The Communion Rite - We Hunger and Thirst for God

The Communion Rite is the CULMINATING point of the Mass. It is a time of immediate preparation to receive communion. The Church says: “This rite expresses the mutual love and reconciliation that are both the CONDITION and the FRUIT of worthy communion and the unity of the many.” Before we eat and drink of the body and blood of Christ, we must express our mutual love and reconciliation with one another. This is a CONDITION for communion. At the same time, the fruit (result) of our eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ is the mutual love and reconciliation with one another.

It begins with the Lord’s Prayer when we proclaim our belief in the heavenly banquet. We hope to participate in the heavenly banquet at the end of time. This is followed by The Rite of Peace, when we are called to manifest our love and reconciliation with our neighbor. Next comes the Fraction Rite or the breaking of the bread. The priest holds up the consecrated bread and breaks it for all to see. In this action, we unite our own brokenness with that of Christ. During the breaking of the bread, we sing a litany called the “Agnus Dei” (Lamb of God).

Communion is the most sacred time of unity. During this time, we pray together the Communion Song as we process forward to receive communion. We eat and drink of the Body and Blood of Christ, and we become that which we eat. St. Augustine reminds us, “it is the sacrament of yourselves that is placed on the Lord’s altar, and it is the sacrament of yourselves that you receive. You reply ‘amen’ to what you are, and thereby agree that such you are. You heard the words ‘the body of Christ,’ and you reply ‘amen’. Be, then, a member of Christ’s body, so that your ‘amen’ may accord with the truth.”

The Communion Rite concludes with silence or a song of praise followed by the Prayer After Communion.