Spiritual Communions are a practice highly recommended by the Saints. We can begin by making them, for e.g. every third hour, then every hour, then many times an hour. The graces that God gives us through Spiritual Communion are sometimes comparable to that of Sacramental Communions! We can offer ourselves and the Body and Blood of Jesus many times a day to God, and then ask Him by simple acts of faith and love in His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, to come and fill us spiritually with His Body and Blood. God's desire in Love to come to us and unite Himself to us is more than our desire to unite ourselves to Him, He Loves us that much. Let us respond to that Love by striving to become entirely one with Him and with His Divine Will, by lovingly surrendering our hearts to Him often via Spiritual Communions. This is from a wonderful book published in the 19th century called "The Blessed Eucharist: Our Greatest Treasure." http://www.catholictradition.org/Eucharist/blessed-eucharist11.htm CHAPTER 11 On Spiritual Communion 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. 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 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. 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."
In chapter 8, Father Mueller describes the great effects of frequent Communion well received and exhorts us all to make many Sacramental and Spiritual Communions. Daily Sacramental Communion is a great grace and blessing we should try to dispose and prepare ourselves to receive. Of Spiritual Communions, we can make several every day and hour. "Multitudes of pious souls confess that it is the Holy Communion alone which keeps them steady in the practice of virtue and cheerful amid all the vicissitudes of life. How often do we hear such souls declaring that on the days they do not receive Communion they seem to themselves lame and miserable; everything goes wrong with them, and all their crosses seem tenfold heavier than usual. But when in the morning they have had the happiness of partaking of the Body of Christ, everything seems to go well; the daily annoyances of their state seem to disappear; they are happy and joyous; words of kindness seem to come naturally in their mouths; and life is no longer the burden which once it seemed to be. O truly wonder-working Sacrament! Marvelous invention of Divine Love, surpassing all power of speech to describe or thought to fathom! When the children of Israel found in the fields the bread from Heaven which God gave them in the wilderness, they called it Manhu, "What is it?" because they did not know what it was. So, after all that we have said of the true Manna, the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, we must confess that we are unable to comprehend it. "Man does not live on bread alone." He has a higher life than that which is nourished by the fruits of the ground, a spiritual and Divine life, and this life is nourished by the Body of Christ. Hidden under the Sacramental form, our Divine Saviour comes down to make us more and more acceptable to Him, to preserve us in this dangerous world from mortal sin, to make us true children of God, to console us in our exile, to give us a pledge of our eternal happiness, to shed abroad in our hearts the love of God. And as if this were not enough and as if to set the seal on the rest, He is sometimes pleased to make His own most Sacred Body supply the place of all other nourishment and miraculously to sustain even the natural life of His servants by this Sacramental food. St. Catherine of Siena, from Ash Wednesday to Ascension Day, took no other food than Holy Communion. (Surius 29 April). A certain holy virgin of Rome spent five whole Lents without tasting anything else but the Bread of Angels. (Cacciaguerra) St. Nicholas of Flue, of whom I have spoken, for fifteen successive years lived without other nourishment than the Sacred Body of Our Lord. (Simon Majolus Canicular, Collet IV). And St. Liberalis, Bishop of Athens, fasted every day in the week, taking nothing whatever, not even the Blessed Sacrament, and on Sunday his only nourishment consisted i of this heavenly food, yet he was always strong and I vigorous. (P. Nat. L. IV., Collat. Sanct. c. xciii) We can but repeat: O wonder-working Sacrament!! We are at a loss what to say. We are silenced by the greatness of God's bounty. What can we do but humbly thank God in the depths of our hearts for so great a blessing, so rich a consolation in this valley of tears. There is nothing short of the vision of God in Heaven which the mind of man can conceive so precious as one Communion. "Thou hast given us, O Lord, Bread from Heaven, having in it all manner of delights!" "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is celebrated, the mind is filled with grace, and the pledge of future glory is given to us! Alleluia!"
