Act of Spiritual Communion
Act of Spiritual Communion
The Act of Spiritual Communion is a centuries-old Catholic prayer. It regained popularity at online Mass during the COVID pandemic.
Act of Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that You are present
in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot now 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.
About the Act of Spiritual Communion
The Act of Spiritual Communion is for those times we long for the Eucharist.
St. Thomas Aquinas said that Spiritual Communion is our deep desire to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
It increases our desire to receive sacramental Communion. It also helps us to want to be in a state of grace.
When to Say the Prayer
We can pray it daily or several times per day as a loving gesture of a heart devoted to Christ.
- when we cannot receive the Eucharist due to illness, weather, or another reason outside our control.
- during the celebration of the Mass when we cannot receive Communion because of a mortal sin not yet confessed.
- during online Mass.
- when we visit Jesus in the Tabernacle or during Eucharistic Adoration.
How to Say the Prayer
We can prepare our hearts with a passage from Scripture.
For example: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)
If we are not in a state of grace, we must first say a sincere Act of Contrition.
In his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003), St. John Paul II reminded us of the importance of cultivating a constant desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist. (EE, 34)
Click to Share This Post
CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
Carlo Esteban Murillo painted the angel with the Eucharist circa the 17th Century.
Carlo Esteban Murillo painted Jesus with the Eucharist circa the 1680s.
David Eucartistia on Pexels shared the photo of Eucharistic Adoration.
The photo of the woman praying in a chapel is by Roberta on Cathopic.
Vytautas Markunas SDB on Cathopic shared the photo of the person praying in a church with a backpack on.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet sources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.
IN REVIEW
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot now 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
(composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori, 18th Century)
- when we cannot receive the Eucharist due to illness, weather, or another reason beyond our control
- during the celebration of the Mass when we cannot receive Communion because of a mortal sin not yet confessed
- during online Mass
- when we visit Jesus in the tabernacle or during Eucharistic Adoration
- daily or several times per day as a loving gesture of a heart devoted to Christ
- Outside of the Sacrament of the Mass, we can prepare our hearts with a passage from scripture like John 6:35. (I am the bread of life…)
- If we are not in a state of grace, we must first say a sincere Act of Contrition.
*The words to the prayer are on our website.
- It increases our desire to receive sacramental Communion.
- It also helps us to want to be in a state of grace.
- St. John Paul II reminded us of the importance of cultivating a constant desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist. (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 34)