Corpus Dómini nostri Jesu Christi custódiat ánimam tuam in vitam aetérnam. Amen. [The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul unto life everlasting. Amen.] (The Priest’s Blessing to each Communicant)

The first time I received Holy Communion in a Latin Mass, I responded “Amen” to Father’s Latin blessing. I assumed he was saying the same thing (although it seemed much longer) as what was said in the Novus Ordo Mass: “The Body of Christ.” As has been taught in Religion classes for many years, the “Amen” was your agreement and belief that this was indeed the Body of Christ. It was only after my pre-Vatican II St. Andrew Daily Missal’s arrival that I realized this was incorrect. In fact, Father was saying something different and even more wonderful.

Losing the Second Confession

The blessing traditionally given during the distribution of Holy Communion at the Latin Mass goes back centuries. It was changed in 1964 to “simplify the rite” and allow for “dialogue between the priest and communicant.” (Commentators at that time also noted that the earlier blessing made the distribution of Holy Communion more difficult and time-consuming.)

Yet what was lost with the change was the complete story of salvation and its virtues which is delivered and relived in the Mass, and reaches its apex with Holy Communion. For just prior to that, we pray the Confiteor along with the altar servers—not just at the beginning of the Mass before the Kyrie, but also a second time immediately before the Agnus Dei. Then Father blesses us as he says (in Latin): “May almighty God have mercy on you, and having forgiven your sins, lead you to eternal life.” And we reply: “Amen.”

The reverential praying of this second Confiteor serves to absolve our venial sins before receiving Holy Communion. As explained by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski,

Holy Mother Church offers all the faithful one final opportunity to bow low before the altar, express contrition for sins, call upon saints and angels as intercessors, and receive a minor absolution before approaching the Sanctissimum, the Most Holy One, before whom even the Cherubim and Seraphim veil their faces. Thus we see that this Confiteor is both theologically appropriate and spiritually profitable.

Communion and Communication of Grace

The statement made by the priest during the distribution of Holy Communion is the completion of this process. The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul unto life everlasting. Amen. Holy Communion is not just spiritual food for us here and now. It serves to preserve our soul in its perfect state after the absolution of venial sins (for one would not be able to receive Holy Communion if he or she was in a state of mortal sin—that would require a separate Confession). It also expresses the hope that, with this Divine food, we will continue to preserve our souls for eternity with Jesus Christ.

What is stated in the Novus Ordo is truth—this is the Body of Christ. But rather than truly involving the congregation in the celebration of the Mass, it infantilizes the reception of Holy Communion. In my 1953 Missal, the purposes and preparations for receiving this Sacrament are clearly laid out:

[We ask] God (at the Lord’s Prayer) and [receive] from Him, by the merits and intercession of our Lord and His saints, the graces which they themselves received when they were living on earth. This is the fruit of the Communion and Postcommunion. … Moreover, before Holy Communion, we should not only say the Confiteor with the server, but the “Domine non sum dignus” (Lord, I am not worthy) which the priest says at that moment on our behalf, may also be said three times with him. … It develops in the soul those sentiments of contrition (from the Introit to the Collect), of faith (from the Collect to the Creed), of hope (at the Canon of the Mass), of love (at the Communion), and of gratitude (from the ablutions to the end), which are indispensable if the Eucharist is to be received with fruit. [As stated by St. Pius X] “a most abundant attainment of the effects of Holy Communion is by a careful preparation and a thanksgiving proper to the reception of the divine sacrament.” (St. Andrew Daily Missal [1953], pp. xi-xii)

Conclusion

The preparation for receiving Holy Communion in the Latin Mass emphasizes the divinity present and reverence necessary for honoring the miracle before us and gaining the fruits of its reception. We are called to delve more deeply into our faith life with Jesus and to challenge ourselves to revere Him even more. We seek to understand the Sacrament of the Eucharist as more than just a quick dialogue and hand-off between the priest and the communicant, but rather as a long process, from before Mass through the end and afterward, to realize its powerful effects and receive its supernatural fruits.