After the Lamb of God is sung or said, we are almost ready for the high point of receiving our Lord in Holy Communion. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says the following about what happens next: “The Priest prepares himself by a prayer, said quietly, so that he may fruitfully receive the Body and Blood of Christ. The faithful do the same, praying silently.” (GIRM, 84)
Both the priest and the faithful are invited into silent prayer as a way to prepare for receiving Holy Communion, but for the priest, there is a specific prayer (rather an option of two prayers) that he is to pray, but the faithful are not given any specific prayer. On the one hand, this gives freedom to the faithful to pray from their heart in words that are unique to them, or simply just to be in silence, but we have to admit that sometimes “we do not know how to pray as we ought.” (Rom 8:26) And so a written prayer from the tradition of the Church can help in this time of preparation.
First of all, there is nothing to prevent the faithful from using one of the prayers that the priest uses for his preparation. I prefer the first option, which is as follows:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
who, by the will of the Father
and the work of the Holy Spirit,
through your Death gave life to the world,
free me by this, your most holy Body and Blood,
from all my sins and from every evil;
keep me always faithful to your commandments,
and never let me be parted from you.
There are other good options as well. For example, St. Thomas Aquinas has written a beautiful prayer that can be recited before receiving Holy Communion:
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.
So whether you use one of these prayers or one in your own words, or just maintaining a prayerful silence with no words, the important thing to remember is that this short moment of silence is like making those last minute preparations in your house for that long-awaited guest, so that when Jesus arrives, He may find you ready and eager to welcome Him.
Father Alford