In The Cathedral - Communion

For this social lens series we are looking at religious sites and how people relate to these places.

As we have seen, rituals play a most central and important role at religious places. There are many different rituals and methods of procedure which simplify and structure actions of worship. Another important ritual in Catholic churches is the communion. Let's have a closer look!

The Communion is a ritual in which a believer comes directly into contact with god. As such, it is in stark contrast with other rituals or rites which are mostly symbolic in nature.

In the case of communion, they believe once the priest has blessed the wine and the bread, the wine becomes Jesus’ blood and the bread becomes His flesh. https://www.gotquestions.org/real-presence.html

Communion normally takes place at the end of a mass (in Catholic churches) and therefore concludes the whole ceremony in which preachers and believers sing, pray and read from the bible.

The long robes and colorful displays make for a very authoritative appearance

We see an example of communion in these pictures in which a priest hands out pieces of bread. Note that wine is absent. This is because of organizational efforts. Wine is also often substituted with grape juice (especially when children or young adults are present).

It is common to cross oneself after consuming the bread and/or wine. The act symbolizes the communion of the holy spirit, Jesus Christ and God, i.e. the trinity. It is a gesture that seems to have come about through observation. Probably from early on one sees this movement of the hands and learns to connect it to the ceremony. In fact, observation plays a very important part in learning rituals. Mainly through the eyes and ears one can observe them and then repeat them. Peronal faith as well as social expectation seem to be factors which drive these actions and ultimately lead to the completion of these rituals.