In 2003 receiving the Eucharist was not hindered as now by the pandemic. That year Pope St. John Paul recalled the origins of spiritual communion:
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. Saint 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” (34).
“To cultivate in our hearts” disposes us to welcome the gift of Christ’s presence. Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, referring to those words of his predecessor, recalled that one is never under “an obligation to approach the table of the Eucharist” (55). His words addressed “personal conditions for an ‘active participation’” in the liturgy. Regarding communion the conditions of the pandemic leave only one active-participation option: an act of spiritual communion. Pope Francis has recommended by example.
Here is an Act of Spiritual Communion, for when you cannot physically receive the Eucharist, via @CatholicNewsSvc pic.twitter.com/jJKaBsvQwr— Jesuit News (@jesuitnews) April 27, 2020
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