The Eucharist                     

(Holy Communion

The Eucharist What it is.

Sometimes called the “Mass” or “Communion” or “The Lord’s Supper” or the “Blessed Sacrament”. Jesus’ last command to His disciples was that they should “DO this in memory of me”, they should eat the bread and wine which have been consecrated (specially blessed) s

o that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord. In this way, Christians share in the death and resurrection of Jesus – this memorial (“anamnesis”) is not just  thinking about past events, it is the way Jesus comes to us now and we share in His Life.
The Eucharist at S. Francis.
At St Francis, we have two versions of Eucharist, Said and Sung. The Sung service on a Sunday is the main service for the Christian family (that’s all Christians - families, singles, everyone). At 8 o’clock on a Sunday we have a quieter, traditional language service and for those who cannot come on a Sunday morning or who wish to spend more time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, there are quiet weekday Eucharist services
The Contents of the Eucharist.
The service breaks down into four parts. These are:The Gathering
We come together and prepare to worship God. This includes a time to say sorry for the wrong we have done God and our neighbour.
The Liturgy of the Word
“Liturgy” means “service”, here we do service to God as we listen to His Word.
Our prayers and thoughts from the Gathering are brought together in the Collect. Then we hear the word of God from the Bible and its meaning is brought home to us in the Sermon. We assent to God’s word in the Creed (a statement of what we believe) and in loving trust we bring our needs and the needs of the world to God in prayer.
The Liturgy of the Sacrament
A sacrament is a physical means ordered by God through which we receive His grace (His life and love). In this sacrament the bread and wine are consecrated by the priest according to Jesus’ command - they become His sacramental Body and Blood.
By way of preparation the bread and wine are brought to the altar as a sign of the offering of our hearts to God. Then the priest leads the people’s prayer as we praise and thank God for the good things He has done for us.
When we sing “Holy, holy, holy” we join our worship to the worship of God in i$~ heaven. Then the priest,  as Jesus’ representative, prays for the Spirit of
God to come on the Bread and the Wine. He consecrates the bread and wine through Jesus’ words so that they become part of Jesus’ eternal offering of Himself in Love to the Father. The priest offers more prayers to God and asks that the Spirit may also rest upon God’s people. At the end of this great prayer we show our assent by singing “Amen”.
We now prepare ourselves to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord 

(“communion”) by saying the Lord’s Prayer and asking for His help. We make our communion and Jesus is given to us.
The Dismissal
After God has given Himself to us we finish with a final prayer that we may now be strengthened to live with His life.