make a fervent preparation for communion. You should think whom it is you are about to receive, and excite yourself to devout affections of adoration, hope, love, desire, humility, repentance. If possible, do not confine your preparation to the few moments which precede your communion, but endeavour to think of it the day before, and at night before you retire to rest; and when you wake during the night, try to think: I am going to communion; I am going to receive Jesus my Redeemer, my Father, my God. Remember that Jesus Christ, in instituting the blessed sacrament, and leaving this precious pledge of his infinite love, desired that as often as the divine mysteries should be celebrated, and his most holy body received therein, a particular remembrance should be had of him and of all he has done and suffered for us. When, therefore, you desire to receive Jesus in the blessed sacrament, you should call to mind the passion, cross, and death of our dear Redeemer; and remember his precious blood, which flowed from his veins at the cost of so much suffering, and which with such love he gives us to drink in the sweet sacrament of the altar. St. Charles, St. Philip, St. Francis of Sales, and other saints, recommend us to go to communion once a week. If your confessor allows it, therefore, make this your rule, and try to persevere in it, for it will be of immense advantage to your soul. It is sometimes a good plan to choose some particular object for which you will make a certain number of communions, renewing your intention each time. I here give you some such intentions, which may be of use to you, and induce you to make a certain number of communions for each one, during the several weeks of the year. Intentions for Communions. 1. The love of God: in order that, by means of the blessed sacrament, our soul may be more and more united to God by perfect love. 2. Devotion to the most holy Passion of Jesus: to obtain from our dear Lord, in the blessed sacrament, a deep impression in our soul of his bitter sufferings, and a continual and devout remembrance of them. 8. Devotion to our dear Lady: to obtain from Jesus, who on the cross gave her to us for our Mother, a most tender childlike love and confidence towards her. 4. Adoration of the Majesty of God: desiring and intending to adore, acknowledge, and love it in Jesus and by Jesus in the blessed sacrament, from whom God receives infinite glory and honour. 5. The desire of thanking Almighty God for all the benefits we have received from him: not being able to offer to the Eternal Father any thing more acceptable and precious than Jesus in the blessed sacrament. 6. Satisfaction for our sins: offering Jesus, the Victim sacrificed for our salvation, and his most precious blood, in payment and expiation for all our offences against the Majesty of God. 7. The desire of obtaining some particular grace from God, through the merits of Jesus Christ in the blessed sacrament, either for ourselves or our neighbour. 8. The cure of our spiritual infirmities, that the Divine Physician may heal and cure our soul, and strengthen us that we may not relapse. 9. Victory over temptations, that, by the virtue of Jesus, who by his death has triumphed over the devil, we may be defended from his assaults, and preserved from his snares, and, by the power of the blessed sacrament, be strengthened to fight valiantly against him. 10. Perseverance in the grace of God: earnestly begging, through the merits and love of Jesus Christ, the grace never to commit a mortal sin and offend the infinite goodness of God. 11. The desire to praise God in his saints and to honour them offering our communion to the most holy Trinity in thanksgiving for all the graces vouchsafed them on earth, and their eternal glory in heaven; this may be done especially on their feast-days. 12. On our dear Lady's festivals to communicate in honour of her, the Queen of all Saints: thanking Almighty God for having made her his Mother, and having enriched her with such innumerable and wonderful privileges. 13. Zeal for the salvation of poor sinners: since nothing can intercede more efficaciously with the Eternal Father for their return and conversion than the precious blood his most holy Son shed for them. 14. Compassion for the miseries of our neighbour: to obtain for all who are in want, affliction, or tribulation, patience, comfort, and consolation from Jesus Christ, the loving Father of all men. 15. Devotion to Jesus in the blessed sacrament; that our dear Lord, who has instituted this sacrament of love in order to remain always with us, may kindle in our hearts, and in the hearts of all men, a true love and devotion to him, and an ardent desire to receive him frequently. 16. The desire of gaining the Spirit of Jesus, and being transformed entirely into his likeness: this should be the principal end of each communion; that is, you should desire, by means of the blessed sacrament, to clothe yourself with Jesus Christ, with his life, his virtues, his spirit,-in order to be wholly his. As soon as you have made your intentions for communion, place yourself with great recollection in the presence of God; and if you find you want help, read over the following acts of preparation. But take care not to read them in a hurry, but rather with your heart than your eyes, slowly and devoutly. If at any moment you find yourself drawn to compunction or recollection, then pause for a little time. It is not necessary to read a great many prayers in order to make a good preparation, but it is absolutely necessary to have true sorrow for our sins, and to love our dear Lord very much. If you use the following acts in this spirit, you will be sure to receive great fruit from your communion. Hymns on Communion see p. 264. DEVOTIONS BEFORE, AT THE TIME OF, AND AFTER, COMMUNION; My Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I firmly believe that in this blessed sacrament thou art present verily and indeed; I believe that here are thy body and blood, thy soul and divinity. I acknowledge these truths; I believe these wonders; I adore thy power, which hath wrought them; I praise thy infinite goodness, which hath prepared them for me; with David, "I will praise thee, my God, with my whole heart, and will recount all thy admirable works; I will rejoice in thee, and bless thy holy name." In this faith, and with this acknowledgment, I approach this adorable banquet, wherein thou bestowest on me the divine food of thy body and blood. Grant, O blessed Jesus, that I may approach thee with such a profound sense of reverence and humility as is due to thy infinite Majesty. Grant, O Lord, that I may now receive thee with a pure heart, a clean conscience, and a sincere and lively faith. Pardon my sins, which have rendered me most unworthy to approach thee: I hate them, because they are displeasing to thee, my God; I renounce them for ever, and promi to be faithful to thee. Take courage, my soul, raise t self up; go and receive thy Gud, and with him all favours he hath prepared for thee in this most divin crament. An Act of Hope. In thee, O Jesus, do I place all my hope, because thou alone art my salvation, my strength, my refuge, and the foundation of all my happiness; and were it not for the confidence I place in thy merits, and in the precious blood wherewith thou didst redeem me, I would not presume to partake of this banquet. Encouraged by thy goodness, I come to thee as a poor and infirm sheep to its shepherd; as a sick man to his physician; as a condemned criminal to his powerful intercessor: that, as the true shepherd of my soul, thou mayest strengthen me; heal me, as my physician; and, as my merciful advocate, deliver me from the sentence of sin and death. I, who am an abyss of nothing, invoke thee, who art the abyss of all goodness; for though my sins are innumerable, and very grievous, yet they are but light and trivial when compared to thy boundless mercy, and the infinite ransom of thy blood. Have pity, therefore, on me, O Jesus, and save me, for thou forsakest none that put their trust in thee. An Act of Charity. How strong was the force of thy love, my dear Redeemer, when, being about to depart out of this world to thy eternal Father, thou providedst for us this divine banquet, enriched with all heavenly sweetness. It was through the wonderful effects of thy divine goodness that thou didst humble thyself to such an excess for our redemption, as to take upon thee the infirmity of our nature. And is it not through an infinite excess of thy love, that thou hast left us thy body and blood for the food and nourishment of our souls; that, as thou didst unite thyself to our humanity, so we might here be made partakers of thy divinity? In return for this thy infinite love, I desire to love thee, O Lord Jesus, who art my only comfort in this place of banishment, the only hope of my infirm soul, and my happiness, above all else that I can enjoy. Make me to love thee, my God, with my whole heart, with my whole soul, with all my mind, and |