Acts of Spiritual Communion

adoration-clipart-chalice.jpg

Pope St. John Paul II on Spiritual Communion:

“In the Eucharist, ‘unlike any other sacrament, the mystery [of communion] is so perfect that it brings us to the heights of every good thing: Here is the ultimate goal of every human desire, because here we attain God and God joins himself to us in the most perfect union.’ Precisely for this reason it is good to cultivate in our hearts a constant desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist. This was the origin of the practice of ‘spiritual communion,’ which has happily been established in the Church for centuries and recommended by saints who were masters of the spiritual life. St. Teresa of Jesus wrote: ‘When you do not receive communion and you do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion, which is a most beneficial practice; by it the love of God will be greatly impressed on you’”

 

Acts of Spiritual Communion 

IN union, dear Lord, with all the faithful at every altar of thy Church where the blessed Body and Blood are being offered to the Father, I desire to offer thee praise and thanksgiving. I believe thou art truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament. And since I cannot now receive thee sacramentally, I beseech thee to come spiritually into my heart. I unite myself unto thee, and embrace thee with all the affections of my soul. Let me never be separated from thee. Let me live and die in thy love. Amen.

+ + + 

I  WORSHIP thee, Lord Jesus, and kneeling unto thee, as thou didst come to Mary, I pray thee come to me. O most loving Jesus, O most blessed Saviour, come to me, I beseech thee, and unite me to thyself. Thou I cannot now receive thee sacramentally, yet I believe that thou art able, even when received by faith and desire only, to heal, enrich and sanctify me. Come thou spiritually into my heart. I desire to unite myself to thee with all the affections of my soul. Possess me wholly; let the consuming fire of thy love absorb me, and thy presence abide so intimately in me, that it will be no longer I that live, but thou who livest in me. Come, Lord Jesus, and dwell in my heart. Amen.

PRINT (pdf)

Readings & Propers for Lent 5: Passion Sunday

The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt) Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, May 1890

The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt) Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, May 1890

LENT V: PASSION SUNDAY

March 29, 2020

(PRINTABLE)

In the Ordinariate Form of the Roman Rite, the 5th Sunday of Lent is Passion Sunday, and the following week and Holy Week together are known as Passiontide.  Lent’s penitential character is augmented by a somber and sorrowful mood as we approach the Lord’s Passion and Death.  From this Sunday, the Glory Be is not sung at the Introit, and crucifixes and images (except for the Stations) may be veiled because, as objects of beauty and veneration, they are signs of the Resurrection.

 

Introit   Iudica me, Deus                                                                                  Psalm 43.1, 2, 3
GIVE sentence with me, O God, and defend the cause of my soul against the ungodly people: deliver me, and rid me from the deceitful and wicked man; for thou, O Lord, art my God, and my strong salvation. Ps: O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me: and bring unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwelling.  Give sentence... 

Collect of the Day
WE beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people: that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.  R/ Amen.

Lesson                                                                                                                           Ezekiel 37.12-14
THUS says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and  raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, says the Lord.” 

Gradual   Eripe me, Domine                                                                     Psalm 143.9, 10; 18.49
DELIVER me, O Lord, from mine enemies: teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee. It is the Lord that delivereth me from my cruel enemies, and setteth me up above mine adversaries: thou shalt deliver me from the wicked man.

Epistle                                                                                                                            Romans 8.8-11
BRETHREN: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Tract   Saepe expugnaverunt me                                                                                        Psalm 129.1-4
MANY a time have they fought against me: from my youth up. May Israel now say: Yea, many a time have they vexed me from my youth up. But they have not prevailed against me: the ploughers ploughed upon my back. And made long furrows: but the righteous Lord hath hewn the snares of the ungodly in pieces. 

Gospel                                                                                                                   John 11.1-45
AT that time: A certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” Thus he spoke, and then he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary sat in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying quietly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord,  come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him. 

Offertory   Confitebor tibi, Domine                                                  Cf. Psalm 119: 7, 10, 17, 25
I WILL give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart; O do well unto thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word: quicken thou me, according to thy word, O Lord. 

