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REFLECTIONS AND PRAYERS
FOR VISITS WITH OUR
EUCHARISTIC LORD
By John J. Cardinal Carberry, 1971
FOREWORD
In his encyclical letter, Mysterium Fidei (September
3, 1965), Pope Paul VI describes the graces and blessings which await those who manage to
find time to visit our Divine Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament:
"Christ is truly Emmanuel, that is, 'God with
us'. Day and
night, He is in our midst; He dwells with us full of grace and truth.
He restores
morality, nourishes virtue, consoles the afflicted, strengthens the weak.
He proposes His
own example to those who come to Him that they may learn to be like Himself, meek and
humble of heart, and to seek not their own interest, but the things of God.
Anyone,
therefore, who approaches this august Sacrament with special devotion and endeavours to
return generous love for Christ's infinite love, experiences and fully understands, not
without great spiritual joy and profit, how precious is the life hidden with Christ in
God, and how great is the value of converse with Christ, for there is nothing more
consoling on earth, nothing more efficacious for advancing along the road to
holiness."
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ACT OF ADORATION
Jesus, my God, I adore Thee, here present in the Blessed
Sacrament of the Altar, where Thou waitest day and night to be our comfort while we await
Thy unveiled presence in Heaven. Jesus, my God, I adore Thee in all places where the
Blessed Sacrament is reserved and where sins are committed against this Sacrament of Love.
Jesus, my God, I adore Thee for all time, past, present and future , for every soul
that ever was, is or shall be created. Jesus, my God, Who for us has endured hunger
and cold, labour and fatigue, I adore Thee. Jesus, my God, Who for my sake has deigned to
subject Thyself to the humiliation of temptation, to the perfidy and defection of
friends, to the scorn of Thine enemies, I adore Thee. Jesus, my God,
Who for us has
endured the buffeting of Thy passion, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the heavy
weight of the Cross, I adore Thee. Jesus, my God, who, for my salvation and that of all
mankind, was cruelly nailed to the Cross and hung there for three long hours in bitter
agony, I adore Thee. Jesus, my God, Who for love of us did institute this Blessed
Sacrament and offer Thyself daily for the sins of men, I adore Thee.
Jesus, my God, Who in
Holy Communion became the food of my soul, I adore Thee. Jesus, for Thee I live.
Jesus, for Thee I die. Jesus, I am Thine in life and in death.
ACT OF FAITH
0 Christ Jesus! True God and Man, of one substance, majesty and
power with the Father, with firm faith, I believe and confess that Thou art truly and
really present in this Sacrament. For Thou who art the Truth Itself, have said, "This
is My Body".
ACT OF HOPE
0 God, my hope and my heart rejoices when I receive Thee in the
Blessed Sacrament, because I clearly trust that there is nothing which Thou
Who hast given us Thyself will not give us. In Thee, 0 Lord, do I trust; let me not be
confounded in my hope.
ACT OF LOVE
I love Thee, 0 Christ Jesus, because Thou, in Thy exceeding
love for me, hast come in the flesh, and hast loved me even to death; and in the Blessed
Sacrament hast given me Thyself for a pledge of this love. I love Thee more than
myself and than all things; at least, I most earnestly desire so to love Thee and always
to adhere to Thee alone. Oh, that by the force of this Sacrament, there may be
cemented between Thee and me a union of love so great, that nothing may be able to
separate me from the love of Christ my Saviour.
A SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
My Jesus, I believe that Thou art present in the most Holy
Sacrament. I love Thee above all things, and I desire to receive Thee into my soul.
Since
I cannot at this moment receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my
heart. I embrace Thee as if Thou wert already there and unite myself wholly to Thee;
never permit me to be separated from Thee, ever.
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Pamphlet Published by the Daughters
Of St. Paul, 1971
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