Revolution of Love.com
Making Spiritual Communions and Visits to Our Lord
by Brian
If anyone were to ask me which spiritual practices I would recommend, two would instantly come to mind - making spiritual communions and visiting Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Why these two? Simply, because the saints recommended them.
Many saints - including: St. Alphonsus Ligouri, St. Angela Merici, and St. Maximilian Kolbe - would make spiritual communions daily. St. Leonard of Port Maurice had such confidence in spiritual communions that he said, "If you practice making spiritual communions several times a day, within a month your heart will be completely changed." (Eucharistic Jesus, p.65)
For those of you who don't know what a spiritual communion is, it is a way to receive Jesus into one's heart spiritually when you can't sacramentally. In his little work Visits to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Alphonsus Ligouri wrote a little prayer that beautifully describes what a spiritual communion is and how someone can make one.
His prayer is: "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.
Are spiritual communions efficacious? In his book Jesus our Eucharistic Love by Fr. Stefan Minelli tells the story of how Our Lord appeared to St. Catherine of Siena with two chalices. One chalice was made of gold the other was made of silver. Our Lord explained to St. Catherine that he kept her sacramental communions in the gold chalice and her spiritual communions in the silver chalice. He then told her that both types of communions were pleasing to Him.
Another practice the saints recommended is making daily visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. What did the saints have to say about this spiritual practice? St. Catherine of Genoa said, "The time I have spent before the tabernacle is the best spent time of my life." (p.73) St. Don Bosco said, "Never omit the daily visit to the most Blessed Sacrament, be it ever so brief…" (p.77) And St. Francis de Sales in a passionate appeal remarked, "We must visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a hundred thousand times a day". (p.77)
The saints loved to visit Jesus. They gained innumerable graces and blessing by kneeling before Him - listening to Him, speaking to Him, adoring and loving Him. To spend time with Jesus, even briefly, is time well spent. I can testify to this because I have made it a practice to visit Jesus daily in the Blessed Sacrament. Whether I have spent a brief moment with Our Lord or a considerable amount of time I know that each visit transforms me little by little into another Christ. My visits also provide me with the opportunity to make a spiritual communion.
In conclusion I highly recommend the practice of making spiritual communions and visiting the Blessed Sacrament. It's an excellent way to remain close to Jesus and receive His love and grace. Give it a try and I guarantee you will not regret it. In fact you will discover as I have that visiting the Blessed Sacrament and making spiritual communions will lead you into a deeper union with Jesus and will help you grow in both virtue and holiness.
Before I end my article I would like to make one thing clear. I am not in any way, shape or form advocating that a spiritual communion or a visit to Jesus should replace the Mass. Please do not think, "Now I don't have to go to Mass. I can just make a visit to Jesus or a spiritual communion, which is much easier." If you have the opportunity to go to Mass - do it! Remember, the Holy Mass is the greatest of all prayers and the Eucharist is the center of our Catholic faith.
God bless!