#49 Concluding the Communion Rite. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

While receiving Holy Communion during Mass, the Assembly of the Faithful process to the altar of the Church singing a Communion Song. The General Instruction for the Roman Missal states:

 

"While the Priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion Chant is begun, its purpose being to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the ‘communitarian’ character of the procession to receive the Eucharist. The singing is prolonged for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful." (GIRM #86; emphasis added)

 

Here it is clear that all should sing the Communion Song(s) until all have received Communion. This has normally been ignored by many Catholics who in general refuse to sing at Mass and thereby do not participate as fully in the Mass as required.

 

The implication of this instruction about singing until the distribution of Communion is finished is that one does not observe silent prayer while the Communion Song is sung (one cannot be silent and singing at the same time! However, one can pray and sing at the same time). There was, however,  the custom from earlier times (prior to Vatican II) where after receiving Holy Communion one returned to one's seat and knelt in silent prayer. One can be singing and still meditate upon the great act of Communion occurring at the time. In summary, The General Instruction of the Roman Missal envisions persons singing during Communion and then, after all have received Communion, there may [or perhaps there should] be a time for silent prayer:

 

"When the distribution of Communion is over, if appropriate, the Priest and faithful pray quietly for some time. If desired, a Psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn may also be sung by the whole congregation." (GIRM #88)

 

Occasionally a Song of Praise is sung after Communion and it generally follows a period of silence (otherwise, how would one distinguish it from a Communion Song except the distribution of Communion has ended?). The Instruction does not say what the posture should be during this Song of Praise. I would suggest it be done standing.

 

Finally, the Instruction says:

 

"To bring to completion the prayer of the People of God, and also to conclude the whole Communion Rite, the Priest pronounces the Prayer after Communion, in which he prays for the fruits of the mystery just celebrated." (GIRM #89)

 

This prayer is properly titled "Prayer After Communion." It is not "the Final Prayer" in the sense that it is not part of "the Concluding Rites." Also, as we shall see, the Concluding Rites permit announcements as an option. A mistake is made by the Presiding Priest if after Communion has been distributed he has the announcements read or as one sometimes sees a Second Collection is taken up and then the Prayer after Communion is done. No. After the distribution of Communion and any time of silence and/or Song of Praise, then Prayer after Communion is said, and announcements or a Second Collection, etc. is next conducted.

 

 

"The Communion Rite ends with the Prayer after Communion which asks that the benefits of the Eucharist will remain active in our daily lives." (USCCB) Here are some examples from the Roman Missal of Prayer after Communion:

 

"Pour out on us, O Lord, the Spirit of your love,

and in your kindness make those you have nourished

by this paschal Sacrament

one in mind and heart.

Through Christ our Lord."

"Humbly we ask you, almighty God,

be graciously pleased to grant

that those you renew with your Sacraments

may also serve with lives pleasing to you.

Through Christ our Lord."

"Pour on us, O Lord, the Spirit of your love,

and in your kindness

make those you have nourished

by this one heavenly Bread

one in mind and heart.

Through Christ our Lord."

 

Next Week: Concluding Rite of the Mass

 

Return to Home Page

#48 The Communion Rite Part 8: Communion in the Kingdom of God on Earth and in Heaven. Undertanding the Mass and Its Parts

 

 

"Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" (Luke 14:15)

 

Scripture scholar Fr. Eugene Laverdiere wrote a very fine book titled Dining in the Kingdom of God. He writes about the meals that Jesus had with his disciples recorded in the Gospel of Luke with, of course, the supreme example of meal-sharing being the Last Supper.

 

So many of these meals had a significance that we don’t readily appreciate today. To share a meal with someone in the culture of Jesus was often to be bonded to them. Meals often had a religious significance. Jesus, a recognized man of God, shared meals not only with his disciples but especially with the poor and lowly, including sinners. He the Son of God was saying by this that God’s table and family were now open to the poor and marginalized. (See, for example, Luke 14:15-24 HERE)

 

This was something revolutionary! It also signified the coming of the Kingdom of God, which everyone understood in Jesus’s day would involve a great feast and was symbolized as a meal:

 

"On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,

of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.

