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+

Prayer of Preparation Before Receiving Holy Communion

Holy Mother Church dedicates the month of April to the Most Blessed Sacrament.  During this Easter season may we truly learn to contemplate and love this great Gift from Our Lord!  After Christ's burial, the Apostles and our Blessed Mother had to wait until the resurrection for Our Lord's presence once again.  However, in the Blessed Sacrament we not only have the great privilege of continuously having God physically present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the tabernacle, we also, although unworthy, are able to receive our Blessed Lord within us in holy communion!

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How often do we contemplate this immense gift of our Lord?  How well do we ensure we are focused on this Gift of Love, our Lord Himself, especially during Mass and Adoration?  Do we strive to ensure our souls are worthy dwelling places for the King of Kings?  In Catholic Churches throughout the world, our Blessed Lord dwells within the tabernacles, waiting and thirsting for souls to seek Him, visit Him, and love Him.  Throughout this month of April and always, may we work to shower our Lord with thanksgiving and love, truly treasuring the wondrous gift of His Presence, the Holy Eucharist.

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In the following beautiful prayer by St. Ambrose, we implore God's mercy on our sins and seek His help to overcome them, with the hope of worthily receiving our Blessed Lord in this great Sacrament.  I love reciting this prayer before Holy Communion, and I am grateful that our FSSP parish has this book, which includes St. Ambrose's prayer, in the pews.  I am also very grateful for the FSSP overall and the beautiful, reverent Masses and devotions we are privileged to experience through them.  Please keep these wonderful priests in your prayers.

Prayer of Preparation before Holy Communion

O loving Lord Jesus Christ, I a sinner, presuming not on my own merits, but trusting in Thy mercy and goodness, with fear and trembling approach the table of Thy most sacred banquet. For I have defiled both my heart and body with many sins, and have not kept a strict guard over my mind and my tongue. Wherefore, O gracious God, O awful Majesty, I, a wretched creature, entangled in difficulties, have recourse to Thee, the font of mercy; to Thee do I fly that I may be healed, and take refuge under Thy protection. And I ardently desire to have Him as my Savior, Whom I am unable to withstand as my Judge.

To Thee, O lord, I show my wounds, to Thee I lay bare my shame. I know that my sins are many and great, on account of which I am filled with fear. But I trust in Thy mercy, of which there is no end. Look down upon me, therefore, with the eyes of Thy mercy on me, who am full of misery and sin, Thou Who wilt never cease to let flow the fountain of mercy.

Hail, Victim of salvation, offered for me and for all mankind on the tree of the Cross. Hail, noble and precious Blood, flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and washing away the sins of the whole world. Remember, O Lord, Thy creature, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Blood. I am grieved because I have sinned, I desire to make amends for what I have done.

Take away from me, therefore, O most merciful Father, all my iniquities and sins, that, being purified both in soul, and body, I may worthily partake of the Holy of Holies. And grant that this holy oblation of Thy Body and Blood, of which, though unworthy, I purpose to partake, may be to me the remission of my sins, the perfect cleansing of my offenses, the means of driving away all evil thoughts and of renewing all holy desires, the accomplishment of works pleasing to Thee, as well as the strongest defense for soul and body against the snares of my enemies.   Amen.

--St. Ambrose

God bless!

+JMJ+