These are sad days as we lament how Catholics are deprived of going to church to attend Mass or even to visit the Blessed Sacrament. We are not just deprived of this right but mostly the graces that comes with this Holy Sacrament that will help us to become holy and the strength to bear the trials and tribulations in this life. We hoe and pray that priests are able to continue to offer up heir private Masses daily, and we at least have the Rosary and Our Lady to turn to for consolation. But we also have the means of making Spiritual Communions which I believe many do not realize or have forgotten that they can have recourse to this during these troubled times. Therefore in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and recently the feast of Corpus Christi may I share with you, my fellow Catholics, on the reasons why we should make Spiritual Communion often. May you find some consolation for you and your family as I have. Below is an excerpt from Chapter 11 of the book: The Blessed Eucharist, Our Greatest Treasure by Fr. Michael Mueller, C.S.S.R. Spiritual Communion, according to St. Thomas, consists in an ardent desire to receive our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament. It is performed by making an act of faith in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and then an act of love, and an act of contrition for having offended Him. The soul then invites Him to come and unite Himself to her and make her entirely His own; and lastly, she thanks Him as if she had really received Him sacramentally. The Spiritual Communion may be made in the following manner: “ O my Jesus, I firmly believe that Thou art truly and really present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love Thee with my whole heart, and because I love Thee, I am sorry for having offended Thee. I long to posses Thee within my soul, but as I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, come at least in spirit into my heart. I unite myself to Thee as if Thou wert already there; never let me be separated from Thee.” The graces which are bestowed in this way are so great that they may be likened to those which are imparted by an actual reception of the Sacrament. One day Our Lord Himself told St. Jane of the Cross that as often as she communicated spiritually she received a grace similar to that which she received from her Sacramental Communions. He also appeared to Sister Paula Maresca, the foundress of the Convent of St. Catherine of Siena at Naples, with two vessels, one of gold and the other of silver, and told her that in the golden vessel He preserved her Sacramental Communions and in the silver vessel her Spiritual Communions. The Fathers of the Church go so far as to say that one who has a very great desire for Communion, accompanied with great reverence and humility, may sometimes receive even more graces than another who,without these dispositions, should actually receive Our Lord in the Sacramental species; for as the Psalmist says: “The Lord hears the desire of the poor, and fills their hearts with good things.” The advantages of this mode of Communion are very great. To practice it, you will not need to go to church or make a long preparation or remain fasting; you will not need to ask permission of your confessor, or to seek a priest to give it to you as in Holy Communion. Hence, the venerable Jane of the Cross used to say: “O Lord, what an excellent mode of receiving without being seen or remarked, without giving trouble to my spiritual father, or depending on anyone but Thee, who in solitude dost nourish my soul and speak to my heart.” But the chief advantage of Spiritual Communion is that it may be so often repeated. You can receive Sacramental Communion at most once a day, but Spiritual Communion you may receive as often as you please. St. Alphonsus advises one who wishes to lead a devout life to make Spirtual Communions at his meditations, at his visits to the Blessed Sacrament and whenever he hears Mass. But especially he should endeavor to multiply them on the eve of his Communions because, as Father Faber of the Society of Jesus remarks, they are most powerful means to attain the dispositions necessary for a good Communion. The Saints were much addicted to this devotion. The Blessed Angela of the Cross, a Dominican nun, was accustomed to make a hundred Spiritual Communions every day and a hundred more every night, and she used to say: “If my confessor had not taught me this method of communicating, I could scarcely live. “If you ask how she could make so many, I answer with St. Augustine: “ give me a lover, and he will understand; give me a soul that loves nothing but Jesus Christ, and she will know how to do it.”
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AuthorAn artist, entrepreneur, a loving family man, 30 years a Catholic traditionalist upholding traditions for the love of God. Shop for Catholic giftsArchives
January 2024
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