And he will destroy on this mountain

the shroud that is cast over all peoples,

the sheet that is spread over all nations;

he will swallow up death forever." (Isaiah 25:6-8)

 

 

 

We see that this great feast described by the Prophet Isaiah occurs when God destroys death forever. It was recognized that when the Messiah came, there would be a great feast forever. We see that this feast is described in the Book of Revelation as "the Wedding Feast of the Lamb":

 

"Then I [John] heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude,

like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunder-peals, crying out,

"‘Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready;

to her it has been granted to be clothed

with fine linen, bright and pure’—

 

"for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

"And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited

to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me,

‘These are true words of God.’" (Revelation 10:6-9)

The Lamb is of course the Risen Christ, the Lamb of God. His Bride is the Church. There will be everlasting joy and celebration when Christ comes again and "the Lord our God the Almighty reigns." Then it will be said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 11:15)

 

The Eucharist, then, could be called  a sacrament of "dining in the Kingdom of God"; it is a communion in the Kingdom of God on earth and in Heaven; it is a participation in the now and future Kingdom of God.

 

As we pray in the Lord’s prayer: "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." The Kingdom of God is the Rule of God’s love. In heaven, in the Communion of Saints, this Rule of love reigns supreme; we pray and hope for this Kingdom to be done on earth as it is in heaven. It is our hope and our task for this world.

 

The Eucharist, then, "anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem." (Catechism#1329) "The coming Kingdom [is] anticipated in the Eucharist" (Catechism #2861) and the "Kingdom of God has been coming since the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in our midst." (Catechism #2816).

 

 

The Feast of Heaven is already begun in heaven. "Those who even now celebrate it [the liturgy] without signs are already in the heavenly liturgy, where celebration is wholly communion and feast." (Catechism #1136). "Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him." (Catechism #1419) It is the Risen Christ who comes to us in the Mass and "our participation in the Eucharist already gives us a foretaste of Christ's transfiguration of our bodies [in the Resurrection]." (Catechism #1000).

 

We recall how the Mass proclaims the Paschal Mystery, which includes the Second Coming of Christ:

"Therefore, O Lord, we celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son,

his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven,

and as we look forward to his second coming,

we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice."

(Eucharistic Prayer III emphasis added)

 

Orthodox Priest and Liturgist Fr. Alexander Schmemann writes:

 

"The Liturgy of the Eucharist is best understood as a journey or procession. It is the journey of the Church into the dimension of the Kingdom, our sacramental entrance into the Risen life of Christ." (For the Life of the World, p.26)

The Mass helps us come into the Rule, that is, the Kingdom of the God who is love. It both celebrates this love now present to us and looks forward to when this love will rule the earth as it does heaven.

 

When we receive Holy Communion we are being united to the present Kingdom of God "in our midst" as well as the future coming of the Kingdom, as Feast and Transfiguration in the Risen Christ.

 

Next Week: Concluding the Communion Rite

 

Return to Home Page

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

 

　

 

#47. The Communion Rite Part 7: Communion with Creation. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts

We have been looking at the implications of receiving Holy Holy Communion in the Mass. Holy Communion also puts us in a communion with the creation. Recall that "communion" is a sharing of a deep relationship with another or, in this case, with creation. Fr. Teilhard de Chardin wrote:

"There is a communion with the earth, and a communion with God, and a communion with God through the earth."

 

That last point, "a communion with God through the earth," is one way to express the sacramentality of the Catholic Tradition. By this is meant that creation and human relationships can reveal God’s Presence to us. Or to put it another way, God’s life is mediated to us through the creation and human relationships, the supreme revelation being the Son of God who entered creation in human flesh as Christ Jesus (sometimes Christ is described as the Sacrament of God). The Church takes some of these ways of mediation and names them as Sacraments of the Church," "visible signs of the invisible God."

 

Recall that in the Offertory we bring bread and wine to the altar and these will be used in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The Risen Christ will become Really Present through these created signs.