THE EFFICACIOUS PRACTICE OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION “[T]he most holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our passover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men.” (Saint Pope John Paul II) In his Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist, SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS, our Holy Father Emeritus, Pope Benedict XVI, recommends the practice of making spiritual communions. He states: “Even in cases where it is not possible to receive sacramental communion, participation at Mass remains necessary, important, meaningful and fruitful. In such circumstances it is beneficial to cultivate a desire for full union with Christ through the practice of spiritual communion, praised by Pope John Paul II and recommended by saints who were masters of the spiritual life” (no. 55). Further on in Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI urges Catholics to “rediscover the Eucharistic form which their lives are meant to have,” thus making of our lives “a constant self-offering to God….” (no. 72). The practice of making spiritual communions throughout the day is one way to rediscover our Eucharistic form. In his encyclical letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Saint Pope John Paul II wrote: 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.]. According to Saint Thomas Aquinas spiritual communion consists of “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament and a loving embrace as though we had already received Him.”
A prayer of spiritual Communion with Jesus can be made in a matter of seconds and repeated often throughout the day. The prayer is highly thought of by the Church since it is indulgenced (see Manual of Indulgences, 4th Edition, p.51). To make a spiritual communion you can simply say the following prayer in a recollected manner: “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“ (From sacredheart.com). The prayer of spiritual communion – which may even be made without words in the yearnings of our heart – shows our deep hunger for the Eucharist; it further shows our deep desire to be united to the Eucharistic life of Christ; it shows, as well, our profound love for the Sacrament of Love! You can make this prayer throughout the day on days when you are unable to attend daily Mass, or you can say the prayer throughout the day as preparation for your next Holy Communion at Mass. Vinny Flynn relates that “Saint Francis de Sales resolved to make a spiritual Communion at least every fifteen minutes so that he could link all the events of the day to his reception of the Eucharist at Mass” (7 Secrets of the Eucharist, pp. 85-86). Flynn relates that Saint Maximilian Kolbe also made frequent spiritual Communions (p.86). Flynn also refrences Saint Leonard of Port Maurice, who said: “If you practice the holy exercise of spiritual Communion several times each day, within a month you will see your heart completely changed” (7 Secrets of the Eucharist, pp. 97-98) In his book, Jesus our Eucharistic Love, Father Stefano Manelli explains what the effects of a well made spiritual communion may produce. He says, “Spiritual Communion, as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Alphonsus Liguori teach, produces effects similar to Sacramental Communion, according to the dispositions with which it is made, the greater or less earnestness with which Jesus is desired, and the greater or less love with which Jesus is welcomed and given due attention.” Two other books which highly recommend this practice of making spiritual Communions are: The Blessed Sacrament by Father Faber (beginning at p. 438), and The Blessed Eucharist by Father Muller (Chapter 11). Surely, this practice of making spiritual Communions will draw you closer to the Lord, and make you more desirous of receiving Him sacramentally at Holy Mass. The practice of spiritual communion secures our life-long love of the Eucharist, for the Eucharist is constantly close to our heart. By this efficacious practice, our hearts are always longing to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Spiritual communion is a great preparation for Holy Communion at Mass. “Oh Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, please place in our hearts profound gratitude for the Holy Eucharist.” Tom Mulcahy, M.A." Taken from: https://catholicstrength.com/2017/09/20/the-efficacious-practice-of-spiritual-communion/ Let us resolve never to let an Hour pass without making many acts of Spiritual Communion! It will be like receiving Holy Communion from Jesus every moment!
