Christian Pure

Prayers Before and After Communion: Traditional and Short Prayers for Receiving

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Before Communion, Christians pray to come prepared, confessing sin and asking to receive worthily, as Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 11:27-28; after it, they give thanks and ask for grace to live it out.
  • Just before receiving, Catholics say “Lord, I am not worthy,” the centurion’s words in Matthew 8:8, and the Anima Christi is their best-known prayer after Communion.
  • Orthodox Christians say “I believe, O Lord, and I confess” before receiving and read a set of thanksgiving prayers afterwards; some also keep a longer rule of canons and an Akathist.
  • The Coptic Agpeya carries two prayers to say before Communion and two to say after.
  • In the 1928 Book of Common Prayer the priest says the Prayer of Humble Access before Communion in the name of all who will receive.
  • Churches differ on what is received: Catholics and Orthodox believe the bread and wine become Christ’s body and blood, Lutherans that he is truly present, Presbyterians that believers feed on him really but spiritually, and Southern Baptists that the Supper is a symbolic memorial.

Before Communion, pray to come prepared: tell God the wrong you have done and ask him to let you receive with faith and a clean heart. After Communion, thank him for what you have received and ask for grace to live it out. A few honest words are enough, and the churches also keep set prayers for both moments. Paul gives the reason for the first prayer: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord,…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • Scripture is quoted from the King James Version: Matthew 8:8; Mark 10:14; Luke 2:29-30; Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 10:17; 1 Corinthians 11:27-28. 1 Corinthians 11 (KJV), BibleGateway
  • A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. “Lord, I am not worthy,” p. 102; Anima Christi, p. 103; prayer before Holy Communion, pp. 311-312; prayer of Thomas Aquinas in the Thanksgiving after Communion, pp. 333-334. archive.org
  • Gunter, Paul, OSB. “The Priest’s Preparation and Thanksgiving for Mass.” ZENIT, 18 June 2010, in the EWTN Library. ewtn.com
  • Hapgood, Isabel Florence, trans. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1906. Post-communion prayers, pp. 123-124; Prayers in Preparation for the Holy Communion, prayer VI, p. 575. ponomar.net
  • St Nicholas Orthodox Church, McKinney, Texas. “Preparation for Holy Communion – 10 Things. Part 5. Pre-Communion prayers.” orthodox.net
  • Holy Trinity Monastery. The Rule for Holy Communion: Canons, Order of Preparation, and Prayers After Holy Communion. Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Publications. holytrinitypublications.com
  • St-Takla.org. Online Coptic Prayer Book: prayers before and after Communion from the Agpeya. st-takla.org
  • St-Takla.org. “Prayer Before Communion (Eucharist),” from the Agbeya. st-takla.org
  • St Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Seattle. “Agpeya Prayers.” stmaryseattle.org
  • The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A., 1928). The Order for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion: Prayer of Humble Access and Thanksgiving. justus.anglican.org
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Paragraphs 1360 and 1374: vatican.va; paragraph 1385: vatican.va
  • General Instruction of the Roman Missal, paragraph 157. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. vatican.va
  • Philaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan of Moscow. The Longer Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church (1830), question 339. pravoslavieto.com
  • The Augsburg Confession (1530), Article X, “Of the Lord’s Supper.” Book of Concord. bookofconcord.org
  • The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter 29, “Of the Lord’s Supper.” Orthodox Presbyterian Church. opc.org
  • The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689), chapter 30, “Of the Lord’s Supper,” paragraph 7. the1689confession.com
  • Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), article VII, “Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.” bfm.sbc.net
  • “Terrible.” Dictionary.com, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. dictionary.com

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