 

In offering the bread and wine, we are offering creation and human work for the purposes of God’s communication of salvation to us:

 

"Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,

for through your goodness we have received

the bread we offer you:

fruit of the earth and work of human hands,

it will become for us the bread of life."

 

"Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,

for through your goodness we have received

the wine we offer you:

fruit of the vine and work of human hands

it will become our spiritual drink."

 

Reflecting on the role the things of earth play in the Eucharist, a priest and liturgical theologian, Fr. Kevin Irwin, who has written about the subject of sacramentality and ecology, puts it very simply:

 

"For me the earth is brought into the act of worship and the act of worship sends us back to life on this good earth." ( From Interview HERE)

 

One of the gifts that modern ecology gives us is an understanding of how everything in our world is "inter-connected" and "inter-related." This is also the insight of the sacramental view espoused by the Catholic Church, especially in its teaching about creation:

 

"God wills the interdependence of creatures. The sun and the moon, the cedar and the little flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the spectacle of their countless diversities and inequalities tells us that no creature is self-sufficient. Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other." (Catechism #340)

 

This truth also applies to the human person. We were created from the earth and we do not live apart from the earth. We exist within creation. We are in relationship with creation.

 

The Eucharist and especially Holy Communion can express this Communion with Creation and, of course, with Creation’s Creator.

 

Pope Francis, in his recent Encyclical on the care of creation, Laudato Si, relates such care to the Eucharist:

 

"It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave himself as food for his creatures. The Lord, in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter. He comes not from above, but from within, he comes that we might find him in this world of ours.

 

"In the Eucharist, fullness is already achieved; it is the living centre of the universe, the overflowing core of love and of inexhaustible life. Joined to the incarnate Son, present in the Eucharist, the whole cosmos gives thanks to God. Indeed the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love: ‘Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world’.

 

"The Eucharist joins heaven and earth; it embraces and penetrates all creation. The world which came forth from God’s hands returns to him in blessed and undivided adoration: in the bread of the Eucharist, ‘creation is projected towards divinization, towards the holy wedding feast, towards unification with the Creator himself’.Thus, the Eucharist is also a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment, directing us to be stewards of all creation." (#236; emphasis added)

 

Denis Edwards writes in Ecology at the Heart of Faith:

 

"Tony Kelly has said, that the ‘most intense moment of our communion with God is at the same time an intense moment of our communion with the earth.’ By being taken up into God, we are caught up into God’s love for the creatures of our planetary community. This begins to shape our ecological imagination: ‘The Eucharist educates the imagination, the mind, and the heart to apprehend the universe as one of communion and

connectedness in Christ.’"  

 

Certainly this sacramental view of creation and our relationship with creation is celebrated in the Mass and deepened by our Communion with creation in God’s care of the world.

 

Next Week: Communion Rite Part 8: Communion in the Kingdom of God in Heaven and on Earth

 

Return to Home Page

#46 The Communion Rite Part 6: Communion in the Love of God. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

The receiving of Holy Communion in the Mass is a communion and participation in God’s love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Scriptures tell us that "God is love" (1 John 4:16) I have noted previously the magnificent passage in the Catechism which teaches us the implications of this:

 

"St. John goes even further when he affirms that ‘God is love’: God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (#221)

 

This "eternal exchange of love" between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is the Communion of Love which is the Holy Trinity. Our receiving Holy Communion in the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ is "to share in that exchange." The Catechism also teaches:

 

"The sacraments are ‘of the Church’ ...[they] manifest and communicate to men, above all in the Eucharist, the mystery of communion with the God who is love, One in three persons." (#1118)

 

This manifestation of God’s love in the Eucharist inspired St. Augustine to say about the Eucharist:
"O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!"

 

The Greek word agape is used to name God’s love for us and this divine love shared among us for one another. It was translated into Latin by the word "caritas"

 

"It is not easy to translate [the Church] Latin's sense of caritas with just one word; it means ‘spiritual love’, or ‘love in action’, the love which is born from a profound respect of the other (or the Other)...and we obtain the English word charity from caritas." (Link)

 

Caritas is God’s kind of love, and its link with the English word "charity" reminds us that God has  a profound love for those in need, especially the poor. God’s love is more than charity, but it also is not less than charity for the poor.

