Jesus mit Brot und Wein von Wilhelm List

Spiritual communion is a Christian practice of desiring union with

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

in the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

. It is used as a preparation for

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

and by individuals who cannot receive holy communion. This practice is well established in

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

, Anglican, and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

churches, as well as in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, where it has been highly recommended by many saints, according to

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. He explained that practicing this constant desire for Jesus in the Eucharist is rooted in the ultimate perfection of eucharistic communion, which is the ultimate goal of every human desire. The practice of spiritual communion has been especially used by Christians in times of persecution, such as during the era of state atheism in the Eastern Bloc, as well as in times of plagues, such as during the current

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, when many Christians are unable to attend Mass, and therefore not able to receive the Eucharist on the

Lord's Day The Lord's Day in Christianity is generally Sunday, the principal day of communal worship. It is observed by most Christians as the weekly memorial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is said in the canonical Gospels to have been witnessed ...

Doctrine

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

defined spiritual communion as "an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the

Holy Sacrament There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all those ...

and a loving embrace as though we had already received Him." The basis of this practice was explained by

in his encyclical, '' Ecclesia de Eucharistia'': Thus, the passionate desire for

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

, whom the saints have seen as the Sole Satisfier, and who in the Eucharist is the "summit and source of the Christian life", is at the root of this practice. The experience of

Padre Pio Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a ...

illustrates the compelling desire felt by the saints in the face of the drawing and attracting power of God's love:

Jean-Marie Vianney John Vianney (born Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney; 8 May 1786 – 4 August 1859), venerated as Saint John Vianney, was a French Catholic priest who is venerated in the Catholic Church as a saint and as the patron saint of parish priests. He is oft ...

compared spiritual communion to blowing on fire and embers that are starting to go out in order to make them burn again:

Josemaría Escrivá Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest. He founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness ...

taught spiritual communions improve

presence of God Divine presence, presence of God, Inner God, or simply presence is a concept in religion, spirituality, and theology that deals with the ability of God to be "present" with human beings. According to some types of monotheism God is omnipresent; h ...

: "What a source of grace there is in spiritual Communion! Practise it frequently and you'll have more presence of God and closer union with him in your life." He also taught: "Do not neglect to say, 'Jesus, I love you', and make one spiritual communion, at least, each day, in atonement for all the profanations and sacrileges he suffers because he wants to be with us." According to Catholic theologians, the value of a spiritual can be as great as Holy Communion itself. Stefano Manelli wrote, The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, mother church of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

, teaches with regard to spiritual communion that "Believers who cannot physically receive the sacrament are to be assured that they are partakers by faith of the body and blood of Christ and of the benefits he conveys to us by them." The

Methodist Church in Great Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestant Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, and the World Council of Churches among other ecumenical a ...

teaches that "Spiritual Communion is a practice where we entrust ourselves to God in prayer, pledging ourselves to God once more as disciples and praying that God might give us spiritually the same grace we share when we physically receive Holy Communion." The practice is consistent with Methodist theology, which holds that God can impart grace "with or without physical means: God can work through anything or indeed nothing."

Examples

According to the official Catholic handbook (

enchiridion Enchiridion is a small manual or handbook. It can refer more specifically to: * '' Enchiridion of Epictetus'', a short manual of Stoic ethical advice * The ''Enchiridion de metris'' of Hephaestion, an ancient treatise on poetic meters * ''Enchiri ...

) for

indulgences In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God o ...

, "an Act of Spiritual Communion, according to any pious formula, is enriched with a partial indulgence." It also specifically mentions this ''Act of Spiritual Communion'', which was recommended by

Alphonsus Liguori Alphonsus Liguori, CSsR (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787), sometimes called Alphonsus Maria de Liguori or Saint Alphonsus Liguori, was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philoso ...

: Cardinal

Rafael Merry del Val Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta, (10 October 1865 – 26 February 1930) was a Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal. Before becoming a cardinal, he served as the secretary of the papal conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Pius X, who is said to have ac ...

composed this spiritual communion: Another example is:

Piarist The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...

fathers have taught this short act of spiritual communion, popularized by Josemaría Escrivá: Prayers taken from the ''A Form of Spiritual Communion'' of the

Diocese of Malaita The Diocese of Malaita is one of the nine current dioceses of the Anglican Church of Melanesia. One of the four original ACOM dioceses, Malaita diocese was erected in January 1975; it is currently subdivided into six regions of 46 parishes. Malait ...

of the

are as follows: Mitchell Lewis, a Methodist elder, authored an act of spiritual communion for use in the

tradition: St. Stephen Evangelical Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in

Pompano Beach Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...

, published the following act of spiritual communion:

Usage

The practice of spiritual communion is used by Christians, especially Lutherans, Catholics, Anglicans and Methodists, when they have been unable to receive the Holy Communion, especially in times of sickness and during persecution by states hostile towards religion. Anglican priest Jonathan Warren Pagán cited the joy

Walter Ciszek Walter Joseph Ciszek, S.J. (November 4, 1904 – December 8, 1984) was a Polish-American Jesuit priest of the Russian Greek Catholic Church who conducted clandestine missionary work in the Soviet Union between 1939 and 1963. Fifteen of th ...

experienced by making spiritual communion during the era of

state atheism State atheism is the incorporation of positive atheism or non-theism into political regimes. It may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments. It is a form of religion-state relationship that is usually ideologically l ...

in the Soviet Union that resulted in the

persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc After the October Revolution of November 7, 1917 (October 25 Old Calendar) there was a movement within the Soviet Union to unite all of the people of the world under Communist rule (see Communist International). This included the Eastern bloc countr ...

. Referencing theology related to the Body of Christ and the

real presence of Christ in the Eucharist The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically, but in a true, real and substantial way. There are a number of Christian denomina ...

, Anglican priest Jonathan Warren Pagán wrote that "Gathered worship in word and sacrament is therefore not an optional add-on for Christians" though the

rendered it necessary to move to online formats for the common good. He encouraged the practice of spiritual communion amidst the pandemic, especially during the Anglican service of morning prayer.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

also suggested that the faithful say spiritual communion prayers during the COVID-19 pandemic, which renewed interest in the practice; Methodist clergy have also encouraged spiritual communion.

References

External links

EWTN on spiritual communionCatholic United for the Faith

Spiritual Communion - Methodist Church in Great Britain
{{Catholic Prayers Catholic spirituality Christian prayer Roman Catholic prayers Lutheran liturgy and worship Methodism Anglicanism it:Eucaristia#Comunione spirituale

Doctrine

Examples

Usage

See also

References

External links