Prayers after communion at Mass

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sirach2v4

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I believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. But, it seems that I can’t pray adequately after the moment of reception.

First, I’m preoccupied with walking back to my pew. There may be a hymn which I suppose we’re supposed to join in, which I do, if I know it.

Then, the Mass itself proceeds so there isn’t a long time for prayer, anyway.

It seems that such a sublime moment passes without an adequate response from me.

My prayers are usually ad hoc, with any particular intentions that are most pressing. Any ideas?
 
sirach2v4 said:
I believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. But, it seems that I can’t pray adequately after the moment of reception.

First, I’m preoccupied with walking back to my pew. There may be a hymn which I suppose we’re supposed to join in, which I do, if I know it.

Then, the Mass itself proceeds so there isn’t a long time for prayer, anyway.

It seems that such a sublime moment passes without an adequate response from me.

My prayers are usually ad hoc, with any particular intentions that are most pressing. Any ideas?
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Amen. 🙂 Wow, miss. Anyway, don’t mind me.
When u receive the Holy Eucharist, u don’t speak until u’ve recited the ‘Prayer after Holy Communion.’
 
Pray the Anima Christi.
I highly recommend it.
And of course, offer thanksgiving for all of your blessings, and ask for strength for the coming week.
 
It used to be customary to stick around for five or ten minutes after Mass, to make prayers of thanks for Communion.

You can still do this. That gives you more time than just the space between receiving Communion and the priest sitting down again. (It also gets all the other cars out of your way, so you can zoom right out of the parking lot!)
 
I pray the Anima Christi, too. I haven’t memorized it yet (on my list of ones to learn) so I read it while kneeling when I get back to my pew. Amen. :signofcross:
 
Mintaka said:
It used to be customary to stick around for five or ten minutes after Mass, to make prayers of thanks for Communion.

You can still do this. That gives you more time than just the space between receiving Communion and the priest sitting down again. (It also gets all the other cars out of your way, so you can zoom right out of the parking lot!)
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Yes, this!

At the FSSP parish I attend occasionally, there might be a small handful of people that walk out during/after the closing hymn, but almost literally everyone stays after to make their thanksgiving - it is so beautiful to see and be a part of!

Unfortunately, not many people do that in Catholic parishes today. Something I notice in my parish nearly every single weekend Mass, really kind of saddens me: I am the organist, and (less than) five minutes after I have finished the closing hymn and put my books and organ shoes away, the Church is almost literally empty, and the lights have been shut off. This past Sunday I was literally the only one left after five minutes. I guess on one hand, if you’re praying your thanksgiving after Mass, and everyone is gone within five minutes, that means it won’t be noisy for very long in the Church!

However, if you go to a parish which gets really noisy after Mass, and you wish to pray your thanksgiving after Mass, I don’t think it would be unreasonable of you to ask your pastor to make an announcement to keep the noise down after Mass (and before, if that’s a problem). Because then, in my experience at least, I can still say my prayers and thanksgiving for receiving our Lord, but it can be so much harder to concentrate if there are more than a few people taking in something more than a whisper.

OK, sorry, I kind of got on a roll there…but anyway, I highly recommend staying an extra few minutes after Mass to make a thanksgiving, especially if it is too distracting for you to do it right after Communion. On one hand, it is good to try to improve your concentration at that time you actually receive our Lord and right after, but on the other hand, and in the meantime, making a thanksgiving after Mass is a good habit to get into.
 
I have dry eye problems, so take every opportunity to close my eyes.

I’ve found that closing my eyes in those few precious moments after returning to the pew causes me to focus better on my thanksgiving prayer.

I agree with you though…its kind of tough and seems as thought we should have several more minutes for personal prayer at that part of the Mass (didn’t it seem like we did, years ago?..maybe the priest stayed seated a bit longer?)
 
sirach2v4 said:
I believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. But, it seems that I can’t pray adequately after the moment of reception.

First, I’m preoccupied with walking back to my pew. There may be a hymn which I suppose we’re supposed to join in, which I do, if I know it.

Then, the Mass itself proceeds so there isn’t a long time for prayer, anyway.

It seems that such a sublime moment passes without an adequate response from me.

My prayers are usually ad hoc, with any particular intentions that are most pressing. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
The Padre Pio center distributes a folded card containing both a series of brief petitions to Jesus to stay with us because we're weak and forgetful, along with the novena he himself always prayed. Remember how delighted Our Lord is to be with us in a good communion! Run to Him in your soul like one of the children you might see at mass.
 
Thank you for asking about this, OP. I have used a prayer I found in a little Catholic devotional book, but I was looking for a new one. The Anima Christi is beautiful. I’ll use that tonight. 🙂
 
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