 

So, in Holy Communion, the Church teaches that "the Eucharist [in Communion] strengthens our charity [caritas]..." (Catechism #1394) The Church goes on to make (in my opinion)  a remarkable connection between the poor and Holy Communion:

 

"The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren..." (Catechism #1397)

 

This teaching is restating what Jesus himself said about recognizing him in the poor and those in need and assisting him (See Matthew 25:31-46 HERE ). With this criteria will we be judged. But here the Church is also saying that if we neglect to recognize Christ in the poor and not help them, then we are not receiving the Body and Blood of Christ "in truth." I would interpret this to be about the objective and subjective dimensions of receiving Holy Communion. Objectively speaking, Christ is absolutely Real in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood regardless of any action or lack of it on our part. However, if our reception of Holy Communion doesn’t affect us—indeed, change us—to be more like Christ, then we have not truly received the full grace of the Sacrament in our lives. A person who is a devout Communicant and yet has a hard heart toward the poor is in a contradictory situation.

 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whose mission was to serve the poorest of the poor, once said:

 

"Like Mary, let us be full of zeal to go in haste to give Jesus to others. She was full of grace when, at the Annunciation, she received Jesus. Like her, we too become full of grace every time we receive Holy Communion. It is the same Jesus whom she received and whom we receive at Mass. As soon as we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, let us go in haste to give Him to our sisters, to our poor, to the sick, to the dying, to the lepers, to the unwanted, and the unloved. By this we make Jesus present in the world today."

Next time you receive Holy Communion think how you are receiving the love of God as a gift which softens our hearts to be changed into his loving children and the result of that love is to make us more loving, especially for those in need and the poor.

 

Next Week: The Communion Rite Part 7: Communion with Creation.

 

Return to Home Page

#43 The Commuinion Rite Part 3: Communion in the Holy Spirit. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

By receiving Holy Communion we also receive the Holy Spirit along with Christ. We know that it is the Risen Christ that we really receive in Holy Communion in the signs of the Consecrated Bread and Wine. We are not so familiar that we also receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit with Christ. In a beautiful passage from the Catechism we are taught:

 

"When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable." (#689)

 

The Word is the Son of God (see John 1) and the Breath of God here means the Holy Spirit. The Son and the Spirit are always working together. Recall it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Son took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mother to become Jesus the Christ. His very title means "The Anointed One" (in Greek, Christos, in Hebrew Messiah); the One who ‘anoints" him, i.e., consecrates him for his mission is the Holy Spirit. The Son and the Spirit are distinct but they are inseparable. Therefore we receive the Holy Spirit with Christ in Holy Communion.

 

We first received the Holy Spirit in our Baptism. From the Rite of Baptism for Children:

 

"We pray for this child: set him (her) free from original sin, make him (her) a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him (her)."

 

And the grace of the Holy Spirit is increased in us through the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

 

 

I like to recall here the teaching of the Gospel of John that the Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, the Helper. The Holy Spirit is "the Best Friend" of the Son and of his Body the Church. As "best friends" are inseparable, so with the Son and the Spirit. (See my entry on this HERE) The Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Advocate, our Counselor, our Comforter, our Defender, our Friend. As St. Paul reminds us, "The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us." (Romans 5:5)

 

The Holy Spirit is at work with Christ in the celebration of the Mass.

 

The Catechism teaches that "In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Christ and the Church. The liturgical assembly derives its unity from the ‘communion of the Holy Spirit’ who gathers the children of God into the one Body of Christ." (#1097)

 

Recall that the first act of the Eucharist is to gather together the Body of Christ, the Church. Also in the Eucharistic Prayer (at the Epiclesis) we saw how the Holy Spirit is invoked to come, with the Word of Christ, to transform the Bread and Wine into the true Body and Blood of the Risen Christ, the whole Christ. (See Epiclesis HERE, Catechism #706  HERE)

 

 

Every celebration of the liturgy, especially the Eucharist, is an outpouring (epiclesis) of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, the Mystical and Spirit-filled Body of Christ. (See Catechism #1104 HERE) Yet we become what we receive in the Eucharist by receiving the Spirit-filled Body and Blood of the Risen Christ in Holy Communion. We are given "Spiritual Food," i.e., the Spirit-filled and Consecrated Body and Blood of Christ."

