Eucharistic Reflection - St. Louis de Montfort's "Little Known Method of Receiving Holy Communion"

I ran across this video presentation by John Henry Weston on Life-Site in which he discusses a "little known method of [receiving] Holy Communion" employed by St. Louis de Montfort. I do not recall having seen this prayer before. It is as powerful as Mr. Weston suggested. I highly recommend both this prayer and the video.

Prayer of St. Louis de Montfort

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

Before Mass

I renounce myself and all my inner dispositions, no matter how good my self-love may make them look. I’m all Thine my dear Mistress with all that I have and I take Thee for my all. Please give me Thy heart O Mary that I might receive Thy Son here with the same dispositions as Thine own. For it touches Thy Son’s glory to be put into a heart as sullied and inconstant as mine which would not fail either to lessen his glory or to destroy it. But if Thou will come and dwell with me in order to receive Thy Son, He will be well received by Thee without danger of being outraged or unnoticed for “God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved.

I know that of all the gifts that I have given Thee of my own goods I have given Thee nothing worthy of Thee, but with this Gift I make Thee the same Gift as the Eternal Father gave Thee. And I know that by giving Thee this Gift I give Thee more than if I gave Thee all the gifts in the entire world.

And finally, Jesus still desires to take His pleasure and repose in Thee even in my soul, though it be far filthier and poorer than the stable where He did not hesitate to come simply because Thou were there.

I take Thee for my all, please give me Thy heart O, Mary.

[Good St. Joseph please come and by Thy intercession cleanse the stable of my heart as Thou did the stable in Bethlehem.]

Just Before Communion, at the “Lord, I am not worthy…”

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

Lord I am not worthy because of my sins and ingratitude toward so good a Father to receive the Body and Blood of Thy Son but I beg of Thee to have mercy on me, and behold not me, but behold the handmaid of the Lord, who acts for me and gives me a singular confidence and hope with Thy Majesty.

Lord I am not worthy because of my sins and infidelity to Thy service to receive Thy Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in this great Sacrament of Thy Love, but I beg of Thee to come to me that I might bring Thee into the heart of Thy well beloved Mother, into the chamber of Her that bore Thee.

I take no confidence in my own preparations, strengths and merits, I trust only in Mary Thy dear Mother as Jacob did in Rebecca, and sinner and Esau that I am, I dare to approach Thy sanctity supported and adorned as I am by the virtues of Mary Thy Most Holy Mother.

Lord I am not worthy because of my sins and resistance to Thy holy inspirations to receive this Masterpiece of Thy Charity. But I beg of Thee to come to me in Mary, Thy most holy and inseparable Spouse. Come to me in Her whose bosom is as pure and heart as burning as ever. For without Thy descent into my soul neither Jesus nor Mary will be formed nor worthily lodged.

After Receiving Jesus in Holy Communion

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

I welcome Him into the heart of Mary His Mother, and I renew my act of consecration to the Blessed Mother.

Eternal and incarnate Wisdom, most lovable and adorable Jesus, true God and true man, only Son of the eternal Father and of Mary always Virgin, I adore you profoundly, dwelling in the splendor of your Father from all eternity and in the virginal womb of Mary, your most worthy Mother, at the time of your incarnation. I thank you for having emptied yourself in assuming the condition of a slave to set me free from the cruel slavery of the evil one. I praise and glorify you for having willingly chosen to obey Mary, your holy Mother, in all things, so that through surrendering all my power and self-determination by dwelling in her womb I may always be your faithful lover.

But I must confess that I have not kept the vows and promises, which I made to you so solemnly at my baptism. I have not fulfilled my obligations, and I do not deserve to be called your child or even your loving slave. Because I have turned away from you in my sins and I feel so little and poor in my weakness, I do not feel great enough to approach your divine Majesty, but I do feel that I can approach you in your littleness as you dwell in Mary’s womb. That is why I turn to the intercession and the mercy of your holy Mother, whom you yourself have given me to be my meeting place with you. Through her, in her womb, I hope to obtain from You contrition and pardon for my sins and that Wisdom whom I desire to dwell in me always. I turn to you, then, Mary Immaculate, living tabernacle of God, in whom eternal Wisdom willed to receive the adoration of **men, women and angels.** I greet you as Queen of heaven and earth, for all that is under God has been made subject to your sovereignty. I call upon you, the unfailing refuge of sinners, confident in your mercy that has never forsaken anyone. Grant my desire for divine Wisdom and, in support of my petition, accept the promises and the offering of myself, which I now make, conscious of my littleness.

I, ( insert your name ), an unfaithful sinner, renew and ratify today through you my baptismal promises. I renounce forever Satan, his empty promises, and his evil designs, and I give myself completely to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after him for the rest of my life, and to be more faithful to him than I have been till now.

This day, with the whole court of heaven as witness, I choose you, Mary, as my Mother and Queen. I surrender and consecrate myself to you, body and soul, with all that I possess, both spiritual and material, even including the spiritual value of all my actions, past, present, and to come. I give you the full right to dispose of me and all that belongs to me, without any reservations, in whatever way you please, for the greater glory of God in time and throughout eternity. I entrust myself to your loving, maternal care with the same total abandon as the Baby Jesus who chose to dwell in your womb.

Accept, gracious Virgin, this little offering of myself, to honor and imitate the obedience, which eternal Wisdom willingly chose to have towards you, his Mother. I wish to acknowledge the authority which both of you have over this pitiful sinner. By it I wish also to thank God for the privileges bestowed on you by the Blessed Trinity. I solemnly declare that for the future I will try to honor and obey you in all things as an infant in your womb. O admirable Mother, present me to your dear Son as His little twin in your womb, so that he who redeemed me through you, will now receive me through you.

  Mother of mercy, grant me the favor of obtaining the true Wisdom of God, and so make me one of those whom you love, teach and guide, whom you nourish and protect as your own infant in your womb. Virgin most faithful, make me in everything so committed a disciple, imitator, and twin infant of Jesus, your Son, incarnate Wisdom, that I may become, through your intercession and example, fully mature with the fullness which Jesus possessed on earth, and with the fullness of his glory in heaven. Amen.