The Breaking Of The Bread (He Broke)

Not only is Christ the broken bread: the church also is to become the bread broken for others.

In the early church a prominent position was given to the third part of the Table, the breaking of the bread. Breaking bread was so central that the entire service of the Table in the primitive community was named the breaking of the bread (Acts 2:42). Paul interpreted the bread as a sign of Christ, the Bread of Life, in whom the many people of the church are made one body (1 Cor. 10:17). The Didache, a document dating around the turn of the first century, preserves an early Christian prayer over the bread, a prayer that shows the significance of the unity of the body of Christ expressed in the loaf "as this piece [of bread] was scattered over the hills and then was brought together and made one, so let your church be brought together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. For yours is the glory and the power through Jesus, your child forever." Accordingly, the entire tradition of the church affirms that the bread should be made of wheat (current practice is returning to the use of a full loaf of bread made of wheat and water). The broken bread is the symbol of Christ broken for his people, the church, the body united with him in his death and resurrection. After the breaking of the bread, an antiphonal anthem may be sung by the choir and the people. Then the celebrant or minister invites the people to come and receive the bread and wine.