What do we do when we return to the pew after receiving holy Communion? Having welcomed the Lord of the universe into our own corner of it, in the most humble yet profound of ways, how should our prayer be directed?
For years, I’d attempt various strategies hoping to make the most of this most intimate time with Jesus. But I was always left wanting. Trying to find a balance between giving and receiving, I was more often than not unfocused and distracted, more than I’d like to admit.
But, as a member of the Pauline Family founded by Blessed James Alberione, I was struck immediately upon using the prayer book he authored by the prayers proposed for after Communion. And a couple years after regularly praying with them, I’m very grateful for how they’ve shaped my own reception of the sacrament.
Space and copyright don’t allow me to include the full texts here. Rather, allow me to share a bit about the basic principles in the prayers and how they can shape your conversation with the Lord after receiving him.
The “Act of Adoration” directs my mind, will and heart in welcoming Christ’s eucharistic gift but also in returning it and sharing it. Phrases like “make me an ardent apostle” or “let the light of your Gospel shine to the farthest bounds of the world” help better to attune me to the reality that Christ is alive in me so that I might enliven the world through him. Praying the words “may there be eternal praise, thanksgiving and supplication for peace to all people” sharpens my attentiveness to the work that Christ puts before me in the circumstances and undertakings of my daily life. Our prayer after Communion should certainly include a longing to worship God more fully by our lives, for the life of the world.
The “Act of Resolution” directs me to allow Christ to shape my mind, will and heart more fully and completely. The phrase “make me similar to you” in the prayer emphasizes what should be the longing of our hearts, that we should not receive the Eucharist, we should not leave Mass, without this fundamental desire. We must be resolved, having been nourished by Christ’s body and blood, to want to live more like him in every facet of our lives. I appreciate that this prayer reiterates some of the fundamental characteristics of Christ, like “humility and obedience,” or “poor and patient,” or “model of charity and ardent zeal.” The Eucharist truly is the gift that shapes our character into his. We pray, as St. Augustine preached, that we will ever more fully become who we receive.
The “Act of Supplication” directs the longings, desires and petitions I bring to Christ. This prayer offers the opportunity to ask Christ to open my mind, will and heart to loving him more and more, but also all those he loves. At this moment of sacramental union with Christ, we beg him to keep us united with him more fully and to keep his grace alive and active within us and bear fruit for the coming of his kingdom and a multiplication of those who work to bring it about in the apostolate. We remember those dear to us — living and deceased. Our prayer should be shaped to make Christ’s own desires our own.
I believe these principles can effectively shape our post-Communion personal prayer, magnifying that time and increasing its fruitfulness. Gifts are given for a purpose. If we want to more fully find the Eucharist’s purpose in our lives, I believe the roadmap laid out by these prayers help us to do so. If nothing else, praying for that grace itself can certainly help us more abundantly receive holy Communion and shape our lives accordingly.
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