Communion

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Communion ( Greek. Κοινωνία koinonia lat. Communio "Community"), or Holy Communion is called administering and receiving in a Eucharistic celebration sacred gifts of bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Christ represent, as well as the spiritual effect of the enjoyment of this sacred food . There is consensus in Christianity about the nature of the Eucharist in memory of Jesus Christ (“Do this in memory of me” - see 1 Cor 11:24  EU ) ; however, in some aspects there are differences in theological interpretation and worship practice.

Roman Catholic understanding

Christ gives communion to the apostles, Metamorphosis Church in Palaichori, Cyprus, 16th century
St. Charles Borromeo donates to St. Aloysius Gonzaga giving communion. Gold-embroidered tapestry made of red velvet from the 19th century in Milan

The Roman Catholic understanding of communion presupposes belief in the real presence of Christ in the sacred gifts: In Holy Mass , "the power of the words and actions of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit" transform the offerings of bread and wine during prayer to the body and blood of Christ. This process is called consecration or change and is explained in the Western Church as transubstantiation , i.e. H. the essence of matter of bread and wine is externally preserved, but from its substance it has become something different: the true body and the true blood of the Redeemer Christ . The understanding of the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, on the other hand, corresponds more to what is used to call consubstantiation in the West .

Holy Communion designates and effects the sacramental unity (κοινωνία, communio ) between the risen Lord, exalted to the right of the Father, and the Church, the local community and the individual believers who communicate , i.e. those who receive communion ( communicants ), in that they are Christ himself Eating food, even if the external characteristics of bread and wine are retained for the realm of the sensually perceptible . In the celebration of Mass, all should receive in communion of the gifts that were consecrated in the same Holy Mass.

The church commandments oblige the faithful to receive Holy Communion after receiving First Communion, at least during the Easter period and in danger of death (cf. also CIC can. 920). In the Codex Iuris Canonici can. 918 it is “strongly” recommended that the faithful receive communion during the celebration of the Eucharist ( communal mass); however, if for a righteous reason believers ask to receive communion outside of the celebration of the Eucharist, “it is to be given to them outside of mass; the liturgical rites are to be observed ”( Communion celebration ).

Traditionally, the Catholic faithful were only allowed to go to Holy Communion once a day. Today, however, it is permitted in a number of special occasions, within a community celebration of Mass or the celebration of the Viaticum to receive communion again the same day.

Can. 912 CIC formulates the principle: "Any baptized person who is not legally prevented from doing so can and must be admitted to holy communion." The prerequisites for receiving holy communion are: baptism , life in the grace of baptism , adherence to the faith of the Church, the right intention and, if the recipient is aware of a serious sin , usually the previous reception of the sacrament of penance . In the external area, it is necessary to be free from legal obstacles and to observe eucharistic sobriety , that is, within at least one hour before receiving communion, the believer is not allowed to consume solid or liquid food or luxury goods, only water and medication are allowed. The sick, the elderly and their carers, however, are exempt from the requirement of Eucharistic sobriety.

In the Roman Catholic Church are not admitted to Holy Communion

  • Unbaptized,
  • Non-Catholics - unless they either belong to an Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Eastern Church or they have the permission of a Catholic bishop to receive communion or they are in a spiritual emergency (e.g. in mortal danger) - as well
  • all Christians who have committed a grave sin. The latter must first be reconciled with God and the Church by receiving the sacrament of penance or, in an emergency, at least awakening an act of complete repentance.

In February 2018, the German Bishops' Conference decided to issue a handout for married couples of different denominations, according to which Protestant spouses could receive communion in individual cases and under certain conditions if they commissioned the pastor after “careful examination in a spiritual conversation with the priest or another Person have come to the conscience judgment to affirm the faith of the Catholic Church and to end a 'serious spiritual emergency' and to satisfy the longing for the Eucharist ”. However, it has long been possible to give communion to non-denominational people in individual cases if the donor knew that the recipient of Holy Communion shared the Catholic Church's understanding of the Eucharist. With its resolution, the Bishops' Conference established for its catchment area that in such cases a "serious spiritual need" could exist, for which canon law ( CIC c. 844 § 4) provides for an exception.

