Receiving (not taking) Communion: Difference between revisions

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The '''Rite of Communion''' is the summation of the Liturgy of the Eucharist in which the failthful receive the


Even from Catholics, one may hear the Rite of Communion referred to -- incorrectly -- as "taking Communion."
In Catholic terminology one "receives" and does not "take" Holy Communion. The Holy Eucharist, i.e., the Body and Blood of Christ, are "distributed" by a Eucharistic Minister (a priest, deacon,  or "extraordinary minister").


A source of the confusion may stem from the verb "partake", which is used for reception of Communion by many Protestant churches. The use of "partake," however, is deliberately distinct from "recieve", indicating "sharing in" or "participating" as opposed to reception, so even in the Protestant sense of "sharing" Communion with the Lord, "receiving" is incomplete, at best.
The notion of "distribution" of the Eucharist comes from the Epistle, ''Ad Smyrn'', by Saint Ignatious of Antioch, written around 90 A.D. In describing
 
This website is uninterested in apologetic debates (i.e., Catholic v. Protestant, etc.), so we will not get further into the Protestant choice of words here, and, instead, focus on Catholic teaching of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and Sacraments in general.  


== Receiving Communion ==
== Receiving Communion ==