Prayers Before and After Mass

A Prayer Before Mass

Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son

Our Lord Jesus Christ, I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy,

blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth.

Lord, in your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement,

enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness.

May I receive the bread of angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love,

and the determined purpose that will help to bring me to salvation.

May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and its reality and power.

Kind God, may I receive the Body of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,

born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into His mystical body

and numbered among His members. Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage

I now receive Your beloved Son under the veil of a sacrament,

may I one day see him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with You for ever.

Amen.

– Saint Thomas Aquinas

ACTS BEFORE COMMUNION.

Act of Faith " Behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills" (Cant. ii. 8). Ah, my most amiable Savior, over how many, what rough and craggy mountains hast Thou had to pass in order to come and unite Thyself to me by the means of this most holy sacrament! Thou, from being God, hadst to become man; from being immense, to become a babe; from being Lord, to become a servant. Thou hadst to pass from the bosom of Thy Eternal Father to the womb of a virgin: from heaven into a stable; from a throne of glory to the gibbet of a criminal. And on this very morning Thou wilt come from Thy seat in heaven to dwell in my bosom.

Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices" (Cant. ii. 9). Behold, my soul, thy loving Jesus, burning with the same love with which He loved thee when dying for thee on the cross, is now concealed in the Most Blessed Sacrament under the sacred species; and what doing? " Looking through the lattices." As an ardent lover, desirous of seeing His love corresponded with, from the host, as from within closed lattices, whence He sees without being seen, He is looking at you, who are this morning about to feed upon His divine flesh; He observes your thoughts, what it is that you love, what you desire, what you seek for, and what offerings you are about to make Him.

Awake then, my soul, and prepare to receive thy Jesus; and, in the first place, by faith, say to Him: So then, my beloved Redeemer, in a few moments Thou art coming to me? O hidden God, unknown to the greater part of men, I believe, I confess, 1 adore Thee in Thy Most Holy Sacrament as my Lord and Savior! And in acknowledgment of this truth, I would willingly lay down my life. Thou comest to enrich me with Thy graces, and to unite Thyself all to me; how great, then, should be my confidence in this Thy so loving visit!

Act of Confidence. My soul, expand thy heart. Thy Jesus can do thee every good, and, indeed, loves thee. Hope thou for great things from this thy Lord, Who, urged by love, comes all love to thee. Yes, my dear Jesus, my hope, I trust in Thy goodness, that, in giving Thyself to me this morning, Thou wilt enkindle in my poor heart the beautiful flame of Thy pure love, and a real desire to please Thee; so that, from this day forward, I may never will anything but what Thou wiliest.

Act of Love. Ah, my God, my God, true and only love of my soul, and what more couldst Thou have done to be loved by me? To die for me was not enough for Thee, my Lord; Thou wast pleased to institute this great sacrament in order to give Thyself all to me, and thus bind and unite thyself heart to heart with so loathsome and ungrateful a creature as I am. And what is more, Thou Thyself invitest me to receive Thee, and desirest so much that I should do so! O boundless love, incomprehensible love, infinite love, a God would give Himself all to me!

My soul, believest thou this? And what doest thou? what sayest thou? O God, O God, O infinite amiability, only worthy object of all loves, I love Thee with my whole heart, I love Thee above all things, I love Thee more than myself, more than my life! Oh, could I but see Thee loved by all! Oh, could I but cause Thee to be loved by all hearts as much as Thou deservest! I love Thee, O most amiable God, and I unite my miserable heart in loving Thee to the hearts of the seraphim, to the heart of the most blessed Virgin Mary, to the heart of Jesus, Thy most loving and beloved Son. So that, O Infinite Good, I love Thee with the love with which the saints, with which Mary, with which Jesus love Thee. And I love Thee only because Thou art worthy of it, and to give Thee pleasure. Depart, all earthly affections, which are not for God, depart from my heart. Mother of fair love, most holy Virgin Mary, help me to love that God Whom thou dost so ardently desire to see loved!

Act of Humility. Then, my soul, thou art even now about to feed on the most sacred flesh of Jesus! And art thou worthy? My God, who am I, and who art Thou? I indeed know and confess Who Thou art Who givest Thyself to me; but dost Thou know what I am, who am about to receive Thee?

And is it possible, O my Jesus, that Thou, Who art infinite purity, desirest to come and reside in this soul of mine, which has been so many times the dwelling of Thy enemy, and soiled with so many sins? I know, O my Lord, Thy great majesty and my misery; I am ashamed to appear before Thee. Reverence would induce me to keep at a distance from" Thee; but if I depart from Thee, O my life, whither shall I go? to whom shall I have recourse? and what will become of me? No, never will I depart from Thee; nay, even I will ever draw nearer and nearer to Thee. Thou art satisfied that I should receive Thee as food, Thou even invitest me to this. I come then, O my amiable Savior, I come to receive Thee this morning, all humbled and confused at the sight of my defects; but full of confidence in Thy tender mercy, and in the love which Thou bearest me.

Act of Contrition. I am indeed grieved, O God of my soul, for not having loved Thee during the time past; still worse, so far from loving Thee, and to gratify my own inclinations, I have greatly offended and outraged Thy infinite goodness: I have turned my back against Thee, I have despised Thy grace and friendship; in fine, O my God, I was deliberately in the will to lose Thee. Lord, I am sorry, and grieve for it with my whole heart. I detest the sins which I have committed, be they great or small, as the greatest of all my misfortunes, because I have thereby offended Thee, O Infinite Goodness. I trust that Thou hast already forgiven me; but if Thou hast not yet pardoned me, oh, do so before I receive Thee: wash with Thy blood this soul of mine, in which Thou art so soon about to dwell.

