Prayer Before Communion (Aquinas)
Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.
Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth.
Lord, in Your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness.
May I receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will help to bring me to salvation.
May I receive the sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood, and its reality and power.
Kind God, may I receive the Body of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into His mystical Body and numbered among His members.
Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive Your beloved Son under the veil of a sacrament, may I one day see Him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with You for ever and ever. Amen.
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, ecce accedo ad sacramentum unigeniti Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi; accedo tamquam infirmus ad medicum vitae, immundus ad fontem misericordiae, caecus ad lumen claritatis aeternae, pauper et egenus ad Dominum caeli et terrae.
Rogo ergo immensae largitatis tuae abundantiam, quatenus meam curare digneris infirmitatem, lavare foeditatem, illuminare caecitatem, ditare paupertatem, vestire nuditatem.
Ut panem Angelorum, Regem regum et Dominum dominantium, tanta suscipiam reverentia et humilitate, tanta contritione et devotione, tanta puritate et fide, tali proposito et intentione, sicut expedit saluti animae meae.
Da mihi, quaeso, Dominici Corporis et Sanguinis non solum suscipere sacramentum, sed etiam rem et virtutem sacramenti.
O mitissime Deus, da mihi Corpus unigeniti Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, quod traxit de Virgine Maria, sic suscipere, ut corpori suo mystico merear incorporari et inter eius membra connumerari.
O amantissime Pater, concede mihi dilectum Filium tuum, quem nunc velatum in via suscipere propono, revelata tandem facie perpetuo contemplari, qui tecum vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen.