A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. Priests have been known since the earliest times and in the simplest societies (see shaman and oracle). There are priests in some branches of Christianity, Shintoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and many others, though each culture has a local denomination for the priestly office. Priests are generally regarded as having good contact with the deities of the religion ...

Including:

• Priest - In Judaism
• Priest - In Christianity
• Priest - Catholic & Orthodox
• Priest - Protestant
• Priest - Anglican Communion
• Priest - Quaker
• Priest - Dress

Read more here: » Priest: Encyclopedia - Priest

Communion In Christian Churches, the sacrament of the Eucharist, an ancient pagan rite early adopted by Christendom. It originally signified communion of the human self with its inner god, a state attained more or less perfectly during initiation, or by those who have attained the power thus to communicate, and symbolized in the Mysteries by ceremonial rites similar to those which the Church has borrowed.

See also BREAD AND WINE

(See also: Communion, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Some denominations, like the United Methodist Church, offer communion to anyone, regardless of their religion. Other churches allow members of other Christian denominations to receive communion, but advise non-Christians not to receive. Generally, churches that offer open communion to other Christians do not require an explicit affirmation of Christianity from the communicant before distributing the elements; the act of receiving is an implicit affirmation. Some churches make an announcement before communion begins such as "We invite all who have profess ...

See also:

Open communion, Open communion - Affirmation, Open communion - Supporting Belief, Open communion - Practitioners

Read more here: » Open communion: Encyclopedia II - Open communion - Affirmation

A closed-communion church is one that (perhaps with exceptions in unusual circumstances) excludes non-members from receiving communion. The Roman Catholic church (and all churches that are in full communion with the Holy See, including the Latin and Eastern rites) is a closed-communion church. The Eastern Orthodox Church, comprising 16 autocephalous Orthodox hierarchical churches, is another closed-communion church. Thus, a member of the Russian Orthodox Church attending the Divine Liturgy in a Greek Orthodox Church, will be allowed t ...

See also:

Closed communion, Closed communion - Definition, Closed communion - Examples and applications, Closed communion - Usage note

Read more here: » Closed communion: Encyclopedia II - Closed communion - Definition

In the Early Church, everyone who attended the full Mass was expected to receive the Eucharist; catechumens and penitents were not present for the Consecration. At that time, both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church permitted and encouraged parents to present their children to receive the Eucharist. The Apostolic Constitutions (fourth century) instruct that children are to receive communion after the various orders of clergy and consecrate ...

See also:

Infant communion, Infant communion - Theology, Infant communion - History, Infant communion - Catholicism, Infant communion - Eastern Orthodoxy, Infant communion - Protestant Denominations

Read more here: » Infant communion: Encyclopedia II - Infant communion - History

Most Protestant and Independent Christian churches practice open communion. It is official policy in the United Methodist Church, Episcopal Church in the USA, Metropolitan Community Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Notable exceptions include the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, some churches of the Southern Baptist Convention, conservative Churches of Christ, and some Reformed tradition churches. All these t ...

See also:

Open communion, Open communion - Affirmation, Open communion - Supporting Belief, Open communion - Practitioners

Read more here: » Open communion: Encyclopedia II - Open communion - Practitioners

The practice of allowing infants and children to receive the Eucharist has fallen into disfavor in the Roman Catholic Church. Catholics generally refrain from infant communion and instead have a special ceremony when the child receives his or her First Communion, usually around the age of seven or eight years old. This is in accordance with the Code of Canon Law (followed in the Roman Rite), which states: The administration of the Most Holy Eucharist to children requires that they have sufficient knowledge and careful prepara ...

See also:

Infant communion, Infant communion - Theology, Infant communion - History, Infant communion - Catholicism, Infant communion - Eastern Orthodoxy, Infant communion - Protestant Denominations

Read more here: » Infant communion: Encyclopedia II - Infant communion - Catholicism

Flower Communion was initiated by Norbert Capek, who was also the founder of the Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia. He saw the need to unite the diverse congregants of his church, from varying Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish backgrounds, without alienating those who had left these traditions. For this reason he rejected the Eucharist. The Flower Communion instead borrows from the universal beauty of nature. The first Flower Communion was on June 4, 1923. The Flower Communion was later adopted by the American Unitarian churches and their successo ...

