Suscipe Domine Traditional Catholic Forum

The Church Courtyard => General Catholic Discussion => Topic started by: Xavier on February 06, 2019, 11:57:04 PM

Poll
Question: Spiritual Communions are recommended by Saints and holy writers. Do you think it is important to keep close contact with Our Lord throughout the day by making acts of love and desire to receive Him in Communion?
Option 1: Yes, at least a few times daily. votes: 5
Option 2: Somewhat; maybe once a few days or so. votes: 2
Option 3: Not really, but I want to start. votes: 5
Option 4: No and I don't think they're important. votes: 0
Option 5: Other (please explain). votes: 2
Title: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Xavier on February 06, 2019, 11:57:04 PM
The Saints recommend making Spiritual Communions (acts of loving desire to be united with Our Lord in Communion at that moment, if it were possible) as often as we feel the fire of divine love growing cold in us. They were wont to make many Spiritual Communions daily. Do you believe the practice is important and how often do you do it?

Psa 33 can also be applied to Spiritual Communions: "[9] O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him. [10] Fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.[11] The rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good."

As in regular Sacramental Communion, the soul can prepare by Adoration and Reparation before Communion; by offering spiritually the Body and Blood of Jesus to the Eternal Father as in the Chaplet of St. Gertrude, or of the Holy Wounds; or the Divine Mercy, or the Fatima Angel Prayer offering to the Holy Trinity etc. It can also be made after the Rosary or one's other daily prayers.

After one invites Jesus to come to us spiritually, just as we would receive Him Sacramentally, it is recommended to devote ourselves to the two other ends, Thanksgiving and Petition. By this means, we can receive very many Communions and Graces daily from Our Lord (for Holy Communion is truly Our Daily and Supersubstantial Bread, which He has taught us to ask for in His Prayer), and grow quickly, intimately and deeply in union with Him in a short time.

Every Communion well received prepares us to be restored to Baptismal Innocence, beside acquiring a Treasury of Merit. If we make a habit of Spiritual Communions, especially when we go for Eucharistic Adoration, beside preparing and disposing us for our Sacramental Communions, we will quickly pay off the remaining debts we owe to Divine Justice, and attain to perfect union or theosis with Our Lord. Thoughts?

From Catholic Tradition (http://www.catholictradition.org/Eucharist/blessed-eucharist11.htm)

QuoteSpiritual 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 possess 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, 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 the 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 my 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 but 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 Spiritual 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.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Miriam_M on February 07, 2019, 02:16:38 AM
Quote from: Xavier on February 06, 2019, 11:57:04 PM

The Saints recommend making Spiritual Communions (acts of loving desire to be united with Our Lord in Communion at that moment, if it were possible) as often as we feel the fire of divine love growing cold in us. They were wont to make many Spiritual Communions daily. Do you believe the practice is important and how often do you do it?


Several times a day.  But each time, I am led to do it, which tells me it's a grace and a consolation.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Xavier on February 07, 2019, 10:35:27 AM
Very Good. It is an excellent way to receive abundant graces. It is encouraged to offer the Body and Blood of Jesus to the Eternal Father several times first (for e.g. perhaps at every Third Hour, as is customarily done for the Office, perhaps with a few other prayers from the Office, or the Rosary, or other spontaneous prayers) and then one may Communicate Spiritually even many times a day, simply by desiring in Love to be united with the Saviour at that moment. Every time we offer the Wounds of Christ or His Body and Blood to the Father, we give God immense glory, pleasure, joy and consolation. In spiritual Communion, God will give that back to us superabundantly. we must enter into the spirit of the devotion and make a complete oblation of self, offering ourselves together with Christ entirely to the Father, reserving nothing back. Then, God pours out His fullness onto us in turn. Those who practice this frequently, as Fr. Mueller says, will soon progress in sanctity, and also may well find that once begun, they cannot live without continuing it! That will be a wondrous dependence and deep union of the soul with her Saviour effected through many Communions. And when a soul has reached that stage of union with Christ, after practicing for a long time this sweet and consoling devotion, the soul will sin very less frequently and will make many acts of faith and love in her Saviour and God, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

From the OP Link: "WHEN a soul has once begun to practice frequent Communion, she can no longer live without it.

