Eucharistic Prayers by St. John Eudes to Prepare Your Heart for Holy Communion with Jesus
Alexandra Clark | The Daily Knight
These most beautiful and heartfelt prayers are written by St. John Eudes (1680 A.D.) whose heart was on fire most ardently for Jesus in the most Holy Eucharist. There are many wonderful prayers he wrote but today I share with you three he wrote, 1. Prayer for the beginning of Holy Mass, 2. Prayer after Holy Communion and 3. Prayer after the end of Holy Mass. Taken from his book: The Life and Kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls.
St. John Eudes on the topic of being well prepared for receiving Jesus in the Sacrament of Love, tells us: "Notice also that it is by no means useless to desire to have in you all the devotion and love of all holy souls, because Our Lord revealed to St. Mechtilde, a nun of the holy Order of St. Benedict, that if, when she went to Communion, she did not feel any devotion in herself, she should desire to have the devotion and the love of all the holy souls who had ever received Communion and He would consider her as if she did indeed possess it. We also read of St. Gertrude, a contemporary of St. Mechtilde, a member of the same order and of the same monastery, that one day, when she was about to receive Communion, and did not feel herself to he as well prepared or as full of devotion as she desired, she turned to Our Lord and offered Him all the preparation and devotion of all the saints and of the Blessed Virgin. The result of this was that He appeared to her and spoke to her the following words: "Now indeed thou dost appear in my sight, and in the sight of my saints, clad in just those garments and ornaments that thou hast desired!" Ah, Lord, how good Thou art thus to accept our good desires as real effects!"
PRAYER AT THE BEGINNING OF HOLY MASS
O my God and Sovereign Lord, behold me prostrate at the feet of Thy mercy. Deign to look with kindness upon so insignificant a creature, who recognizes and confesses before heaven and earth, that he is the most unworthy and ungrateful of all creatures. O Father of mercies, I accuse myself before Thee, before the angels and saints, of all the lapses of my past life, all the offenses I have committed against Thy divine majesty, my great coldness in Thy ardent love, my neglect in Thy holy service and in following Thy inspirations, and countless other faults of which Thou well knowest me to be guilty. 0 my God, when I consider that Thy well-beloved Son, whom I am here to adore, gave me even the first moment of His life, I account myself exceedingly guilty for not having consecrated to Thee the very first use of reason given me by Thy divine majesty. O my Lord Jesus, Thou didst spend all Thy days in poverty and suffering and didst end them on the Cross for love of me. Thou didst spend Thy whole life in uninterrupted works of ardent and exceeding great charity towards my soul. Yet I, treating my days and my life as something all my own, spend them ordinarily in useless or indifferent neglect, and often in offending Thy divine majesty. 0 my Saviour, grant that I may detest all my faults, since the very least of them was a reason why Thou didst will to be born in a stable and die on the Cross to expiate even that fault before the justice of Thy Father. O my Jesus, the very least of Thy humanly divine and divinely human actions, repeated so often for my benefit during the thirty. four years of Thy life on earth, possesses such value and merit, that even if it had taken place no more than once, it could rightfully claim that my whole life should be devoted to doing Thy will, as a mark of gratitude and thanksgiving and by way of repayment to Thy divine majesty. Yet I do not do this. On the contrary, it would seem that I was born for the sole purpose of offending and insulting Thee. 0 what ingratitude! What infidelity! How I detest my treachery! How sorry and ashamed I am, Most Lovable Jesus, of having been so unfaithful and ungrateful, and of having corresponded so miserably with so great and strong a love as Thine for me! My God, I cast all my sins into the stream of Thy Precious Blood, into the abyss of Thy mercies, into the fire of Thy divine love. Cleanse me and utterly consume my sins. Atone for all my failings, 0 Good Jesus, and accept in satisfaction this most holy Sacrifice of the Precious Body and Blood, which Thou didst offer on the Cross, and I now offer Thee in reparation. O my sweet Saviour, the disordinate love of myself and of the world is the source of all my offenses. Forever and with all my might I renounce that love. 0 Most Amiable Jesus, annihilate in me all earthly affections and establish in me the kingdom of Thy divine love. Amen. PRAYER AFTER HOLY COMMUNION
