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Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Ave! Panis Angelorum

Hail, for evermore! Thou most holy Flesh of Christ!
Unto me, before all things and above all things, the highest sweetness.
The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ be unto me, a sinner, the Way and the Life;
in the name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Hail, for evermore! Thou heavenly Drink!
Unto me before all things and above all things the highest sweetness.
The Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be profitable unto me, a sinner,
and an eternal remedy unto everlasting life;
in the name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

These are my Communion devotions, said before receving the Blessed Sacrament. They are from the priest's prayers before Communion in the Sarum Missal, but I find them extremely helpful, as the language instills a sense of reverence and awe. Most Sundays see me trying to keep the servers and clergy in tow, as well as singing, and so it is good to have a few moments to be able to focus before receiving. I have used these prayers for about a year now, and have been nourished by them. I thought that I would share them here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

English Hymnal #321! Beautiful, Michael.

LM

Unknown said...

Michael, it's a lovely prayer, I wish the churches would bring back such lovely prayers as they are so rich!

Jo said...

My pre-communion devotions at the Episcopal church consist of the "O Lord I believe and confess...."

At least for me, this prayer sums it up quite nicely.

Joe Zollars

Scott said...

I tend to use this as a repeated prayer as I go to receive: "Be present, Lord Jesus, our great High Priest, as you were present with your disciples, and be known to us in the breaking of the bread."