The Catholic Church is currently in the midst of a Eucharistic Revival in the United States.
According to Catholic News Agency,
“The National Eucharistic Revival is a three-year initiative by the U.S. bishops that aims to inspire, educate, and unite the faithful in a more intimate relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist.”
The Eucharist is central to our Catholic faith. The saints who have gone before us share a common love for Jesus in the Eucharist.
Inspired by their deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, some saints have composed prayers that help the faithful draw closer to Christ.
The following prayers are perfect to add to your prayer routine during a Holy Hour, after communion, or any other time!
1) Saint Ignatius of Loyola – 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.
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.
From the malignant enemy, defend me. I
n the hour of my death, call me.
And bid me come to Thee.
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee.
Forever and ever.
Amen.
2) Saint Catherine of Siena – A Prayer to Jesus in the Eucharist
O boundless charity! Just as You gave us yourself, wholly God and wholly man, so You left us all of yourself as food so that while we are pilgrims in this life, we might not collapse in our weariness, but be strengthened by You, Heavenly Food.
O, mercenary people! And what has your God left you? He has left you himself, wholly God and wholly man, hidden under the whiteness of this bread.
O fire of love! Was it not enough to gift us with creation in Your image and likeness, and to create us anew to grace in Your Son’s blood, without giving us Yourself as food, the whole of divine being, the whole of God?
What drove You? Nothing but Your charity, mad with love as You are!
3) Saint Bonaventure – Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee
Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus Christ, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, with true, serene, and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with love and longing for Thee, that it may yearn for Thee and faint for Thy courts, and long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the bread of angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delight of taste.
Let my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor.
May it ever thirst after Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the richness of the House of God.
May it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, attain to Thee, meditate upon Thee, speak of Thee, and do all things to the praise and glory of Thy Holy Name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with readiness and affection, and with perseverance unto the end.
Be Thou alone ever my hope and my whole confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, and my joy; my rest and tranquility; my peace, my sweetness, and my fragrance; my sweet savor, my food, and refreshment; my refuge and my help; my wisdom, my portion, my possession and my treasure, in whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm, and rooted immovable.
Amen.
4) Saint Padre Pio – Prayer After Holy Communion
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, and 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.
5) Saint Alphonsus Liguori – To Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
My Lord Jesus Christ, Who, through the love which You bear toward men, does remain with them day and night in this Sacrament, full of mercy and love, awaiting, inviting, and receiving all who come to visit You, I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar.
From the abyss of my nothingness, I adore You. I thank You for all the graces which You have bestowed upon me, particularly for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament, for having given my Your most holy Mother Mary for my advocate, and for having called me to visit You in this church.
I pay my homage to Your most loving Heart for these three ends: first in thanksgiving for this great Gift; second to make amends to You for all the outrages which You do receive in this Sacrament from all Your enemies; third I intend by this visit to adore You in all the places on earth in which You are present in this Sacrament and in which You are the least honored and the most abandoned.
My Jesus, I love You with my whole heart. I am sorry for having offended Your infinite goodness so many times. I purpose, with the help of Your grace, never more to offend You; and, at this moment, miserable as I am, I consecrate my whole being to You.
I give You my entire will, all my affections and desires, and all that I have. From this day forward, do what You will with me and with everything that belongs to me.
I ask and desire only Your holy love, the gift of final perseverance, and the perfect fulfillment of Your will. I commend to You the souls in Purgatory, particularly those who were most devoted to the Most Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary; and I also commend to You all poor sinners.
Finally, my dear Savior, I unite all my affections with the affections of Your most loving Heart; and thus united, I offer them to Your Eternal Father, and I entreat Him, in Your Name and for Your sake, to accept and answer them.
Amen.
6) Saint Faustina – Before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
I adore You, Lord and Creator, hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I adore You for all the works of Your hands, that reveal to me so much wisdom, goodness and mercy, O Lord. You have spread so much beauty over the earth and it tells me about Your beauty, even though these beautiful things are but a faint reflection of You, incomprehensible Beauty. And although You have hidden Yourself and concealed Your beauty, my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You and my soul recognizes its Creator, its Highest Good, and my heart is completely immersed in prayer of adoration.
My Lord and Creator, Your goodness encourages me to converse with You. Your mercy abolishes the chasm which separates the Creator from the creature. To converse with You, O Lord, is the delight of my heart. In You I find everything that my heart could desire. Here You light illumines my mind, enabling it to know You more and more deeply. Here streams of graces flow down upon my heart. Here my soul draws eternal life. O my Lord and Creator, You alone, beyond all these gifts, give Your own self to me and unite Yourself intimately with Your miserable creature.
O Christ, let my greatest delight be to see You loved and Your praise and glory proclaimed, especially the honor of Your mercy. O Christ, let me glorify Your goodness and mercy to the last moment of my life, with every drop of my blood and every beat of my heart. Would that I be transformed into a hymn of adoration of You. When I find myself on my deathbed, may the last beat of my heart be a loving hymn glorifying Your unfathomable mercy. Amen.