Fractio panis (liturgy)


Fractio panis is the rite of breaking the sacramental bread within the Eucharistic celebration before distribution to communicants.

One of four actions

It is almost universally recognized that the rite of breaking the bread is one of the four actions that make up Christian Eucharistic liturgies:
  1. taking bread and wine
  2. giving thanks to God over the bread and wine
  3. breaking the bread
  4. distributing the bread and wine

    Roman Rite

The Catholic Church recommends that the bread for use in the celebration "be made in such a way that the priest at Mass with a congregation is able in practice to break it into parts for distribution to at least some of the faithful". It does not rule out the use of small hosts, "when the number of those receiving Holy Communion or other pastoral needs require it".
It goes on to say: "The action of the fraction or breaking of bread, which gave its name to the Eucharist in apostolic times, will bring out more clearly the force and importance of the sign of unity of all in the one bread, and of the sign of charity by the fact that the one bread is distributed among the brothers and sisters."
The actual rite is described as follows:
The Agnus Dei is "the liturgical chant which from ancient times has been sung at Mass at the time of the fractio panis, or the Breaking of the Bread, which precedes the Communion Rite of both the priest and the people".
At the 2005 assembly of the Synod of Bishops some participants deplored the practice whereby "the Fractio Panis is gradually assuming an inferior role to the peace". In the apostolic exhortation issued by Pope Benedict XVI following that assembly, he said of the sign of peace: "During the Synod of Bishops there was discussion about the appropriateness of greater restraint in this gesture, which can be exaggerated and cause a certain distraction in the assembly just before the reception of Communion. It should be kept in mind that nothing is lost when the sign of peace is marked by a sobriety which preserves the proper spirit of the celebration." On 8 June 2014, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments sent to the presidents of episcopal conferences a letter requesting correction of excesses that had crept in regarding the sign of peace.

Protestant Reformation

Christians symbolize their belief that by breaking the bread. This was a controversial practice among Protestants during the Reformation, as it shocked the sensibilities of Lutherans, who believe Christ's body to be physically present in the Eucharist. Lutherans mocked Calvinists by calling them Stuttenfressers.