Happy Feast of Corpus Christi to everyone! In Chapter 13, Fr. Mueller describes Corpus Christi Feast. CHAPTER 13 The Most Holy Festival of Corpus Christi and its Origin ...From the age of sixteen, for many years, a vision perpetually haunted a young Belgian nun, Juliana of Retinne, whenever she knelt in prayer ... Our Lord Himself came to explain it to her. He said it was to show that the ritual year of the Church would remain incomplete until the Blessed Sacrament had a feast of its own, and He wished it to be instituted for the following reasons: First, in order that the Catholic doctrine might receive aid from the institution of this festival at a time when the faith of the world was growing cold and heresies were rife. Secondly, that the faithful who love and seek truth and piety may be enabled to draw from this source of life new strength and vigor to walk continually in the way of virtue. Thirdly, that irreverence and sacrilegious behavior towards the Divine Majesty in this adorable Sacrament may, by sincere and profound adoration, be extirpated and repaired. Lastly, He bade her announce to the Christian world His will that this feast should be observed ... At length she imparted it to her confessor, and with her leave he consulted others, especially James de Threzis, Archdeacon at the Cathedral of Liege. This priest was afterwards, for his piety and learning, elected Bishop of Verdun, then Patriarch of Jerusalem and at last Pope of Rome, being called Urban IV. From that time it became a public question, and sorely were men divided upon it. Canons and monks protested against the new devotion and urged that the Daily Sacrifice was sufficient to commemorate the love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament-----without a special day being particularly assigned for that purpose. But the faithful nun prayed on; civil discord raged around her; the city where she lived was lost and won, sacked by a lawless army, and retaken; three successive convents were either burned or otherwise destroyed over her head, yet no earthly troubles could make her forget the task which her Lord had assigned her. She died before it was accomplished, yet she had done enough in her lifetime to provide for its execution. In her wanderings, she had met with a few men with devotion to feel and learning to defend the feast of the Blessed Sacrament. When she was in her grave, the Sovereign Pontiff, Urban IV, wrote to inform one of her companions that he himself had celebrated the feast with the Cardinals in the Holy City. The triumph of the Blessed Sacrament was complete; St. Thomas Aquinas composed its office; the devotion spread throughout the length and breadth of Europe. From that time to this, every church in a Catholic country, from the cathedral of a royal city to the village chapel, keeps the festival. The procession issues into the I streets followed by the authorities of the realm; it is the public recognition by the Catholic world of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The prophetic eye of Our Lord saw in the futurity this very doctrine attacked and the Faith in sore danger. In the full career of the victory of His Church, in the zenith of its medieval splendor, He foresaw our times. Surely no omen was ever better fulfilled than that which promised the Church good service by the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi! In France it has survived every revolution; its restablishment has ever been the measure of the Church's power and the proof of her return. It is the dove with the olive branch which proclaims the passing away of the mighty deluge ... I believe, Dear Reader, that for your edification and instruction concerning the Most Holy Feast of our Divine Redeemer's Sacred Body, I can place nothing better before you than the Brief of Urban IV, which runs thus: "URBAN, BISHOP, Servant of the Servants of God, to our Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Archbishops, and other Prelates of the Church: "When Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, ere He left the world and returned to His Father, ate on the eve of His passion the Last Supper with His disciples, He instituted the Most Holy and precious Sacrament of His Body and Blood, in which He gave us the former for our food and the latter for our drink; 'for as often as we eat of this bread and drink of this chalice, we show the death of our Lord.' At the institution of this mystery, He said to His Apostles: 'Do this in commemoration of Me'-----giving them to understand that the great and adorable Sacrament, which He then instituted, was the greatest and most excellent remembrance of His infinite love towards us-----an admirable, agreeable, sweet, secure, and supremely excellent remembrance-----in which all the benefits of God are renewed, above all comprehension, in which we can find every pleasure, every sweetness and the most secure pledge of eternal life. "It is the sweetest, holiest and most salutary remembrance, which recalls to our mind the great grace of our Redemption, which keeps us from evil and strengthens us in good, which promotes our advancement in virtue and grace, our Divine Saviour" producing in us all these effects by His Real Presence. "The other mysteries which the Church reveres we adore in spirit and in truth, but in none of them do we enjoy the real presence thereof. It is only in the commemoration of the Last Supper that Jesus Christ is truly present and truly with us. When He ascended into Heaven, He said to His apostles