Christians' Celebrations of Holy Communion

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Christians' Celebrations of Holy Communion

There are many different ways in which Christians celebrate Holy

Communion, depending on the denomination of Christianity, in which

they belong. Holy Communion is one of the seven sacraments found in

Christianity. A sacrament is an outward physical act with an inward,

deeper meaning, which can be obtained through various, specific

rituals. In the case of Holy Communion, which is also known as the

Eucharist meal or Mass, Christian worshippers believe that they

receive the body and the blood of Jesus Christ, through the act of

eating the bread, which symbolises Christ’s body, and by drinking the

wine, said to be his blood. This sacrament originates back to the

lord’s last supper. There are various beliefs about the symbolism of

this ritual; these beliefs will be separately explored, focussing on

the different Christian denominations.

Jesus’ last supper celebrated the Passover story. This was when Moses

had warned Pharaoh that all newly born Egyptian boys would die if the

Jews were stopped from freeing themselves, and travel to the Promised

Land. After Pharaoh had refused to make this happen, all Egyptian boys

started getting killed by various plagues. As a result, God ordered

Moses and his people to sacrifice a sheep, and paint the top of their

doorposts with its blood, in order to indicate that the house is

property of Jews not Egyptians, and so when the spirit of God went out

searching for Egyptian houses with newly born children it would skip

Jewish households and go straight to Egyptian houses. The exodus

symbolised the spread of Judaism, and the Jew’s departure from slavery

to f...

... middle of paper ...

...d 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

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