Receive Jesus with these prayers
when church is unavailable

Want a printable copy of this page? Scroll to the bottom to download the PDF. If there is no download form yet, write to us.

Here’s how to make a ‘Spiritual Communion’ when unable to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It may be adapted for personal and family use.

1. Gather with others in your household and begin a time of prayer with the Sign of the Cross.
2. Pray the Act of Contrition and the Daniel Prayer.
3. Open gnm.org/good-news-reflections and read the scriptures for today, then read the reflection. If you’re doing this as a family or small group, spend 10 or 15 minutes discussing what it means to each of you personally.
4. Share prayer intentions quietly or aloud.
5. Pray the Lord’s Prayer.
6. Pray The Act of Spiritual Communion (below).
7. Close with the sign of the cross.

Make an Act of Contrition for yourself and then for the whole world

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

The Act of Contrition from Daniel 9:4-24 

Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned: the whole world, including Your Holy Church, has sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets.

Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from my country and from the whole world and from your holy Church.

Give ear, our God, and hear. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, my God, do not delay, because Your Church and your people bear your Name.”

Amen.

The Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there
and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.

Send Your Guardian Angel to Holy Mass

O, holy angel at my side, go to the church for me.
Kneel in my place at holy Mass, where I desire to be.
At Offertory in my stead, take all I am and own,
and place it as a sacrifice upon the altar throne.
At Holy Consecration’s bell, adore with seraph’s love,
my Jesus, hidden in the Host, come down from heaven above.
And when the priest Communion takes, O, bring my Lord to me,
that his sweet heart may rest on mine, and I his temple be.
Then pray for those I dearly love, and those who cause me grief,
Jesus’ love may cleanse all hearts and suffering souls relieve.
Pray that this sacrifice divine, may mankind’s sin’s efface,
then bring me Jesus’ blessing home, the pledge of every grace.
Amen.

(Author unknown; often seen on prayer cards)

While making your Spiritual Communion, spend time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Talk to Jesus who is with you now and who is at church in the Blessed Sacrament. You may use the following prayers.

Adoration Prayer for the Blessed Sacrament

By Saint Maria Faustina

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, Your 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.

The Divine Praises

Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints.

May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.

O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

The next prayers can be found in the Manual of Indulgences for those who make “an act of spiritual communion”. They are prayers of thanksgiving in the Roman Missal. The Manual of Indulgences indicates that a partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who recite one of these prayers.

Prayer to the Most Holy Redeemer (Anima Christi)

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, embolden me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within Your wounds hide me.
Never permit me to be parted from You.
From the evil Enemy defend me.
In the hour of my death call me.
and bid me come to You,
that with your Saints I may praise You
for age upon age.
Amen.

Prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ Crucified

Behold, O good and loving Jesus, that I cast myself on my knees before you and, with the greatest fervor of spirit, I pray and beseech you to instill into my heart ardent sentiments of faith, hope and charity, with true repentance for my sins and a most firm purpose of amendment. With deep affection and sorrow I ponder intimately and contemplate in my mind your five wounds, having before my eyes what the prophet David had already put in your mouth about yourself, O good Jesus: They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones (Ps. 21: 17-18).

Download the prayers from this page

Prayers for Spiritual Communion when you can’t go to Mass
Please distribute this widely!

Name *

Email *

Good News Ministries provides individuals at no charge many faith-building materials. Your support will help keep this ministry going.

Next: Visit Our Lady of Miracles Virtual Shrine for Meditation

See also “Prayers to Saints who stop plagues“

Find more Prayers for Everyday life >>

For more faith-builders, visit the Good News Ministries home page >>

Post your prayer requests, prayer support, and praise reports in the comments below:

Books by Terry Modica

Knowing God's Will
and Doing It Well

---

My Soul
Shall Be Healed

---

3-part series on
The Father's Heart

---

Victor
(Terry's novel)

---