Before Communion (WR)
Mortals ate the food of angels, and you gave them bread from heaven, containing in itself all sweetness. (PT: Alleluia)
Psalm 84
How lovely are your dwellings, Lord God of power and might! My soul yearns and pines with longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh ring out their joy to the living God! Even the sparrow finds a house, and the swallow, a nest for her young: near your altars, O Lord of power and might, O my king and my God! Happy are they who live in your house; they sing your praises all day long.
Happy the pilgrims who find their strength in you, who set their hearts on reaching you. Passing through the valley of the balsam trees they make it a place of blessing, as if the autumn rains had showered it; from there they go from place to place, soon to stand before the God of gods on Sion.
O Lord God of power and might! Hear my prayer! Lend an ear to me, God of Jacob! Turn your eyes, O God, our sovereign! Look on the face of the one you have anointed! One day in your courts have I preferred to a thousand somewhere else, the threshold of the house of my God to the tent of the wicked. For the Lord God will sustain us and help us! He will show us his favor, his glory. The Lord will never refuse anything to those who walk in innocence. O Lord of power and might! Happy the man who trusts in you!
Psalm 85
With your favor, Lord, grace your own land, turn the tide of Jacob’s fortune. Forgive your people their guilt; do away with all trace of their sins. Turn away your wrath; master the heat of your anger.
Revive us, O God of our salvation; put an end to your resentment against us. Must your anger with us last forever? Will it never end? Will you not restore us to life, that your people may rejoice in you? Let us see your loving kindness, Lord; give us your saving help.
Let me reveal what the Lord himself has to say: His voice is one that speaks peace: peace for his people, for his friends, for those who turn to him in their hearts. His help is close at hand for those who revere him, and his glory shall dwell in our land. Mercy and truth will meet; justice and peace will embrace. Faithfulness shall spring forth from the earth, and justice shall look down from the heavens. The Lord will give us prosperity, and the earth will yield its fruit. Justice shall go forth before him, and peace shall follow in his footsteps.
Psalm 86
Lend an ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and miserable! Look after my soul, for I am your friend; save your servant, O my God, for I trust in you. Pity me, O sovereign Lord, for I cry to you all day long! Give joy to your servant, for to you, Lord, do I lift my soul! Lord, you are forgiving and good, full of love for all who call on you. Hear my prayer, O Lord; attend to the sound of my voice. The day of my distress I call on you; if only you would answer me, O Lord!
Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord, nor can their works compare with yours. If you act, all nations will come to adore you, O Lord, to glorify your name, for you are great and you work wonders, O you who alone are God!
Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; teach my heart to revere your name. With all my heart will I praise you, Lord my God! I will glorify your name, O eternal one! For great is your mercy toward me, O most high! You have rescued my soul from the depths of the grave! O God the proud rise up to attack me; ruthless men hunt down my soul! Never do they give any thought to you! But you, O Lord, God of tenderness and mercy, slow to anger, full of love and faithfulness, turn to me and pity me: Give triumph to your servant, to your faithful son, victory. Show me proof of your favor, O good one, that my foes may see and be shamed. O, that you yourself would help and console me, O Lord!
Psalm 115
Out of love for me, the Lord heard my plea for mercy! Yes! He bent down to listen to me as I was calling. The cords of death were tightening about me; the agents of the world beneath were right behind me; anguish and grief confronted me. I was being pursued, and in my alarm, I thought: No one can be trusted! But I kept faith and called on the name of the Lord: I beg you, Lord, rescue my life! For I am your servant — yes, your servant and faithful son! Undo my fetters!
Gracious is the Lord, and just; yes, our God is full of compassion. Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his friends. The Lord watches over the innocent; I was brought to my knees, but he saved me. Be calm once more, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. He has saved you from death, my soul, and you, my eyes, from tears; you he has saved from banishment, my feet, that I might walk before the face of the Lord in the land of the living.
How can I repay the Lord all his favors to me? I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord; I will offer you a sacrifice of praise. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Alleluia!
Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord: O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears attend to my cry for mercy.
For if you, Lord, keep an account of our sins–Lord, who will survive? But you always forgive us, and for this we revere you.
I call on the Lord; my soul calls on him, and I long for his reply. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for dawn; more than watchmen for dawn let Israel wait for the Lord! For the love of the Lord is unfailing, and great is his power to redeem; it is he who redeems Israel from all its sins.
