SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

St. Teresa of Avila wrote: “When you cannot receive Communion and cannot 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.”  St. Thomas Aquinas defined “Spiritual Communion” as “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament and a loving embrace as though we had already received Him.” You can use one of the following prayers, the first from St. Alphonsus Liguori, to make a “Spiritual Communion”:

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 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.

----or, in another form----

As I cannot this day have the joy of assisting in person at the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, I ask You, Heavenly Father, to bring me in spirit to the Altar of Your Son.  Supported by the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. Vincent and all the Angels and Saints, I unite the prayer of my heart with the Offering of the whole Church in Heaven and throughout the world.  Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, I adore, praise, and thank You, offering myself to Your mercy and calling on Your assistance for the intentions I entrust to You.  By the power of Your Holy Spirit, I ask to share in all of the spiritual graces abiding in the Most Holy Body and Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, present in all of the Tabernacles of the world.  Even when I cannot receive Him in my body, I ask to receive Him in my spirit, all for Your greater glory and the triumph of Your love.  Amen.