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St Agnes Birch-in-Rusholme with St John with St Cyprian Longsight
Church of England Diocese of Manchester
St Agnes Birch-in-Rusholme with St John with St Cyprian Longsight
Church of England Diocese of Manchester
| The Eucharist & Eucharistic Devotion |
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What is the Eucharist?
The Holy Eucharist, Holy Communion, Lord’s Supper, or Mass, is the central act of Christian worship, as the
Incarnation, which it commemorates and to which it responds, is the central Christian belief.
The Eucharist was instituted by our Lord and is one the two principal Sacraments ordained by him.
Sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual graces. In the Eucharist the outward sign is
bread and wine. The thing signified is the Body and Blood of Christ who himself has said, ‘This is My Body:
this is My Blood’. The benefits (or graces) are the strengthening and refreshing of our souls.
The Church of England has always taught (Article 28) that the bread and wine are changed in some way by
the act of consecration. The result of the change effected by the consecration is commonly called the Real
Presence. This Real Presence of Christ is implied by Scripture, and taught by the great teachers of the early
Church, (saints like Cyprian, Gregory, and Augustine – known as The Fathers). They teach us that the living
Christ is personally present, and that we receive him when we receive the consecrated bread and wine.
The Anglican churches traditionally reject the theory of Transubstantiation (the theory that the substance of
bread and wine changes) as well as rejecting the theory that the Eucharist is only a sign of a person’s
Christian profession. The Anglican position is simply that the Eucharist is a mystery which cannot be fully
understood. From Article 28: ‘The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to
have among themselves one to another, but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's death:
insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a
partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ.’
Why Adoration, Procession & Benediction?
It has always been the custom of the Church to spend a time of prayer and adoration after receiving the
Sacrament. The Procession and Adoration which forms part of the Corpus Christi and some other services
are an extension of that prayerful reflection. We remain in the sacramental presence of Christ with
thankfulness for the graces received at this Eucharist, in communion with Christ and with one another, and,
in the words of the hymn, ‘lost in wonder, love and praise’.
The procession becomes a public witness to this presence of Christ in his Church and it is done with
reverence, awe and solemnity so as not to profane the Sacrament. (St Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 11 and
the Church of England guards against this in Article 25 where we are reminded that the Sacrament is for our
use, our life and our salvation, and not for spectacle or show.)
The act of Benediction is, as every act of Blessing is, an act of Christ himself. Ordinarily at the end of each
Eucharist the words of Blessing are given by the priest as a bestowing of God’s blessing and peace on to the
faithful who, having received the Body and Blood of our Lord, now leave the church to carry on Christ’s
saving work. In the silent act of Benediction, where the sign of the Cross is made over the faithful, we receive
a reminder of the healing, saving and blessing power of Christ – the gifts of the Eucharist itself.
All this is not just a re-creation or a remembering of past events. It is certainly not mere ritual, neither is it
theatre. The Eucharist is a liturgy; a work of the whole people of God. It is a drama alive with reality and
transforming power, for it is an act of worship where Christ himself comes to us in Word and Sacrament in
order to transform us into his Body in the world.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen!
The information above is taken from our Corpus Christi service leaflet and might be helpful introduction to
our Eucharistic Adoration services.
The Holy Eucharist, Holy Communion, Lord’s Supper, or Mass, is the central act of Christian worship, as the
Incarnation, which it commemorates and to which it responds, is the central Christian belief.
The Eucharist was instituted by our Lord and is one the two principal Sacraments ordained by him.
Sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual graces. In the Eucharist the outward sign is
bread and wine. The thing signified is the Body and Blood of Christ who himself has said, ‘This is My Body:
this is My Blood’. The benefits (or graces) are the strengthening and refreshing of our souls.
The Church of England has always taught (Article 28) that the bread and wine are changed in some way by
the act of consecration. The result of the change effected by the consecration is commonly called the Real
Presence. This Real Presence of Christ is implied by Scripture, and taught by the great teachers of the early
Church, (saints like Cyprian, Gregory, and Augustine – known as The Fathers). They teach us that the living
Christ is personally present, and that we receive him when we receive the consecrated bread and wine.
The Anglican churches traditionally reject the theory of Transubstantiation (the theory that the substance of
bread and wine changes) as well as rejecting the theory that the Eucharist is only a sign of a person’s
Christian profession. The Anglican position is simply that the Eucharist is a mystery which cannot be fully
understood. From Article 28: ‘The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to
have among themselves one to another, but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's death:
insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a
partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ.’
Why Adoration, Procession & Benediction?
It has always been the custom of the Church to spend a time of prayer and adoration after receiving the
Sacrament. The Procession and Adoration which forms part of the Corpus Christi and some other services
are an extension of that prayerful reflection. We remain in the sacramental presence of Christ with
thankfulness for the graces received at this Eucharist, in communion with Christ and with one another, and,
in the words of the hymn, ‘lost in wonder, love and praise’.
The procession becomes a public witness to this presence of Christ in his Church and it is done with
reverence, awe and solemnity so as not to profane the Sacrament. (St Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 11 and
the Church of England guards against this in Article 25 where we are reminded that the Sacrament is for our
use, our life and our salvation, and not for spectacle or show.)
The act of Benediction is, as every act of Blessing is, an act of Christ himself. Ordinarily at the end of each
Eucharist the words of Blessing are given by the priest as a bestowing of God’s blessing and peace on to the
faithful who, having received the Body and Blood of our Lord, now leave the church to carry on Christ’s
saving work. In the silent act of Benediction, where the sign of the Cross is made over the faithful, we receive
a reminder of the healing, saving and blessing power of Christ – the gifts of the Eucharist itself.
All this is not just a re-creation or a remembering of past events. It is certainly not mere ritual, neither is it
theatre. The Eucharist is a liturgy; a work of the whole people of God. It is a drama alive with reality and
transforming power, for it is an act of worship where Christ himself comes to us in Word and Sacrament in
order to transform us into his Body in the world.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen!
The information above is taken from our Corpus Christi service leaflet and might be helpful introduction to
our Eucharistic Adoration services.
On this page you can find information about
Eucharistic Adoration
more details. Evensong & Benediction in 2010
Sunday 2nd May at 6pm Sunday 5th Sept at 6pm Sunday 7th Nov at 4pm Evening Prayer on these days is taken from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, with hymns, sermon and followed by Benediction. |