Tractatus Prior, Pars Prior, Cap. 22. De cena Dominica, in qua post agnum
Tractatus Prior, Pars Prior, Cap. 22. De cena Dominica, in qua post agnum
Christ Jesus instituted the sacrament of his Body and Blood. I bless you and give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, bread of life and fountain of saving water, for your most sacred feast of the Last Supper with your disciples, which you longed to celebrate for a long time with great desire, when you, Lord, King of heaven and earth, dined with those poor disciples and the wicked Judas present at the same table and from the same single dish, and during the meal you sweetly spoke the words of sacred exhortation, and you sought to gently admonish Judas to turn away from his wickedness. I praise and glorify you for the immense generosity of your most excellent love, which you instituted for the first time after the eating of the paschal lamb, to fulfill the old law, giving the precious Sacrament of your Body and Blood in memory of your Passion and of your everlasting love, handing over this same Sacrament with your blessed hands to your devoted disciples for them to eat, and showing them and their successors the form for consecrating it, granting full authority to celebrate the Mass until the end of the age. I praise and glorify you for the immense generosity of your most excellent love, which you instituted for the first time after the eating of the paschal lamb, to fulfill the old law, giving the precious Sacrament of your Body and Blood in memory of your Passion and of your everlasting love, handing over this same Sacrament with your blessed hands to your devoted disciples for them to eat, and showing them and their successors the form for consecrating it, granting full authority to celebrate the Mass until the end of the age. Grant that I may receive this most holy Sacrament of Communion worthily, sweetest Jesus, with a contrite heart for my sins, a pure conscience in confession, a heart lifted up in prayer, a strong faith, great hope, an ardent affection, a tearful devotion, reverence with love, joyful praise with trembling, and a deep inclination arising from true humility of heart to please your divine majesty.
Read the original Latin
typicum Christus lesus instituit corporis et sanguinis sui sacramentum.
Benedico et gratias ago tibi, Domine lesu Christe, panis vitae et fons aquae salutaris, pro tuo sacratissimo convivio ultimae cenae cum tuis, quod diu magno cum desiderio celebrare desiderasti, quando tu, Domine, rex caeli et terrae, cum pauperculis illis discipulis et impio luda praesente in eadem mensa et ex eodem uno catino cenasti et inter prandendum sacrae exhortationis verba dulciter protulisti ipsumque ludam de sua malitia benigna admonitione revocare studuisti.
Laudo et glorifico te pro immensa largitate excellentissimae caritatis tuae, quod post esum agni paschalis ad terminandam s legem veterem pretiosissimi corporis et sanguinis tui sacramentum in memoriam passionis tuae et perpetuae dilectionis tunc primum instituisti tradens hoc idem sacramentum tuis benedictis manibusio singularis devotionis affectu omnibus discipulis ad manducandum simulque ipsis et eorum sequacibus presbyteris ab eis ordinandis formam ostendens consecrandi ac deinceps usque in finem saeculi auctoritatem plenam tribuens missam celebrandi. singularis et admiranda exhibitio caritatis I O superabundans liberalitas divinae largitatis, ubi donator venit x donum, et datum penitus idem est cum datorel O digna et numquam praetermittenda memoria, in qua anima fidelis recolit mortem suam mortuam et vitam in suo dilecto, quem accipit, invenisseas perpetuam O stupor super stuporem et suavitas super omnem suavitatem habere Deum veraciter praesentem, mirabili sub sacramento latentem, quem angeli sancti adorant supra se elevatum in caelo, clara specie omnibus apparentem.
Ad huius sanctissimi sacramenti communionem digne percipiendam tribue, suavissime lesu, cor contritum pro peccatis, conscientiam puram in confessione, smentem elevatam in oratione, fidem fortem, spem magnam, affectum ardentem, devotionem lacrimantem, reverentiam cum amore, laetitiam iubilantem cum tremore et intima gratiarum actione, prolofundam inclinationem ex vera cordis humiliatione procedentem ad divinae maiestatis tuae celsitudinem complacandam.
Prayers and Meditations on the Life of Christ companion
à Kempis wrote 86 of these — you've prayed 8
The full cycle, from the creation of man to Pentecost, runs as free daily devotionals in Chosen Portion.
à Kempis structured the work as day-by-day thanksgiving over the whole life of Christ, and Chosen Portion runs that original cycle as a modern daily devotional from creation to Pentecost.
- All 86 meditations in modern readable English, one per day — about three months of guided prayer
- Resurrection-appearance meditations (21 chapters) continue your Eastertide after the guide ends
- Daily reminder plus progress tracking, so the practice survives past Holy Week