 

Catechism #1392: "What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh ‘given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,’ preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism."

 

Next Week: The Communion Rite Part 4: Communion with the Trinity

 

Return to Home Page

　

　

#41 Receiving Holy Communion: The Ritual. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

The act of receiving Holy Communion in the Mass is the conclusion of the Sacrifice-meal (see discussion on "Sacrifice-meal" HERE) which is the Liturgy of the Eucharist. All that is left after Holy Communion and its concluding Prayer, is the Dismissal Rite, "the Mass is ended."

 

As we will see, the act of Holy Communion sums up many of the themes and the purposes of the Mass which I have been discussing throughout this series. Themes such as being gathered as the Church, the Body of Christ; the Eucharist making the Church visible; Communion in the life of the Triune God (the Trinity); Christ living in us and we living in Christ; sharing in the Dying and Rising of Christ (the Paschal Mystery); the renewal of our Baptism; the ceelbration of the New Covenant; the offering of ourselves in the One Sacrifice of Christ; and the Real Presence of the Risen Christ’s Body and Blood.

 

Therefore, I will deal with Holy Communion in the Mass in several parts over the next few weeks.

First, let us look at the ritual actions which occur after the Sign of Peace and the Breaking of the Bread:

 

The Priest genuflects at the Altar, takes a portion of the Consecrated Host and, holding it slightly raised above the paten or above the chalice, while facing the people, and says aloud:

 

"Behold the Lamb of God,

behold him who takes away the sins of the world.

Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb."

 

(There is a reference here to Revelation 19:6-9 See HERE. The Church is the Bride of Christ and the Eucharist is being compared here to a wedding feast, a celebration of union and communion)

 

And together with the people pray:

 

"Lord, I am not worthy

that you should enter under my roof,

but only say the word

and my soul shall be healed."

 

(This is another Scriptural reference from Matthew 8:8 HERE; we are not worthy to receive Christ by our own merits, but by his grace he gives himself to us to dwell "under our roof," i.e. within us. This is not to sya we are worthless but to recognize that  Communion with Christ is a gift not based on worthiness or its lack)

 

The Priest, facing the altar, says quietly:

 

"May the Body of Christ

keep me safe for eternal life."

 

 And he reverently consumes the Body of Christ.

 

Then he takes the chalice and says quietly:

 

"May the Blood of Christ

keep me safe for eternal life."

 

And he reverently consumes the Blood of Christ.

 

After this, he takes the paten or ciborium and approaches the ministers who will help with distribution of Holy Communion (the Deacon, if present, and the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. See note HERE). The Priest raises a host slightly and shows it to each of the ministers, who in the United States show reverence by a bow of the head, and the Priest says:

 

"The Body of Christ."

 

The minister replies:

 

"Amen."

 

(recall that "Amen" means "it is true." Our "Amen" is a profession of our faith that it is the Body of Christ in truth that we receive.)

 

And the minister receives the host. In the United States one receives standing. Commnicants may receive in the hand or on the tongue.

 

The Priest or Deacon then gives the Chalice to each saying:

 

"The Blood of Christ."

 

The minister bows his or her head says "Amen" and receives the Chalice and drinks.

 

The ministers with the Priest then take the Body and Blood of Christ to the Assembly. The Assembly forms a Procession to the various Communion stations, receiving the Body of Christ and they may receive the Blood of Christ from the Chalice if they wish.

 

 

(This act of processing expresses our journey together as the Body of Christ, the Church, to receive the Eucharistic Body of Christ under the appearance of bread and wine. Communicants receive both the Body and Blood of Christ in each element, since they are receiving the Whole Christ in either element. The sacramental sign is more complete by receiving both the Host and the Chalice; but it is the Communicants' choice as to whether to receive from the Chalice or not)

 

While the Priest is receiving the Body of Christ, the Communion Chant begins. This accompanies thePprocession until all receive Communion who are able.

