Behold! The Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world.

When Catholics come together for Liturgy, we celebrate the Paschal Mystery, the Passion and Death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by offering the Mass. The very basis of this Mass is the Holy Eucharist, the holiest of the seven Sacraments. At every Consecration, the entire Life and Death of Christ is renewed and offered. Christ initiated the Sacrament of the Eucharist as a means to unite ourselves to the living God. He is the Bread of Life. Christ spoke many times in the following manner:

"Amen, amen I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has life everlasting and I will raise him up on the last day. For My Flesh is food indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in him. As the living Father has sent Me, and as I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me." (Jn 6:54-58)

Each time we properly partake of the Eucharist, we not only share in the meal with Christ, but we also receive the TRUE Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ into our heart and soul. The Eucharist nourishes our spirit and allows us an intimate union with God. The Spirit of the Trinity, real as it is in Heaven, fills our entire being with effusions of sanctifying grace, allowing us to become strengthened on our path towards eternal life. We gain sacramental grace which guards us in times of temptation and allows us to effectively carry out our daily duties. We gain preserving influence which guards us against the passions of the flesh. We are forgiven of every venial sin, and receive a partial indulgence from the temporal punishments of Purgatory. We help ease the sufferings of those who are currently in Purgatory. And our place in Heaven is forever raised. Christ revealed to St. Gertrude the Great that "each time one person receives Holy Communion something good happens to every being in Heaven, on earth, and in Purgatory." Just think of the good which happens to the person actually receiving the Eucharist! In addition to the words of Christ, Eucharistic miracles have confirmed the true Presence and the awesomeness of Holy Communion. In his book, "The Blessed Eucharist," Father Michael Muller, C.S.S.R. lists numerous miracles. Among the most inspiring are, briefly:

1) One of the most awesome Eucharistic Miracles was witness by a priest named Plegile and others in attendance at a Mass at which he was presiding. After an angel appeared to them during the Mass, the consecrated host took the form of the infant Jesus. 2) In 1453, in Turin, a thief stole the Eucharist from the Tabernacle. As he tried to make his escape, his horse would not budge, no matter how hard he tried. After some town's people, not knowing his evil deed, had helped him unburden the horse, the host leapt from the ciborium and hovered about sixty feet in the air. When the Bishop arrived, the host descended into the chalice which he was holding. 3) St. Frances de Sales relates of a fire which had destroyed the repository where the Holy Eucharist was being kept at a small church in Favernay, France. Despite the vast damage, the host was untouched, and left hovering in the air. When the priest went to move the host to the high altar, he could not budge it. As he celebrated the Consecration during Mass, the host moved itself to the high altar, and after Communion, returned itself to its hovering position at the side altar. "The Blessed Eucharist," Fr. Michael Muller, C.S.S.R., Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., Rockford, IL, 1994.

PRAYER FOR BEFORE COMMUNION: 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 only on your goodness and mercy. I am defiled by many sins in body and soul, and by my unguarded thoughts and words. Gracious God of majesty and awe, I seek your protection, I look for your healing. Poor troubled sinner that I am, I appeal to yu, the fountain of all mercy. I cannot bear your judgment, but I trust in your salvation. Lord, I show my wounds to you and uncover my shame before you. I know my sins are many and great, and they fill me with fear, but 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 you, saving sacrifice, offered on the wood of the cross for me and for all mankind. Praise to the noble and precious blood, flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and washing away the sins of the whole world. Remember, Lord, your creature, whom you have 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 ins; 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 pleasing to you and profitable to my health in body and soul, and be a firm defense against the wiles of my enemies. Composed by Saint Ambrose of Milan ANOTHER PRAYER FOR BEFORE COMMUNION: O Lord, my God, I am not worthy that you should come into my soul, but I am glad that you have come to me because in your loving kindness you desire to dwell in me. You ask me to open the door of my soul, which you alone have created, so that you may enter into it with your loving kindness and dispel the darkness of my mind. I believe that you will do this for you did not turn away Mary Magdalene when she approached you in tears. Neither did you withhold forgiveness from the tax collector who repented of his sins or from teh good thief who asked to be received into your kingdom. Indeed, you numbered as your friends all who came to you with repentant hearts. O God, you alone are blessed always, now, and forever. Composed by Saint John Chrysostom ASPIRATIONS FOR AFTER COMMUNION: Dear Jesus, wash away my iniquities with Your Precious Blood. My Lord, and my God, I trust in You. Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning with love for us, may the whole world burn with love of You. ACT OF FAITH FOR AFTER COMMUNION: My Jesus, I believe that I have received Your Sacred Body and Your Precious Blood in the Eucharist. I believe, dear Savior, that You are truly present within my heart. You are the same Jesus Who suffered and died for my salvation; the same Lord Who now sits in Heaven at the right hand of the Father, and Who is the Joy of the angels and the saints. ANIMA CHRISTI: Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, strengthen 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. Suffer me not to be separated from Thee. From the malignant enemy, defend me. In the hour of my death, call me. And bid me to come unto Thee. That with Thy saints I may praise Thee. Forever and ever. Amen. PADRE PIO'S AFTER COMMUNION PRAYER: Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You. Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life and without You I am without fervor. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light and without You I am in darkness. Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will. Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You. Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much and always be in Your company. Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You. Stay with me, Lord, as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love. Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close and life passes, death, judgment and eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile! Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You. Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart. Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love. Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more. With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen. CHAPLET OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT: Recite a spiritual communion: I love You, my God. I cannot receive You in Holy Communion. Come, nevertheless, and visit me with Your grace. Come spiritually into my heart; purify it; sanctify it; render it like unto Your own. Amen. Recite 33 times: Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar, have mercy on us!