Even if she were to communicate every day, it would seem too little. She would desire, if possible, to receive Our Lord every moment. It is the Blessed Sacrament itself which produces this effect, for such is the sweetness of that Divine Food that they that eat it hunger still and they that drink it thirst again. It is Our Lord Himself who excites this desire in the hearts of the faithful, and He also has provided a means of satisfying it. While He was yet on earth, He not only imparted many graces to those who were near Him, but He also wrought many miracles in behalf of those who were at a distance.

In like manner, He now not only bestows many graces upon us when He actually enters our hearts in Holy Communion, but He also imparts many to us by means of Spiritual Communion. St. Catherine of Siena, while on one occasion assisting at the Mass of her confessor, St. Raymund, felt the most ardent desire to be united to Jesus Christ; but as she had been forbidden to communicate, she did not dare to receive. Our Lord, however, was so moved by the fervor of her love that He worked a miracle in her favor. At that part of the Mass in which the priest breaks the Sacred Host into three pieces, the smallest portion disappeared from the altar, flew through the air and rested upon the tongue of St. Catherine. St. Raymund was much disturbed at the disappearance of the particle, but the Saint relieved his anxiety by telling him that Our Lord Himself had been pleased to communicate her in reward for her great desire for Holy Communion. He displays a similar love towards everyone who has a true desire to be united to Him. As soon as a soul ardently desires to receive Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, He comes to satisfy her desire, not indeed as He did to St. Catherine under the Sacramental species, but by the way of Spiritual Communion. This devotion is so full of grace and consolation that it is of the greatest importance that everyone should know how to practice it. I will therefore say a word in explanation of it ... 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."
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Miriam_M on February 07, 2019, 10:58:35 AM
Quote from: Xavier on February 07, 2019, 10:35:27 AM
St. Catherine of Siena, while on one occasion assisting at the Mass of her confessor, St. Raymund, felt the most ardent desire to be united to Jesus Christ; but as she had been forbidden to communicate, she did not dare to receive.

Why was she forbidden?
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Jacob on February 07, 2019, 11:02:25 AM
Voted "other."

Due to swallowing, spiritual communions are all I can do at Mass, unless I really want to try to get things down.  Does that count for the question?
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Michael Wilson on February 07, 2019, 12:01:57 PM
When I'm working its really easy, since each class period is marked by a bell. When I'm at home, not so frequently, as I hardly ever remember. Great post; its something we should do frequently.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: mikemac on February 07, 2019, 12:09:34 PM
I chose 'Somewhat; maybe once a few days or so' because I'm not exactly sure if kissing the Crucifix would be considered a Spiritual Communion.  I kiss the Crucifix often, more than once a day.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Miriam_M on February 07, 2019, 12:25:32 PM
St. Alphonsus Liguori:

"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."

This can be said either when we cannot/should not receive, or when we choose to abstain as an Act of Reparation for our or other people's acts of sacrilegious HC's in the past.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Vetus Ordo on February 07, 2019, 03:31:09 PM
I voted other.

I usually make a spiritual communion at mass since I am in the habit of taking Holy Communion just once or twice a year, not more.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: MundaCorMeum on February 07, 2019, 03:31:58 PM
I voted yes, but we don't pray it several times a day.  We pray it as part of our set of morning prayers every day.  I do, however, pray the line which says, "stay with me, Lord, and never let me leave you"  more frequently.  It's probably my favorite prayer...ever
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Non Nobis on February 07, 2019, 06:52:17 PM
The 54 day novena that I say fairly often (thanks to encouragement from others) has a spiritual communion near the end, so I do say it then. Not much otherwise, so far, to be honest.

But it surely is one of the very best prayers.  I have bad habits and am scatter brained, but I do say the Rosary daily and a few other prayers afterwards.  I'm going to try to add it then.

I am inspired by all of you.  I need to be more devout.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: martin88nyc on February 07, 2019, 08:22:51 PM
Quote from: Vetus Ordo on February 07, 2019, 03:31:09 PM
I voted other.

