HOLY COMMUNION: what is holy communion?

Question

what is holy communion?
when and how is it celebrated?
significance (why is it celebrated)???
thankyou.

Answer 1

Holy Communion or the Eucarist as it is also known which means "thankgiving" is a commemoration of the meal that Jesus had with his friends during his last supper before he went to die on the Cross.

It is celebrated everyday throughout the Christian World particularly on Sunday.


The significance is that in the Consecrated bread there is the real presence of Jesus. When the congregation receives the bread - or the host - they become united as the one body of Jesus Christ.

This is not easy to believe for some people. But you will find that many people who participate in it find enourmous comfort joy and great peace that transforms their livies.

Answer 2

The term 'holy communion' or 'communion' is USUALLY the giving of bread and grape juice (in Protestant churches) or of 'unleavened bread/wafers' and wine in Episcopal, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. If you want to 'take communion' and you are not baptized and a full member of the church, you can do this ONLY in a Protestant church ... and most Protestant churches do a 'communion service' only on 'High Holidays' (Christmas, Easter, etc.) or three or four Sundays a year. The Episcopals give communion at 'High Masses' also called 'full mass' and the Catholics share the Eucharist (same basic thing) EVERY time they have a mass EXCEPT on Good Friday (the day that Christ was crucified and buried). You may take communion in a Catholic church ONLY IF YOU ARE A BAPTIZED CATHOLIC although if you are an Episcopalian you may take communion if you get the Priest's permisson before the mass. What was 'done' at the Last Supper? It was a TRADITIONAL SEDER to 'celebrate' the Jews leaving Egypt and going to the 'promised land' we now call Israel. 3. What was 'said' at the Last Supper? Read your Bible ... read it in ALL of the translations ... this is where the churches, and most clearly the Catholic church gets the words said at EVERY 'communion' or Eucharist. No, I'm NOT going to give you 'chapter and verse' because I want you to HAVE TO SEARCH for those 'lines' ... because you'll have to 'read' and that is a GOOD THING for ANYONE ... even an Atheist or agnostic. This is part of our HISTORY ... and learning history should help us not have to 'do it all over again' ...

Answer 3

In Catholicism, when the priest consecrated the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, we believe wholeheartdly that this is the living Christ, not a symbol.When we eat of the bread and drink of the wine, we receive Christ and become onewith Him.When you receive the communion bread the priest will say, "the Body of Christ", and the person person receiving it will respond, "Amen".When you are handed the chalice containing the wine, the priest will say, "the Blood of Christ", and the receipitant will respond, "Amen".

Answer 4

A study of the Lord’s Supper is a soul-stirring experience because of the depth of meaning that it portrays. It was during the age-old celebration of the Passover on the eve of His death that He instituted a new significant fellowship meal that we observe to this day, and is the highest expression of Christian worship. It is an “acted out sermon,” remembering our Lord’s death and resurrection, and looking to the future for His return in glory.



The Passover was the most sacred feast of the Jewish religious year. It commemorated the final plague on Egypt when the firstborn of the Egyptians died and the Israelites were spared because of the blood of a lamb was sprinkled on their doorposts. The lamb then was roasted and eaten with unleavened bread. God’s command was that throughout the generations to come the feast would be celebrated. The story is recorded in Exodus 12.



During the celebration, Jesus and the disciples sang together one or more of the Hallel Psalms (Psalms 111 – 118). Jesus, taking a loaf of bread, gave thanks to God. As He broke it and gave it to them, He said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you.” In the same way He took the cup, and when He had supped and gave the cup to them, they drank of it. He said, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood; do this whenever you drink of it in remembrance of Me.” He concluded the feast by singing a hymn and they went out into the night to the Mount of Olives. It was there that Jesus was betrayed, as predicted, by Judas. The following day He was crucified.



The accounts of the Lord’s Supper are found in the Gospels in Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:17-25, Luke 22:7-22, and John 13:21-30. The Apostle Paul wrote concerning the Lord’s Supper by divine revelation in 1 Corinthians 11:23-29. (This was because Paul was not, of course, in the upper room at its institution.) Paul includes a statement not found in the Gospels: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself” (11:27-29). We may ask what it means to partake of the bread and the cup “in an unworthy manner.” It may mean to disregard the true meaning of the bread and cup, and forgetting the tremendous price our Savior paid for our salvation. Or it may mean to allow the ceremony to become a dead and formal ritual, or to come to the Table with unconfessed sin. In keeping with Paul’s instruction, each should examine himself before eating of the bread and drinking of the cup so as to heed the warning.



Another statement Paul made that is not included in the Gospels is “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (11:26). This places a time limit on the ceremony – until our Lord’s return. From these brief accounts we learn how Jesus used two of the frailest of elements as symbols of His body and blood, and initiated them to be a monument to His death. It was not a monument of carved marble or molded brass, but of bread and grape juice.



He declared that the bread spoke of His body which would be broken – there was not a broken bone, but His body was so badly broken that it was hardly recognizable (Psalm 22:12-17, Isaiah 53:4-7). The grape juice spoke of His blood, indicating the terrible death He would soon experience. He, the perfect Son of God, became the fulfillment of the countless Old Testament prophecies concerning a Redeemer (Genesis 3:15, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, etc.) When He said, “This do in remembrance of Me,” indicated this was a ceremony that must be continued in the future. It indicated also that the Passover, which required the death of a lamb and looked forward to the coming of the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, was now obsolete. The New Covenant took its place when Christ, the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), was sacrificed (Hebrews 8:8-13). The sacrificial system was no longer needed (Hebrews 9:25-28).

Recommended Resource: The Lord's Supper is a Celebration of Grace by Gordon Keddie.

Answer 5

Read carefully and prayfully in Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed [it], and brake [it], and gave [it] to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
26:30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
This is to honor Christ's death, burrial and resurrection until He comes and we as Seventh Day Adventist Christinans also do the foot washing as Jesus did before He did that service of communion, find out more what God really teaches in free on line bible lessons www.amazingfacts.org talk to me also [e-mail] God bless

Answer 6

For us Catholics it usually refers to the real and living presence of Christ in the Eucharist, it can also mean to come together as the body of Christ in common worship and prayer,ie to be in communion with Christ and one another.
It can also have other meaning to different Christian denominations.

Answer 7

IT IS JUST FAKE BECAUSE JESUS WAS A PROPHET OF ALLAH NOT GOD WHY DONT U PEOPLE UNDERSTAND
BUT WITHIN I KNOW IT IS THE PART WHEN THE SMALL INNOCENT CHILDREN GET READY TO GO TO HELL BECAUSE IT IS THE TIME WHEN THEY BECOME CHRISTIANS IT IS CELEBRATED IN APRIL MONTH EATING BREAD WHICH IS GIVEN TO THEM TO EAT AND IT HAS NO SIGNIFICANCE THAT IS IMPORTANCE IT IS VERY BAD

Answer 8

It's another catholic ritual.