 

(The singing of the Communion song with one voice signifies our communion togetehr, our unity in Christ. The Church desires us to sing this song)

 

When the distribution of Communion is over, the Priest or a Deacon or an acolyte purifies the paten over the chalice and also the chalice itself.

 

Any remaining Hosts are reserved in the Tabernacle. Chalices used for Holy Communioncan be purified after Mass as permitted.

 

The Priest returns to his chair. If appropriate, a sacred silence may be observed for a while, or a psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn may be sung.

 

Then, standing at the altar or at his chair and facing the People the Priest says:

 

"Let us pray."

 

All pray in silence with the Priest for a while, unless silence has just been observed.

 

Then the Priest, with hands extended, says the Prayer after Communion, at the end of which the people acclaim:

 

 "Amen."

 

Next week: Understanding the Meaning of Holy Communion

 

Return to Home Page

#40 The Communion Rite: The Breaking of the Bread and the Lamb of God. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

 

 

After praying the Our Father together and having exchanged the Sign of Peace, the Priest Celebrant breaks the Consecrated Bread and the Lamb of God is sung during the fraction.

The early Church called the entire Eucharistic celebration "the Breaking of the Bread." (See Acts 2:42 HERE; the Disciples from Emmaus testify that they came to know the Risen Christ in the Breaking of the Bread; see Luke 24:35 HERE )

Naturally, there were no small individual hosts used in Holy Communion as we do today. There was at least one large loaf of bread or several as the Church grew. The loaf of bread was offered and consecrated. Then in order to share it for Communion, it had to be broken into smaller pieces.

The spiritual significance of this act of breaking the Consecrated Bread for the purpose of sharing in the Body of Christ was not lost upon the early Church. Inasmuch as we are identified with the Body of Christ as the Church, we are called to share our gifts and ourselves with others. In the Eucharist, especially in the act of Holy Communion, we share in the One Body of Christ and the Cup of Salvation. And we must share what we have for the common good. This sharing typified the Church as described in the Acts of the Apostles. (See Acts 2:43-45 HERE)

Many spiritual writers and preachers have also found significance in thinking about the significance of brokenness in the life of Christ and the breaking of the Bread, and our own brokenness. For example, Fr. Austin Flemming preached these words:

"As individuals and as the whole church

we receive the gift of the Lord’s brokenness into our own:

into the brokenness of our sins,

into our broken hearts, broken memories, broken promises,

broken spirits, broken relationships, broken bodies,

into our broken hopes and dreams.

Is there anyone among us who does not bring some brokenness today

to the Body of Christ broken for us?

We who are broken come to the One who was broken for our sakes,

to share in this simple bread, broken in his memory,

that our brokenness might be healed." (See Homily HERE)

Today, we do have many small round hosts of unleavened bread that are consecrated in the Eucharist. But also there is called for a larger Host which can be broken at the time of the Breaking of the Bread, still continuing that action of Jesus and his Church of almost 2000 years.

When the Priest first breaks the consecrated Bread, he performs a small act with words which the Assembly do not hear. He takes a very small fragment of the Bread/Host and drops it into the Chalice. He prays inaudibly: "May this mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it"

This ritual action is called the Fermentum (literally "leaven." Why it was called this is uncertain, but compare to Matthew 13:33 Here). In the Church of Rome (by the 5^th century at least) The Pope sent a fraction of the Eucharistic bread from his Mass to the parishes in the city as a sign of unity of those parishes with his Eucharist. Pope Innocent wrote in 416,

"As to the 'fermentum' which we send on Sunday into the various titular churches, it is superfluous for you to consult us on this topic: here all the churches are built within the city. The priests of these churches, being unable to celebrate with us on this day because of the people entrusted to them, thus receive from the acolytes the ‘fermentum’ confected by us so that they, especially on this day, do not feel separated from our communion."

At some point the Fermentum was no longer sent to the parishes (their number increasing). In Rome and  outside Rome, the custom was imitated however within the individual parishes  by the Priest Celebrant, who did not send the fragment anywhere but dropped a fragment of the Host he had consecrated  into the Chalice as had been originally done.

