Devotions after Communion

Behold, O Lord, I have thee now, who hast all things: I possess thee, who possessest all things, and who canst do all things: take off my heart then, O my God after Communion 269 and my all, from all other things but thee, in all which there is nothing but vanity and affliction of spirit: let my heart be fixed on thee alone, let me ever repose in thee, where alone my treasure is, the soveraign truth, and true happiness, and happy eternity.: Let my soul, O Lord, be sensible of the sweetness of thy presence. Let me taste how sweet thou art, O Lord; that being allured by thy love, I may never more hunt after worldly joys; for thou art the joy of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Thou art the physician of my soul, who healest all our infirmities by thy sacred blood: and I am that sick man, whom thou camest from heaven to heal. O heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.

Thou art the good shepherd, who hast laid down thy life for thy sheep; behold, I am that sheep that was lost, and yet thou vouchsafest to feed me with thy body and blood. Take me now upon thy shoulders to carry me home. What canst thou deny me, who hast given me thyself? Govern me, and nothing will be wanting to me, in the place of pasture where thou hast placed me, untill thou bringest me to the happy pastures of life eternal.

O true light, which enlightenest every man that cometh into this world; enlighten my eyes that I may never sleep in death.

O fire ever burning and never decaying, behold how tepid and cold I am: inflame my reins and my heart, that they may burn with thy love. For thou camest to cast fire upon earth; and what dost thou desire but that it be enkindled?

O king of heaven and earth, rich in mercy, behold I am poor and needy, thou knowest what I stand most in need of, and thou alone canst assist me and enrich me. O help me, my God, and out of the treasures of thy bounty succour my needy soul.

O my Lord and my God, behold I am thy servant: give me understanding, and excite my affection, that I may henceforwards in all things know and do thy holy will.

Thou art the Lamb of God, the lamb without spot, who takest away the sins of the world:

O take away from me whatever is hurtful to me and displeasing to thee; and give me what thou knowest to be pleasing to thee and profitable to me. Thou art my love and all my joy: thou art my God and my all: thou art the portion of my inheritance and of my chalice: thou art he that will restore my inheritance to me. .

O my God and my all, may the sweet flame of thy love consume my soul, that so I may die to the world for the love of thee, who hast vouchsafed to die upon the cross for the love of me.

Acts after Communion 271

Acts of Devotion, Praise and Thanksgiving after Communion

My sweet Jesus, my creator, and my redeemer, my God and my all, whence is this to me that my Lord, and so great a Lord, whom heaven and earth cannot contain, should come into this poor cottage, this house of clay of my earthly habitation? O that I could give thee a hearty welcome! O that I could entertain thee as I ought! Thy loving-kindness invites me to thy embraces, and I would willingly say with the spouse in the Canticles, Z have found him whom my soul loveth, I have held him, and will never let him go: but the awe of so great a majesty checks me, and the sense of my great unworthiness and innumerable sins keeps me back. No, my soul, ’tis the feet of thy Saviour only that thou canst presume to embrace; ’tis there thou must present thyself like Magdalene, and wish that like her thou couldst wash them with thy tears: O that thou couldst be so happy! But, first, bow down thyself with all thy powers, to adore this soveraign majesty, which has vouchsafed to come to visit thee; pay him the best homage thou art able, as to thy first beginning and last end; and perfectly annihilate thyself in the presence of this eternal, immense, infinite deity. "Then pour 272 ‘Acts after Communion thyself forth in his presence, in praise and thanksgiving, according to thy best; and invite all heaven and earth to join with thee in magnifying their Lord and thine, for his mercy and bounty to thee.