I usually make a spiritual communion at mass since I am in the habit of taking Holy Communion just once or twice a year, not more.
Why not more?
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: MundaCorMeum on February 07, 2019, 08:42:54 PM
Quote from: Non Nobis on February 07, 2019, 06:52:17 PM
The 54 day novena that I say fairly often (thanks to encouragement from others) has a spiritual communion near the end, so I do say it then. Not much otherwise, so far, to be honest.

But it surely is one of the very best prayers.  I have bad habits and am scatter brained, but I do say the Rosary daily and a few other prayers afterwards.  I'm going to try to add it then.

I am inspired by all of you.  I need to be more devout.

Don't we all! 
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Vetus Ordo on February 07, 2019, 10:05:14 PM
Quote from: martin88nyc on February 07, 2019, 08:22:51 PM
Quote from: Vetus Ordo on February 07, 2019, 03:31:09 PM
I voted other.

I usually make a spiritual communion at mass since I am in the habit of taking Holy Communion just once or twice a year, not more.

Why not more?

Because, frankly speaking, I don't think I'm in a position to worthily have Holy Communion every week or so.

I think frequent communion is a privilege of a select few of the elect.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Xavier on February 07, 2019, 10:18:58 PM
Thanks for all your edifying responses. Lots to think about. Just passing through for now, but I recalled this from St. Francis De Sales, encouraging all to Communicate often with the Lord in Love and desire to become One with Him, that we may live no more but Christ may live in us - for this is the surest means to attain perseverance in grace, freedom from sin, and eternal life: "the Saviour, God's Own Son, Who came down from Heaven, the Son of Mary, Who sprang up as earth's choicest flower, from the Altar, feeds you with that Bread of Sweetness and of all delight. When you have received It kindle your heart to adore the King of our Salvation, tell Him of all your own personal matters, and realise that He is within you, seeking your best happiness. In short, give Him the very best reception you possibly can, and act so that in all you do it may be evident that God is with you. When you cannot have the blessing of actual Communion, at least communicate in heart and mind, uniting yourself by ardent desire to the Life-giving Body of the Saviour.

Your main intention in Communion should be to grow, strengthen, and abound in the Love of God; for Love's Sake receive that which Love Alone gives you. Of a truth there is no more loving or tender aspect in which to gaze upon the Saviour than this act, in which He, so to say, annihilates Himself, and gives Himself to us as food, in order to fill our souls, and to unite Himself more closely to the heart and flesh of His faithful ones. If men of the world ask why you communicate so often, tell them that it is that you may learn to love God; that you may be cleansed from imperfections, set free from trouble, comforted in affliction, strengthened in weakness. Tell them that there are two manner of men who need frequent Communion--those who are perfect, since being ready they were much to blame did they not come to the Source and Fountain of all perfection; and the imperfect, that they may learn how to become perfect; the strong, lest they become weak, and the weak, that they may become strong; the sick that they may be healed, and the sound lest they sicken.

Tell them that you, imperfect, weak and ailing, need frequently to communicate with your Perfection, your Strength, your Physician. Tell them that those who are but little engaged in worldly affairs should communicate often, because they have leisure; and those who are heavily pressed with business, because they stand so much in need of help; and he who is hard worked needs frequent and substantial food. Tell them that you receive the Blessed Sacrament that you may learn to receive it better; one rarely does that well which one seldom does. Therefore, my child, communicate frequently,--as often as you can, subject to the advice of your spiritual Father. Our mountain hares turn white in winter, because they live in, and feed upon, the snow, and by dint of adoring and feeding upon Beauty, Goodness, and Purity Itself in this most Divine Sacrament you too will become lovely, holy, pure."
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Xavier on February 08, 2019, 11:23:54 AM
I just saw that a site
mention (https://scecclesia.wordpress.com/other-stuff/extracts-from-the-manual-on-indulgences-2006/indulgences-for-eucharistic-and-spiritual-communion/) some partial indulgences for spiritual Communions. Yet another reason to make them often. And, while all the approved formulas are good and wonderful, Spiritual Communion does not consist only of the external form of words, but above all in the perfect desire of our heart to be made entirely one with Christ; to console Him and to surrender to Him and for Him to live in us and do with us just as He chooses. So, while kissing a crucifix and so on, it is certainly possible to gain the graces of Spiritual Communion. But if we form the explicit intention - and for this the specific prayers are helpful - at least while doing our morning offering, say, of Communicating with Christ Spiritually every third hour or every hour of the day, then we will be more conscious of His Presence in our lives and receive more abundantly of the graces of His Spirit.