Communion Verse   Videns Dominus                                                           Jn 11.33,35,43,44,39
WHEN the Lord saw the sisters of Lazarus weeping at the tomb, and the Jews also weeping, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth: and he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes.

Prayer of Humble Access
We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. 

Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within Thy wounds hide me. Separated from Thee let me never be. From the malignant enemy, defend me. At the hour of death, call me. And close to Thee bid me. That with Thy saints I may be Praising Thee, forever and ever. Amen.

Corpus Christi Updates: Lent 4 (March 22, 2020)

Click on the image to read the entirety of this week’s newsletter.

+ JMJ +

Dear Friends,

This Sunday is "Laetare Sunday," now just over half way through Lent, when the vestments are a festive rose color, and the Mass begins with the ancient Introit taken from Isaiah:

Lætare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam:
gaudete cum lætitia, qui in tristitia fuistis...

"Rejoice ye with Jerusalem; and be glad for her, all ye that delight in her:
exult and sing for joy with her, all ye that in sadness mourn for her..."

In these days of plague and pestilence, social distancing and economic disruption, there is much for which we may be sad and sorrowful, uneasy and anxious, not least the suspension of public Masses in nearly every diocese of the United States, including our own Ordinariate.

And yet: Laetare! Rejoice! These days are a powerful reminder to us that viruses, isolation, economic downturns, and even finally death itself can hold no fear for Christians who have the sure and certain promise given to us when we were baptized into Christ's own death and resurrection: 

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his!" (Rm 6.3-5).

In the ringing words of St Augustine, “We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!”  This fundamental orientation toward "the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting" is what gives Lent its "bite": we suspend the singing of "Alleluia" and ponder the death we for our sins deserve so that we may renew our joy and gratitude at the life we are instead given in mercy and love. But even in Lent, that joy cannot be fully suppressed, we know where we are going, and so on this fourth Sunday the Church calls us to rejoice.

And we do, but I must say that the suspension of public Masses, our inability to gather together as one family in Christ on the Lord's Day, is a heavy burden to bear. The holy Eucharist is the "source and summit" of our life together. Rejoicing is always communal; it demands to be shared.

However, while public Masses are suspended, the Mass itself is not. Each day this week I have offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass privately with my children - Lucy reads the lessons, and Henry is learning to serve. Please know that every day when I go to the altar I carry the people of Corpus Christi with me in my heart. Next week I will experiment with "live streaming" Mass on Facebook, and if that goes reasonably well, I will announce a regular schedule of streamable Masses.

This Sunday the Mass obligation for members of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter is commuted, not dispensed. This means that the obligation to attend Sunday Mass is met by fulfilling a "substitute" obligation, in our case by:

  1. Prayerful reflection on the Sunday Mass readings, concluding that time by recitation of the Prayer of Humble Access or Anima Christi; or,

  2. The recitation of the Rosary as a family.

Bishop Lopes has written of his reasons for assigning these particular means for fulfilling the Sunday Mass obligation:

The first way to fulfill one’s Sunday obligation is to spend some time prayerfully reflecting on the Sunday readings.  So doing, the faithful are acting in communion with the whole Church and her liturgical prayer.  They are opening themselves to an encounter with the Word, and will be strengthened by the encounter. Concluding the time of reflection with a recitation of the Prayer of Humble Access or Anima Christi not only provides an effective conclusion, but brings them into contact with our patrimony and the deep devotional treasury of the Church.

Similarly, the second option—the recitation of the Rosary as a family—has long held a special place in the Church’s devotional life.  The Handbook of Indulgences notes that this communal act of the family even obtains a plenary indulgence, and so it is fitting for these extraordinary Sundays.  

Below you will see links to resources to help you fulfill either one of these options, as well as a link to the live stream of the Sunday Mass from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Please do not hesitate to call me if there is anything I may do for you (or just to catch up!).

God bless you,
Fr Allen

Lessons & Propers for Sunday, March 22nd: Lent 4

Method for Reciting the Holy Rosary

Sunday Mass from the Cathedral (viewable between 9AM (live) and 7PM on Sunday).

Read the rest of the newsletter