Sabbath moments are a way of taking time to rest in God, to enjoy God in silence or in nature. The word sabbath comes from a Hebrew word meaning “cease.” And that is what we need to do sometimes, cease our activity and live in the moment and breathe in God.
I am learning to live in the Light, remain in the Light and stay connected to the Light within me. My tendency is to switch back to living in misery, burdened with interior pain because this is what I am accustomed to. Ridiculous? Insane?Absolutely, but now a mere glance to the Light and bang- I switch again from misery to joy. To nurture His Risen Life in me, the life of the Messiah, I am discovering that spiritual communion is powerful. If I simply whisper a desire for the Eucharist, He is present like a fire burning in my heart, burning even my skin. I could dance for joy, like a child of God in the sunshine.
St. Thomas Aquinas defined Spiritual Communion as
“an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament and a loving embrace as though we had already received Him.”
- The basis of this practice was explained by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia:“unlike any other sacrament, the mystery [of communion] is so perfect that it brings us to the heights of every good thing: Here is the ultimate goal of every human desire, because here we attain God and God joins himself to us in the most perfect union.“
- Precisely for this reason it is good to cultivate in our hearts a constant desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist. This was the origin of the practice of “spiritual communion,” which has happily been established in the Church for centuries and recommended by saints who were masters of the spiritual life. St.Teresa of Jesus wrote: “When you do not receive communion and you do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion, which is a most beneficial practice; by it the love of God will be greatly impressed on you” [The Way of Perfection, Ch. 35.].1 .
joy of nine9 
This is beautiful. Thank you!
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my pleasure to connect with your wonderful site again
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Such a beautiful essay. I rarely have time to read other people’s blogs these days so I am happy when I make sure I read one of your posts which are always so edifying for the soul.
I love your header image. Where was this taken?
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it is stained glass by Tiffiany, the seven angels of the seven churches in the New Testament
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Wow! Such beautiful windows! I just read the story of those windows. Incredible!
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aren’t they!!!
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boy, I was lax, i better post the info on this header, thanks for the nudge
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Yeah, probably a good idea. I imagine you will get more inquisitive responses until you do. Thanks for sharing them though! Now I will be on the look out for when the exhibit comes to my area. FYI – I live about 90 minutes away from where they were discovered. Now they’re in Texas!
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really!!
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i have tons more stained-glass to post on my page- take a peek in 5 minutes!
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Not much is taught about Spiritual Communion these days.
God bless.
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Thank you for helping me see some light
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