Quote from: VetusI think frequent communion is a privilege of a select few of the elect.

Are you sure? Discussing it with your Confessor and doing as he directs would be a good idea, Vetus. Here is the Catechism of Trent: "It will therefore be the duty of the pastor frequently to admonish the faithful that, as they deem it necessary to afford daily nutriment to the body, they should also feel solicitous to feed and nourish the soul every day with this heavenly food. It is clear that the soul stands not less in need of spiritual, than the body of corporal food. Here it will be found most useful to recall the inestimable and divine advantages which, as we have already shown, flow from sacramental Communion. It will be well also to refer to the manna, which was a figure (of this Sacrament), and which refreshed the bodily powers every day. The Fathers who earnestly recommended the frequent reception of this Sacrament may also be cited. The words of St. Augustine, Thou sinnest daily, receive daily, express not his opinion only, but that of all the Fathers who have written on the subject, as anyone may easily discover who will carefully read them.

That there was a time when the faithful approached Holy Communion every day we learn from the Acts of the Apostles. All who then professed the faith of Christ burned with such true and sincere charity that, devoting themselves to prayer and other works of piety, they were found prepared to communicate daily." Spiritual Communions should prepare and dispose us to receive Sacramental Communions with much more burning love for Christ Crucified, but should not take their place.

Below is Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel, explaining His Body is the Bread of Life, needed for any and all of us, and confers eternal life. One's Confessor's direction can safely be followed on how often to receive, but the ideal is to strive to live in such a way so as to receive Our Lord Daily.

In the Gospel of St. Matthew we read, Mat 6:11 "Give us this day our supersubstantial bread." Thus the Saints have ever considered Holy Communion to be our Daily and Supersubstantial Bread. The Manna of old did not have the efficacy that the Bread of Life, Christ's own Flesh, now has. Making an act of faith in His Real Presence in the Sacrament and an act of love and desire to be united to Him by it, we can receive graces from the Sacrament of His Love even many times a day.

Quote from: Our Lord Jesus Christ, Gospel of St. John6:50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven: that if any man eat of it, he may not die.
6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
6:52  If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.
6:53  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
6:54  Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you: except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.
6:55  He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.
6:56  For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.
6:57  He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him.
6:58  As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.
6:59  This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live for ever.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Vetus Ordo on February 08, 2019, 12:12:27 PM
Quote from: Xavier on February 08, 2019, 11:23:54 AM
Are you sure?

Yes. Well, as far as I'm concerned at least.

The only way I could realistically take Holy Communion weekly (or even daily) was if transubstantiation were demonstrably false and the necessary conditions to partake of the holy bread and wine were just right faith and good standing with the Church. In that scenario, yes.

Or if I lead an ascetic life of mortification, which I don't.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Non Nobis on February 08, 2019, 10:37:36 PM
Quote from: Vetus Ordo on February 07, 2019, 10:05:14 PM
I think frequent communion is a privilege of a select few of the elect.

But NOBODY can KNOW that they are elect at all (let alone in the select few). Nor can any spiritual advisor or Saint know this.  So do you basically think nobody should receive frequent communion unless God tells them directly that they are among the chosen few?

What about WEEKLY communion?  Should everybody receive communion only annually, according to the requirement of the Church?

We say "Domine non sum dignus..." and indeed we cannot have sufficient humility when we say this.  But God wants us to also say "sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea".

Might there sometimes be pride in thinking that our unworthiness is so great that it should block God's love? (If one is in the state of mortal sin, he is himself blocking God's love.)

