FR. PETER J. ARNOUDT, S.J.
Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1904
TAN BOOKS

DEVOTIONS FOR HOLY COMMUNION

BEFORE COMMUNION

ACT OF ADORATION AND HUMILITY

O GREAT GOD, Whom I adore in these humble species, is it possible that Thou didst thus conceal Thyself in order to come and remain substantially with me? Though the heavens are the throne of Thy Majesty, Thou art satisfied with these humble species to be with me always!

O incomprehensible bounty! could I believe such a miracle if Thou didst not Thyself assure me of it? And how would I dare to think that Thou shouldst humble Thyself to pass my lips, to rest on my tongue, and to dwell in my heart? Nevertheless, it is Thy will, and to incite me Thou dost promise innumerable graces if I heed Thy invitation.

O God of infinite majesty and ineffable love! why am I not all intelligence to conceive such mercy, all heart to be sensible of it, and all tongue to proclaim it? Thou, O God of my heart, hast created me to be the object of Thy love and ineffable bounty. The Angels weary not beholding Thee; they long for Thee even whilst enjoying Thy presence; and could I be able to withstand the desire of possessing Thee; Therefore, because it is Thy wish, most amiable Saviour, and because my necessities compel whilst Thy goodness permits me to desire Thee, I open my lips and heart to receive Thee.

ACT OF DESIRE AND PETITION

COME, O Divine Sun! For, behold, I dwell in the horrible darkness of sin and ignorance. Come and dispel this darkness, and enlighten my intellect with a ray of Divine light!

Come, most amiable Saviour! Thou hast given Thyself to save me from Hell, but I relapsed into the servitude of sin: come and disrupt the bonds that bind me, and liberate me!

Come, amiable Physician of my soul! Thou hast prepared for me a bath in Thy Blood, and hast given me in Baptism more salvation and welfare than I deserved; but through my own fault I fell into countless mortal illnesses, that weaken my courage, corrupt my heart, and bring death to my soul. Come, then, O Divine Physician! for I have more need of Thy help than the paralytic whom Thou didst ask if he wished to be healed. Indeed, O my God! I wish it from all my heart. But as Thou knowest how tepid this my desire is, do Thou animate it by enkindling in me the flames of Thy love.

Come, most faithful, most kind, most amiable and most sweet of all friends, come into my heart! The soul Thou lovest languishes in fatal infirmity; and if hitherto I was insensible of my misfortune and reckless in danger, Thou, O Searcher of hearts! knowest that with the help of Thy grace I have reformed, and sorrowfully call on Thee for help. By Thy incomparable friendship, by Thy word, I conjure Thee to assist me. Come, then, and do not permit that I ever cause Thee to depart from me.

Come, O life of my heart, soul of my life, and only support of my being, Bread of Angels made Man for love of me, given in ransom for me and become the food of my soul! Come, to nourish me, to support me, to give me increase, and to let me live by and in Thee, my sole good and my life! Were a body bereft of its soul, how would it seek and call for it! Do I know Thee and myself so little that I should not know what I am without Thee? Come, then, O my God and my all, impart life to my soul languishing for Him Who is the crown of its beauty, the source of its power, and the fountain of its life.

Most bountiful Jesus! grant that my heart rest not until it has found Thee, its centre, its love, and its happiness.



AFTER COMMUNION

ACTS OF ADORATION AND THANKSGIVING
 
O DIVINE and most amiable Heart of Jesus! humbly prostrate before Thee, I adore, praise, honor, and glorify Thee; I proclaim Thee my supreme Ruler, to Whose service I am bound forever, and Whose right to my love and fidelity I openly acknowledge. Sustain me, O Sacred Heart, because I belong entirely to Thee, despite all attacks of my enemies. Reject me not, but acknowledge that I am Thine, sustain and defend me as Thy possession. Support my weakness, and grant me the graces necessary to accomplish fully the desire of my heart to love and please Thee, and to pray, labor, and suffer in the purity of Thy love.

 ASPIRATIONS

O JESUS, my sole love, I beseech Thee to draw all my thoughts to Thee. Through the power of Thy love, which is more effective than fire and sweeter than honey, disengage my heart from all created things. Let me die for love of Thee, as Thou didst die for love of me. O Lord, wound my heart in such a manner, and transfix it so thoroughly, that henceforth it may no longer affect things merely human.

O loving Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who art able to soften a heart of stone and melt a heart of ice, Who transformest the innermost recesses of the soul, change my heart, and wound it with the wounds of Thy most holy Body, and inebriate my soul in the chalice of Thy most precious Blood, that, wherever I turn I see nothing but my crucified God, and whatever I see appears to me bathed in Thy Blood.

O Divine Heart of the Friend of my heart! behold, the soul Thou lovest is ill: visit me and heal me. Because Thou dost love me, Thou canst not possibly let me perish in my misery.

ACT OF CONSECRATION

O HEART of love! I consecrate myself entirely to Thee. I offer Thee my life, my sufferings, and my whole being in order to honor, love, and glorify Thee now and forever.

O most amiable Heart! I love Thee because Thou art my Supreme Good, my happiness, and my only joy, alone worthy of the love of every heart. Oh, that my heart were reduced to ashes by the intensity of the flame of this love, with which I now renew all consecrations of myself I ever made. Permit not that I ever become an object of Thy displeasure, but let me ever accomplish what is most pleasing to Thee.

