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(5.2) Spiritual Communion: “Eating in Desire that Celestial Bread” 317
(Diary, # 1438): Sr. Faustina wrote in her Diary that it pleases Jesus to encounter a soul
making a Spiritual Communion, for it sets aside special prayer time with Him. Also, when she
brought to Him the needs of her loved ones, He let her know, as well, that “God loves in a
special way those whom we love,” which brought much joy to her. She wrote in her Diary:
Before supper, I went into the chapel for a moment to break the wafer spiritually
with those beloved persons, so dear to my heart, though far away. First, I steeped
myself in a profound prayer and asked the Lord for graces for them all as a group
and then for each one individually. Jesus then gave me to know how much this
pleased Him, and my soul was filled with even greater joy to see that God loves in
a special way those whom we love (Diary, # 1438).
The Spirago-Clarke Catholic Catechism teaches that Spiritual Communion stirs within
the soul a spirited longing to receive Jesus sacramentally, with great graces awaiting it. When the
Lord Jesus was still on earth, He extended His healing to those who were physically present
before Him, as well as to those who could not be there with Him. It was true in the case of Jesus
curing the servant of the Roman centurion who was at his master’s home, sick and dying (Lk 7:1-
10). lxxviii Jesus acted on the faith and the keen desire of this master who then sought Him for his
servant’s healing. As Jesus provided the healing then, He does so also at this time.
On Spiritual Communion, the Council of Trent asserts that, “They are those who,
inflamed with a lively faith which worketh by charity, partake in wish and desire of that Celestial
Bread offered to them, from which they receive, if not the entire, at least very great fruits.” 318
The Spirago-Clarke Catechism also teaches that Spiritual Communion is likened
to“silver,” as Sacramental Communion is to a “golden vessel.” In Spiritual Communion, it is
sufficient to “recollect” the self momentarily, also to put the self “in spirit” in front of the
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318
Ibid ., Spirago, The Catechism Explained: The Means of Grace, Spiritual Communion, 604.
Ibid., Spirago-Clarke, The Catechism Explained: Spiritual Communion, 604.
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