Imagine the Blessed Virgin Mary receiving her Son in Holy Communion! Even more, imagine what her spirit of recollection and thanksgiving must have been like just after she communed with Jesus! No one had a greater intimacy with Our Lord in this world, and no one would have been more intimately united to Him than Our Lady after she assisted at Holy Mass and received the Blessed Sacrament.
The Virgin Mary is our model to imitate. She shows us how to live the interior life of union with God like no one else can. So what can we learn from her about thanksgiving after Holy Communion? How would she have made an act of thanksgiving after having received Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament of His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity?
St. Peter Julian Eymard, called The Apostle of the Blessed Sacrament, invites us to imitate the Blessed Virgin not just in her manner of reception of her Divine Son in Holy Communion, but also in her act of thanksgiving after. The Saint provides us with some of the practical advice in terms of how to make a good act of thanksgiving after Holy Mass:
Having received Jesus and enthroned Him in your heart, remain quiet for a moment, not praying in words but resting in silent adoration; like Zacchaeus, like Magdalen, prostrate yourself in spirit with the Most Holy Virgin at the feet of Jesus; contemplate Him, filled with wonder at the sight of His love.
Proclaim Him King of your heart, Spouse of your soul, and hearken to His voice. Say to Him, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth."
Lay your heart at the feet of the Heavenly King. Offer your will to execute His Commands; consecrate all your senses to His Divine Service. Bind your intelligence to His Throne that it may nevermore go astray; or rather, lay it beneath His feet that He may press forth therefrom all pride and vanity.
Do not disturb your soul so long as it is recollected, at peace in the presence of the Lord; in this gentle slumber on the Heart of Jesus, it receives grace, which nourishes it, unites it most sweetly to its Beloved, and profits it more than any other spiritual exercise.
When this moment has passed, begin your thanksgiving, for which you may use with profit the four ends of the Holy Sacrifice
St. Peter Julian then goes through these classical ""four ends" or purposes of the Holy Mass, one by one, and shows how each can be used to guide our act of thanksgiving after receiving Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. The four ends are:
Adoration
Thanksgiving
Reparation
Petition
Here is what the Saint writes about each of these ends and how we can use them to direct our prayer of thanksgiving after Holy Communion:
1. Adoration: Adore Jesus, who is enthroned in your heart; kiss in awe His Holy Feet and Hands; rest upon His Heart which burns with love for you; praise Him for His Power; offer Him your entire being as a sign of your adoration and absolute submission; proclaim Him your Master, and yourself, His happy servant, ready to follow His good pleasure in all things.
2. Thanksgiving: Thank Jesus for having so honoured you, so loved you, for having so enriched you in this Holy Communion! Praise His goodness and love for you, who are so poor, and imperfect, and unfaithful. Invite all the Angels and Saints, the Mother of God also, to bless Him, and praise Him, and thank Him for you. Yes, thank your Dear Saviour, in the thanksgivings of the Blessed Virgin, which were so loving, so perfect.
3. Reparation (Making Amends for Sin): Be sorry again for all your sins; weep for them like Magdalen at Jesus’ feet; repentant love is always tearful, never thinks it has discharged its debt of gratitude. Make protestation of your faithfulness and love; sacrifice to Him you're inordinate affections, your cowardice, your sloth in undertaking anything that calls for self denial. Entreat of Him the grace never to offend Him again, and beg of Him that you may rather die than commit a deliberate sin.
4. Petition: Ask whatever you will, for now is the moment of grace. Jesus is ready to give you His very Kingdom. Indeed, to give Him occasion to bestow His benefits is to give Him pleasure. Pray for the reign of His Sanctity in you and in all men; pray that His Charity may fill your heart. Pray for your needs this day and for all who are dear to you. Pray for your Priests, for the Holy Father, for the entire Church. Implore the triumph of Faith, the exhortation of Holy Church, and peace on earth. Ask for Holy Priests for all peoples, for fervent religious, and for true adorers of our Eucharistic Lord. Implore the spread of the Eucharistic Reign of Jesus. Pray for the conversion of sinners, especially of the ones who most interest your charity; pray for all who have asked for your prayers. Finally, pray that Jesus may be known, loved, and served by all mankind.
Saint Peter Julian then ends with some concrete advice on how to conclude our time of thanksgiving:
Before leaving Him, given an offering of love to your Saviour, some sacrifice that you will make for Him during the day.
At the last, say some prayers for the intentions of the Pope in order to gain the indulgences of the day, which may demand Communion as a condition. Willingly apply these to the souls in Purgatory, especially to those most dear to the Heart of Jesus.
During the day, be like an urn that has held a precious perfume, like a Saint who has spent one hour in Heaven; and do not forget to visit your King [in the Blessed Sacrament].
Meditating upon these beautiful texts, one is easily convinced of the immense depths of St. Peter Julian's love for Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is not for no reason that he is known as The Apostle of the Holy Eucharist.
Reading the above advice, we see that the focus of the Saint is on maintaining an intimacy with Christ after receiving Him in Communion. This intimacy is fostered through an interior conversation with Our Lord, a conversation that is fortified and sustained through the use of the imagination: for example, placing oneself in one's mind at the feet of Jesus and contemplating His Holy Presence in love. Or enthroning Him in one's heart and listening to Him with tenderness as to the Spouse of one's soul. Thus the goal of Communion is, as the name suggests, to maintain union with Christ in one's soul — not just at the moment of receiving Communion but throughout the entire day. It is what some of the Saints have called "living from one Holy Communion to the next." There is no quicker and better way of becoming a Saint!
When our mind wonders from this celestial contemplation (as it surely will do unless sustained by God, since we are fallen and distracted human creatures), then we should focus on one of the four ends of the Mass and of Holy Communion: either adoring Our Lord, giving thanks to Him, making reparation and amends for our sins and the sins of others, or praying for our needs and the needs of others (e.g. for the conversion of sinners who have turned from God). The amount of subject material that we can meditate on and contemplate pertaining to Holy Communion is indeed infinite, since Holy Communion contains the fullness of the Gift of God. Just as God cannot be fully and exhaustively comprehended and grasped by our limited human intellect, so too the subject of Holy Communion provides an infinite possibility of nourishing our spiritual reflection and interior life.
In many parishes, it is rather sad to witness how the majority of parishioners leave Mass immediately after the final blessing of the Priest (some, alas, even "eat and run," and are out the door as soon as they have received the Sacred Host!). Not spending time to make a proper act of thanksgiving to God after receiving His greatest Gift in this world pains the Sacred Heart of Jesus. If Our Lord expressed sorrow in the Gospel over the nine healed leapers who were negligent in returning to Him after their healing and giving thanks, how much more grieved is not the Heart of Jesus over the vast majority of Catholics who receive the greatest Gift from the hands of His Priest and then immediately leave without taking the time to make a good prayer of thanksgiving.
What is more important, after receiving Holy Communion, than spending quiet time in one's soul conversing with, adoring, and thanking Our Beloved Lord. Could you not wait with Me and keep watch for even one hour? are not just words that apply to Eucharistic Adoration outside of Mass; they also apply very aptly to our thanksgiving after Holy Communion.
So let us never take the gifts of God for granted but always carry within our heart and our soul a profound gratitude for them — especially His greatest gift to us: the gift of His very self! In doing this, we will experience the same joy that filled the hearts of the Saints, who knew how good it is to live "from one Holy Communion to the next."