At the end of March 2018 - with the exception of the dioceses of Würzburg and Munich-Freising - the bishops of the Bavarian dioceses and the Bishop of Görlitz, led by Archbishop Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki from Cologne, wrote to the Holy See for clarification.

In June 2018, the chairman of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Luis Cardinal Ladaria , wrote to the German bishops, quoting Pope Francis, who had described the German bishops' handout as "not ready for publication"; the document raised a number of unsolved problems of considerable importance. The question of the admission of Protestant Christians to communion in the context of marriages of different denominations directly affects the faith of the church and is important for it as a whole. In addition, the question is also important for the ecumenical relations between the churches and also for canon law, according to which Catholic donors allow the sacraments to be donated only to Catholic believers.

Divorced people who live in a "non-church" relationship, for example a civil marriage, are excluded from communion unless they undertake to "abstain from acts that are reserved for married couples". In this case they can join the reception of communion, whereby, as is generally prescribed, “offense to be avoided” ( Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ). Furthermore, before receiving Communion, every Catholic should examine his conscience , repent of his mistakes and make good resolutions for the future. With Pope Francis it should be remembered that the Eucharist is “not a reward for the perfect, but a generous remedy and nourishment for the weak”.

Old Catholic and Anglican understanding

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The Old Catholic and Anglican churches, both among themselves and with each other in full communion ( full communion are), confess the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic elements and the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist as a real representation of the one sacrifice of Christ (see Declaration of Utrecht ), while the teaching the transubstantiation of bread and wine is rejected. Instead, the secret of change is emphasized, which evades philosophical-scholastic categories.

As a result, the notion that the bread merely represents the body and the wine merely the blood of Christ is rejected, but that Christ is "whole and undivided" present in each of the two elements ( concomitancy ). Therefore, children and alcoholics can receive the sacrament fully valid only in bread, in situations such as a serious illness, on the other hand, it is also possible that only the lips of the communicant are wetted with wine.

The prerequisite for receiving the Eucharist is baptism and belief "in the bodily presence of the risen and exalted Lord in the Eucharistic forms". Some consider eucharistic sobriety (i.e. no breakfast with morning communion and three hours of abstinence before evening communion) to be useful, but it is not mandatory.

In both church communities, when the Holy Body is distributed, communion in the hand is usually practiced in the manner described by Cyrill (see below), even if communion in the mouth is basically possible. The blood of Christ is distributed as chalice communion or by intinctio. Receiving communion while standing is most common.

In some Old Catholic churches (e.g. Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands , Polish Catholic Church ) and in the Anglican “ High Church ”, communion is usually received on the knees. In contrast to some Western European Old Catholic communities, it is also customary in the Polish National Catholic Church to receive both figures in the form of communion through the mouth during communion through intinctio .

Members of other churches are invited to take part in the Eucharist, provided they are baptized and share faith in the real presence. In some Old Catholic churches (e.g. in the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands ) and in most Anglican churches, the requirement also applies to be admitted to communion in your own local church in order to take part in the Lord's supper in another local church can.

The term “communion” is also used as an institutional designation: those Anglican churches whose bishops are in union with the Archbishop of Canterbury belong to the Anglican Communion (see Church Fellowship ).

Evangelical understanding

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In the Protestant understanding, there are two particularly emphasized developments during communion, which is referred to here as the Lord's Supper :

  • One is the believer's turning from sin (separation from God) to fellowship with him.
  • The other is the formation of the church through communion. Before there were many parts of the body of Christ, through communion it becomes one body, one community.

In the United denominations, this denotes the evangelical commonality between Lutheran and Reformed denominations that exists in the communion of the Lord's Supper .

Lutheran understanding

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Communion reception in the Lutheran Church (SELK)

For Martin Luther , his first offering of Holy Communion was an overwhelming experience.

The pastor hands Christ's true body under the bread and Christ's true blood under the wine to communicants. In consecration , the bread and body of Christ, wine and blood become a sacramental unity. Basically, the ordained clergyman hands the host because this is seen as admission to Holy Communion. The chalice can also be distributed by a communion helper. Communion in the Lutheran denomination always takes place under “both forms”, that is, communion of Christ's body and blood. The believer, understood as one who believes he has really received Christ's body and blood, receives forgiveness of sins, life and salvation (Martin Luther in the Small Catechism ). The unbeliever, understood here as one who does not believe he has received Christ's body and blood, takes Holy Communion for judgment ( 1 Cor 11 : 27-29  NIV ).