O Source of pure love! why am I not all heart to love, not all spirit to adore Thee? Grant that I love Thee alone, and all else in Thee, through Thee, and for Thy sake; that my memory recollect, my intellect contemplate, Thy love; that my will and desire!. aspire to it; that my tongue praise Thee, my eyes behold Thee, my hands serve Thee, my feet follow Thee alone; so that lone day may love Thee in the glory of Heaven without fear of ever losing Thee. Amen.

EJACULATIONS

O GOOD SHEPHERD! withdraw me from all earthly things and from myself, that I may become more and more united with Thee.

Let Thy voice, O Lord, be heard in my heart, and draw it to Thy love in such a manner that it may no longer be able to resist Thee.

My heart belongs to Thee, O Lord! Permit it not to attach itself to anything but Thee, Who Thyself art the reward of all my victories, and the sole support of my misery.

PRAYER TO THE HEAVENLY FATHER

O MY GOD! I offer up to Thee Thy well-beloved Son, in return for all Thou dost desire of me. Receive Him as my adoration and gift-offering, as my love, my petition and purpose of amendment, my thanksgiving for all Thy benefits. Accept Him, Eternal Father, for I have nothing worthy of Thee except Him Whom Thou permittest me so affectionately to receive.

VISIT TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

ACT OF REPARATION

O DIVINE Heart of Jesus, boundless source of love and goodness! how much do I regret that I have forgotten Thee so often and loved Thee so little! O Sacred Heart! Thou dost merit the love and devotion of all those hearts which Thou hast infinitely loved and cherished, and Thou dost receive nothing but coldness and ingratitude from them, and particularly from my own ungrateful heart, which justly deserves Thy indignation. But since Thou art a Heart of love, Thou art also a Heart of infinite goodness. from which I hope pardon and reconciliation. Alas, O Divine Heart! it is with profound grief that I acknowledge myself guilty of so much tepidity, and that I consider the unjust proceedings of my wicked heart, which has so unworthily deprived Thee of the love which was Thy due, and has applied it to itself or to some other transitory object. O Heart most gentle, if the grief and shame of a heart which sees its error is capable of satisfying Thee, pardon my poor heart; for this is the state into which its want of love and fidelity has plunged it. Alas! what could it expect but hatred and punishment. if it did not hope all from Thy mercy? O Heart of my God, Heart most holy, Heart to which alone belongs the pardon of sinners, have mercy, I beseech Thee, upon this miserable heart of mine. All its powers are united to make Thee, in all humility, a reparation of honor for all its wanderings and infidelities. Ah, how could I have refused so long to give my heart to Thee, since Thou alone art its rightful possessor! I regret from the bottom of my heart that I have wandered so far from Thee and Thy love, from the source of all good, in a word, from the Heart of my Jesus, Who, without having any need of me, sought me and loved me first. O most adorable Heart, how could I have treated Thee thus,-----Thee on Whose love and goodness I am entirely dependent; and if Thou wert to withdraw but for one instant either the one or the other I should be reduced to the most abject misery or utterly annihilated. How infinite has been Thy goodness, O Heart of love! to have supported my ingratitude so long; it remains only for Thy mercy to pardon my poor inconstant heart. O Heart of my Jesus! I now consecrate and give to Thee all my love and my heart; I give Thee both irrevocably, although with a deep feeling of confusion for having so long refused Thee that which was Thine Own. O Divine Heart! Thou wouldst testify to me the excess of Thy love, by rendering me capable of loving Thee, and, alas! I have profited so ill by this opportunity of meriting Thy favors! I am truly grieved, and I most humbly beseech Thee, O Heart of my Jesus, to renew my heart, which was hitherto so faithless.

Grant that henceforth it may be bound to Thee by the bonds of love, and that it approach so much nearer to Thee as it has hitherto wandered far from Thee; and since Thou art my Creator, be also, I beseech Thee, my eternal reward. Amen.

ACT OF CONFIDENCE

IT is out of the abyss of my nothingness that I prostrate myself before Thee, O most sacred and Divine Heart of Jesus, in order to render Thee all the homage of love, adoration, and praise of which I am capable; to lay before Thee all my wants, by revealing to Thee, as to my best friend, all my miseries, my poverty, and my lukewarmness, in a word, all the wounds of my soul: beseeching Thee to have pity and compassion on me, and to help me according to the greatness of Thy mercies. O Heart of charity, I beseech Thee, by all that is capable of moving Thee, to accord me this grace, that I may save my soul, and that the souls of all those who, like myself, are in danger of being lost eternally, may be saved. O Heart most merciful, let me not perish in the deluge of my iniquities. Do with me what Thou wilt, provided only that I love Thee for all eternity. In Thee I have placed all my trust; reject me not forever. I call upon Thee, I invoke Thee as the sovereign remedy of all my ills, of which the greatest is sin. I beseech Thee to destroy it in me, and to grant me pardon for all the sins which I have committed in my life, and of which I repent from the bottom of my heart. O Sacred Heart, make me and all those hearts which are capable of loving Thee to feel and experience Thy sovereign power; I ask this grace for my parents, friends, and for all those who have been recommended to my prayers, or who pray for me, and for whom I have a special obligation to pray. I beseech thee to help them according to their several necessities. O most loving Heart! soften hardened sinners, and relieve the Souls in Purgatory; be the sure refuge of the agonizing and the consolation of the afflicted and of those who are in need. Finally, O Heart of love! be my All in all; but particularly at the hour of my death be the haven of rest for my longing soul, and receive me at that moment into the bosom of Thy mercy. Amen.



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