By Ariel Ageman
Thomas reflects deeply In this chapter on the Eucharist about what it means to have true devotion in receiving Holy Communion. Two pictures came to my mind upon reading this selection: First, the elderly woman at Mass who struggles to her feet, dragging her gnarled, arthritic body to the aisle to receive The Host. Second, when I see the pure, chaste First Communicant, eager to receive Our Lord for the first time in innocence and awe, it inspires me. These two disciples awaken in me a sense for the devotion needed to recognize the Holiness before me, and the privilege I am about to receive. In the second paragraph, Thomas composes a prayer for us to aid us in the increase of this desire to receive devoutly. Thomas ends with a confession that he’s not as fervent as he’d like to be, but knows that Christ may grant that desire in His good time, putting in us the want and the innocence to receive, however unworthily.
Thanks for praying along with me. Until next time, be Imitators of Christ!
Book 4, CHAPTER XIV: Of the Fervent Desire of Some Devout Persons toward Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ
Disciple:
Ah, how great is the abundance of Thy sweetness, O Lord, which You have laid up for those in awe of You!
When I call to mind some devout persons who draw near to Your Sacrament, O Lord, with the deepest devotion and affection, I am often confounded in myself and blush for shame. That I even dare approach Your altar and table of Holy Communion so carelessly and coldly brings me shame. That I remain so dry and without affection brings me guilt. That I am not wholly kindled with love before You, my God, nor so vehemently drawn and affected as many devout disciples have been, brings me disappointment. The models for me are those disciples who out of their very earnest desire for Communion, and with tender affection of heart, could not refrain from weeping or who panted inwardly after You (Ps 42:1), as it were, with mouth of heart and body alike, O God. O Fountain of Life! The devout recognized that they have no power to appease or satisfy their hunger, except by receiving Your Body with all joyfulness and spiritual eagerness.
2. Oh, the truly ardent faith of these people, becoming a very proof of Your Sacred Presence! For they truly know their Lord in the breaking of the Bread, 
whose heart so strongly burns within them (Lk 24:32) when Jesus walked with them by the way. Ah me! far from me for the most part is such love and devotion as this, such vehement love and ardor. Be merciful to me, O Jesus, good, sweet, and kind, and grant unto Your poor disciple to feel sometimes, in Holy Communion, though it be but a little, the cordial affection of Your love, that my faith may grow stronger, my hope in Your goodness increase, and my charity, once kindled within me by the tasting of the heavenly manna, may never fail.
3. Powerful, indeed, is Your mercy: to grant me the grace which I long for, and to visit upon me most tenderly on the day of Your good pleasure, the spirit of fervor. For, although I do not burn with desire as readily as those who are specially devoted towards You, yet, by Your grace, may I have a desire for this inflamed desire, praying and wishing that I be made partaker with all such fervent lovers of You, and be numbered among their holy company.