See also:

Flower Communion, Flower Communion - History, Flower Communion - A sample Flower Communion, Flower Communion - Symbolism

Read more here: » Flower Communion: Encyclopedia II - Flower Communion - History

First Communion is most often celebrated by children around the age of seven or eight, when they have reached the age of reason and are capable of participating in the sacramental life of the Catholic Church. First Communion is to be preceded by the sacraments of baptism and reconciliation. If a person has not been baptized as a baby or small child, they will usually be baptized shortly before their First Communion. According to the decree released by Pope Pius X in 1910, entitled "Quam Singulari", the sacrament of penance must be rec ...

See also:

First Communion, First Communion - Sacrament, First Communion - Traditions

Read more here: » First Communion: Encyclopedia II - First Communion - Sacrament

First Communion is traditionally a big event for Catholic families. Traditions surrounding First Communion usually include large family gatherings and parties to celebrate the child's First Communion. Special clothing is usually worn. The clothing is often white, to symbolize purity. Girls, especially, wear fancy dresses and often a veil attached to a headdress, as well as white gloves (long or short). The veil symbolizes the tablecloth used at the Last Supper and the dress the robes that Jesus wore. In some communities in the ...

See also:

First Communion, First Communion - Sacrament, First Communion - Traditions

Read more here: » First Communion: Encyclopedia II - First Communion - Traditions

Main article: see History of the Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a relatively recent concept. Ever since the Church of England (which until the 20th century included the Church in Wales) broke from Rome in the reign of Henry VIII, it has thought of itself not as a new foundation but rather as a reformed continuation of the ancient "English church" and a reassertion of that church's rights. ...

See also:

Anglican Communion, Anglican Communion - What holds the Communion together?, Anglican Communion - History, Anglican Communion - Recent controversies, Anglican Communion - Relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion - Related topics

Read more here: » Anglican Communion: Encyclopedia II - Anglican Communion - History

Background Christianity Protestant Reformation Apostolic Succession Roman Catholicism Episcopal structure People Thomas Cranmer Henry VIII Richard Hooker "Instruments of Unity" Archbishop of Canterbury Lambeth Conferences Anglican Consultative Council Primates' Meeting Liturgy and Worship Book of Common Prayer High Church · Low Church< ...

See also:

Anglican Communion, Anglican Communion - What holds the Communion together?, Anglican Communion - History, Anglican Communion - Recent controversies, Anglican Communion - Relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion - Related topics

Read more here: » Anglican Communion: Encyclopedia II - Anglican Communion - What holds the Communion together?

Communion is a term that Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians apply to partaking of the consecrated bread and wine, not to the Eucharistic sacrament as a whole. However, Protestant groups (originating in the Protestant Reformation) use this to refer to whole rite. The word Communicant is often used in reference to someone who does receive the sacrament of communion. With reference to the Eucharist the fuller term Holy Communion is typically used. Some may also avoid the term sacrament, preferring ordinance: not a channel of grace but an expr ...

See also:

Communion Christian, Communion Christian - Eucharistic usage, Communion Christian - Biblical usage

Read more here: » Communion Christian: Encyclopedia II - Communion Christian - Eucharistic usage

Many Mainline Protestants practice open communion, in which the Eucharist is offered to people without discrimination of age or denominational status. In these churches, while the very young often commune, it is unusual for infants to receive the sacrament. Denominations which practice closed communion generally deny the sacrament to those not members of their congregation or denomination, regardless of age. In churches where membership is often not permitted until the teenage y ...

See also:

Infant communion, Infant communion - Theology, Infant communion - History, Infant communion - Catholicism, Infant communion - Eastern Orthodoxy, Infant communion - Protestant Denominations

Read more here: » Infant communion: Encyclopedia II - Infant communion - Protestant Denominations

The greek term is found, as a noun or in its adjectival or verbal forms, in 43 verses of the New Testament. The noun is found additionally in some manuscripts (used for producing the English translation known as the King James Version, but not for more recent translations) in Ephesians 3:9. For the New Testament writers the word κοινωνία has religious overtones, which ecclesiastical usage since then has further intensified. The communion, sharing or fellowship, according to the context, refers to one or other of: ...