Ant. Mortals ate the food of angels, and you gave them bread from heaven, containing in itself all sweetness. (P.T. Alleluia.)
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father, in heaven, holy be your Name; your kingdom come; your will be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us this day the bread of Life; and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us; save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.
V. I said, Lord have mercy on me.
R. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
V. Turn to us, O Lord, for a little while.
R. And be gracious to your servants.
V. Let your mercy be upon us, O Lord.
R. As we hope in you.
V. Let your priests be clothed with justice.
R. And make your saints rejoice.
V. Cleanse me from my hidden faults, O Lord.
R. And from the sins of others, spare your servant.
V. O Lord, here my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to you.
MOST gracious God, mercifully hear our prayers and enlighten our hearts by the grace of the Holy Spirit, that we may be worthy to serve in your holy Mysteries and to love you with an everlasting love.
O GOD, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires know, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy name.
ENKINDLE, O Lord, our hearts and minds with the fire of the Holy Spirit: help us to serve you in purity of body and spirit.
O LORD Enlighten our minds with the Paraclete who proceeds from you, and lead us to all truth, as you Son promised.
O LORD, may the power of the Holy Spirit be with us, we pray, and in mercy, cleanse our hearts and defend us from all harm.
O GOD, who taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that, in the same Spirit, we may enjoy what is right and always rejoice in His consolation.
O LORD, visit our minds and cleanse our thoughts; that at the glorious coming of your son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, He may find in us a place prepared for Him, who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever.
O SUPREME High Priest and only true head of the Church, Jesus Christ, who gave us your Flesh to eat and your Blood to drink, and who ordained this Mystery in the power of the Holy Spirit saying: “As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me”; I ask you by the great price of our salvation, and by that wonderful and unspeakable love with which you loved us so much so as to baptise us into your own life and death, I beg you to teach me through the Holy Spirit to draw near and to handle so great a Mystery with such great reverence and honour, with such fear and devotion, as are due and fitting. Through your grace make me always to believe and to understand, to conceive and to firmly hold, and to think and speak of this wondrous Mystery in such a way that pleases you and benefits my own soul. Let your good Spirit enter into my heart there silently to sound and, without clamour of words, speak all truth. For your Mysteries are indeed exceedingly deep and covered with a sacred veil.
On account of your great mercy, grant me - in the community of your people - to celebrate this Solemn Mystery with a clean heart and a pure mind, I pray you to free my heart from all unclean, unholy, vain and hurtful thoughts. Defend me with the loving and faithful host, the mighty protection of your blessed Angels, so the enemies of all good may go away ashamed. Through the virtue of this great Mystery and by the hand of your holy angel, drive away from me and from all your servants the stubborn spirit of pride and vain-glory, of impurity and uncleanness, of doubting and mistrust. May those who persecute us be confounded.
Monday
O KING of virgins and lover of chastity and innocence, extinguish in my body by the dew of your heavenly blessing whatever may kindle the burning of wanton desire, so purity of body and soul may abide in me. Mortify in me the excitements of the flesh and all lustful emotions. Give me true and persevering chastity with your other gifts, such as you may find pleasing so that I may with chaste body and pure heart offer unto you a sacrifice of praise. How great a contrition of heart and flowing of tears, how great a chastity of body and purity of soul is needed for the celebration of that divine and heavenly Mystery, wherein your Flesh is truly eaten, and your Blood is truly drank, wherein things lowest and highest, earthly and divine, are united, where the Holy Angels are present, where you are in a marvelous and unspeakable manner both Priest and Sacrifice.
Tuesday
WHO can join in the celebration of these Mysteries unless you first making them worthy? I know, O Lord, truly do I know and this do I confess to you, trusting in your loving-kindness: I am unworthy to approach so great a Mystery on account of my sins and numberless negligences; but I know, and truly with my whole heart do I believe and with my mouth confess that you can make me worthy; you alone can make clean such a one as me, and you alone can make sinners righteous and holy. By your almighty power I beg you, O my God, to grant that I, a sinner, may join in the celebration of this holy mystery with fear and trembling, with purity of heart and streams of tears, with spiritual gladness and heavenly joy. May my mind feel the sweetness of your most blessed Presence and the protection of your holy Angels round about me.
