E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

134 THE TWO PRAYERS BEFORE THE COMMUNION.
Let not the receiving of Thy Body, O Lord Jesus
Christ, which I, unworthy, presume to receive,
be to me unto judgment and condemnation.
Judgment here means unfavourable judgment (compare
St. Paul i Cor.xi. 29), "For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself;"
also our English expression, that man will rise in
judgment against you. But through Thy goodness
may it be to me a safeguard and remedy both of
soul and body the Eucharist consecrates the whole
man, not merely the soul but the body also. Six
Sacraments sanctify the body indirectly through the
soul ;
the Eucharist directly and immediately sanctifies
the flesh of man, hence the Eucharist is the best remedy
against impurity and the best guardian of chastity.
Who with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy
Ghost, livest and reignest God for ever and ever.
Amen.
In the above prayer the priest first confesses his
own unworthiness and then he earnestly begs our Lord
to save him from the misfortune of a sacrilegious Com
munion and to grant him in abundance the graces of
a fervent Communion.