I understand that frequent communion is not a necessity, and I think that some saints have done as you do (and that it was more common in the Church).  I can imagine being too overwhelmed by unworthiness (or the inability to revere and love God enough) sometimes; better than the carelessness with which some come to Communion.  But I think it is a matter of what God wants you to do at each point, not of considering His unknowable eternal destiny for you. How can you know that God does not want to give Himself in frequent Communion even to those who will eventually be damned (they too can sometimes be in the state of grace, and He always tries to reach them)? He gave His intimate friendship to Judas.                 
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Vetus Ordo on February 09, 2019, 11:31:14 AM
Quote from: Non Nobis on February 08, 2019, 10:37:36 PM
So do you basically think nobody should receive frequent communion unless God tells them directly that they are among the chosen few?

Not really.

By the way, there's no need to write in caps lock. It looks like you're shouting.

What I wrote was that frequent communion is a spiritual privilege of a select few from among the elect. It is a privilege for those who are ascetic and advanced in the spiritual life because they can take it worthily and derive spiritual benefits from it.

Quote from: Non Nobis on February 08, 2019, 10:37:36 PM
What about WEEKLY communion?  Should everybody receive communion only annually, according to the requirement of the Church?

People should receive communion according to what their conscience dictates. At least once a year is the minimum required, the rest really depends on the individual.

The pressure to have communion daily or weekly always seemed to me like a bad idea, to be honest.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Maximilian on February 09, 2019, 11:57:56 AM
Quote from: Vetus Ordo on February 09, 2019, 11:31:14 AM

The pressure to have communion daily or weekly always seemed to me like a bad idea, to be honest.

Yes, so true. It is the cause of countless sacrilegious communions.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: mikemac on February 09, 2019, 06:28:39 PM
Quote from: Xavier on February 06, 2019, 11:57:04 PM
As in regular Sacramental Communion, the soul can prepare by Adoration and Reparation before Communion; by offering spiritually the Body and Blood of Jesus to the Eternal Father as in the Chaplet of St. Gertrude, or of the Holy Wounds; or the Divine Mercy, or the Fatima Angel Prayer offering to the Holy Trinity etc. It can also be made after the Rosary or one's other daily prayers.

What am I thinking.  Besides kissing the Crucifix numerous times a day I do say the St. Gertrude prayer every morning.  So I guess I could have said Yes I do make Spiritual Communions.  I should say the St. Gertrude prayer a few times through the day though.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Non Nobis on February 09, 2019, 07:26:41 PM
Quote from: Vetus Ordo on February 09, 2019, 11:31:14 AM


Quote from: Non Nobis on February 08, 2019, 10:37:36 PM
So do you basically think nobody should receive frequent communion unless God tells them directly that they are among the chosen few?

Text with caps lock:
But NOBODY can KNOW that they are elect at all (let alone in the select few).             
By the way, there's no need to write in caps lock. It looks like you're shouting.

I do try to avoid long stretches of caps lock for that reason.  But I use it for emphasis, or to hint at something that is not explicitly said. E.g "KNOW" means "know for certain, as opposed to only strongly feeling" (one could strongly feel that they are elect or reprobate, and even call it "knowing", without knowing it for certain). 

Isn't emphasis that is clear when we speak sometimes lost when we write?  Even when someone ought to understand the emphasis from what is written, they don't always do so. We read our own writing and our intended emphasis is obvious in our own mind, but maybe not to others.

Anyway I will try to tone down my use of caps lock  (using italics or nothing) (especially for you  ;)).  Maybe I'll start a thread on Coffee Pot to see what other people think (or maybe I won't). Maybe I am just being annoying.
Title: Re: Do you have the habit of making frequent Spiritual Communions?
Post by: Xavier on February 09, 2019, 09:52:05 PM
Our Lord asks us to receive Him frequently simply because He loves us and wants to pour out His Goodness and Grace upon us, making us strong and unlikely to fall. Holy Communion is the Safe, Short and Sweet way to Heaven. Our patron Pope St. Pius X was a great proponent of frequent Communion. The Catechism of Trent quotes Acts (2:42;46-47) to show the early Christians were accustomed to receive this Daily Bread daily. It is better to follow a Confessor's advice, thus taking away all danger of self-will in the matter. The Church, and even Christ Himself sometimes with special favours, has shown a clear preference for the faithful to communicate more frequently, once some basic precautions have been taken first. It is good to Communicate weekly and Confess monthly but even better to Communicate daily and Confess weekly. One's intention in receiving Holy Communion must simply be (1) to be more detached from the world (2) to advance in the Love of Jesus Christ.

http://www.traditionalcatholicpriest.com/2017/06/24/holy-communion-st-alphonsus/

Quote from: St. Alphonsus"A certain man made a great supper." LUKE xiv. 16.

