The Mercy of Spiritual Communion in a Time of Pandemic

With widespread limitations on public gatherings due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, including Masses and Eucharistic Adoration, many Catholics have sought faith practices that are compatible with “social distancing.” Parishes across the country have begun to livestream their Masses, and video-conference prayer groups have blossomed. Nevertheless, Catholics are going through a very unusual and challenging time; they are not able to receive the Eucharist, the “fount and apex of the whole Christian life,” sacramentally.

Though they may not be able to physically receive the Eucharist, however, the faithful can  practice the longstanding tradition of making a spiritual communion instead and still receive the graces of the sacrament. Explaining a passage of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae that addresses this practice (III, question 80, article 1, answer to objection 3), Fr. Bernhard Blankenhorn, O.P. writes, “spiritual communion does not replace the Mass, but can grant a powerful though (usually) partial share in the fruits of sacramental reception. This also means that the particular fruits of a ‘merely’ spiritual communion are of the same kind as in sacramental communion, which are above all growth in charity, a deeper ecclesial unity, and the forgiveness of venial sins.”

A spiritual communion can be made at any time: when one is physically present in Mass but refraining from receiving the Eucharist because of unconfessed grave sin, when one is watching a livestreamed Mass, when one cannot attend Mass in any form, or even in the midst of the day or other devotional practices. In his book 7 Secrets of the Eucharist, Vinny Flynn writes that “Saint Francis de Sales resolved to make a spiritual Communion at least every fifteen minutes so that he could link all the events of the day to his reception of the Eucharist at Mass.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI writes in his exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis that even when an individual cannot sacramentally receive Christ in the Eucharist, “participation at Mass remains necessary, important, meaningful and fruitful. In such circumstances, it is beneficial to cultivate a desire for full union with Christ through the practice of spiritual communion, praised by Pope John Paul II and recommended by saints who were masters of the spiritual life.”

So, how does one make a spiritual communion? Several saints, most notably Alphonsus de Liguori, have provided a format. First, the communicant must ensure that they are in a state of grace. If the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not available for them to do this, he can make an act of sincere contrition until Confession is available. Then, they should read and reflect on Scripture individually or through a Mass. After reading Scripture (or, if the communicant is physically or remotely present at a Mass, during the time reserved for the sacramental reception of the Eucharist) he should make an act of faith, an act of love, an expression of his desire to receive Jesus, and an invitation for Jesus to come spiritually into his heart. These four components are included in St. Alphonsus de Liguori’s Spiritual Communion prayer:

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now 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.

Aquinas writes that an individual is encouraged to receive the Eucharist daily if doing so does not decrease his fervor or reverence for the Sacrament. If doing so reduces reverence and does not increase devotion, however, “then let him sometimes abstain, so as to draw near afterwards with better dispositions.” Although most Catholics must abstain from the Eucharist for the time being, they can perhaps benefit from this abstinence by simultaneously growing in desire for Christ in the Eucharist.

Featured image of glass St. Alphonsus kneeling before the Most Holy Sacrament by Franz Borgias Mayer is courtesy of Andreas F. Borchert via Wiki