Spiritual Communion

How might we go about making a spiritual Communion? St. Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868), the French “apostle of the Eucharist,” suggested the following format if one is unable to receive holy Communion sacramentally:

• Conceive a real desire to be united to Jesus Christ by acknowledging the need you have to love His life;
• Arouse yourself to perfect contrition for all your sins, past and present, by considering the infinite goodness and sanctity of God;
• Receive Jesus Christ in spirit in your inmost soul, entreating Him to give you the grace to live entirely for Him, since you can live only by him;
• Imitate Zacheus in his good resolutions and thank our Lord that you have been able to hear Holy Mass, and make a spiritual Communion;

Offer in thanksgiving a special act of homage, a sacrifice, an act of virtue, and beg the blessing of Jesus Christ upon yourself and all your relatives and friends.”