Meaning of Holy Communion (What it is, Concept and Definition)

What is Holy Communion:

In Catholicism, the expression holy communion Or simply communion refers to the action and effect of commune, that is, to the effective reception of the Eucharist by the believer. By extension, the moment of the mass in which said action takes place is also called communion.

Juan Martín Cabezalero: The communion of Saint Teresa. c. 1670. Oil on canvas. 248 x 222 cm.

Through holy communion, the believer expresses his desire to commit to following Christ and, furthermore, his desire to internalize his teachings and imitate him. That is, he expresses that he is in communion with Jesus and his message.

Holy Communion is performed in the context of the mass, which symbolizes the memorial of the Lord’s Supper, that is, it is the remembrance and revival of the experience of the call Last Supper of Jesus with his apostles.

According to the gospels, the Last Supper was the moment when Jesus instituted the ritual of the Eucharist, that is, the consecration of bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Likewise, it was the time when he instituted the commandment of love and the priesthood.

See also Catholic Church.

The rite of communion

Holy Communion takes place, then, in the last part of the mass, called eucharistic liturgy, which succeeds the initial rites and the liturgy of the word. The Eucharistic liturgy is structured as follows:

Preparation of the gifts. Eucharistic prayer.
communion rite.

Within this structure, the communion rite has its own, and all elements revolve around the symbolic value of bread. Let’s see how the communion rite:

The Sunday prayer, in which we ask for our daily bread, physical and spiritual; The rite of peace, in which the faithful recognize themselves as part of the ecclesiastical family and of humanity in preparation for consuming the Bread; The breaking of the Bread, which is broken by the priest in representation of Christ. The gesture symbolizes the idea that we are all part of the same body; The mixing or immixing, that is, the process by which the priest drops pieces of the consecrated bread into the chalice with the wine that symbolizes the blood of Christ; interior preparation of the priest; The formal presentation of the Eucharistic bread to the assembly and its distribution, to be consumed by those attending.

See also: