When you receive the Body and Blood of Christ, can you set aside all your concerns for a while and devote a sufficient amount of time to prayer, which is often called thanksgiving? The time after receiving is indeed the most suitable time to express the respect that we owe to our God and Savior. Those who do not go to Holy Communion leave. You can also go, there is no penalty for it. However, there is faith – faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist – and that must be protected more than anything else. You feel it and understand that at stake is the sense of dignity of man and God and that you should remain on your knees. That is good.
(Father Jerome /1907–1985/, monk of the Trappist monastery in Sept-Fons, excerpt from the text Living, Living)
