Chapter XXXVI: Behavior at and After Communion

GO to the altar neatly and modestly dressed out of respect to the Lord you are to receive; as the Scripture says, “Let your modesty be known unto all men” (Phil. iv. 5). Show piety and modesty in the way you approach and go away from the altar.

And take care to spend some time in devout prayers and thanksgiving after Communion. This is the very best time of all to pray, because Jesus is with you, on purpose to hear you. He is always present, it is true; for He is God, who is everywhere, but He gives us a peculiar claim to be heard and to get our requests when He comes to see us.

When a great person goes to see one in humble circumstances, he does not go with empty hands; so our Lord has abundance of graces to bestow on us when we ask for them after Communion.

The late Queen of Belgium, Maria Amelia, was a pious Christian; she thought more of following Jesus Christ’s example than of all her royal splendor. So she used to slip out of her palace, dressed like a poor woman, with a large basket on her arm filled with warm clothing for the poor, with medicines and delicate food for the sick.

She would slip down into the cellars and under-ground rooms, where the poor people live, to comfort them and give them what they needed. And she smiled on them with so much affection, and spoke such kind words to them, that she made them forget all their poverty for a little while, in the sunshine of her presence.

This is what our Lord Jesus Christ does for us. He forgets who He is and comes into our hearts, poor and dark as they are, with nothing but sympathy, and kindness for us. The fact is, what the Queen of Belgium used to do was only a little spark which had kindled her heart out of that fire that burns all the time in the heart of Jesus Christ.

Spend then some time, at least fifteen minutes if you can, or half an hour, in talking with your Saviour and begging for all you need for body or soul, but especially for the soul, which is your great concern after all.

Sometimes we see people going to the altar to receive, and going out of church immediately after, without even waiting a short five minutes. I cannot help thinking in such cases of what happened once to our Saviour.

Ten men who had the leprosy came to Him and asked Him to heal them. He told them to go and show themselves to the priest, and as they started off to go they were all healed. But nine of them kept on, and only one turned back to give thanks to the Lord for His great kindness. “Oh!” said the Saviour, “ten were healed, but where are the nine? Only one has turned back to give thanks” (St. Luke xvii. 13, 14).

And after the thanksgiving is over, and you have gone home, from time to time during that day remember and cast a grateful look upon the Saviour for His goodness. St. Aloysius used to do this for a whole week after receiving. Oh, what benefits you will receive from such Communions!

Go, then, and receive regularly, and as often as your circumstances will permit.