Fraction of the Host

FRACTION OF THE HOST. - The rite of breaking the eucharistic Bread in the early Church was a purely ministerial function, an action born of the necessity of breaking the large, round and thin eucharistic Bread into pieces in order to give it in Communion to the faithful. Nor do the Fathers (Cyprian, Augustine, Clement of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem) give this function any special prominence; only St. Augustine mentions prayers during the function. Subsequently another action was joined to this one, that of the immission or commingling of the two consecrated Species (Bread and Wine), preceding their delivery. Quite early, mystical-symbolic meanings became associated with it, to which Theodore of Mopsuestia (d. 428, hom. VI) alludes. In the East, from the 4th century onward, the importance of the f. of the H. diminished and greater prominence was given to the rite of the Consecration and of the commingling; in the West, on the other hand, more importance was given to the rite of the f. of the H., which became richer and more solemn.

The f. of the H. was performed immediately after the Canon, before Communion or in the act of distributing the eucharistic Bread (Hippolytus); among the Copts alone the Bread is broken already before the Consecration, at the word "fregit." In the Eastern liturgies the eucharistic Bread was broken after the recitation of the Pater noster; in the African Latin liturgy, on the other hand (St. Cyprian, St. Augustine), and in the Milanese, Gallican and Mozarabic liturgies, before the Pater noster. In the Roman liturgy, St. Gregory the Great ordered the recitation of the Pater noster before the f. of the H., as in the Eastern liturgies. In the ancient Roman rite the kiss of peace also precedes.

The present Roman rite of the fraction of the eucharistic Bread is not original, but results from a simplification made in the course of the centuries. The ancient rite was more complex.

According to the ancient papal order of the Ordo Romanus I, the pope gives the peace after having recited the Pater noster followed by the embolism, saying "Pax Domini etc."; three crosses were made with the hand over the chalice and the "fermentum" was immitted into it, that is, a consecrated Species coming from a previous Mass (the first traditional Roman commingling). Against Capelle, Andrieu considers the formula "mittit Sancta in eum" original, the archaic recension G of Ordo I being mutilated here (M. Andrieu, op. cit. in bibl., pp. 57-60). While the bishops and priests gave each other the kiss of peace, the pontiff detached a "particle" ("a latere dextro") from the eucharistic Bread (= the first fraction) and placed it on the altar (for the new fermentum, or for the viaticum, or to designate the unity of the species of the Sacrifice on the altar and of the Communion made at the throne; cf. L. Duchesne, op. cit. in bibl., p. 196); the rest of the eucharistic Bread was placed on the paten and carried to the throne. Having left the altar to betake himself to the cathedra, the pope gave the signal to the bishops to continue the f. of the H. begun by him at the altar, that is, that of the other eucharistic Breads in order to prepare the fragments for Communion (= the second f. of the H., properly the most original, characteristic and solemn, because it was performed at the throne). During this function, by order of Pope Sergius I (682-701), the "Agnus Dei" was sung, coming from the Greek liturgy, whereas previously the action took place in silence. Once the f. of the H. was finished, the pope communicated by detaching a new "particle" from the Host (= the third f. of the H.) and let it fall into the chalice for the second commingling, at first done in silence, then accompanied by the formula "Fiat commixtio etc."; afterwards he drank the chalice. Thus in the papal Mass there were three fractions and two comminglings. The first commingling, at the "fermentum," was specifically Roman, and the same holds for the first fraction; the third fraction and the second commingling were done in the Greek-Eastern manner of the commingling of the two consecrated Species as a sign of unity. The immission of the fermentum, that is, of a consecrated Species from a previous Mass, was not omitted even when, the pope being prevented, a bishop took his place (Ordo Romanum, II, 6; M. Andrieu, op. cit., pp. 62 and 112). Originally, this rite seems to be proper to the Masses in the parish churches of Rome to signify unity with the pope; but in the papal Mass, on the other hand, it is secondary, introduced later, so as not to omit anything of the ceremony; the use then became general in all Masses. The symbolic sense of the fermentum in the papal Mass, more than in the parish ones, comes to signify the unity of the Sacrifice and its continuity. There are authors who presuppose this rite of the fermentum also for the Eastern liturgy (cf. A. Jungmann, op. cit. in ibid., p. 363, n. 39). Outside Rome, in the diffusion of the Roman rite, where the use of the fermentum was unknown, in order to fulfill the rite and to have a species to mix, a new fraction of the eucharistic Bread was introduced, that is, a particle was detached from the Host of the same Sacrifice, to avoid a pause, before the "Pax Domini" at the end of the embolism; then it was immitted into the chalice, at the same moment and with the same ceremonies as the fermentum (Ordo III, n. 3; Andrieu, pp. 124-26). It should be noted that the redactor of this Ordo uses here the same words of the rite of the second and third fraction of Ordo I, n. 97 and 107 (Andrieu), thus wishing to constitute these two rites, instead of the three fractions and the two comminglings. Ordo III, n. 3 is the first witness, outside Rome, of the elimination of a characteristic ancient Roman rite, as was the first commingling and the first fraction. It is therefore strange and purely accidental that such ceremonies are performed during the embolism of the "Pater noster," having no relation to the rite attached to it. Thus outside Rome, the simplification of the rites of the fraction and of the commingling began: with the single commingling, that is, the one in which the pope immitted the fermentum into the chalice at the first commingling. Of the rite of the second commingling there remains the prayer "Haec (instead of the "Fiat") commixtio etc.," which is recited immediately after the commingling, at the "Pax Domini." Today's single but double fraction, before the "Pax Domini," corresponds to the first, which was performed before the pope left the altar, and together to the third, before drinking the chalice. In the same way, for this single but double fraction, the Host is today divided, first into two parts, and then the particle to be immitted into the chalice is detached from it; thus the division of the Host into three parts is well explained. Today the celebrant consumes the first and second part; in the Middle Ages, on the other hand, with the second part the celebrant communicated the ministers and kept it as viaticum (Micrologus).

