Communion Rite: Agnus Dei

The next part of the Mass is the Agnus Dei, which is Latin for “Lamb of God.” It is actually three rituals: the breaking of the bread, the commingling of the Body and Blood of Christ, and the reciting of the prayer “Lamb of God.”

The priest here breaks the Eucharist host in a symbolic action known as the “fraction” or the breaking of bread. This goes back to an ancient Jewish ritual where the head of the home, at the start of a meal, would take bread, recite a blessing, and then break it and share it with those present. This was also of great importance to early Christians who associated it with the Eucharist. Today, when the priest breaks the Eucharist host, this ritual brings to mind the grand tradition of breaking bread – from the Old Testament, to Jesus’ practice when feeding the crowds, to the Last Supper, to the breaking of bread on the walk to Emmaus, to the Apostles and the early Church, down to the present day.

After breaking the host, the priest places a small piece into the chalice while quietly saying, “May this mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it.” The separate consecrations of the bread and wine during the Mass symbolize the separation of Christ’s body and blood in His death, whereas the ritual of a piece of host placed with the wine, known as the “commingling,” expresses the reunion of Christ’s body and blood in his resurrection. Hence, may it “bring eternal life to us who receive it.”

While the priest performs the rite of breaking the host and the commingling, we the people sing or say the prayer “Lamb of God.” It is very fitting that we recite this prayer at this precise moment of the Mass. While the priest breaks the host, we join John the Baptist in recognizing Jesus as the Servant-Lamb who offers his life as a sacrifice for our sins, as one whose sacrifice made many righteous. We thus also call Jesus “Lamb of God” and say to Him that through His death, “you take away the sins of the world.”

The “Lamb of God” also includes the repeated plea, “have mercy on us,” similar to the Kyrie. The third time that Jesus is addressed as “Lamb of God,” the cry for mercy is changed to a petition for peace (“grant us peace”). This links the “Lamb of God” prayer to the sign of peace just given and anticipates the unity that will be forged, right afterwards, in receiving the Eucharist at Communion.