27/08/2026
ON SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
Spiritual Communion is a pious desire to receive the Holy Eucharist, when for some reason it is not possible to receive Our Lord sacramentally. It has been practiced by all the saints with great spiritual profit.
1) Spiritual Communion may be repeated several times a day. It can be made while we are at Church or elsewhere, at any time of day or night, before or after meals.
2) All those who do not receive Communion sacramentally should at least make a Spiritual Communion, when attending Mass. The better time to make a Spiritual Communion is, obviously, when the priest is taking Communion.
3) Those who are in the state of mortal sin must make an act of contrition beforehand, if they wish to receive the fruits of Spiritual Communion. Otherwise, they would not benefit from it at all, and it would be an irreverence, although not a sacrilege, according to Fr. Antonio Royo Marín, OP, “Moral Theology for Lay People”.
Our Lord expressed to His servant, Sister Paula Maresca, founder of the Monastery of Saint Catherine of Siena, in Napoles, how much Spiritual Communion pleases Him, and the great number of graces that are granted to us through this devotion, by showing her two precious vessels, one made out of gold and the other one made out of silver; then He said to her that He kept His Sacramental Communions in the gold vessel, and the Spiritual Communions in the silver one.
St. Jean-Marie Vianney, a French priest famous for converting countless souls to Christ in his parish of Ars in the 19th century, once said “when we feel the love of God growing cold, let us instantly make a Spiritual Communion. When we cannot go to the church, let us turn towards the tabernacle; no wall can shut us out from the good God.” We can indeed be grateful for that!
ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
My Jesus, I believe that Thou art present
in the Blessed Sacrament. I love Thee above all things and I desire Thee in my soul.
Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.
As though thou wert already there,
I embrace Thee and unite myself wholly to Thee; permit not that I should ever be separated from Thee.
A SPIRITUAL COMMUNION WITH MARY
O Immaculate Queen of Heaven and Earth, Mother of God and Mediatrix of every grace: I believe that thy dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, is truly, really and substantially contained in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love Him above all things and I long to receive Him into my heart. Since I cannot now receive Him sacramentally, be so good as to place Him spiritually in my soul.
O my Jesus, I embrace Thee as One who has already come, and I unite myself entirely to Thee. Never permit me to be separated from Thee.
Amen.