"IN the gospel of this day we read that a rich man prepared a great supper. He then ordered one of his servants to invite to it all those whom he should find in the highways, even though they were poor, blind, and lame, and to compel those who should refuse, to come to the supper. "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled" (v. 20). And he added, that of all those who had been invited and had not come, not one should ever partake of his supper. "But I say unto you, that none of those men that were invited shall taste of my supper" (v. 24).

This supper is the holy communion; it is a great supper, at which all the faithful are invited to eat the sacred flesh of Jesus Christ in the most holy sacrament of the altar. "Take ye and eat: this is my body." (Matt. xxiv. 26.) Let us then consider today, in the first point, the great love which Jesus Christ has shown us in giving us himself in this sacrament; and, in the second point, how we ought to receive him in order to draw great fruit from the holy communion.

First Point

On the great love which Jesus Christ has shown us in giving us himself in this sacrament.


1. "Jesus, knowing that his hour was come that he should pass out of this world to the Father, having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end. "(John xiii. 1.) Knowing that the hour of his death had arrived, Jesus Christ wished, before his departure from this world, to leave us the greatest proof which he could give of his love, by leaving us himself in the holy eucharist.

"He loved them to the end. That is, according to St. Chrysostom, "with an extreme love." St. Bernardino of Sienna says that the tokens of love which are given at death make a more lasting impression on the mind, and are more highly esteemed. "Quæ in fine in signum amicitiæ celebrantur, firmius memoriæ imprimuntur et cariora tenentur."

But, whilst others leave a ring, or a piece of money, as a mark of their affection, Jesus has left us himself entirely in this sacrament of love.

2. And when did Jesus Christ institute this sacrament? He instituted it, as the Apostle has remarked, on the night before his passion . "The Lord Jesus, the same night on which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke and said: "Take ye and eat: this is my body." (1 Cor. xi. 23, 24.)

Thus, at the very time that men were preparing to put him to death, our loving Redeemer resolved to bestow upon us this gift. Jesus Christ, then, was not content with giving his life for us on a cross: he wished also, before his death, to pour out, as the Council of Trent says, all the riches of his love, by leaving himself for our food in the holy communion. "He, as it were, poured out the riches of his love towards man." (Sess. 13, cap. ii.)

If faith had not taught it, who could ever imagine that a God would become man, and afterwards become the food of his own creatures? When Jesus Christ revealed to his followers this sacrament which he intended to leave us, St. John says, that they could not bring themselves to believe it, and departed from him saying: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat ?...This saying is hard, and who can hear it?" (St. John vi. 53, 61.) But what men could not imagine, the real love of Jesus Christ has invented and effected. "Take ye and eat: this is my body." These words he addressed to his apostles on the night before he suffered, and he now, after his death, addresses them to us.

3. "How highly honoured, " says St. Francis de Sales, "would that man fed to whom the king sent from his table a portion of what he had on his own plate? But how should he feel if that portion were a part of the king?s arm?" In the holy communion Jesus gives us, not a part of his arm, but his entire body in the sacrament of the altar. "He gave you all," says St. Chrysostom, reproving our ingratitude, "he left nothing for Himself. "

And St. Thomas teaches, that in the eucharist God has given us all that he is and all that he has. "Deus in eucharistia totum quod est et habet, dedit nobis." (Opusc. 63, c. ii.) Justly then has the same saint called the eucharist"a sacrament of love; a pledge of love. ""Sacramentum charitatis pignus charitatis."

It is a sacrament of love, because it was pure love that induced Jesus Christ to give us this gift and pledge of love: for he wished that, should a doubt of his having loved us ever enter into our minds, we should have in this sacrament a pledge of his love.

St. Bernard calls this sacrament"love of loves.""Amor amorum." By his incarnation, the Lord has given himself to all men in general; but, in this sacrament, he has given, himself to each of us in particular, to make us understand the special love which he entertains for each of us.

