Spiritual communion

Modern authors talk about the so-called spiritual st. Communion: “To receive spiritually is to unite with Christ present in the Lutheran, but not by sacramental communion, but only by the desire that comes from a faith revived by love.”
The Council of Trent speaks of a threefold way of receiving: sacramental, spiritual, sacramental, and spiritual simultaneously (sacramentality tantum, spiritualiter tantum, sacramentaliter et spiritualiter). Medieval authors also speak of “spiritual food” (manducatio spiritualis), but they understand this expression very broadly: it is the body of Christ who is united by grace with the Redeemer. But because it is the Eucharist the primary source of grace, every multiplication of grace has some relation to st. reception. “He who believes in the spirit of the Church,” writes St. Thomas Aquinas, “according to the Church’s intention, he also longs for and accepts the Eucharist.” According to today’s way of speaking, it belongs to the spiritual  receiving desire in the first place. St. Francis Sales writes: “If you cannot be fortunate enough to receive Holy Mass, at least receive with your heart and spirit, unite with the life-giving body of the Savior, at least with desire.” It is the desire for the Eucharist. So we don’t call it today “Spiritual acceptance” means any desire for greater grace and connection with God. It is a desire revived by love. It, therefore, presupposes a state of grace, as we should approach to receive really. It is a desire conscious. Signs of this piety are already read in St. Augustine. He who desires perfection also desires that “bread from heaven.” Moses and Aaron ate the manna, the symbol of the Eucharist. “Because they understood the visible bread spiritually, they spiritually cheeped him, tasted it spiritually, and became satiated spiritually.” We read that who is this bread will not die (cf. John 6: 51). According to St. Augustine, above all eat spiritual, in the heart, not with teeth.” He distinguishes between the sacrament, as the act is visible, and its power (virtus sacramenti). These two things can be separated. Medieval authors often speak in this spirit. Someone may get the effect of the sacrament (res sacramenti), although on the outside he did not receive the sacrament. “In the Church there is a double reception of the body of Christ,” writes Alger of Liège, “one is bodily, the other spiritual, one by mouth, the other by heart ».Because they found support in the Council of Trent, these well-known authors promote the clergy of St. reception: st. Teresa, st. Francis Sales, Ludovic De Ponte, Rodriguez, st. Alfons from Liquor and among modern e.g., W. Faber. Theologically, this devotion is based on two basic one’s truths. We believe that the primary source of supernatural life is in the Eucharist. Only he who is this body will live (John 6,51). However, we also believe in the effectiveness of our inner desire for perfection. This desire can be replaced by the external sacramental.