Wednesday
O LORD, ever mindful of your venerable Passion, I, though a sinner, approach your Altar so I might offer you that Sacrifice which you have instituted and commanded us to offer in remembrance of you for our salvation. Receive it, I beg, O God Most High, for your holy Church and for the people whom you have purchased with your Blood. I also bring before you, O Lord, if you will only consider them, the tribulations of the people, the perils of the nations, the groans of prisoners, the misery of orphans, the necessities of strangers, the helplessness of the weak, the depression of the weary, the infirmities of the aged, the aspirations of the young, the vows of virgins, and the lamentations of widows.
Thursday
O LORD, you are merciful to all and hate nothing you have made. Remember what we are made of, for you are our Father, you are our God. Be not angry with us for ever, nor withhold the multitude of your mercies from us; for it is not in our righteousness, but in your great compassion that we humbly place our prayers before you. Take from us our iniquities and graciously enkindle the fire of your Holy Spirit within us. Take from us our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh, that we may love you, prefer you, delight in you, follow you, and enjoy you. O Lord, in your mercy we beg you to look favorably upon your family gathering in the the service of your holy Name, may the prayers of none be ineffectual, nor the petitions of any be unfruitful. Put into our minds such prayers as may delight you to graciously hear and answer.
Friday
O LORD, Holy Father, we pray that this great Sacrament of your love may be for the health, salvation, joy and refreshment of souls of the departed. My Lord and my God, may it be a great and abundant feast of you, the living Bread, who came down from heaven, giving life to the world; a feast of you holy and blessed Flesh, of the Lamb without spot, who takes away the sins of the world; the Flesh which was conceived of the Holy Spirit and taken from the holy and glorious womb of the blessed Virgin Mary; the Flesh of you most sacred Side pierced by the soldier’s spear from which the Fountain of mercy flowed forth; with which after being fed and satisfied, refreshed and comforted, they may rejoice in your praise and glory.
O LORD, relying on your mercy I pray that the fullness of your blessing and the sanctification of your divinity may descend upon the bread to be offered unto your. May the invisible and incomprehensible majesty of your Holy Spirit also descend as it came down of old upon the sacrifices of the Fathers; which will make our oblations your Body and Blood, and also teach us, your unworthy servants, to treat so great a Mystery with purity of heart and with tears of devotion, with proper reverence and trembling, that you may graciously and favorably receive this sacrifice at our hands for the wellbeing of all, both the living and the departed.
Saturday
I ENTREAT you, O Lord, by the most holy mystery of your Body and Blood with which we are daily fed and given to drink, are washed and sanctified in your Church, and are made worthy partakers of the one supreme Divinity, grant unto me your holy virtues, that filled by them I may draw near to your Altar with a good conscience. May these heavenly Sacraments be made my salvation and life, for as yourself said, “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread, he shall live forever.”
Conclusion
SWEETEST Bread, heal the palate of my heart that I may taste the pleasant savour of your love. Heal it of all infirmities that I may find sweetness in nothing other than you. O purest Bread, having all delight and all savour, which ever refreshes us and never fails us, let my heart feed on you and may my inmost soul be fulfilled with the sweetness of your savour. The Angels feed upon you to the fulles: let the wayfaring man feed on you according to his measure, that, refreshed with such a Viaticum, he may not fall by the way.
HOLY Bread, O living Bread, O pure Bread, who came down from heaven and gives life to the world, come into my heart, and cleanse me from all defilement of flesh and spirit. Enter into my soul: heal and cleanse me within and without; be the protection and continual health of my soul and body. Drive far from me all foes that lie in wait; let them flee at the presence of your power, so that being guarded without and within by you, I may come to your kingdom straight way: where, not as now in mysteries, but face to face, we shall behold you; and when you have delivered up the kingdom to God, the Father, you shall be God, all in all.
Then will you satisfy me with yourself in a wondrous fullness, so that I shall never hunger nor thirst any more. Who with the same God the Father and the Holy Spirit live and reign, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Prayer of St Ambrose
LORD Jesus Christ, I approach your banquet table in fear and trembling, for I am a sinner, and dare not rely on my own worth, but rather only on your goodness and mercy. I am defiled by my many sins in body and soul, and by my unguarded thoughts and words. Gracious God of majesty and awe, I seek your protection and I look for your healing. Poor troubled sinner as I am, I appeal to you who are the fountain of all mercy. Lord, to you I show my wounds. To you I uncover my shame. I know my sins are many and great, and they fill me with fear, but yet I hope in your mercies, for they cannot be numbered.