O Jesus, my God and my Creator, my Sovereign Lord, what marvel is this? That I should truly, at this very moment, possess in my heart the One who resides eternally in the bosom Of the Father! That I should indeed bear within me the same Jesus whom the most holy Virgin bore within her pure womb! That the most amiable Heart of Jesus, upon which the well-beloved disciple rested, which was pierced by the lance upon the Cross, should truly rest in me, so close to my heart! That His most holy soul should be living in my own soul! That the divinity, the Most Holy Trinity, all that is most admirable i n God and in heaven should have become merged in me, a most insignificant and most unworthy creature! 0 God, what mercies, what favors are these! What can I say, what can I do when I behold such great and astonishing marvels? Ah, my Lord Jesus, let all the powers of my soul and body prostrate themselves before Thy divine majesty to adore Thee and render Thee fitting homage! May heaven and earth, and all the creatures that are in heaven and on earth come now and cast themselves at Thy feet that, with me, they may render to Thee a thousand acts of homage and adoration! But, 0 my God, how great is my boldness, that I should receive Thee, the Saint of saints, into so vile an abode, with so little love, so little preparation! Forgive me, my Saviour; with all my heart I beg forgiveness for this as well as for all the other sins and acts of ingratitude during my past life. 0 Most Gentle and Amiable Jesus, 0 Thou the only One of my heart, 0 well-beloved of my soul, 0 object of all my affections, 0 my sweet life, my dear soul, my one and only love, my treasure and my glory, my joy and my only hope! My Jesus, what am I to think of Thy, bounties, so exceeding great to me? What am I to do for Thy love, when Thou hast wrought so many wonders for me? What thanks can I give Thee? My Saviour, I offer Thee all the blessings that ever have been and ever will be given Thee for all eternity by Thy Father, Thy Holy Spirit, Thy holy Mother, by all Thy angels and by all the holy souls who have ever received Thee in Holy Communion. My God, may all that is in me be transformed into love and praise of Thee! May Thy Father, Thy Holy Spirit, all Thy angels, Thy saints, and all Thy creatures bless Thee eternally for me! Father of Jesus, Holy Spirit of Jesus, Mother of Jesus, angels of Jesus, saints of Jesus, bless Jesus for me! 0 Good Jesus, Thou hast given Thyself to me with a love most great. In this same love I give myself to Thee. I give Thee my body, my soul, my life, my thoughts, my words and my deeds, and all that depends upon me. I give myself all to Thee, that Thou mayest dispose of me and of all that belongs to me, in time and in eternity, according to Thy most adorable will. 0 my Lord and my God, do Thou Thyself make use of the power of Thy own hand to ravish me from myself, from the world and from all that is not Thyself, that Thou mayest entirely possess me. Destroy all my self-love, my own will and all my vices and unruly desires. Establish in my soul the kingdom of Thy pure love, of Thy holy glory and of Thy divine will, so that I may henceforth love Thee perfectly. And let me love nothing, except in Thee and for Thee. May all my pleasure be in pleasing Thee, all my glory in glorifying Thee and in leading others to give Thee glory. May my most perfect happiness consist in carrying out Thy holy desires. 0 Good Jesus, establish in me the reign of Thy humility, Thy charity, Thy gentleness and patience, Thy obedience, Thy modesty, Thy chastity and all Thy other virtues. Clothe me in Thy spirit, Thy thoughts and inclinations, so that I may no longer have any thoughts, desires, or inclinations except Thy own. Finally, annihilate everything in me that is opposed to Thee, and so in me love and glorify Thyself in all the ways Thou dost desire. 0 my Saviour, I offer Thee all the persons for whom I am bound to pray, and especially N.N. . . . Destroy in them all that is displeasing to Thee. Fill them with Thy divine love. Accomplish all the plans Of Thy divine goodness for their souls, and give to them everything that I have asked for myself. Amen PRAYER AT THE END OF HOLY MASS
O Jesus, most worthy of love, I praise and thank Thee countless times. I summon all the angels, all the saints and creatures to bless and glorify Thee with me, for all the graces Thou hast given me by this divine sacrifice. May it please Thee to preserve and multiply in my soul all the holy desires, thoughts, affections and sentiments which Thou hast implanted in my soul during this Holy Mass, and to give me the grace to bring forth the fruit Thou dost expect of me. Thou hast lowered Thyself to become present to me by this holy mystery. Grant, I beseech Thee, that during this day I may not let one hour go by without lifting up my heart and becoming present to' Thee in spirit. Thou didst descend to this altar to take possession of our hearts and receive from us the homage we owe Thee as our Sovereign Lord. Then take possession of my heart, Good Jesus; consecrate it to Thee forever. I recognize and adore Thee as my King and Sovereign Lord. I render homage with my being, my life and all my acts, especially those I shall perform today. Take them and do with them whatever pleases Thee. Give me the grace to die rather than offend Thee, and to be a host at the same time living and dead to all that is not Thee, living in Thee and for Thee. May my whole life be a perpetual sacrifice of praise and love for Thee, and may I be utterly immolated and consumed for Thy pure glory and for Thy holy love. To this end I implore Thee with my whole heart, O Good Jesus, to give me Thy most holy blessing.
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