Prepare to receive Communion with St. Therese’s childlike prayer

St. Therese often speaks in her autobiography of her joy at receiving the Body of Christ in Communion.

In recounting the many times she was able to receive the Eucharist while the flu was raging through the community, St. Therese tells of the little prayer she used to prepare herself.

When I am preparing for Holy Communion, I picture my soul as a piece of land and I beg the Blessed Virgin to remove from it any rubbish that would prevent it from being free; then I ask her to set up a huge tent worthy of heaven, adorning it with her own jewelry; finally, I invite all the angels and saints to come and conduct a magnificent concert there. It seems to me that when Jesus descends into my heart He is content to find Himself so well received and I, too, am content.

Yet, Therese is also very simple in recognizing the lack of emotional fervor that she feels in receiving Communion:

All this, however, does not prevent both distractions and sleepiness from visiting me, but at the end of the thanksgiving when I see that I’ve made it so badly I make a resolution to be thankful all through the rest of the day.

You see, dear Mother, that I am far from being on the way of fear; I always find a way to be happy and to profit from my miseries; no doubt this does not displease Jesus since He seems to encourage me on this road.

And earlier, she noted:

I can’t say that I frequently received consolations when making my thanksgivings after Mass; perhaps it is the time when I receive the least. However, I find this very understandable since I have offered myself to Jesus not as one desirous of her own consolation in His visit but simply to please Him who is giving Himself to me.

Read more:
How I began to believe that the Eucharist really is Jesus