The world is just a mess right now as we are all trying to deal with the quick onset pandemic that is COVID-19. The country is slowly shutting down as the virus starts to affect our people. One preventative step that rocked the worlds of thousands of Catholics is Masses being cancelled. When many dioceses, including our own, made this announcement we were all heartbroken. How will we feel that connection with Jesus without the Eucharist at Mass? One of the best ways used around the world is Spiritual Communion.
The Power of Spiritual Communion
St. Thomas Aquinas once stated that Spiritual Communion as “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and in lovingly embracing Him as if we had actually received Him.”
Praying this simple prayer is professing your love and desire to receive the Lord, even when we cannot. This beautiful prayer goes like this:
Spiritual Communion Prayer
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 unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Unlike receiving the Eucharist, you can make your Spiritual Communion as often as you’d like. This method is used by many, including those who don’t have regular access to church or Mass, times when you are unwell and cannot attend Mass, and many religious will make this prayer daily.
To make things simple and fun for your family I created a pretty printable version of the Spiritual Communion prayer to use at home. See below!
For more Catholic printables like this, visit Love & Messiness on Etsy!
Praying Mass at Home
Many of us long to fill that normal time of prayer at with our families. I know that I did and knew right away that we were going to fill that hour with focus and prayer.
The first Sunday we missed Mass we prayed a rosary together. (See sweet Kip below praying along with me?! He loved following along with the beads…they are always watching us!) Then we all took turns reading the Mass readings from my Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal. (There is something really special about my husband reading the Gospel for us!) To close, we prayed the Spiritual Communion prayer together!
Tips for Prayer at Home
Here are some quick tips and suggestions we have either practiced or I have gathered from others! All of these are great ways to spend that Holy Hour away from the church, in the seclusion of our homes:
- Pray a family rosary
- Set up a home altar
- Read the Mass readings or from the Bible
- Pray the Spiritual Communion prayer
- Sing songs and hymns together
- Profess a creed or say an Our Father
- Bless the family with Holy Water
- Divine Mercy Chaplet
Below is an image of the quick home altar we set up. It’s nothing fancy and is just made of things gathered around the home. I hope to one day have a more permanent altar in our home but this will do for now!
You will see we just included our Pietà statue, a crucifix, our St. Michael statue, an image of Madonna & Child and our blessed candle! (The Catholic Company has a ton of amazing home items for your altar!)
Learn more about our Pietà statue and our Lent traditions here!
My the lord be with you
Whether you do one or all of these things, I hope it helps to fill that void in your hearts for sure. I pray that the Lord is with you during this time!
If you or your family have any other traditions to add to this, I would love to hear them! Please comment below or tag @loveandmessiness on Instagram so I can see your home altars!