O! what return shall I make to thee, O Lord, for all that thou hast done for me? Behold, when I had no being at all, thou hast created me: and when I was gone astray, and lost in my sins, thou hast redeemed me by dying for me: all that I have, all that I am is thy gift; and now after all thy other favours thou hast given me thyself: blessed be thy name for ever. Thou art great, O Lord, and exceedingly to be praised; great are thy works, and of thy wisdom there is no end: but thy tender mercies, thy bounty and goodness to me are above all thy works these I desire to confess and extoll for ever. Bless then thy Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within thee praise and magnify his name. Bless thy Lord, my soul, and see thou never forgettest all that he has done for thee. O all ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and glorify him for ever. O all ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and glorify his holy name. Bless the Lord all ye saints, and let the whole church of heaven and earth join in praising and giving him thanks for all his mercies and graces to me, and so in some measure supply for what is due from me. But as all this still falls short of what is owing to thee from me for thy infinite love; I offer to thee, O eternal Father, this same Son of thine which thou hast given me, and his thanksgiving, which is of infinite value; and this I am sure thou wilt accept of. Look not then upon my insensibility and ingratitude; but upon the face of thy Christ, and with him, and through him, receive this offering of my own poor self, which I desire to make to thee.

N.B. Here also might be recited the Canticle of the three Children, Benedicite, &c., the Te Deum, and some of the Psalms of Praise, which are found among the devotions for Sunday mornings.

AN OBLATION AFTER COMMUNION FATHER of mercies, and God of all consolation, how hast thou loved us! to whom thou hast given thy only begotten Son, once for our ransom, and daily for the food of our souls. What can I, a wretched creature, return to thee for this infinite charity? Verily, nothing else, but this same beloved Son of thine, whom thou hast given to me, and surely couldst give me nothing greater or more worthy of thyself. Him then I offer to thee, O heavenly Father, with whom thou art always well-pleased; him whom thou hast lovingly delivered up to death for me; and given me in this most s holy sacrament, which we frequent for the everlasting memorial of his death. He is our high-priest and victim: he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world:: he is our advocate and intercessor. Look down then upon him, and for his sake look down upon me, and upon us all. Remember all his sufferings, which he endured here in his mortal life, his bitter anguish, his mortal agony and bloody sweat, all the injuries and affronts, all the blows and stripes, all the bruises and wounds that he received for us. Remember his death, which thou wast pleased should be the fountain of our life: and for the sake of his sacred Passion have mercy on us. Receive, O holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, this holy and unspotted victim, which I here offer thee, in union with that love, with which he offered himself to thee upon the altar of the cross; receive him for the praise and glory of thy name; in thanksgiving for all thy benefits bestowed on me and all mankind; in satisfaction also for all my sins, and for the benefit of thy whole church; and the refreshment and comfort of all thy faithful living and dead. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ thy Son.

And turning myself to thee, O my dear Lord and Saviour, who hast here given me thyself; I would gladly make some suitable return to thee for this infinite love; I would gladly make thee some offering, in acknow-after Communion 275 ledgement of this rich present thou hast made me. But alas! thou knowest my poverty; thou knowest I have nothing worthy of thy acceptance; nothing but what upon a thousand titles is already thine. But, O my God, such is thy goodness, thou wilt be contented with the little that I can give thee, tho’ it be thy own already; thou askest nothing but my heart, and this I here most willingly offer thee: O be pleased to accept of it, and make it wholly thine for ever! I offer thee here my whole being, my body with all its senses, and my soul with all its powers; that as thou hast at present honoured them both by thy presence, so they may both be thy temple for ever: O! sanctify and consecrate eternally to thyself this mansion which thou hast this day chosen for thy abode. I give thee my memory, that it may be ever recollected in thee; my understanding, that it may be always enlightened and directed by thy truth; and my will, that it may be ever conformable to thine, and ever burn with the love of thee. O take me entirely into thy hands, with all that I have, and all that I am; and let nothing henceforward, in life or death, ever separate me any more from thee. Amen.

PETITION AFTER COMMUNION MOST merciful Saviour, behold I have presumed to receive thee this day into my house, relying on thy infinite goodness and mercy, and hoping, like Zaccheus, to obtain thy benediction. But alas! with how little preparation? With how little devotion? From my heart I beg pardon for my great unworthiness and for my innumerable sins, which I detest for the love of thee, and I desire to detest for ever. Oh! wash them all away with thy precious blood: for thou art the Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world; and one drop of this blood, which thou hast shed for us, is more than enough to cancel the sins of ten thousand worlds, Thou seest, O searcher of hearts, all my maladies, and all the wounds of my soul; thou knowest how prone I am to evil, and how backward and sluggish to good: thou seest this self-love, that tyrannizes over my soul, which is so deeply rooted in my corrupt nature; and branches out into so many vices, so much pride and vanity, so much passion and envy; so much covetousness and worldly solicitude; so much sensuality and concupiscence: oh, who can heal all these my evils, but thou the true physician of my soul, who givest me thy body and blood in this blessed sacrament, as a soveraign medicine for all my infirmities, and a soveraign balsam for all my wounds. Dispel the darkness of ignorance and error from my understanding, by thy heavenly light: drive away the corruption and malice of my will, by the fire of divine after Communion 277 love and charity: restrain all the motions of concupiscence, and all the irregular sallies of passion, that they may no more prevail over me; and strengthen my weakness with heavenly fortitude: destroy this hellish monster of self-love with its many heads; or at least chain down this worst of all my enemies, that it may no longer usurp the empire of my soul, which belongs to thee, and which thou hast taken possession of this day: cut off the heads of this beast, and particularly that which annoys me most, and which is my predominant passion: stand by me henceforward in all my temptations, that I may never more be overcome; remove from me all dangerous occasions, and grant me this one favour, that I may rather die a thousand deaths than live to offend thee mortally.

O my Jesus, thou art infinitely rich, and all the treasures of divine grace are lock’d up in thee: these treasures thou bringest with thee, when thou comest to visit us in this blessed sacrament; and thou takest an infinite pleasure in opening them to us, to inrich our poverty. This gives me the confidence to present thee now with my petitions, and to beg of thee those graces and virtues which I very much stand in need of, as thou best knowest. O increase and strengthen my belief of thy heavenly truths, and grant that henceforward I may ever live by faith, and be guided by the maxims of thy gospel. Teach me to be poor in spirit, and — take off my heart from the love of these transitory things, and fix it upon eternity. Teach me by thy divine example, and by thy most efficacious grace, to be meek and humble of heart, and in my patience to possess my soul. Grant that I may ever keep my body and soul chaste and pure from the corruption of lust; that I may ever bewail my past sins, and by a daily mortification restrain all irregular inclinations and passions for the future. Above all things teach me to love thee, teach me to be ever recollected in thee, and to walk always in thy presence: teach me to love my friends in thee, and my enemies for thee: grant me to persevere to the end in this love; and so to come one day to that happy place where I may love and enjoy thee for ever.

Have mercy also on my parents, friends, and benefactors, and on all those for whom I am any ways bound to pray, that we may all love thee, and faithfully serve thee. Have mercy on thy whole church, and on all the clergy and religious, men and women, that all may live up to their calling, and sanctify thy name. Give thy grace and blessing to all princes and magistrates, and to all Christian people. Convert all unbelievers and sinners, and bring all stray’d sheep back to thy fold; particularly have mercy on N, and N. &e. after Communion 279 O Blessed Virgin, mother of my God and Saviour, recommend all these my petitions to your Son. O all you angels and saints, citizens of heaven, join also your prayers with mine. You ever stand before the throne, and see him face to face, whom I here receive under veils: be ever mindful of me, and obtain from him and through him, that with you I may bless him and love him for ever. Amen, N.B. That upon the whole day after your communion, you ought to be more than ordinarily retired, and perform more devotions than usual. Particularly watch over yourself, lest by giving way to passion, or any other sin, you suffer yourself to be robbed of any part of that treasure you have received: for ’tis a common trick of the devil, on the day that a person has been at communion, to fling some stumbling-block in their way to raise them to passion, or disturb their peace; or draw them aside from their devotions by worldly distractions or diversions; and therefore Christians must be upon their guard on these occasions, and by retirement, recollection and prayer give time to the grace which they have received to sink into their souls, and take deep root there. And let them remember that they have received this fresh supply of divine grace, to the end that they may improve in every Christian virtue, and especially in the love of God; and may serve his divine majesty with a new vigour and fervour.