In this third and final part of our series on the service of Holy Communion, we look at the Service of the Sacrament itself, beginning with the Sursum Corda ("hearts lifted"), the Prayer of Consecration and its various bits (especially the Words of Institution, the Epiclesis, and the Great Amen), and the actual administration of Communion to the people. We conclude by looking at the various concluding devotions of the rite. 

In this lesson we will explore especially what you might call the Anglican devotional theology of the sacrament. We will not get into the weeds on the various doctrinal subtleties of the sacrament about which Christians disagree, except insofar as our rite intends that the focus of devotion should be less on what happens to the bread (not an unimportant question, but not the most important), and more on obedience to our Lord's express command "take and eat." We explore briefly what he means to offer us in this mystical feeding: union with himself.

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In the second part of this three-part series, we explore the Offertory of the Holy Communion service. This is not merely a plate passed and a pretty anthem sung. This  part of the service extend all the way to the Comfortable Words, and acts as the hinge between the Service of the Word and the Service of the Sacrament.

​Having had faith stirred anew in our hearts by the proclamation of God's word, we now make our approach to his Holy Table by bringing him gifts: our treasure (offering alms), our concerns (praying for the health of his church), our vulnerability (making our humble confession to Almighty God). In short, we bring ourselves, our souls and bodies, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God by the cleansing of his Word.

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In this new three-part series, we explore the liturgy of Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer. As we walk through the the liturgy part by part, we will also stop occasionally to look at the ceremonial we use to adorn the liturgy in its exercise at Holy Trinity.

In our first lesson, we explored first a few contextual matters:

• Thomas Cranmer, our Prayer Book's Reformation-era author
• Vestments, where they come from, and what they mean
• The shape and mechanics of the liturgy in general

In this last section, we explored how the liturgy of Holy Communion can be broken down into three major parts:

• Service of the Word, centered around the Scriptures, designed to prepare us to come to the Lord's Holy Table by kindling faith in us by God's holy Word
• Service of Offering, centered around the offering of bread and wine for Communion, designed to guide our approach to the Holy Table
• Service of the Sacrament, centered around the reception of Holy Communion, whereby we directly encounter the divine

For these three weeks, we will refer to these three parts as 

• The Preparation (Word)
• The Approach (Offertory)
• The Embrace (Sacrament)

We concluded our first week by looking more closely at the Service of the Word

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After rising to power, Joseph is suddenly confronted by the chance to avenge himself on his brothers went they present himself to them, not recognizing him, to buy some of Egypt's surplice grain during a famine. Will he take it? Or will he demonstrate that God has changed him according to his own purposes throughout his many trials? And perhaps more to the point, have Joseph's brothers changed at all from when he last saw them eleven years before?

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