Obviously, some spiritual significance was seen in this act and it was seen to be a representation of the Resurrection of Christ when his body and blood  were reunited in his Risen Body. Some say the Sacrifice of Christ is sacramentally represented by the separation of the Body and Blood of Christ in the seprately consecrated Bread and Wine. Puting the Bread and Wine together through the Fermentum reunites the sacramental Body and Blood so to speak. Thus the prayer about eternal life.

 

While the Bread is being broken, the choir and People immediately begin singing (or saying) the "Lamb of God." John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). The text is familiar:

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

 

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

One liturgical resource (for entire article see HERE) states:

"This prayer text, which is often sung, is a direct prayer to Christ who is the‘Lamb of God.’ Christ Jesus takes ‘away the sins of the world.’On the surface level, it may seem a strange text for the Fraction Rite. However, Christ Jesus was the Lamb slain on the Cross at the time of the Jewish Passover when lambs were slain. Three days later, God resurrected Christ Jesus, and in so doing, he took ‘away the sins of the world.’ Sin prevents union and communion with God and one another. Therefore, through Jesus’ death and Resurrection he establishes communion and union with us. Sin fractures relationships between us and God, but God in Christ Jesus unites our brokenness, our division into one, into the body of Christ. In our wounded and brokenness, Christ Jesus heals, reconciles, and brings us into communion with his very being." (emphasis added)

At Holy Faith, during Advent and Lent, and on the Fridays of the year, we sing the "Lamb of God" in Latin. This is to indicate the penitential nature of the Season or day, and to keep in contact with the ancient Roman Mass which was celebrated in Latin. The Latin text is:

"Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem."

 

Next Week: The Act of Receiving Holy Commuion

 

Return to Home Page

#38: The Communion Rite: Sacrifice Revisted. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts

We consider now the Third Major Part of the Mass: the Communion Rite.

 

A passage from the Second Vatican Council on liturgy says that "all who are made sons [and daughters] of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord’s supper." (SC#10)

 

The Decline and Rise of Communion in History

 

To eat the Lord’s supper is of course to partake in Holy Communion in the Mass. This statement also mentions the sacrifice of the Mass (see my entry "Sacrifice of the Mass "HERE). As we shall see, in the early Church, the Sacrifice and the Communion of the Eucharist were complementary and unified. However, due to certain historical reasons (one of them being an over exagerated sense of the unworthiness of the laity to receive Holy Communion), the reception of Communion by the People declined over the centuries and the offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass remained and became more emphasized.

 

If one were to attend Mass even 100 years ago, one would notice that very few people at Mass were receiving Holy Communion. The Pope around that same time, Pius X (d. 1914) issued a decree that First Communion should be lowered from age 14 or so to age 7, and that Communion should be taken more frequently if one was in a state of grace. Yet more frequent Communion as a practice came slowly.

 

Such a state of affairs of the past might surprise many Catholics today. The reception of Communion is very frequent today and the understanding of the Mass as the Sacrifice of Christ and his Church is currently less known or emphasized. If you asked most Catholics why they attend Mass on Sunday, they probably would say to receive Holy Communion, but nothing about offering the Sacrifice of the Mass.

 

The purpose of the Second Vatican Council was in part a retrieval of "the best teaching and practices" of the early Church while still recognizing the development of Church teaching and practice over time. To understand the Church’s practice of Holy Communion it will be helpful to revisit the reality of sacrifice in Jewish, Christian, and pagan circles and appreciate how Sacrifice and Holy Communion go together.

 

The Modern and Ancient Concept of Sacrifice
 

Most modern people think of sacrifice mostly in negative terms and usually involving the loss of something, especially involving death; we say that the death of a soldier in the defense of the nation is the "the ultimate sacrifice." This makes sacrifice a rather sad affair and even morbid.

 

We also see animal sacrifice practiced in the past or even today as repulsive. It seemed to focus only on the death of the animal and nothing more.