LORD Jesus Christ, Eternal King, God and man, crucified for mankind, look upon me with mercy and hear my prayer, for I trust in you. Have mercy on me, full of sorrow and sin, for the depth of your compassion never ends.
PRAISE to your saving sacrifice, offered on the wood of the cross for me and for all. Praise to the noble and precious Blood, flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and bringing life to the whole world.
REMEMBER, Lord, your creation, whom you redeemed with your blood; I repent my sins, and I long to put right what I have done. Merciful Father, take away all my offenses and sins; purify me in body and soul, and make me worthy to taste the Holy of Holies. May your Body and Blood, which I intend to receive, although I am unworthy, be for me the remission of my sins, the washing away of my guilt, the end of my evil thoughts, and the rebirth of my better instincts. May it incite me to do the works that you find pleasing, and a firm defense of body and soul against the wiles of my enemies. Amen.
Prayer of St Thomas Aquinas
ALMIGHTY and ever-lasting God, I approach the mystery of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore, I implore your great generosity, to heal my sickness, to wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, to enrich my poverty, and to clothe my nakedness, so that I may receive the bread of angels, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords with reverence and humility, with contrition and devotion, with purity and faith, and with such purpose and determination that will be expedient to the healing of my soul and body. I pray you to grant me not only to partake of the elements of this sacrament but also the reality and power of the mystery, the Body and Blood of our Lord.
O most kind God, grant that I may receive the Body of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, and thereby to be counted worthy to be incorporated into His mystical body, and numbered among His members. O most loving Father, grant that this same Jesus, whom I now receive mysteriously, I may one day behold face to face in glory, even he who is alive and reigns with you, together with the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
MOTHER of mercy and of love, most blessed Virgin Mary, I, a poor and unworthy sinner, fly to you with all my heart and all my affection. I implore your loving-kindness, that even as you stood beside your dear Son as He hung upon the Cross, so stand by me, a poor sinner, and by all the priests who are offering Mass here today and throughout the entire Church and beside all your faithful people receiving the most sacred Body of your Son. Grant us, by your intercessions, we may celebrate an acceptable sacrifice in the sight of the most high and undivided Trinity and receive it worthily and fruitfully. Amen.
O BLESSED Joseph, happy man, to whom it was given not only to see and to hear God, Whom many kings longed to see, and saw not, to hear, and heard not; but also to carry Him in your arms, to embrace Him, to clothe Him, and guard and defend Him.
V. Pray for us, O Blessed Joseph.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ
O GOD, Who has given us a royal priesthood, we beseech you, that as Blessed Joseph was found worthy to touch with his hands, and to bear in his arms, your only-begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary, so may we be made fit, by cleanness of heart and blamelessness of life, to celebrate before your holy altar; may we, this day, with reverent devotion partake of the Sacred Body and Blood of your Only-begotten Son, and may we ever partake and live in your kingdom. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
ANGELS, Archangels, Thrones, Dominations, Principalities, Powers, heavenly Virtues, Cherubim and Seraphim; all Saints of God, holy men and women, and for you especially my patrons: please intercede for me that I may be worthy to celebrate this mystery before almighty God, to the praise and glory of His name, for my own welfare and also that of all His holy Church. Amen.
O HOLY SAINT (Name), My PAtron, behold I, a wretched sinner, relying on your prayers and help, now celebrate for your honor and glory the most holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Humbly and devoutly I ask you to intercede for me this day, and to plead that I may have the grace to celebrate this mystery in a worthy and acceptable fashion and to be able to sing God’s praises eternally, with you and with all His elect in heaven. Who is alive and reigns forever. Amen.
MY PURPOSE is to celebrate Mass and to make present the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the teachings of the Church, to the praise of our all-powerful God and all His assembly in the glory of heaven, for my good and the good of all His pilgrim Church on earth, and for all who have asked me to pray for them in general and in particular, and for the good of all the People of God.
MAY the almighty and merciful Lord grant us joy and peace, amendment of life, room for true repentance, the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit and perseverance in good works. Amen.