Holy Communion is considered to be an act of worship to God. The word worship comes from Anglo Saxon, ‘to ascribe worth’. In other words this means to say something has great worth. In society today, the human race worships many people as someone to look up to. A good example of this kind of worship would be David Beckham or a famous pop star. The religious meaning of worship is ‘the act of paying divine honour to God, especially in religious services. It is an act of feeling of adoration; to show reverence with supreme respect and admiration.’ Generally for Christians, acts of worship enable them to express and declare their faith, inspire and strengthen them in their daily lives and also worship will provoke responses like praise, thanksgiving, joy, love, wonder, commitment and repentance.
Worship is centred on Jesus. It can be public, private or with the family. Worship is usually on a Sunday because the Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, the third day after Good Friday, the day Jesus died. The members of a congregation take part in worship. This maybe in singing songs or hymns or it can be praying or doing a reading.
There are two sorts of worship. One is Liturgical worship or formal worship. Liturgical worship is often very formal, elaborate and colourful with many rituals. This worship is in Christian Churches that have a high regard for sacraments such as the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox and the Anglican Churches. Symbolic objects and actions are used. The other form of worship is Non-Liturgical worship. Non-Liturgical worship is common worship within Protestant churches with no set rituals or structure. The emphasis is more on practices like Bible readings, prayers, hymns, sermons and testimonies. Non-Liturgical worship is often spontaneous. People can call out, join in and contribute prayers and Bible verses as they feel necessary or appropriate.
The origins of Holy Communion are from the Jewish festival of ‘Pesah’ or more commonly known ‘Passover’. Passover remembers God keeping his covenant with the Jews by using Moses to rescue them from slavery into freedom in Egypt, the Promised Land. On the Passover night, a lamb was killed and its blood was placed on the door of all those that wanted to be saved from the Angel of Death. Jesus believed he was establishing a new Covenant with his death. The night before Jesus’ death on the cross he had a Passover meal with his disciples. Jesus said according to the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament:
‘And as they were eating Jesus took the bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it. For this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many, for the remission of sins.’
(Matthew 26:26-8)
Most Christians would say Jesus gave this command on this occasion to ensure that Christians would break bread and drink wine in his memory as long as the Church endured.
The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches believe that the bread and wine changes at the point of consecration to physically become the body and blood of Christ. It is also a spiritual change of the bread and wine’s inner nature. This is called Transubstantiation. The idea of transubstantiation came about in 1551 with the Council of Trent. It was a belief shared by the Roman Catholic Church who at this time had just been through the Reformation only decades previously. In more recent times, Roman Catholic theologians have reworked the idea of transubstantiation. One of who is Edward Schillebeeckx. Two of these ideas are of crucial importance. The notion of transsignification expresses the idea that when the bread and wine is blessed, there is a change in the meaning of the bread and wine. The other related view of this is transfinalisation, which is that the consecration changes the end or purpose of the bread and wine.
The Church of England believes that the bread and wine change with Jesus within it. This notion is called consubstantiation. This view persists in no change of substance; the substance of both bread and body of Christ are present together.
The Free Church only see The Lord’s Supper or the Breaking of the Bread as a symbol or reminder. There are many different practices surrounding Holy Communion. The first of these is the age that you first take Holy Communion or Mass. In the Roman Catholic Church, a child can take Mass for the first time at a primary school age of about seven years old. This is quite similar in an Orthodox Church. The Anglican Church believes that the communicant can only take their first Holy Communion after being confirmed as a Christian by a bishop at a special service called a Confirmation service. This service is a declaration as an adult that you wanted to confirm your faith as a Christian. You can only be confirmed after you have been bapised. In a Free Church, you can take Holy Communion at an age as long as the communicant believes and loves the Lord Jesus Christ for himself or herself.
Quakers and the Salvation Army do not believe in or take part in any of the Holy Communion and do not practice it as significant of important, let alone it being a sacrament.
There is a similar pattern in which the Eucharist will be celebrated and practiced in a similar sort of pattern. The service would start off with the Ministry of the Word. Here, the first part of the service may contain prayers, two or three Bible readings, (one Old Testament, one New Testament and Gospel reading), hymns, dramas, acts of confession and maybe a sermon, which would probably be preached from the pulpit. The next part of the service is the taking of the bread and wine. At this point during a service, worshippers are reminded of the origins of the Eucharist. The bread and wine are placed onto the High Altar or table that has been brought forward into the transepts. The High Altar shows God’s transcendence as being in a father in heaven, watching over his kingdom. Then prayers are said such as the Eucharist prayer.
The minister, vicar or priest then consecrates the bread and wine on the altar. In some churches, the words of the Lord’s Supper, from the Gospels, may be read out. The bread and wine may be raised to God whilst the prayers are said. The congregation may then offer one another a sign of peace. This may involve a handshake, a greeting of some kind or an embracement. This sign represents unity. Then Holy Communion will then be offered to the congregation.
In a Roman Catholic Church at Mass, you would stand at the Altar and receive a small wafer to the mouth or the hand and take a small sip of wine from a chalice. In an Orthodox church at Holy Liturgy, you would kneel at the altar and receive a small portion of bread on a spoon and take a small sip of wine from a chalice. In a Church of England at Holy Communion, the communicant would kneel at the Altar rail and receive a small piece of bread or wafer into the hand and take a small sip of wine from a chalice. In a Free Church it is slightly different to the above church practices. The congregation remains seated in their pews and a tray is passed around with bread on where the communicant takes a piece. Then a tray is passed around with miniature glasses of wine to be taken. After the sharing of the bread and wine, there is a small time or act of dismissal which may include prayers, a hymn or a blessing.
Many Protestant churches have the Eucharist only once or twice a month. In Roman Catholic churches, Mass takes place daily. When Roman Catholic Christians attend Mass they follow a sequence which represents a path they believe they must follow in their lives and in their relationships to God.