Some of the best prayers come from the clandestine crevices of vulnerability within our hearts, and these depths are often revealed when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist or pray before Him in Eucharistic Adoration. Jesus gingerly and tenderly breaks all callousness that has built up around our hearts to harden them. He gives us hearts of flesh, not of stone. He gives us His Heart in the most intimate act of union this side of Heaven.

Approaching Jesus before or after receiving Him into our hearts can sometimes reveal no words. Such profundity surpasses what the human mind can articulate. Even so, here are five prayers to Jesus in the Eucharist that might draw you nearer to Him in a spiritual embrace of hearts where you and He become one Body.

Jesus, consume me with Your love as I consume You.

I was actually inspired to silently pray this after receiving Jesus at Mass. It just came to me, and I frequently return to it for its simplicity and beauty. As you pray the words, imagine yourself consuming Jesus’ Body as He permeates your bloodstream and organs and ultimately your soul. Then imagine Him consuming you with the fire of His love. This holy nonverbal exchange often pierces the depths of my soul that I am not aware are in need of healing, yet tears of gratitude follow in that intimate moment.

“O my God, come to me, so that You may dwell in me and I dwell in You.” ~ St. John Vianney

This is a comparable version of the previous prayer. Indwelling and consumption somewhat go hand in hand in Eucharistic reception. We become what (or Who) we receive. First we consume the Lord in the Sacred Host. Then He dwells with us a while. If we sit in that transient moment of silence, we realize that He lingers in our hearts. There is haste toward union, yet once it is achieved, the Lover tarries with His beloved. Invite Jesus to rest in you as long as he desires, and you will cherish Him all the more.

“Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight, and not to heed the wounds; to labor, and not to seek to rest; to give of myself and not to ask for reward, except the reward of knowing that I am doing your will.” ~ St. Ignatius of Loyola

There is no greater generosity than the sacrifice Jesus made to become available to us in the Eucharist. I’ve thought, from time to time, about how God didn’t have to send His only Son to save me. By justice alone, I should eternally perish, even though it sounds incredibly harsh. Yet it’s the truth. Because of the stain of sin, we don’t deserve total union with God. It’s purely by way of His mercy that we are permitted to come so close to Him that we receive His true Body and Blood into our hearts.

This short but potent prayer by St. Ignatius of Loyola is an act of humility. When we receive Jesus without mortal sin on our souls, we approach Him with the knowledge of our nothingness and His greatness. In this prayer, we ask Him to fortify us for the tasks ahead in our day or week. We do not seek any reward for our labors, and we carry our crosses without complaint. We ask to become more like Jesus, that by way of this Communion, our hearts will be transformed into His own Sacred Heart. And all of this begins with gratitude for His incredible generosity.

Jesus, I thank You for giving me Your Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. In this Blessed Sacrament, I place my entire family into Your Sacred Heart, from my ancestors back to Adam and Eve to my progeny through the end of time and everyone in between. Heal and nourish us with the True Food from Heaven.

I was taught a similar prayer to this one a few years ago during a Marian conference I attended with a friend. The speaker mentioned in one of her talks about the power of entrusting our family members into the Sacred Host, and I’d never considered before what a gift that could be to those who are even deceased.

She described how, after Adam and Eve’s first sin and before Jesus’ died and rose from the dead, no human had access to Heaven. In fact, our ancestors who died before Jesus lived never had the privilege of receiving Him at all. What a timeless gift, then, to present His True Presence in an act of spiritual communion each time I receive Him!

I added the family tree through my own progeny until the end of time, because I considered every member who might never know Jesus or who might go their entire earthly existence without receiving Him – by choice or by birth. In this short and simple prayer, I am reminded of my lineage and how interconnected I am to those with whom I share a bloodline.

Despite the generational mistakes that may have occurred before my time, and in spite of the future mistakes my children and their children and so on may make, this prayer unites us all through the power of Jesus’s Body and Blood.

“Sweetest Jesus, Body and Blood most Holy, be the delight and pleasure of my soul, my strength and salvation in all temptations, my joy and peace in every trial, my light and guide in every word and deed, and my final protection in death. Amen.” ~ St. Thomas Aquinas

Receiving Jesus can be sweet, but it can also be bitter – literally. At times, Jesus asks us to participate in His consolations, but there are other times He wants us to partake of His Passion. The minutes following our reception of the Eucharist are powerful ones. In what seems like seconds, we can understand a deep truth, be healed of some long-standing mental, physical, or spiritual affliction, and wordlessly converse with the God of the universe.

This prayer elegantly illustrates the ways we ask for Jesus to sweetly reside in us. Before Communion, we prepare our hearts to become a dwelling place for Him, but afterward, we thank Him for choosing to rest in us. And St. Thomas Aquinas believed we could be so bold as to request a sharing of His sweetness by way of consolation. We believe Jesus will protect, strengthen, and illuminate us through His Sacred Host. He becomes for us Food for the journey.

What are your favorite prayers to Jesus in the Eucharist? Share in the comments!