What is an Act of Spiritual Communion and when should it be made?
An Act of Spiritual Communion is a prayer expressing a fervent desire to receive Jesus into one's soul when one is physically or canonically unable to receive the sacrament (e.g., due to illness, lack of a priest, or conscious of unconfessed mortal sin). As taught by St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Alphonsus Liguori, God is not restricted by sacramental bounds; a sincere, heartfelt act of spiritual communion draws abundant graces, spiritual union, and love of Jesus into the soul.
Sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1387-1388
- Revelation 3:20
Awaiting review by the chaplaincy. Written in our own words; the Church's own texts are the authority.