Having taken some time for quiet prayer, after receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, the liturgy brings the Communion Rite to a conclusion with the Prayer after Communion. This prayer, similar to that of the Opening Collect, though brief in nature, can be a profound prayer to express in words what we desire in our hearts, having just welcomed the Lord anew into ourselves. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal describes this prayer in this way:
To bring to completion the prayer of the People of God, and also to conclude the whole Communion Rite, the Priest pronounces the Prayer after Communion, in which he prays for the fruits of the mystery just celebrated. (n. 89)
Perhaps the best way to appreciate this prayer is to look at a couple of examples, the first of which I will take from next Sunday’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi. Here are the words the Church gives us to conclude our prayer on that solemnity, words which I think summarize what we desire every time we receive Holy Communion:
Grant, O Lord, we pray,
that we may delight for all eternity
in that share in your divine life,
which is foreshadowed in the present age
by our reception of your precious Body and Blood.
Who live and reign for ever and ever.
Another example that I find particularly beautiful, and which highlights how this sacrament of charity commits us to greater love of God and neighbor, comes from the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which will be celebrated the Friday after Corpus Christi. Here are the words of that prayer:
May this sacrament of charity, O Lord,
make us fervent with the fire of holy love,
so that, drawn always to your Son,
we may learn to see him in our neighbor.
Through Christ our Lord.
In last week’s bulletin article, I encouraged the importance of taking time for silent prayer after receiving the Eucharist. I provided some examples, but I can also suggest that this Prayer after Communion can also be something we pray personally, before praying it communally, such that having reflected on the words briefly in silence, they will be all the more fruitful when we hear them proclaimed by the celebrant as we bring the Communion Rite to a close.
How beautiful indeed are these prayers that our Mother, the Church gives to us to pray during the Mass! I want to repeat something I wrote about the Opening Collect, words which I think apply equally as well to the Prayer after Communion. “In addition to praying with the readings of the Mass as a good way to prepare for Mass, praying with the Prayer after Communion can also be very fruitful, so do not overlook these gems that the Church offers to us as sources of rich reflection and meditation.”
Father Alford