Prayer after communion when feeling depressed

Ask God to warm your heart with the heat of his Divine Love.

There will be times in our lives when we attend Mass, receive Holy Communion and still feel the effects of depression. During those moments our hearts are closed off to God’s love and it is difficult for us to let him into our lives.

When we are in such a state, we need to cry out to God and give him a little entry into our heart so that he can set it ablaze with his Divine Love.

Here is a prayer from Mother Mary Loyola in her book, Welcome! Holy Communion, that captures those feelings and is meant to be prayed after receiving Holy Communion, a time when Jesus is within us and knocking at the door of our hearts.

I have you here, I hold you within my narrow heart, O immense, illimitable God! I, poor and weak, possess you, the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible … Make it easy for me to speak to you. In joy or trouble or uncertainty let my first thought be to consult you.

My heart, dear Lord, is cold and selfish. So was the world when you entered it. But what a change your coming made! Not all at once, but steadily, a marvelous transformation came about. You cast fire upon it, your consuming love for God and man. And the flame spread and is spreading, and all who are yours are called to feed and extend it. But to warm other hearts our own must be aglow. Warm mine, O Lord, by contact with your own!