Introduction
Among the treasures of the Catholic spiritual tradition, few practices are so richly praised by the saints, so accessible to every soul, and yet so widely neglected as the spiritual Communion. It requires no priest, no church, no appointed hour. It can be made by the laborer at his bench, the mother at her stove, the invalid on her bed of pain, the traveler on the road. And yet the saints — doctors of the Church, mystics, founders of religious orders — speak of it not as a pale substitute for the sacrament, but as a genuine channel of grace, a devotion the Lord Himself desires, and a preparation that makes sacramental Communion itself more fruitful. If Christians of every state of life understood what the saints have written about this practice, no hour of the day would pass without countless acts of spiritual Communion rising from earth to the tabernacle.
What Is a Spiritual Communion?
The classical definition comes from the greatest of the scholastic doctors. St. Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa Theologiae, distinguishes between receiving the sacrament sacramentally and receiving it spiritually. To communicate spiritually is to receive the fruit and effect of the sacrament by an ardent desire for it, even when one cannot receive the Host itself. The Council of Trent, echoing this teaching, recognized three manners of receiving: sacramentally only, spiritually only, and both sacramentally and spiritually together.
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Doctor of the Church and the great master of Eucharistic devotion, defines it with characteristic simplicity in his Visits to the Blessed Sacrament: a spiritual Communion consists in an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament, and in lovingly embracing Him as if we had actually received Him. Three interior movements comprise it: an act of faith in the Real Presence, an act of love and desire to be united with Christ, and an act of thanksgiving and embrace, as though He had truly entered under our roof.
The Testimony of the Saints
The Lord Himself desires it
St. Teresa of Avila, in the thirty-fifth chapter of The Way of Perfection, urges her daughters: when you do not receive Communion and do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual Communion, which is a most beneficial practice, for by it the love of God will be deeply impressed upon the soul. She insists that if we prepare ourselves to receive Him spiritually, the Lord, who is never outdone in generosity, will enter the soul in many ways.
St. Alphonsus recounts in his Visits the words of Our Lord to Sister Jeanne of the Cross: so pleasing to Him is a spiritual Communion that each time a soul makes one, He gazes upon her with love, as a Father delights in the desires of his child. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, apostle of the Sacred Heart, learned in her revelations how the Heart of Jesus longs to be sought in the Blessed Sacrament and how He counts as precious every loving desire directed toward the tabernacle.
It is a furnace of divine love
St. Alphonsus writes that spiritual Communion, according to St. Thomas, produces effects similar to sacramental Communion, in proportion to the fervor with which it is made. He therefore counseled souls to make it many times a day — indeed, he himself made spiritual Communions constantly, and he directed penitents to make them at every visit to the Blessed Sacrament and at every Mass they attended.
St. Leonard of Port Maurice, the great preacher of the eighteenth century, was so convinced of its power that he declared, in his sermons on the Mass, that the devotion of spiritual Communion practiced with fervor could sanctify a soul; he urged the faithful to make one at every Mass they heard, uniting themselves to the priest's Communion, and did not hesitate to say that this practice, faithfully kept, could bring a soul to high perfection.
St. Francis de Sales, in the Introduction to the Devout Life, counsels Philothea that when she cannot receive sacramentally at Holy Mass, she should at least communicate spiritually, uniting herself by ardent desire to the life-giving Flesh of the Savior. For the gentle bishop of Geneva, spiritual Communion was part of the ordinary fabric of the devout life — a means by which those bound by duties in the world could remain united to the Eucharistic Lord throughout the day.
St. Catherine of Siena, in a vision recorded by her biographers, was shown two chalices, and the Lord told her that her sacramental Communions were preserved in the golden chalice, and her spiritual Communions in the silver one — both precious in His sight. And the Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney, taught his parishioners that a spiritual Communion acts upon the soul as a breath of air upon a fire nearly smothered in ash: whenever you feel your love of God growing cold, quickly make a spiritual Communion.
The Graces That Flow from This Devotion
Drawing together the teaching of these saints, we may enumerate the principal graces of frequent spiritual Communion:
- An increase of sanctifying grace and charity. Since, as St. Thomas teaches, the fruit of the Eucharist is the unity of the Mystical Body and the increase of charity, the soul that receives spiritually by desire receives a real increase of divine love, proportioned to her fervor.
- The rekindling of fervor. As the Curé of Ars taught with his image of the breath upon the dying fire, spiritual Communion revives a soul grown tepid, fanning the embers of devotion into flame in a single moment.
- Preservation from sin and strength in temptation. The saints uniformly teach that turning to the Eucharistic Lord in desire is a shield in the hour of temptation; the soul that runs to Jesus in the tabernacle by a spiritual Communion finds the strength that the sacrament itself confers on those who receive worthily.
- A more fruitful sacramental Communion. St. Alphonsus and St. Leonard both insist that souls accustomed to frequent spiritual Communions receive the Blessed Sacrament itself with far greater fruit, for their hunger has been continually sharpened. Desire is the measure of receptivity: the more the soul longs, the more she receives.
- The consolation and companionship of Our Lord. As He promised to Sister Jeanne of the Cross, the Lord looks with special love upon the soul who desires Him. Spiritual Communion transforms the whole day into a continual conversation with the Divine Guest.
- Growth toward perfection accessible to all. Because it may be made at any moment, in any place, without confession being required beforehand (though a soul conscious of mortal sin ought first make an act of perfect contrition and resolve to confess Sacramentally as soon as possible), this devotion places the riches of the Eucharist within reach of every state of life — the sick, the imprisoned, the isolated, and all who cannot approach the altar as often as they would wish.
Formulae for Making a Spiritual Communion
Any heartfelt movement of faith, love, and desire suffices; yet the saints have left us formulae that gather these acts into a few burning words.
The prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori
The most widespread formula, printed in countless prayer books and indulgenced by the Church.
A shorter aspiration from the school of St. Alphonsus
St. Alphonsus recommended brief aspirations precisely so they might be repeated very often throughout the day.
The method of St. Francis de Sales
Not a fixed text but a movement of the heart: at the moment of the priest's Communion in the Mass, or at any hour, unite yourself in desire to the Savior, saying interiorly words such as:
An act drawn from the Anima Christi tradition
Many faithful conclude their spiritual Communion with the ancient prayer beloved of the saints:
Conclusion
The verdict of the saints is unanimous and unambiguous. A devotion praised by the Angelic Doctor, commended by the Council of Trent, taught by St. Teresa to her contemplatives and by St. Francis de Sales to souls in the world, practiced ceaselessly by St. Alphonsus, preached by St. Leonard of Port Maurice, and pressed upon simple parishioners by the Curé of Ars, cannot be a small thing. It costs nothing but a moment of loving attention; it may be made a hundred times a day; and each act draws down upon the soul a glance of love from the Heart hidden in the tabernacle.
Let the reader, then, resolve today to make spiritual Communions frequently — on waking, at every passing of a church, at every hour struck, in every temptation, and above all at every Mass. Blow often upon the cinders, as the holy Curé counseled, and the fire of divine charity will never go out. "Come at least spiritually into my heart" — a soul who says these words with love has already been heard.
Referenced Works
✞ Laus Deo semper