The validity of the sacrament of the altar depends neither on the faith of the pastor nor on the faith of the communicants. Only the words of Christ spoken or sung about the gifts of bread and wine by the ordained pastor bring about the sacramental unity of the bread and body of Christ and of the wine and blood of Christ.

Prerequisites for admission are baptism , confirmation and, in the case of those from other denominations willing to communion, full communion in the church and communion . Communicants kneel at the altar to receive the holy gifts . This is common in the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church across the board, but still sporadically in Lutheran congregations of the regional churches. In the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church , communion on the mouth is usually common. In the communion of the gifts, according to the Lutheran view, sins are forgiven, communion arises through Christ's body and blood on the one hand with Jesus Christ himself and on the other hand among the believers.

Forms of receiving communion

Jesus Christ is understood as the actual giver of communion, who gives communion through the priest, deacon or other communion giver. Therefore the donation of the body and blood of Christ in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church takes place individually to each recipient and not by passing on the host bowl or chalice from one recipient to the next.

Communion in the mouth and communion in hand

Communion in the mouth
Receiving communion in hand

Communion at the sacred bread, the body of Christ, is in the Roman Catholic Church either in the form of mouth Communion or after the Episcopal Conferences by the instruction of the Congregation for Divine Worship , eingeräumtem "Memoriale Domini" from May 29, 1969 judgment in the form of hand communion served . The right to choose between these two forms, where given, lies with the recipient, not the distributor. In either of the two forms, the believer can receive communion while kneeling or standing. During communion on the mouth, the communion giver places the host on the tongue of the recipient. Where usual, a communion paten is held under the communicant's chin in order to catch any falling particles . In hand communion, the donor places the host on the recipient's hand. The recipient then either brings the host to his mouth with the other hand or he picks it up from the palm of his hand with his tongue. In the case of chalice communion by intinctio , that is, by dipping the bread in the wine, only oral communion is officially permitted in the Roman Catholic Church, which is given by the priest. Every communion in the hand is essentially communion in the mouth. The only ceremonial difference is whether the receiving Christian's own hand brings the sacred food to the mouth or that of another (priest, deacon, communion helper).

The possibility of receiving Holy Communion in hand was introduced in France and Germany in 1969 and later elsewhere, for example in Rome and Italy in 1989, by decree of the Italian Bishops' Conference. At the World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI asked. It is about the fact that everyone whom he personally gives communion to receive it kneeling and in the form of communion on the mouth, since receiving it while standing and in hand communion can lead to a lack of awe. In 2010 Pope Benedict XVI. the permission for communion in hand at papal masses is invalid . Priests who help to distribute communion in or in front of St. Peter's Basilica were instructed not to give it to the believers on the hand, but only on the tongue. This regulation was not adopted by the Italian Bishops' Conference and is no longer required under Pope Francis even for Saint Peter in the Vatican.

Communion on the mouth is seen as an expression of the conviction that "touching the holy figures and handing them out with your own hands [...] is a privilege of the consecrated, which indicates their active participation in the Eucharistic service." To receive the Eucharistic bread in one's hand and to bring it to one's mouth should, according to the Vatican declaration, in the believer “the feeling for his dignity, to be a member of the mystical body of Christ, into which he is incorporated through baptism and the grace of the Eucharist, increase and also strengthen his faith in the great reality of the Lord's body and blood which he touches with his hands ”.

In the early Church the believers received the body of Christ in the hand, took it up from there with their mouth and then drank the blood of Christ from the chalice . When they received communion, they touched their sensory organs with the holy food without any outside intervention:

“Since the right hand is to receive the king, you make the left hand a throne for him! Take the body of Christ in your cupped hand and say: Amen! Gently touch your eyes with the holy body to sanctify them! Then enjoy it. ... enjoy, in order to sanctify yourself, also of the blood of Christ! As long as there is still moisture on your lips, touch them with your fingers and sacred (with that moisture) eyes, forehead and the other senses! "

The giving of communion into the hands of the laity has been practiced everywhere and at all times and is still practiced today in the Eastern Syrian Apostolic Church of the East . In other Eastern Churches today the two holy foods, bread and wine, are mixed and distributed together and given - usually with a small spoon - directly into the recipient's mouth.

