Devotions For Communion
by Bishop Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626)
LORD, I am not worthy nor deserving that thou shouldst come under
the sordid roof of the habitation of my soul:— Matt. viii. 8
For it is all desolate and ruinous; neither in me hast thou a fit
place, wherein to lay thy head.— Luke ix. 58
But as thou didst vouchsafe to be laid in the stall and manger of
brute beasts;— Luke ii. 7
As thou didst not disdain to be received into the house of
Simon the leper;— Matt. xxvi. 6
As thou didst not reject the adulteress, a sinner like unto me,
when she approached and touched thee, nor abhor her impure and
profane lips;— Luke vii. 37, 38
Neither the thief on the cross, when he confessed thee;— Luke xxiii. 43
EVEN so vouchsafe to admit me also, a bruised, a wretched, and exceeding sinful creature, to a communion and participation in the spotless, holy, quickening, and saving sacrament of thy most blessed body and precious blood.—Liturgy of St. Chrysostom.
Look down, O Lord our God, from thy holy habitation, and from the throne of glory in thy kingdom, and come and bless us.—Deut 26:15.
O thou who sittest on high with the Father, and here, unseen, art present with us, come down, and sanctify these gifts presented to thee, and those for whom, and those by whom, and the purposes whereunto they are offered.—Liturgies of St. Chrysost. and St. Basil.
And grant us to partake of them
In faith that maketh not ashamed;— Rom. v. 5
In love, without dissimulation:— Rom. xii. 9
To the fulfilment of thy commandments;— John xiv. 15
TO the exercise of all the fruits of the Spirit;— Gal. v. 22
To our deliverance from every evil;— Luke xi. 4
To the preservation of soul and body:— 1 Thess. v. 23
For a symbol of our fellowship;— Acts ii. 42
For a remembrance of thy dispensation;— Eph. iii. 2
For the shewing of thy death;— 1 Cor. xi. 26
For the communion of thy body and blood;— 1 Cor. x. 16
For the participation of thy Spirit;— 1 Cor. xii. 13
For the remission of our sins;— Matt. xxvi. 28
For the avoiding of enemies;— 2 Tim. iii. 5
For the quieting of our consciences;— Matt. xi. 29
For the blotting out of our transgressions;— Acts iii. 19
For the purging of our spots;— Heb. ix. 14
For the healing of our souls' infirmities;— 1 Pet. ii. 24
For the renewal of our covenant;— Psalm i. 5
For the meat of spiritual life;— John vi. 27
For increase of strengthening grace;— Heb. xiii. 9
And of consolation;— Luke ii. 25
For sorrow unto repentance;—2 Cor. vii. 9
For the enlightening of our understanding;— Luke xxiv. 31
For the clothing of humility;— 1 Pet. v. 5
For a seal of our faith;— 2 Cor. i. 22
For the fulness of wisdom;— Rom. xi. 33
For the bond of love;— John xiii. 35
For a due accompt of our oblations;— 1 Cor. xvi. 1
For the armour of sufferance;— 1 Pet. iv. 1
For the awakening of gratitude;— Ps. cxvi. 12
For confidence in prayer;— Verse 13
For mutual in-dwelling;— John vi. 56
For a pledge of our resurrection;— Verse 54
For a fit excuse at the judgment;— Luke xiv. 18
For a testament of our inheritance;— Luke xxii. 20
For a type of our perfection:— John xvii. 23
That we, with all thy saints, who from the beginning have pleased thee, may be made partakers of thy incorruptible and eternal benefits, which thou hast prepared, O Lord, for them that love thee, (1 Cor. ii. 9) in whom thou art glorified for ever.— 2 Thess. i. 10
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world,— John i. 29 Take away mine also, for I am a grievous sinner. — 1 Tim. i. 15
WE, therefore, O Lord, in the presence of thy sacrament, being mindful
Of the saving passions of thy Christ,
Of his life-bestowing cross,
Of his most precious death,
Of his three days' burial,
Of his resurrection from the dead,
Of his ascension into heaven,
Of his seat at the right hand of thee, his Father,
Of his second advent in glory and in terror,
beseech thee, O Lord, that we, taking part in thy sacraments with the pure testimony of our conscience, (2 Cor 1:12) may be incorporated in the blessed body and blood of thy Christ: And that, worthily receiving them, we may have Christ dwelling in our hearts, (Eph 3:17) and become a temple of thy Holy Ghost:—1 Cor 6:19.
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