A place of heart...

    ... a broken and contrite heart, O God,

you will not despise. - Psalm 51:17

  "I still remember an evening meditation on Dutch television

during which the speaker poured water on hard, dried-out soil,

saying, 'Look, the soil cannot receive the water and no seed can grow.' 

Then after crumbling the soil with his hands and pouring water

on it again, he said, 'It is only the broken soil that can receive

the water and make the seed grow and bear fruit.'  

    After seeing this, I understood what it meant 
to begin the Eucharist with a contrite heart,

a heart broken open,

to receive the water of God's grace."

Fr Henri Nouwen

With Burning Hearts,

A Meditation on the Eucharistic Life

Photo credit (above):  Eve Anderson 

________________________________________________________

Let us likewise prepare properly 

to fully receive the graces and benefits 
of our Spiritual Communions

My Jesus, 

I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. 

I love You above all things, 

and I desire to receive You into my soul. 

Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, 

come at least spiritually into my heart. 

I embrace You as if You were already there 

and unite myself wholly to You. 

Never permit me to be separated from You.  Amen.

Spiritual Communion

 

St Bernadette eventually begged a fellow Sister

to wake her up during the night hours

when normally she would sleep.  - Why?

"Because I would like

to make a Spiritual Communion." 

St Bernadette Soubirous

1844-1879 ~ France
Incorruptible

Visionary - Lourdes

FEAST DAY - February 18*

*In some places Feast celebrated on April 16

 

A spiritual communion, according to St Thomas Aquinas, consists in an "ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament, and in lovingly embracing Him as if we had actually received Him." 

St. John Vianney, once said “when we feel the love of God growing cold, let us instantly make a Spiritual Communion. When we cannot go to the church, let us turn towards the tabernacle; no wall can shut us out from the good God.” 

 Act of Spiritual Communion

"My Jesus, I believe that You are truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.   I love You above all things, and I desire to possess You within my soul.  Since I am unable now to receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.  I embrace You as if You were already there, and I unite myself wholly to You; never permit me to be separated from You.  Amen."  ~ St Alphonsus Liguori

 

St Bernadette, ora pro nobis!

 

The holy practice of Spiritual Communion

“When we feel the love of God growing cold, let us instantly make a Spiritual Communion.  When we cannot go to the church, let us turn towards the tabernacle; no wall can shut us out from the good God.” ~ St John Vianney

When unable to receive Holy Communion for whatever reason, the practice of making what is known as a "Spiritual Communion," is encouraged.  St. Thomas Aquinas describes this as "an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and in lovingly embracing Him as if we had actually received Him."

In a Spiritual Communion, with contrite, humble hearts, we ask our Lord to come to us in the same way He would if we were able to receive the Sacrament.  One can “turn toward the holy tabernacle” and receive Jesus in one's heart from anywhere - at any time, day or night! A Spiritual Communion is made using one's own words or through one of the traditional prayers (examples below).

 

St. Alphonsus Liguori (prayer above)

Oh Jesus, I turn toward the holy tabernacle where You live hidden for love of me. I love you, O my God. I cannot receive you in Holy Communion. Come, nevertheless, and visit me with Your grace. Come spiritually into my heart. Purify it. Sanctify it. Render it like unto Your own. Amen.

Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. 

The basis of this practice was explained by Pope Bl John Paul II in his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia:

In the Eucharist, "unlike any other sacrament, the mystery [of communion] is so perfect that it brings us to the heights of every good thing: Here is the ultimate goal of every human desire, because here we attain God and God joins himself to us in the most perfect union."

Precisely for this reason it is good to cultivate in our hearts a constant desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist. This was the origin of the practice of "spiritual communion," which has happily been established in the Church for centuries and recommended by saints who were masters of the spiritual life. St. Teresa of Jesus wrote: "When you do not receive communion and you do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion, which is a most beneficial practice; by it the love of God will be greatly impressed on you" [The Way of Perfection, Ch. 35.].1 .

What is the value of this practice? The Baltimore Catechism notes that a Spiritual Communion “is an act of devotion, and one very pleasing to God.”The graces received may be as great as -- or greater than -- those received by some people in the actual Sacrament. Though, of course, the Sacrament itself is inherently greater, our disposition toward the Sacrament affect whether and how we receive its fruits.

"If you practice the holy exercise of Spiritual Communion a good many times each day, within a month you will see yourself completely changed." ~ St. Leonard of Port Maurice