Prayers Before Holy Communion(Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas): Almighty and ever living God, I approach the sacrament of your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I receive the Bread of Angels, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will help to bring me to salvation.
May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood and its reality and power. Kind God, may I receive the Body of your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into his mystical body and numbered among his members. Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive your beloved Son under the veil of a sacrament, may I one day see him face-to-face in glory, who lives and reigns with you for ever. Amen.
Prayer of Thomas More: Give me, good Lord, a full faith and a fervent charity, a love of you, good Lord, incomparable above the love of myself; and that I love nothing to your displeasure but everything in an order to you. Take from me, good Lord, this lukewarm fashion, or rather cold manner of meditation and this dullness in praying for you. And give me warmth, delight, and life thinking about you. And give me your grace to long for your holy sacraments and especially to rejoice in the presence of your blessed Body, sweet Savior Christ, in the holy sacrament of the altar, and duly to thank you for your gracious coming.
Prayer of St. Ambrose: Lord Jesus Christ, I approach your banquet table in fear and trembling, for I am a sinner, and I dare not rely on my own worth, but only on your goodness and mercy. I am defiled by many sins in body and soul and by my unguarded thoughts and words. Gracious God of majesty and awe, I seek your protection; I look for your healing. Poor troubled sinner that I am, I appeal to you, the fountain of all mercy. I cannot bear your judgment, but I trust in your salvation. Lord, I show my wounds to you and uncover my shame before you.
I know my sins are many and great, and they fill me with fear, but I hope in your mercies, for they cannot be numbered. Lord Jesus Christ, eternal King, God and man, crucified for mankind, look upon me with mercy and hear my prayer, for I trust in you. Have mercy on me, full of sorrow and sin, for the depth of your compassion never ends. Praise to you, saving sacrifice, offered on the wood of the cross for me and for all mankind. Praise to the noble and precious blood flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and washing away the sins of the whole world. Remember, Lord, your creature, whom you have redeemed with your blood.
I repent of my sins, and I long to put right what I have done. Merciful Father, take away all my offenses and sins; purify me in body and soul, and make me worthy to taste the Holy of Holies. May your Body and Blood, which I intend to receive, although I am unworthy, be for me the remission of my sins, the washing away of my guilt, the end of my evil thoughts, and the rebirth of my better instincts. May it incite me to do the works pleasing to you and profitable to my health in body and soul, and be a firm defense against the wiles of my enemies. Amen.
Sancti, venite: Draw nigh and take the Body of the Lord, and drink the holy Blood for you outpoured. Saved by that Body and that holy Blood, with souls refreshed, we render thanks to God. Mankind is ransomed from eternal loss of flesh and blood offered upon the cross. Salvation’s giver, Christ, the only Son, by his dear cross and blood the victory won. Offered was he for greatest and for least, himself the victim, and himself the priest. The victims are offered by the law of old, which in a type this heavenly mystery told. He, ransomer from death and to the light from shade, now gives his holy grace, his saints to aid. Approach, ye then with faithful hearts sincere, and take the safeguard of salvation here. He, that his saints in this world rules and shields, to all believers life eternal yields; With heavenly bread makes them that hunger whole, gives living waters to the thirsting soul. Amen. (Bangor Antiphonary)
