite love with which Thou didst institute the Blessed Sacrament to be the food of my soul. I adore Thee in all the consecrated Hosts throughout the whole world. I give Thee thanks also on behalf of those who know Thee not and who fail to thank Thee. Would that I could lay down my life to cause Thee to be known, loved, and honored by all men in this Sacrament of love, and to put an end to all the irreverences and sacrileges that are committed against Thee! I love Thee, my Jesus, and I desire to love Thee and receive Thee with all the love, purity, and affection of Thy most holy Mother, and with the perfect love of Thine own Sacred Heart. Ah, most loving Spouse of my soul, come to me in Thy Sacrament and bring forth in me all those fruits for the sake of which Thou comest to us, and grant that I may die rather than ever receive Thee unworthily.
 ** 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1 Glory be.

I adore Thee, Eternal Spirit, and I give Thee thanks for the infinite love with which Thou hast wrought the ineffable mystery of the Incarnation, and for the infinite charity wherewith Thou didst form out of the most pure blood of the Blessed Virgin Mary the sacred Body of Jesus, which in this Sacrament is the food of my soul. I pray Thee to enlighten my mind and purify my heart and the hearts of all men, that they may come to know the great gift of Thy love, and may receive this Blessed Sacrament in all worthiness.
 ** 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1 Glory be.
--The Raccolta

Feast of Corpus Christi

Holy Mother Church celebrates the solemnity of Corpus Christi, or the Body and Blood of Christ, on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday; on the traditional calendar, however, this feast is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, in parallelism to Holy Thursday during the Triduum. Also like Holy Thursday, on Corpus Christi the Church praises God for the great gift of the Holy Eucharist, offering thanksgiving and adoration. However, whereas Holy Thursday is shrouded in a solemn air, marked with the sadness of the upcoming feast of Good Friday, Corpus Christi resembles Easter with joyful acclamations and processions honoring Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. In 1264 Pope Urban IV established the feast of Corpus Christi as an universal feast of the Church. Upon the request of Pope Urban IV, St. Thomas Aquinas composed the office for this feast, including five beautiful Eucharistic hymns. One of these hymns, “Adoro Te Devote,” (“Hidden God”) is provided below in the original Latin and its English translation. Whether in Latin or in English, this is a beautiful hymn to recite or sing in honor of the feast of Corpus Christi and Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

Adoro Te Devote
Adoro te devote, latens Deitas,
Quae sub his figuris vere latitas;
Tibi se cor meum totum subiicit,
Quia te contemplans, totum deficit.

Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,
Sed auditu solo tuto creditur;
Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius,
Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius.

In Cruce latebat sola Deitas.

At hic latet simul et humanitas:
Ambo tamen credens, atgue confitens,
Peto quod petivit latro paenitens.

Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor,
Deum tamen meum te confiteor:
Fac me tibi semper magis credere,
In te spem habere, te diligere.

O memoriale mortis Domini,
Panis vivus vitam praestans homini:
Praesta meae menti de te vivere,
Et te illi semper dulce sapere.

Pie pellicane Iesu Domine,
Me immundum munda tuo Sanguine:
Cuius una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Iesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio,
Oro, fiat illud, quod tam sitio,
Ut te revelata cernens facie,
Visu sim beatus tuae gloriae. Amen.

Hidden God
Hidden God, devoutly I adore Thee,
Truly present underneath these veils:
All my heart subdues itself before Thee,
Since it all before Thee faints and fails.
Not to sight, or taste, or touch be credit,
Hearing only do we trust secure;
I believe, for God the Son hath said it–
Word of Truth that ever shall endure.
On the Cross was veiled Thy Godhead's splendor,
Here Thy manhood lieth hidden too;
Unto both alike my faith I render,
And, as sued the contrite thief, I sue.
Though I look not on Thy wounds with Thomas,
Thee, my Lord, and Thee, my God, I call:

Make me more and more believe Thy promise,
Hope in Thee, and love Thee over all.
O Memorial of my Saviour dying,
Living Bread that givest life to man;
May my soul, its life from Thee supplying,
Taste Thy sweetness, as on earth it can.
Deign, O Jesus, pelican* of heaven,
Me, a sinner, in Thy Blood to lave,
To a single drop of which is given
All the world from all its sin to save.
Contemplating Lord, Thy hidden presence,
Grant me what I thirst for and implore,
In the revelation of Thine essence
To behold Thy glory evermore.

Honoring the Blessed Sacrament in April

Holy Mother Church dedicates the month of April to the Blessed Sacrament since it is often during this month that Catholics celebrate Holy Thursday, the day on which we remember the Last Supper when Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist. The best way to honor Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is by attending Holy Mass as often as possible and worthily receiving Him in Holy Communion .

 After receiving Our Lord, we should always remember to spend those next moments speaking with Him in thanksgiving, worship, and love for we truly hold Jesus within us at that time. St. Alphonsus Liguori once wrote,

“there is no prayer more dear to God than that which is made after communion...” and that our loving thoughts and prayers after communion have greater merit “because they are then animated by the presence of Jesus Christ, Who is united to our souls.” 

 Once Holy Mass has ended, again we should kneel in silence before Our Lord to thank Him for coming to us in such a great sacrament and for the graces He has bestowed on us out of love, although we are unworthy to even receive Him. Numerous prayers, many written by the saints, are fitting to recite after Holy Communion. The following prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas is one example.

Thanksgiving After Communion

Lord, Father all-powerful and ever-living God, I thank You, for even though I am a sinner, Your unprofitable servant, not because of my worth but in the kindness of Your mercy, You have fed me with the Precious Body and Blood of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that this Holy Communion may not bring me condemnation and punishment but forgiveness and salvation. May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of good will. May it purify me from evil ways and put an end to my evil passions. May it bring me charity and patience, humility and obedience, and growth in the power to do good. May it be my strong defense against all my enemies, visible and invisible, and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses, bodily and spiritual. May it unite me more closely to You, the One true God, and lead me safely through death to everlasting happiness with You.  And I pray that You will lead me, a sinner, to the banquet where You, with Your Son and Holy Spirit, are true and perfect light, total fulfillment, everlasting joy, gladness without end, and perfect happiness to Your saints. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

--written by St. Thomas Aquinas