and disciples: 'Behold I will be with you until the end of the world: He said this in order to console them for His absence and to assure them that He would always remain, even corporally, in their midst. O Worthy and Ever Adorable Remembrance, which reminds us that death has lost its sting and that we are saved from ruin, since the living Body of the Lord, which was raised upon the wood of the Cross, has restored life to us! It is a most glorious remembrance, which fills the faithful with salutary joy and causes them, in the effusion of their joy, to weep tears of thanksgiving. We exult at the remembrance of our Redemption, and because it reminds us of the death of Jesus who purchased us, we cannot restrain our tears. "Over this mystery, which prepares joy for us and elicits our tears, we rejoice weepingly and weep joyfully because our hearts are entranced with joy at the remembrance of so great a benefit, and in the sense of the most just gratitude which we owe it, we cannot refrain from tears. O infinite, Divine love! O exceedingly great condescension of our God! O astounding miracle of His liberality! Not enough to make us masters of the goods of this world, He even places all creatures at our command. This was not even enough for His goodness to us. He raised man to so great a dignity as to give him Angels to guard him and celestial spirits to serve him and to guide the elect to the possession of the inheritance which is prepared for them in Heaven. After so many brilliant proofs of His munificence, He has given us a still greater pledge of His unspeakable charity by bestowing Himself on us. Exceeding the very fullness of His gifts and the very measure of His love, He offers Himself for our food and drink. "O sublime and admirable liberality, in which the Giver is the Gift, and the Gift is the very One Who gives! O unexampled liberality by which He gives Himself! Our God has given Himself to be our food because man, condemned to death as he is, can be restored to life by this means only. By eating the forbidden fruit he incurred death, and by partaking of the tree of life, he has been redeemed. In the former was the sting of death; in the latter the food of life. By eating the former he inflicted a wound upon himself; by eating of the latter he recovered health. Thus the partaking of the one food wounded him; the partaking of the other healed him. Wound and cure proceed from the same source, and what entailed death upon us, has restored us to life. Of the former it is said: 'On the day on which you shall eat thereof, you shall die the death'; and of the latter, 'He that eats of this bread shall live for ever.' "O Substantial Food which perfectly satisfies and truly nourishes, not the body, but the heart; not the flesh, but the soul! Our compassionate Redeemer, who knew that man needed spiritual nourishment, has in this institution of charity and mercy prepared for his soul the most precious and most nourishing food that His wisdom could devise. Neither could any work have been better befitting the Divine liberality and charity than that the Eternal Word of God, who is the real food and the real repast of the reasonable creature, should, after He was made flesh, give Himself to flesh and blood, that is to say, to man, for his nourishment. "Man has eaten the bread of Angels, and therefore Our Lord said: 'My flesh is meat indeed!' This Divine Bread is eaten, but it is not changed, because it assumes no other form in him who eats it. It transforms the worthy receiver into Him whom it contains. O most excellent, most adorable and most venerable Sacrament, to which we can never give adequate praise, honor and glory and whose benefits we can never justly extol! O Sacrament, which is worthy of being revered from the bottom of the heart, loved with the most tender and fervent affection and of being deeply engraved upon our memory in indelible characters! O most precious remembrance, which ought to be made known and exalted in all places, which all Christians ought ever to remember with feelings of the deepest gratitude, which can never sufficiently meditate upon or ever sufficIently worship. We are therefore bound to cherish a perpetual remembrance of it, so that we may constantly have Him before our eyes who offers this inestimable benefit to us. For the more we consider the Gift, the more we prize Him who bestows it ..." From: http://www.catholictradition.org/Eucharist/blessed-eucharist13.htm
CHAPTER 4 On Visiting Jesus Christ In the Blessed Sacrament "Although we daily commemorate this benefit in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, yet we think it just that, in order to confound the infidelity and madness of heretics, we should at least once in the year solemnize and celebrate a feast in Its honor with the greatest pomp and magnificence possible. On the day on which Jesus Christ instituted this Sacrament, the Church is occupied with the reconciliation of sinners, the blessing of the holy oils, the washing of the feet and other mysteries. Wherefore, sufficient time is not left to honor this most sublime Sacrament, and thus it becomes necessary to appoint another day for this end. "Finally, it is the custom of the Church to devote particular days for the veneration of her saints, although she daily honors them by prayers, litanies, in the Mass, etc., as also on other occasions. But since on these days Christians often do not comply with their duties towards the Saints, either through negligence or press of domestic affairs, or from human