Even though, most, if not all Christian denominations agree about the origins of such a ritual, they now have different opinions about how the service is conducted. The Roman Catholic Church believes in the idea of transubstantiation, which is the belief that the bread and wine that they consume at the Eucharist meal, has over the years, mystically transformed into Jesus’ real body and blood. Roman Catholics celebrate Holy Communion or Mass regularly. Roman Catholics believe that the Mass is a sacrifice. Each time it is celebrated Christ renews the sacrifice that he made for the sins of the world when he was crucified. This is why they frequently celebrate it. In some Churches, only people who have been confirmed are allowed to participate in the celebration of Holy Communion, whereas in the Roman Catholic Church there is no such restriction. This emphasises how Jesus had welcomed everybody in his own life and had treated everyone with consideration and humility, and therefore the Church too should not turn its back on any worshipper. When Roman Catholic Christians attend Holy Communion they follow a sequence of events, which represents a path they believe they should follow if they were to strengthen their relationship with God. Roman Catholics come together as a community, in the presence of God, before turning away from their sins, to put them in the right frame of mind in order to be able to worship God. This is called Penitential Rite. Following that, the priest who is central in the celebrations, conducts the Word of God or the ministry of the word, reading prayers, passages and hymns from the Bible. This done from the altar where the bread and the wine are placed. After giving thanks to God with the Eucharist Prayer, the priest blesses the bread and the wine, before members of the congregation can have them with the belief that they had mysteriously changed into Jesus’ real body. All participants drink from the same chalice, or cup in order to show equality as well as foregrounding that Jesus’ life is shared between all believers. At the ceremony there are no separations between any of the worshippers. There is no table of precedence, and no priority of a prince over a dustman. The whole occasion symbolises the unity of all Christians with each other, as well as their unity with God and his son. To drink from the same cup as everybody else is a privilege for all worshippers as it shows how they are all united within the same practices and beliefs. When the Mass is over, the priest dismisses the congregation telling people to live their lives peacefully, considering their actions towards others as well as following the example set by Christ.
Despite the Anglican Church accepting the celebration of Holy Communion, it only believes in one other sacrament: Baptism. This is one of the main differences between the Protestant Church and the Roman Catholic Church, which accepts all of the seven sacraments. The bitterest controversy is centred on the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion). Rather than believing that the bread and the wine that they receive during the celebration had actually transformed into Jesus’ real body and blood, the Protestant or the Anglican Church, believes in the idea of consubstantiation, which means that Jesus’ body is somehow present around the bread and the wine that they receive but is not the actual matter that they have at the Mass. Apart from that, an Anglican congregation follows the same sequence of events that a Roman Catholic congregation practices. However, as the bread and the wine gets blessed by the priest, members of the congregation genuflect around the altar, which is to go down on the right knee, as a sign of utmost respect to God before receiving the food. Nevertheless, this is not a rule set on stone, in some Protestant Churches the congregation chose to stand around the altar or table in small groups. Holy Communion takes place at least once a month in most Protestant Churches, which is also a minor difference between Anglican Churches and Roman Catholic Churches.
Moreover, the Orthodox Church has many differences between the styles of worship in their church and in the Roman Catholic Church. Icons are an integral part of their worship. These are pictures of Jesus or Mary, which help them concentrate more on their worship of God. In Orthodox Churches there is always a screen called an iconostasis, which separates the congregation to the altar. This also symbolically separates the heaven and earth as well as God and the people. When this screen is opened it reminds people that this separation had ended in the person of Jesus Christ. During services, people perform many symbolic actions. People often walk around the Church with a lit candle. They follow the same sequence of events as Roman Catholics, during Holy Communion; nevertheless, there are no pews or chairs so often worshippers would genuflect or prostrate themselves to God symbolising their complete submission to him. Additionally, whilst sharing the bread and the wine, bread is dipped into the wine and is then given to people on a long spoon. In Baptist and Methodist Churches, church leaders often distribute wine in separate glasses. People do not drink from the same chalice but do so from their own little cups together. After sharing the bread and the wine, the priest in all three churches then dismisses people, as they would be dismissed in a Roman Catholic or Anglican Church.
In conclusion, we could see how the different Christian denominations celebrate Holy Communion in their own various ways. The main differences in beliefs about receiving the bread and the wine, are that Roman Catholic Church believe in the idea of transubstantiation, which is the idea that the bread and the wine that they receive during the service has mysteriously transformed into Jesus’ actual body and blood, over the years, whereas the Anglican Church believes in the idea of consubstantiation. This is the belief that Jesus’ body and blood are somehow present around the bread and the wine that they receive during the service, but is not literally the food and drink that they have. The Eucharist meal (Holy Communion) generally has the following elements, in all churches mentioned above:
-
Confession of sins: This is to obtain forgiveness from God and to be spiritually clean to take part in Eucharist.
- Bible readings and sermon
-
The offertory: Where the bread and wine are brought to the altar
-
The great thanks giving prayer.
-
Blessing of bread and wine: A retelling of the last supper where the bread and wine were blessed by the words of Jesus ‘this is my body’ (bread) and ‘this is my blood’ (wine). The priest or minister repeats these words.
-
The communion: This is where the congregation receive bread and wine.
-
The dismissal
Samer Ghozlan 10A