4. Oh! how ardently does Jesus Christ desire to come to our souls in the holy communion! This vehement desire he expressed at the time of the institution of this sacrament, when he said to the apostles: "With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you." (Luke xxii. 15.)

St. Laurence Justinian says that these words proceeded from the enamoured heart of Jesus Christ, who, by such tender expressions, wished to show us the ardent love with which he loved us. "This is the voice of the most burning charity. "Flagrantissimæ charitatis est vox hæc." And, to induce us to receive him frequently in the holy communion, he promises eternal life that is, the kingdom of heaven to those who eat his flesh. "He that eateth this bread shall live for ever." (John vi. 59.)

On the other hand, it threatens to deprive us of his grace and of Paradise, if we neglect communion. "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you." (John vi. 54.) These promises and these threats all sprung from a burning desire to come to us in this sacrament.

5. And why does Jesus Christ so vehemently desire that we receive him in the holy communion? It is because he takes delight in being united with each of us. By the communion, Jesus is really united to our soul and to our body, and we are united to Jesus. "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me and I in him." (John vi. 57.) Thus, after communion, we are, says St. Chrysostom, one body and one flesh with Jesus Christ. "Huic nos unimur, et facti summus unum corpus ut una caro." (Hom. lxviii. ad Pop. Ant.)

Hence St. Laurence Justinian exclaims: "Oh! how wonderful is thy love, O Lord Jesus, who hast wished to incorporate us in such a manner with thy body, that we should have one heart and one soul inseparably united with thee." Thus, to every soul that receives the eucharist, the Lord says what he once said to his beloved servant Margaret of Ipres "Behold, my daughter, the close union made between me and thee; love me, then, and let us remain for ever united in love: let us never more be separated."

This union between us and Jesus Christ is, according to St. Chrysostom, the effect of the love which Jesus Christ bears us. "Semetipsum nobis immiscuit, ut unum quid simus ardentur enim amantium hoc est. " (Hom. lxi.) But, Lord, such intimate union with man is not suited to thy divine majesty.

But love seeks not reason; it goes not where it ought to go, but where it is drawn. "Amor ratione caret, et vadit quo dicitur, non quo debeat." (Serm. cxliii.) St. Bernardino of Sienna says that, in giving himself for our food, Jesus Christ loved us to the last degree; because he united himself entirely to us, as food is united to those who eat it. "Ultimus gradus amoris est, cum se dedit nobis in cibum quia dedit se nobis ad omnimodam unionem, sicut cibus et cibans, invicem uniuntur." (Tom. 2, Serm. liv.)

The same doctrine has been beautifully expressed by St. Francis de Sales. "No action of the Saviour can be more loving or more tender than the institution of the holy eucharist, in which he, as it were, annihilates himself, and takes the form of food, to unite himself to the souls and bodies of his faithful servants."

6. Hence, there is nothing from which we can draw so much fruit as from the holy communion. St. Denis teaches, that the most holy sacrament has greater efficacy to sanctify souls than all other spiritual means. "Eucharistia maxim am vim habet perficiendæ  sanctitatis."

St. Vincent Ferrer says, that a soul derives more profit from one communion than from fasting a week on bread and water. The eucharist is, according to the holy Council of Trent, a medicine which delivers us from venial, and preserves us from mortal sins. "Antidotum quo a culpis quotidianis liberemur, et a rnortalibus præservemur." Jesus himself has said, that they who eat him, who is the fountain of life, shall receive permanently the life of grace. "He that eateth me, the same shall also live by me." (John vi. 58.)

Innocent the Third teaches, that by the passion Jesus Christ delivers us from the sins we have committed, and by the eucharist from the sins we may commit. According to St. Chrysostom, the holy communion inflames us with the fire of divine love, and makes us objects of terror to the devil. "The eucharist is a fire which inflames us, that, like lions breathing fire, we may retire from the altar, being made terrible to the devil." (Hom. lxi. ad Pop. Ant.)

In explaining the words of the Spouse of the Canticles, "He brought me into the cellar of wine; lie set in order charity in me" (ii. 4.) St. Gregory says, that the communion is this cellar of wine, in which the soul is so inebriated with divine love, that she forgets and loses sight of all earthly things.