Act of Desire. And now, my soul, the blessed hour has arrived in which Jesus will come and take up His dwelling in thy poor heart. Behold the King of heaven, behold thy Redeemer and God, Who is even now coming; prepare thyself to receive Him with love, invite Him with the ardor of thy desire; come, O my Jesus, come to my soul, which desires Thee. Before Thou givest Thyself to me, I desire to give Thee, and I now give Thee, my miserable heart; do Thou accept it, and come quickly to take possession of it.

Come, my God, hasten; delay no longer. My only and infinite good, my treasure, my life, my paradise, my love, my all, my wish is to receive Thee with the love with which the most holy and loving souls have received Thee; with that with which the most blessed Virgin Mary received Thee; with their communions I unite this one of mine.

Most holy Virgin and my Mother Mary, behold, I already approach to receive thy Son. Would that I had the heart and love with which thou didst communicate! Give me this morning thy Jesus, as thou didst give Him to the shepherds and to the kings. I intend to receive Him from thy most pure hands. Tell Him that I am thy servant and thy client; for He will thus look upon me with a more loving eye, and, now that He is coming, will press me more closely to Himself. 

“Do not fear, beloved. Peace! Take courage and be strong.”

 A Prayer After Mass

I give thanks to Thee, O Lord, most holy, Father almighty, eternal God, that Thou hast vouchsafed, for

 no merit of mine own, but out of Thy pure mercy, to appease the hunger of my soul with the precious

 body and blood of Thy Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Humbly I implore Thee, let not this holy

 communion be to me an increase of guilt unto my punishment, but an availing plea unto pardon and

 salvation. Let it be to me the armor of faith and the shield of good will. May it root out from my heart

 all vice; may it utterly subdue my evil passions and all my unruly desires. May it perfect me in charity

 and patience; in humility and obedience; and in all other virtues. May it be my sure defense against the

 snares laid for me by my enemies, visible and invisible. May it restrain and quiet all my evil impulses,

 and make me ever cleave to Thee Who art the one true God. May I owe to it a happy ending of my life.

 And do Thou, O heavenly Father, vouchsafe one day to call me, a sinner, to that ineffable banquet,

 where Thou, together with Thy Son and the Holy Ghost, art to Thy saints true and unfailing light,

 fullness of content, joy for evermore, gladness without alloy, consummate and everlasting happiness.

 Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen. 

Prayer for Generational Sin

So what do we need to do about all of these inter-generational curses caused by ancestral sins? 

Two things - You can recite the prayer below from Father Hampsch and the Claretian Teaching Ministry every day.  The best time to recite it is immediately after Holy Communion, when you and Jesus Christ are one, when you are like the Blessed Virgin Mary - a living tabernacle of The Savior.  That is when you are the holiest, and when your prayers are the most efficacious.  A few minutes of heartfelt prayer after receiving Jesus in the Eucharist while in the state of grace are worth many hours of prayer later on. And, you can also have the spiritual benefits of having Holy Mass celebrated for your family tree - past, present AND future.

Prayer for Healing the Family Tree

"Heavenly Father, I come before you as your child, in great need of your help; I have physical health needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs, and interpersonal needs. Many of my problems have been caused by my own failures, neglect and sinfulness, for which I humbly beg your forgiveness, Lord. But I also ask you to forgive the sins of my ancestors whose failures have left their effects on me in the form of unwanted tendencies, behavior patterns and defects in body, mind and spirit. Heal me, Lord, of all these disorders. With your help I sincerely forgive everyone, especially living or dead members of my family tree, who have directly offended me or my loved ones in any way, or those whose sins have resulted in our present sufferings and disorders. In the name of your divine Son, Jesus, and in the power of his Holy Spirit, I ask you, Father, to deliver me and my entire family tree from the influence of the evil one. Free all living and dead members of my family tree, including those in adoptive relationships, and those in extended family relationships, from every contaminating form of bondage. By your loving concern for us, heavenly Father, and by the shed blood of your precious Son, Jesus, I beg you to extend your blessing to me and to all my living and deceased relatives. Heal every negative effect transmitted through all past generations and prevent such negative effects in future generations of my family tree. I symbolically place the cross of Jesus over the head of each person in my family tree, and between each generation; I ask you to let the cleansing blood of Jesus purify the bloodlines in my family lineage. Set your protective angels to encamp around us, and permit Archangel Raphael, the patron of healing, to administer your divine healing power to all of us, even in areas of genetic disability. Give special power to our family members' guardian angels to heal, protect, guide and encourage each of us in all our needs. Let your healing power be released at this very moment, and let it continue as long as your sovereignty permits. In our family tree, Lord, replace all bondage with a holy bonding in family love. And let there be an ever-deeper bonding with you, Lord, by the Holy Spirit, to your Son, Jesus. Let the family of the Holy Trinity pervade our family with its tender, warm, loving presence, so that our family may recognize and manifest that love in all our relationships. All of our unknown needs we include with this petition that we pray in Jesus' precious Name. Amen.

 

"St. Joseph, Patron of family life, pray for us.

 

Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear him, upon those who count on his mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive through famine. (Ps. 33:18-19)


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