See also:

Communion Christian, Communion Christian - Eucharistic usage, Communion Christian - Biblical usage

Read more here: » Communion Christian: Encyclopedia II - Communion Christian - Biblical usage

In the Orthodox Church, any person of any age receives the Eucharist as soon as possible after their baptism and chrismation, usually at the next Divine Liturgy. Infants and children are not usually required to fast or go to confession before communion until they are old enough to be aware of their sins, usually eight to nine years old. In the Orthodox practice, the consecrated bread and wine are placed together in the chalice, and the priest administers the Eucharist with a small spoon. Infants typically receive a small amount of con ...

See also:

Infant communion, Infant communion - Theology, Infant communion - History, Infant communion - Catholicism, Infant communion - Eastern Orthodoxy, Infant communion - Protestant Denominations

Read more here: » Infant communion: Encyclopedia II - Infant communion - Eastern Orthodoxy

If a Roman Catholic marries a Syriac Orthodox Christian in a Syriac Orthodox church, the priests in both churches may allow the Roman Catholic to receive communion from the Orthodox priest at the wedding. [1] The Holy See recognizes the validity of Eastern Orthodox sacraments and poses conditions under which Catholics may receive them. [2] A Catholic priest would deny permission for a Catholic to receive communion in a Protestant church, since the eucharist in Protestant churches is considered invalid because the minister was not properly or ...

See also:

Closed communion, Closed communion - Definition, Closed communion - Examples and applications, Closed communion - Usage note

Read more here: » Closed communion: Encyclopedia II - Closed communion - Examples and applications

The Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church (and those bodies in full communion with it) has no official policy about the sacraments and the developmentally disabled as such. The nearest parallel can be found in the principles relating to infant communion, specifically, the age of reason. According to the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article on Communion of Children: "In the best-supported view of theologians this phrase means, not the attainment of a definite number of years, but rather the arrival at a certain s ...

See also:

Communion and the Developmentally Disabled, Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - History, Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - Catholicism, Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - Orthodox Christianity, Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - Protestantism

Read more here: » Communion and the Developmentally Disabled: Encyclopedia II - Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - Catholicism

The only branches of the Anglican communion with unbroken history stretching back to the pre-reformation Catholic church are to be found in the British Isles: the Church of England (along with the Church in Wales which was part of the Church of England until the 20th century), Church of Ireland, and Scottish Episcopal Church. As its name suggests, the Scottish situation is unique; the national Church of Scotland is Presbyterian and for some years in the late 17th and early 18 centuries the Episcopal Church, despite its similarities to the Church of England, was regarded with some suspicion because of its occasional a ...

See also:

History of the Anglican Communion, History of the Anglican Communion - Origins, History of the Anglican Communion - The Church in the colonies, History of the Anglican Communion - Provincial organization, History of the Anglican Communion - Freedom from state control, History of the Anglican Communion - Spiritual autonomy, History of the Anglican Communion - Pan-Anglican Congress

Read more here: » History of the Anglican Communion: Encyclopedia II - History of the Anglican Communion - Origins

Orthodox Christianity makes the Eucharist available to all baptized and chrismated church members who wish to receive it, regardless of developmental or other disabilities. The theory is that the soul of the recipient understands what is being received even if the conscious mind is incapable of doing so, and that the grace imparted by Communion "for the healing of soul and body" is a benefit that most especially should not be denied in such c ...

See also:

Communion and the Developmentally Disabled, Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - History, Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - Catholicism, Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - Orthodox Christianity, Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - Protestantism

Read more here: » Communion and the Developmentally Disabled: Encyclopedia II - Communion and the Developmentally Disabled - Orthodox Christianity

By degrees, also, the relations of colonial churches to the archbishop of Canterbury have changed. Until 1855 no colonial bishop was consecrated outside the British Isles, the first instance being Dr. MacDougall of Labuan, consecrated in India under a commission from the archbishop of Canterbury; and until 1874 it was held to be unlawful for a bishop to be consecrated in England without taking the suffragan's oath of due obedience. This necessity was removed by the Colonial Clergy Act of 1874, w ...

See also:

History of the Anglican Communion, History of the Anglican Communion - Origins, History of the Anglican Communion - The Church in the colonies, History of the Anglican Communion - Provincial organization, History of the Anglican Communion - Freedom from state control, History of the Anglican Communion - Spiritual autonomy, History of the Anglican Communion - Pan-Anglican Congress

Read more here: » History of the Anglican Communion: Encyclopedia II - History of the Anglican Communion - Spiritual autonomy