Prayer Prompted by Communion [Guest Post]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While I'm on vacation in Ireland, I've invited Unequally Yoked readers to assemble a wunderkammer of guest posts on books, practices, ideas, etc that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/06\/prayer-prompted-by-communion-guest-post.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prayer Prompted by Communion [Guest Post]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While I'm on vacation in Ireland, I've invited Unequally Yoked readers to assemble a wunderkammer of guest posts on books, practices, ideas, etc that\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/06\/prayer-prompted-by-communion-guest-post.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unequally Yoked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-29T08:16:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/84\/2014\/06\/woman_praying_in_pew_small.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"301\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/06\/prayer-prompted-by-communion-guest-post.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/06\/prayer-prompted-by-communion-guest-post.html\",\"name\":\"Prayer Prompted by Communion [Guest Post]\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-29T08:16:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-29T08:16:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\"},\"description\":\"While I'm on vacation in Ireland, I've invited Unequally Yoked readers to assemble a wunderkammer of guest posts on books, practices, ideas, etc that\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/06\/prayer-prompted-by-communion-guest-post.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/06\/prayer-prompted-by-communion-guest-post.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/06\/prayer-prompted-by-communion-guest-post.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Prayer Prompted by Communion [Guest Post]\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/\",\"name\":\"Unequally Yoked\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\",\"name\":\"Leah Libresco\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Leah Libresco\"},\"description\":\"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. 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{"id":9792,"date":"2014-06-29T04:16:11","date_gmt":"2014-06-29T08:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=9792"},"modified":"2014-06-29T04:16:11","modified_gmt":"2014-06-29T08:16:11","slug":"prayer-prompted-by-communion-guest-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/06\/prayer-prompted-by-communion-guest-post.html","title":{"rendered":"Prayer Prompted by Communion [Guest Post]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

St. Thomas Aquinas\u2019s Adoro te devote<\/em> is one of my favorite prayers for after Communion. In the Extraordinary Form (also known as the Latin Mass), there\u2019s a significant break between Communion and the end of Mass, so there\u2019s plenty of time for quiet meditation and praying the beautiful prayers the Church has given us.<\/p>\n

St. Thomas\u2019s prayer is one \u2013 it conveys the exact way we should approach Christ in the Eucharist. \u201cProstrate I adore Thee,\u201d while it may not be practical for every one in the church to lie physically prostrate at the same time (aerobics on the pews do not sound comfortable), the first stanza still lays out our ideal approach to the Eucharist, prostration of the heart. This attitude of loving submission certainly takes on a special meaning for those of us in the under-25 club because many of us are still discerning what God intends for our lives. Praying, \u201cto Thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,\u201d is kind of scary when half of your heart is saying, \u201cWell\u2026surrender is a pretty strong word. Maybe we could work out a compromise?\u201d<\/p>\n

The beautiful thing about praying the prayers my heart might want to compromise on after Communion is this: I\u2019ve just received a gift that comes from Christ not compromising. He didn\u2019t say, \u201cWell, maybe I\u2019ll just die halfway,\u201d or \u201cThis is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many\u2026except when it\u2019s too hard.\u201d Christ has just poured Himself out for us in the Mass, and the graces we get from the Eucharist prompt us to pour ourselves out for God so that we may be follow His will instead of our own.<\/p>\n

The other beautiful thing about these prayers is that they are prayers of love. How often do we tell God we love Him? Probably not as often as we should \u2013 many of our prayers are of petition or contrition or discernment or thanksgiving and while all of those are good and worthy prayers (especially thanksgiving), so are prayers of adoration and love. I know I sometimes get so caught up in the daily minutiae of life that I forget to love God. I forget that\u2019s it\u2019s okay to \u201cdate God\u201d (I\u2019m borrowing that phrase from a wonderful Ugandan priest) \u2013 to spend time with Him, to tell him about silly things like nightmares and worries and the way the sunset looked and the cute toddler I saw in the grocery store, and to tell Him that I love Him. St. Francis Xavier\u2019s Hymn of Love (another post-Communion prayer) closes with:<\/p>\n

Even so I love thee, and will love,<\/em><\/p>\n

And in Thy praise will sing<\/em><\/p>\n

Solely because Thou art my God<\/em><\/p>\n

And my most loving King.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prayers after Communion are a time for us to deepen our relationship with Christ. There\u2019s no magical formula for praying them right (except actually praying them) and so it\u2019s an opportunity for us to find our favorites out of the many beautiful prayers the Church gives us, from Anima Christi to the Petitions of St. Augustine. So I\u2019ll close out with the end of Adoro te devote<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Jesu, whom now veiled I by faith descry,<\/em><\/p>\n

What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny:<\/em><\/p>\n

That thy Face unveiled I at last may see<\/em><\/p>\n

With the blissful vision blest, my God, of Thee.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leah again: Many thanks to Claire for sharing these reflections. \u00a0I\u2019ve been to the Latin Mass a couple of times, but I never really noted the opportunity for prayer afforded after communion in that liturgy. \u00a0(Truthfully, I just lumped it under \u201ceverything takes longer in Latin.\u201d) \u00a0I haven\u2019t taken much of a look at structured prayer after Communion, but, if I were looking to adopt one, I think I\u2019d try out the\u00a0<\/em>Anima Christi<\/a> first. \u00a0I just love the \u201cwithin thy wounds, hide me\u201d image.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"