7. Some will say: "I do not communicate often; because I am cold in divine love." In answer to them Gerson asks, Will you then, because you feel cold, remove from the fire? When you are tepid you should more frequently approach this sacrament. St. Bonaventure says: "Trusting in the mercy of God, though you feel tepid, approach: let him who thinks himself unworthy reflect, that the more infirm he feels himself the more he requires a physician" (de Prof. Rel., cap. lxxviii).

And, in"The Devout Life," chapter xx., St. Francis de Sales writes: "Two sorts of persons ought to communicate often: the perfect, to preserve perfection; and the imperfect, to arrive at perfection." It cannot be doubted, that he who wishes to communicate should prepare himself with great diligence, that he may communicate well. Let us pass to the second point.

Second Point

On the preparation we ought to make in order to derive great fruit from the holy communion.


8. Two things are necessary in order to draw great fruit from communion preparation for, and thanksgiving after communion. As to the preparation, it is certain that the saints derived great profit from their communions, only because they were careful to prepare themselves well for receiving the holy eucharist.

It is easy then to understand why so many souls remain subject to the same imperfections, after all their communions. Cardinal Bona says, that the defect is not in the food, but in the want of preparation for it. "Defectus non in bibo est, sed in edentis dispositione."

For frequent communion two principal dispositions are necessary. The first is detachment from creatures, and disengagement of the heart from everything that is not God. The more the heart is occupied with earthly concerns, the less room there is in it for divine love. Hence, to give full possession of the whole heart to God, it is necessary to purify it from worldly attachments.

This is the preparation which Jesus himself recommends to St. Gertrude. "I ask nothing more of thee," said he to her, "than that thou come to receive me with a heart divested of thyself." Let us, then, withdraw our affections from creatures, and our hearts shall belong entirely to the Creator.

9. The second disposition necessary to draw great fruit from communion, is a desire of receiving Jesus Christ in order to advance in his love. "He," says St. Francis de Sales, "who gives himself through pure love, ought to be received only through love."

Thus, the principal end of our communions must be to advance in the love of Jesus Christ. He once said to St. Matilda: "When you communicate, desire all the love that any soul has ever had for me, and I will accept your love in proportion to the fervour with which you wished for it."

10. Thanksgiving after communion is also necessary. The prayer we make after communion is the most acceptable to God, and the most profitable to us. After communion the soul should be employed in affections and petitions. The affections ought to consist not only in acts of thanksgiving, but also in acts of humility, of love, and of oblation of ourselves to God.

Let us then humble ourselves as much as possible at the sight of a God made our food after we had offended him. A learned author says that, for a soul after communion, the most appropriate sentiment is one of astonishment at the thought of receiving a God. She should exclaim: "What! a God to me! a God to me!" Let us also make many acts of the love of Jesus Christ.

He has come into our souls in order to be loved. Hence, he is greatly pleased with those who, after communion, say to him: "My Jesus, I love thee; I desire nothing but thee." Let us also offer ourselves and all that we have to Jesus Christ, that he may dispose of all as he pleases: and let us frequently say: "My Jesus, thou art all mine; thou hast given thyself entirely to me; I give myself entirely to thee.

11. After communion; we should not only make these affections, but we ought also to present to God with great confidence many petitions for his graces. The time after communion is a time in which we can gain treasures of divine graces. St. Teresa says, that at that time Jesus Christ remains in the soul as on a throne, saying to her what he said to the blind man: "What wilt thou that I should do to thee ?" (Mark x. 51.) As if he said: "But me you have not always." (John xii. 8.)

Now that you possess me within you, ask me for graces: I have come down from heaven on purpose to dispense them to you; ask whatever you wish, and you shall obtain it. Oh! what great graces are lost by those who spend but little time in prayer after communion. Let us also turn to the Eternal Father, and, bearing in mind the promise of Jesus Christ "Amen, amen, I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you" (John xvi. 23) let us say to him: My God, for the love of this thy Son, whom I have within my heart, give me thy love; make me all thine. And if we offer this prayer with confidence, the Lord will certainly hear us. He who acts thus may become a saint by a single Communion."