 

Animals to be sacrificed from ancient carving

However, in the ancient world religious sacrifice was seen in a positive way. It was not only an offering to God but it was an occasion for celebration, because most religious sacrifices involved something one could eat (animal meat or agricultural produce) and so the offering usually included a shared meal together: with the gods or God and with fellow worshipers.

 

An animal sacrifice, if it were part of what is now termed a "Communion-sacrifice," necessarily required the death of the animal and its preparation to be put to the fire on the altar; but that cooked the animal so that it could be eaten. Because the food now belonged to God, the worshipers shared God’s meal among themselves. This was a joyful celebration, then.

 

In a way, the religious sacrifices of old were like "sacred barbeques." We don’t usually concentrate today on the fact that the meat we are eating at a barbeque had to be butchered. We moderns suppress that. It is fair to say, then, that most (but not all) religious sacrifices in the ancient world were also sacred meals to establish communion with God and one another.

 

 

The Jewish Communion Sacrifice
 

The whole Jewish religious system involved such Communion-sacrifices among other types:

 

1. First a person (usually with his family) brought a choice lamb or cattle to offer in the Temple.

 

2. The Jewish priest accepted the offering if it was worthy (you didn’t give God second best). The one offering then killed the animal and dressed it.

 

3. He then gave it to the priest who was chosen to offer the sacrifice worthily to God on the altar and with fire. The blood of the animal was also offered, and it represented life. It also belonged to God.

 

4. The choicest part of the animal was left to God and was burned up releasing a sweet-smelling fragrance to God (Cf to Ephesians 5:2 HERE ). Then the priests and the worshipers, the offerer and his family and any others, especially the poor, shared in the meal that was part of the sacrifice.

 



Rouault the Crucifixion

Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross

 

Of course the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross was one where he was killed and where he shed his blood. But his sacrifice changed all subsequent ideas of sacrifice in the Church. There was no fire or altar when he was sacrificed, but the Church would see the Cross as his altar. He was buried, not eaten! His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven are also part of his Sacrifice, for as our High Priest, his offering of himself is eternally offered in heaven; not that he is eternally dying on the Cross, but the act of his self-giving love, is taken up in the eternal "now" of God.  The Sacrifice of Christ can be celebrated at all times and places. His One Sacrifice fulfills all others. He is also Really Present in the Sacrifice of the Mass where indeed we do eat and drink his Risen Body and Blood.

 

The Eucharist as Sacrifice

 

The way that the Church came to celebrate the Eucharist which Christ commanded us to offer, has much the same form as a Communion-sacrifice so prevalent in the religious and pagan cultures of the time:

 

1. An offering was made by all present at the Eucharist, that of bread and wine. It was placed into the hands of the Priest.

 

2. The Priest[representing Christ] offered the bread and wine with the People at the Lord’s Table, which would soon be called also the Altar. The bread and wine became the Risen Body and Blood of Christ; what was being done on earth as a sacrifice is united to the sacrifice and worship of the Crucified and Risen Christ in Heaven.

 

3. And then the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which re-presents (or makes present) the One  Sacrifice of the Cross and Resurrection is consumed. Thus all had Communion through Christ with God the Father in the Holy Spirit and with one another as belonging to Christ.

 

Thus, we see that the One Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and in the Resurrection redefined many things: it abolished the animal sacrifices, but the Church also retained the pattern of the Communion-sacrifice because it fitted the celebration of the Eucharist as a sacrifice. The Eucharist is a Communion-sacrifice which served as a sacrament of the One Sacrifice of Christ.

I hope you see, now, why in the Eucharist the concept of Sacrifice should not be separated from the concept of Holy Communion. We are sharers in Christ’s Sacrifice of love for us. By celebrating the Sacrifice of the Mass and receiving that Sacrifice in Communion, we should gradually become a People who make sacrifices regularly to show the sacrificial love of Christ. Our sacrifices arise from the Sacrificial love of Christ and witness to his Sacrifice. This is a joy, not a sad thing, and it is for the salvation of the world.

 

 Next Week: The Lord's Prayer and the Exchange of Peace in the Communion Rite

Return to Home Page