weakness, our Mother the Holy Church has appointed a certain day for the general commemoration of all the Saints, so that by this solemnity, the omissions which may, perchance, have occurred may be repaired. "Now, if this has already been introduced into the Church, how much more are we not bound to do the same with regard to the life-giving Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, who is the glory and the crown of all the Saints. We shall then be enabled to repair and make up for our want of devotion and other defects which we may have had in hearing Mass and ask Our Lord's pardon for the same. And indeed, at the time when our dignity was not so elevated as it now is, we learned how the Lord revealed to some few Catholics that the feast of Corpus Christi was to be celebrated throughout the whole Church. Therefore, in order to strengthen and exalt the True Faith, we have thought it just and reasonable to ordain that, besides the commemoration which the Church daily makes of this Holy Sacrament, a particular festival shall be celebrated every year on a certain day, namely, on the fifth day of the week after the octave of Pentecost, on which day pious people will vie with each other to hasten in great crowds to our churches, where the clergy and laity will send forth their holy hymns of joy and praise. On this memorable day, faith shall triumph, hope be enhanced, charity shall shine, piety shall exult, our temples shall re-echo with hymns of exultation and pure souls shall tremble with holy joy. "On this day of devotion, all the faithful shall hasten to our churches with joyful hearts to discharge their obligations with unlimited obedience and thus, in a worthy manner, celebrate this great feast. May the Lord vouchsafe to inflame them with so holy a zeal that, by the exercise of their piety towards Him who has redeemed them, they may increase in merit and that He may also give Himself to them in this life for their food. May this God likewise be their reward in the other world."
Hey, my friends. When you receive spiritually, is it neccesarily to have made a confession beforehand? Should one be in the same state of grace as one would be when receiving Sacramentally?
I didn't think so, but I looked it up and found this: A spiritual Communion can be of value to anyone who desires a deeper union with Christ. It can be made at any time of the day or night. It is especially appropriate for those who find themselves unable to physically receive the Eucharist. For example, those who are not yet Catholic, those who have been away from the Church for a long time and who have not yet made a good confession, those who are living in a state of serious sin, as well as those who are sick or housebound. The Value of a Spiritual Communion
<sorry, posted twice by mistake. deleted the first now> Hi Gracia, it's ideal we have made Confession, or that we are at least in the state of grace. But if we look at the prayer Fr. Mueller gives for Spiritual Communion, we see that Acts of love, contrition, sorrow for sin, desire for union with Jesus (all of which would remit mortal sin, if any, and take us back to the state of grace), are already included in it. Act of Faith: "O my Jesus, I firmly believe that Thou art truly and really present in the Most Holy Sacrament. Act of Love, or Contrition: I love Thee with my whole heart, and because I love Thee, I am sorry for having offended Thee. Act of Desire: I long to possess Thee within my soul, but as I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, come at least in spirit into my heart. Act of Union: I unite myself to Thee as if Thou wert already there; never let me be separated from Thee." One of the great advantages is, according to many spiritual writers, when we "Taste and See that the Lord is Good", both in Sacramental and Spiritual Communions, with faith, contrition, love and desire for union with Jesus, very soon we will lose all taste for sin! We may even receive the grace never to sin mortally again, which necessarily includes the grace of final perseverance for one currently in the state of grace! So, it is very good to make Spiritual Communions often. If one has had the misfortune to fall into mortal sin, then we should regret offending God and try to make many acts of heartfelt contrition, along with the desire to confess as soon as possible. But one can make Spiritual Communions in the meanwhile, which surely, by degrees, will definitely give the grace to sin mortally no more, provided we persevere in it. God bless you, Gracia. Edit: Thanks, Sam. Spiritual Communion is, finally, also a good preparation for the next day's Sacramental Communion in itself, as Father explains: "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."
Thanks, guys, this is helpful! I have wanted to, and used to, but haven't for a while, not being sure if I had to have been to / made a confession, and not sure what else needed done.
Spiritual Communion, very good when you cant take Holy Communion it is God's will that in many places we stop and pray, this is a good time for praying nonstop, pray all you can
We usually make a spiritual Communion when we hear Holy Mass live streamed. We are worshipping in spirit and in truth. Praise God. It is a great and beautiful gift of grace to be able to sustain our hearts, when we are not able to receive Holy Eucharist at Holy Mass where He can nourish our heart, soul, mind and body. There is no substitute for the Bread of Angels, the Mana from Heaven. Please God this lock down will soon pass.
