The Real Presence, VI

THE REAL PRESENCE

Chapter VI

The devotional prayers of St. Thomas Aquinas said in preparation and in thanksgiving for communion testify to belief in the Real Presence.

PRAYER OF PREPARATION FOR COMMUNION

Almighty, Everlasting God, behold, I come to the sacrament of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come as one infirm to the physician of life, as one unclean to the fountain of mercy, as one blind to the light of everlasting brightness, as one poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth.

Therefore, I implore the abundance of your measureless bounty to heal my infirmity, wash my uncleanness, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness, that I may receive the Bread of angels, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, with such reverence and humility, with such sorrow and devotion, with such purity and faith, with such purpose and intention as may be profitable to my soul’s salvation. Grant me, I pray, the grace of receiving not only the sacrament of our Lord’s body and blood, but also the grace and power of the sacrament.

O most gracious God, grant me so to receive the body of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which he took from the Virgin Mary, as to merit to be incorporated into His Mystical Body, and to be numbered among his members. O most loving Father, give me grace to behold forever your beloved Son with unveiled face, whom I now purpose to receive veiled in the way. Amen.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

I thank you, O Lord, holy Father, everlasting God, who through no merit of mine, but only out of your great mercy, has fed me, a sinner, your unworthy servant, with the precious body and blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; and I pray that this Holy Communion may not be for my judgement and condemnation, but for my pardon and salvation.

Let it be for me an armor of faith and a shield of good purpose, a riddance of all vices, and a rooting out of all evil desires; an increase of love and patience, of humility and obedience, and of all virtues; a firm defense against the wiles of all my enemies, visible and invisible; a perfect quieting of all my impulses, carnal and spiritual; a cleaving unto you, the one true God; and a blessed consummation of my end when you call.

And I pray that you would bring me, a sinner, to that ineffable feast where you, with your Son and the Holy Spirit, are to your holy ones true light, fullness of blessedness, everlasting joy and perfect happiness. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.