Gratias tibi ago

For the minutes after receiving Communion.

The companion to Aquinas’ preparation prayer, prayed after Communion. The minutes after receiving are, by long tradition, the most valuable of the whole Mass — and the ones most easily spent thinking about lunch.

The Prayer

I give You thanks, Lord, holy Father,
almighty and eternal God,
who have deigned, not through any merits of mine,
but out of the condescension of Your goodness,
to satisfy me a sinner, Your unworthy servant,
with the precious Body and Blood of Your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray that this Holy Communion
may not be for me an offence to be punished,
but a saving plea for forgiveness.

May it be for me the armour of faith
and the shield of good will.
May it be the emptying out of my vices
and the extinction of all lustful desires.

May it be an increase of charity and patience,
of humility and obedience,
and of all virtues;
a strong defence against the snares of all enemies,
visible and invisible;
the complete calming of my impulses, fleshly and spiritual;
a firm adherence to You, the one true God;
and the joyful completion of my life's course.

And I pray that You will lead me, a sinner,
to that banquet beyond all telling,
where You, with Your Son and the Holy Spirit,
are for Your saints true light, fulfilment of desires,
eternal joy, unalloyed gladness, and perfect happiness. Amen.

About This Prayer

The Church attaches a partial indulgence to a devout thanksgiving after Communion, and a plenary indulgence to the recitation of the Anima Christi together with this prayer under the usual conditions. Ten minutes of silence after Mass, before the car park, is the whole practice.