In the old church, priests did not take communion themselves, but had it handed over to them by another priest or by a deacon.

As early as the end of the 5th century, there was an increasing regional use of communion on the mouth, which has been generally practiced in the West since the 9th century.

Chalice communion

The giving and receiving of communion under the two figures of bread and wine went back in the Middle Ages in the Western Church , while in the Eastern Churches they have been preserved to this day. In 1415, in the course of the dispute with Jan Hus, the Council of Constance issued a ban on rejecting lay communion under one guise and arbitrarily handing chalice communion to the faithful. The permission for the communion of the faithful in both forms was therefore still not fundamentally excluded and was also granted to a limited extent in fact.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, cup communion at the Last Supper became an important concern and characteristic of all Reformation churches. This expressed the view of fulfilling the will to obedience to Christ's biblical invitation: "Drink from it all!"

In the Roman Catholic Church, cup communion for the laity has been permitted again since the Second Vatican Council and even recommended: “Communion gains its full symbolism when it is given under both forms. In this form the sign of the Eucharistic meal is expressed in a more perfect way. ”This does not only apply to weekday, convention and group masses. The chalice also receive newlyweds in their nuptial Mass , religious in their profession and consecrated virgins in their virginal consecration, adult newly baptized in the Mass which follows their baptism, and adults in their Confirmation . For the community mass on Maundy Thursday , the chalice communion is expressly provided in the missal, for the celebration of Easter vigil the Vatican highly recommended. The individual bishops' conferences can determine further occasions for their area. As early as 1971, the German Bishops' Conference issued implementing provisions that always allow chalice communion wherever it appears to be reasonably feasible.

