Invoking the Light of Christ

Painting by my daughter, Tianna Williams

 

IN my last writing, Our Gethsemane, I spoke about how the light of Christ is going to remain blazing in the hearts of the faithful in these coming times of tribulation as it is extinguished in the world. One way to keep that light aflame is Spiritual Communion. As nearly all of Christendom approaches the “eclipse” of public Masses for a time, many are just learning about an ancient practice of “Spiritual Communion.” It is a prayer one can say, like the one my daughter Tianna added to her painting above, to ask God for the graces one would otherwise receive if partaking of the Holy Eucharist. Tianna has provided this artwork and prayer on her website for you to download and print out at no cost. Go to: ti-spark.ca

In order for a Spiritual Communion to be most effective, one should properly prepare, just as we do to receive the Eucharist. The following is taken from my writing Jesus is Here! followed by three other powerful prayers you can make to welcome the light of Jesus into your heart and families…

 

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

The Mass is not always accessible to us for many reasons. However, did you know that you can still receive the graces of the Eucharist as if you were present at Mass? The saints and theologians call this “spiritual communion.” It is taking a moment to turn to Him, wherever He is, and desire Him, adore Him, and welcome the rays of His love that knows no boundaries:

If we are deprived of Sacramental Communion, let us replace it, as far as we can, by spiritual communion, which we can make every moment; for we ought to have always a burning desire to receive the good God… When we cannot go to the church, let us turn towards the tabernacle; no wall can shut us out from the good God. —St. Jean Vianney. The Spirit of the Curé of Ars, p. 87, M. L’Abbé Monnin, 1865

The degree to which we are not united to this Sacrament is the degree to which our hearts grow cold. Therefore, the more sincere and prepared we are to make a Spiritual Communion, the more effective it will be. St. Alphonsus lists three essential ingredients to making this a valid Spiritual Communion:

I. An act of faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

II. An act of desire, accompanied by sorrow for one’s sins so as to worthly receive these graces as if one were receiving sacramental Communion.

III. An act of thanksgiving afterward as if Jesus was received sacramentally.

You can simply pause for a moment in your day, and in your own words or in a prayer like the one above, pray:

 

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION PRAYER

My Jesus, I believe that You are present
in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment 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.
—St. Alphonsus Ligouri

 

THREE MORE WAYS…

The following are three more prayers to invite Jesus into union with your soul. The first is the one I taught you in my last webcast. The Great Prayer or Unity Prayer was given to Elizabeth Kindelmann with the promise that “Satan will be blinded and souls will not be led into sin.”

 

THE UNITY PRAYER

May our feet journey together,
May our hands gather in unity,
May our hearts beat in unison,
May our souls be in harmony,
May our thoughts be as one,
May our ears listen to the silence together,
May our glances profoundly penetrate each other,
May our lips pray together to gain mercy from the Eternal Father.
Amen.

 

The second prayer is the one prayed by Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta to Our Lady after she meditated on the 24th hour of Christ’s Passion. It is amost identical to the above prayer—and for good reason. The Flame of Love that Elizabeth writes about in her diary is essentially the same grace that God wants to give mankind as the “Gift of Living in the Divine Will” revealed to Luisa. Both are invoking a “new Pentecost” upon the Church and the world. These two prayers, especially, are to become the battle song of Our Lady’s Little Rabble. So, say these prayers as though you and your families are in the Upper Room awaiting a new Pentecost.

That is the way Jesus is always conceived. That is the way He is reproduced in souls. He is always the fruit of heaven and earth. Two artisans must concur in the work that is at once God’s masterpiece and humanity’s supreme product: the Holy Spirit and the most Holy Virgin Mary… for they are the only ones who can reproduce Christ. —Arch. Luis M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, p. 6

So, take a hold Momma’s hand, and pray this now with me:

 

THE PRAYER OF MYSTICAL UNITY

Enclose in my mind Jesus’ thoughts,
so that no other thought may enter into me;
enclose in my eyes Jesus’ eyes,
so that He may never escape my gaze;
enclose in my ears Jesus’ ears,
so that I may always listen to him
and do his Most Holy Will in all things;
enclose my face in Jesus’ face,
so that in looking at him so disfigured for love of me,
I may love him, unite myself to his Passion
and offer him reparation;
enclose my tongue in Jesus’ tongue,
so that I may speak, pray and teach with Jesus’ tongue;
enclose my hands in Jesus’ hands,
so that each movement I make and each work I perform
may derive their [merit and] life from Jesus’ own works and acts.
Enclose my feet in Jesus’ feet, so that each one of my steps
may infuse in other souls strength and zeal
and dispose them for the life of salvation.

 

Last, on this St. Patricks feast day, is the prayer composed by the Saint himself. I have adapted it to song below.

You are loved. You are not abandoned.
Don’t ever forget that…

 

 

 

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