By Paul Inwood, July 26, 2025
GIRM 86 sets out the three purposes of what is sung during the Communion procession. These are “to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the “communitarian” character of the procession to receive the Eucharist.”
While much effort has been expended on commenting on the first and third of these purposes, the second purpose has been somewhat overlooked: “to show gladness of heart” (in Latin, gaudium cordis demonstrare). What do we think this might imply?
Our default setting for the time of Communion is often one of hushed reverence. A proportion of people expect this to be a devotional time, more accurately a personal devotional time. Thus the music we may be expected to use will be quiet, reverential, devotional, occasionally even mournful. It will not disturb those who wish to concentrate on their personal encounter with the Risen Lord, but will provide a sonic backdrop for their prayer and devotion.
All this comes from a preconciliar conception of what Communion is all about. We could describe it as “me and Jesus”. But a postconciliar understanding of the time of Communion (“the spiritual union of the communicants”, and “the communitarian character of the procession”) shows that this is not so much about “me and Jesus” as “we and Jesus”. Receiving Communion is something that we all do together, as parts of the worshipping body. It is not a time for shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world so that we can focus on the Lord. The Body of Christ is present in all of us as we process, this presence to be made more intensely manifest in the action of receiving his body and blood together. It has even been suggested that when the minister says to us “The Body of Christ”, we should respond “Yes, we are!”
In the preconciliar understanding, motets such as Panis angelicus and Ave verum corpus fitted in appropriately, focusing on the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Today, the Church is asking for something different. How are we going to express gladness of heart?
One text which might start us on our journey is this hymn by Brian Wren.
I come with joy to meet my Lord,
forgiven, loved, and free,
in awe and wonder to recall
his life laid down for me.
I come with Christians far and near
to find, as all are fed,
the new community of love
in Christ’s communion bread.
As Christ breaks bread and bids us share,
each proud division ends.
That love that made us makes us one,
and strangers now are friends.
And thus with joy we meet our Lord.
His presence, always near,
is in such friendship better known:
we see, and praise him here.
Together met, together bound
we’ll go our different ways,
and as his people in the world,
we’ll live and speak his praise.
Brian A. Wren (b. 1936), © 1971, Hope Publishing Company
Though this begins with the personal (“I come with joy to meet my Lord”) in stanzas 1 and 2, it moves to the communal (“And thus with joy we meet our Lord”) in stanzas 3 and 4. Not only that but stanza 5 moves us on still further, from Communion to mission.
One drawback is that this is a hymn form and thus requires the communicants to process with books or papers (assuming no projection screens). It is more difficult to receive, especially from the chalice, with a hymnal tucked under one’s arm.
The ideal Communion processional is either easily memorizable — for example a Taizé chant — or includes a memorable refrain for those in the procession, without the need for books or pieces of paper, the verses being sung by the cantor or choir. Many examples in this form exist in our repertoires today, but comparatively few could be said to express gladness or joy of heart.
Fortunately one possibility is Psalm 33/34: “Taste and see that the Lord is good… I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on my lips…. Glorify the Lord with me. Together let us praise his name…” and so on. The communitarian nature of this text is notable, and it should not be viewed as a coincidence that this is the archetypal Communion psalm.
Those who resist the communal aspect to liturgical texts frequently do not realize, perhaps because they are not truly listening, that the language of the Eucharistic Prayer itself is “we” language throughout, and this language should continue into Communion as a culmination of what happens in the Eucharistic Prayer.
I suspect that many would also resist more joyful songs and psalms during the time of Communion, and yet it also makes better sense structurally. If the Eucharistic Prayer is one joyful climax in our celebration, then Communion should create another even more joyful climax as we move towards taking Christ into the world. The song of thanksgiving that may follow the distribution could even be a further crescendo, prompting us to burst out of the church, inspired with missionary zeal! All this may require a liturgical revolution in the pews!
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