See also

Web links

Commons : Communion  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Communion  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Catechism of the Catholic Church 1353: “In the Epiclesis, the Church asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit (or 'blessings in abundance' [cf. MR, Roman Prayer 90]) on bread and wine, so that through his power they can live and become the blood of Jesus Christ and the participants in the Eucharist are one body and one spirit (individual liturgies hold the epiclesis only after the anamnesis). In the account of the institution, the power of words and deeds of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit make the body and blood of Christ, his sacrifice offered on the cross forever, present under the forms of bread and wine ”.
  2. ↑ Hans-Joachim Schulz : "Change" in the Eastern Church liturgical understanding. An orientation in the dispute about transubstantiation and transignification . In: Catholica 40 (1986) 270-286.
  3. ↑ Second Vatican Council, Liturgy Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium No. 55; General introduction to the Roman Missal No. 56h; Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum - On Some Things Concerning the Most Holy Eucharist to Keep and Avoid , n.89
  4. ↑ Instruction Immensae caritatis of the Vatican Congregation for the Sacraments of January 29, 1973 with a list of such occasions and authorization of the local ordinaries to also give permission to receive Communion twice on the same day in individual cases .
  5. ↑ CIC c. 916: “Anyone who is aware of a grave sin may not celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without prior sacramental confession, unless there is a grave cause and there is no opportunity for confession; in which case he must be aware of the obligation to awaken an act of utter repentance, including a resolve to go to confession as soon as possible. "
  6. ↑ CIC c. 919.
  7. ↑ On the communion of Orthodox Christians in Catholic churches, cf. Ecumenical Directory 125: "Catholic donors are permitted to donate the sacraments of Penance, the Eucharist and the Anointing of the Sick to members of the Oriental Churches if they ask for it and if they are properly disposed"
  8. ^ Katholisch.de:Kommunion: Path paved for evangelical partners
  9. ↑ dbk.de: Press report, February 22, 2018.
  10. ^ Franz Rohleder: Controversy over communion: Bavaria's bishops apparently against cardinal: Does Marx stand with his back to the wall? www.merkur.de, April 25, 2019
  11. ↑ http://magister.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2018/06/04/francis-blocks-the-document-by-the-german-bishops-in-favor-of-intercommunion-the-complete-text -of-the-letter /? refresh_ce
  12. ↑ http://www.katholisch.de/aktuelles/aktuelle-artikel/kommunion-streit-ladaria-erklart-seinen-brief </> http://www.katholisch.de/aktuelles/aktuelle-artikel/papst-gegen -publication-of-handout
  13. ↑ On March 13, 2007, the Holy See published the apostolic letter Sacramentum Caritatis , in which, among other things, the non-admission of remarried people to communion is maintained. In paragraph 29 it says: “The Synod of Bishops has confirmed the practice of the Church, based on the Holy Scriptures (cf. Mc 10: 2–12 EU ), of not admitting remarried divorced people to the sacraments, because their status and situation in life are objectively that love association contradict between Christ and his Church, which is signified and realized in the Eucharist. "
  14. ↑ Apostolic Letter Familiaris consortio No. 84.
  15. ↑ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium 44. In: AAS 105 (2013) p. 1039.
  16. ↑ Joachim Vobbe: Bread from the stone valley. Episcopal letters. Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-934610-63-3 , p. 156.
  17. ↑ Episcopal ordinance for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist: 3rd invitation to receive Holy Communion. “We don't have“ open ”communion. [...] The invitation is addressed to all believers present who express our belief in the reality and bodily presence of the exalted Lord in St. Share the sacrament of the altar with us. ”Bonn, March 15, 1971, Bishop Josef Brinkhues; reprinted in: Working Group for Public Relations in the Catholic Diocese of Old Catholics in Germany (Ed.): Church for Christians today - information about the Old Catholic Church ; Berlin: Hoffmann, 1994; ISBN 3-87344-001-6 , p. 202.
  18. ↑ Instructions from the Congregation for Divine Service “on the manner of giving communion” “Memoriale Domini” . Latin text: AAS 61 (1969) 541-545; German text http://www.mutterdererloesung.de/Eucharist/Handkomm/memoriale.htm .
  19. ^ Basic order of the Roman missal. Advance publication for the German Missal . DBK, Bonn 2007, no. 161: "He who wants to communicate ... receives the sacrament according to his choice in his mouth or, where this is permitted, in his hand."
  20. ↑ General introduction to the missal, 117.
  21. ^ Redemptionis Sacramentum, no.103.
  22. ↑ In the instruction of the Divine Service Congregation “Memoriale Domini” the so-called hand communion is described as the custom “according to which the Eucharistic bread is placed in the hand of the believer, which he then puts into his mouth when he receives communion”.
  23. ↑ Facultates circa SS.am Eucharistiam . In: Holy Congregation for Divine Worship (ed.): Notitiae . tape 5 , no. 48 , 1969, p. 361 (Latin, cultodivino.va ).
  24. ↑ http://www.preghiereagesuemaria.it/sala/decreto%20cei%20sulla%20comunione%20nella%20mano.htm .
  25. ↑ World Youth Day: Pope Benedict wishes communion in the mouth . kath.net , July 19, 2008.
  26. ↑ A 'New Liturgical Movement'? kath.net , December 28, 2010, accessed on August 28, 2017. The
    rule was an exception: In St. Peter, Indult Paul VI. overridden . Kathnews , December 30, 2010, accessed August 28, 2017.
  27. ↑ John Paul II , Apostolic Letter Dominicae Cenae, February 24, 1980.
  28. ↑ writing the Congregation for Divine Worship to the Episcopal Conferences for approval of Communion in the hand (1969), no. 3: http://www.mutterdererloesung.de/Eucharist/Handkomm/memoriale.htm .
  29. ↑ Cyril of Jerusalem , catech. myst. 5, 21f.
  30. ↑ Surma d'Bait Mar Shimun: Assyrian Church Customs and the murder of Mar Shimun, Chapter VI: Magic Arts, Marriages, Funerals. The Faith Press, London, 1970, archived from the original on April 4, 2007 ; accessed on August 28, 2017 (English).
  31. ^ Robert Taft: Receiving Communion: A Forgotten Symbol? In: Worship 57 (1983), pp. 412-418.
  32. ^ Secretariat of the German Bishops' Conference: Missale Romanum. Editio typica tertia 2002, Basic Order of the Roman Missal Book, preliminary publication for the German Missal Book (3rd edition) (PDF; 545 kB); Working Aids No. 215; Bonn 2007; No. 281, 283