But time passed before reaching this simplification and unification. In the course of the 10th-12th centuries the second and properly true f. of the H. disappeared, both because the number of communicants diminished and because the form of the Host changed and particles were introduced for the Communion of the faithful. The Roman-Germanic pontifical of 950 is the first witness of this (Jungmann, op. cit., pp. 369-70; Ordo X, n. 5; ag.; Andrieu, op. cit., pp. 360-361). Nevertheless traces of this second f. of the H. are preserved, from the 12th century onward (Jungmann, op. cit., p. 370, n. 11). The recitation of the "Agnus Dei" still recalls it today. The second f. of the H. was performed on the paten at the cathedra and over the acolytes' bags, but because of the reduced number of communicants and the smaller form of the Host, the bags disappear and the form of the paten is diminished. In memory of the f. of the H., on the paten, today the Host is placed before the fraction, and, after the fraction, the parts on the paten; but the single double fraction itself, like the pope's third, is performed over the chalice, beginning from the 11th-12th century (Jungmann, p. 374, n. 33). Outside Rome, and the use of the fermentum having ceased also in Rome, one or the other, whether of the first or third fraction of the Host and of the two comminglings, must be suppressed. The Ordines published by Mabillon and Martène and the authors Amalarius (850), John of Avranches (before 1067), the Micrologus of Beroldus (d. 1100), Durandus (d. 1296) are evidence of this uncertainty. Since only one commingling was already in use at the time of Amalarius, some performed the fraction and the commingling before the "Pax Domini" (Ordo VI, n. 59; Andrieu, op. cit., p. 237; Ordo IX, n. 36; Andrieu, ibid., p. 326) without passing over in silence the third fraction and the second commingling (Ord. Off. Eccl. Lateran, of Bernard, 1145); others, on the other hand, having performed the fraction of the Host at the "Pax Domini", inserted the "particle" after the "Agnus Dei" or before the Commingling itself (Martène, Ordo V, n. VII; Sacramentum Ratoldi; Sacramentarium Fuldense, ed. G. Richter-A. Schönfelder, n. 21.22). Finally, after the reform of Innocent III (PL 217, 905), the use still in force today was introduced into the Missal of the Roman Curia, disseminated by the Franciscans; the same holds for the Ordo Altsus of Burchard of 1502. There is one exception, but it corresponds to the ancient custom of not performing the commingling at the altar, when, in the solemn Mass, the pope also places the third "particle" on the paten; then, having left the altar, at the cathedra, after the Commingling of the Eucharistic Bread, he performs the commingling before drinking the chalice (Ordo Rom. XIV, addition; PL 78, 1100-91; Innocent III, De sac. Alt. Myst., I, VI, chap. 9; ibid., 217, 911), at the moment of the third fraction and the second commingling.

The Milanese rite of the fraction of the Host and of the commingling is carried out as in the Roman rite, but after the doxology of the Canon, that is, before the Pater noster, with special formulas; meanwhile the choir sings the "confractorium". In the Gallican liturgy too the Eucharistic Bread is broken before the Pater noster, while the choir sings an antiphon: perhaps there was previously a similar use of the Roman fermentum (Haberstroh, pp. 28-29). In the Mozarabic rite, after the prayer "Post pridie" the celebrant breaks the Bread into two parts, then divides one into 5 and the other into 4 particles; each of which has a special name: 1) corporatio, 2) nativitas; 3) circumcisio; 4) apparitio; 5) pastio; 6) mors; 7) resurrectio; 8) gloria; 9) regnum; the particles are placed on the paten in this order:

The commingling is done after the "Pater noster" and the creed, with particle 9 regnum, with formulas different from those of a feast day.

This rite of the fraction of the Host seems to have come late and strongly recalls the use of the Celtic liturgy. In this liturgy, in fact, after the doxology of the Canon, an "intinctio" of the Bread in the chalice was first performed, as in the Syrian liturgy; there followed the fraction of the Host, even more complex: the number of particles varied according to the character of the day in seven different ways, from 5 particles up to 65 on the feasts of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. The commingling was performed after the "Pater noster". Both in the Mozarabic liturgy and in the Celtic one a "confractorium" was sung. As for the manner of arranging the particles in the form of a cross, used in the Mozarabic and Celtic rite, canon 3 of the Council of Tours of 567 is to be noted, which opposes the manner of arranging the particles in the form of a human figure ("non in imaginario modo") and prescribes the form of the cross ("sub crucis titulo"; Duchesne, p. 232).

In the Eastern liturgy there are three actions coordinated with one another: the fraction of the Host, the delivery and the commingling. From the fraction of the Host, in relation to the commingling, is distinguished the breaking into pieces in order to have particles and give them to the faithful. The Fathers (Basil, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria) knew only the breaking into pieces; of the delivery and the commingling they make no mention. All these rites are found introduced for the first time in the Chaldean and Syrian rite, from the 6th century onward. United with the delivery is the intinction, that is, the Eucharistic Bread is placed in the chalice, but immediately drawn out to moisten the other particles. In the Byzantine rite the Bread is divided into four parts, then placed on the disk (paten) in the form of a cross:

IC
NI-KA
XC

the particle IC is placed in the chalice, then water is poured into it.

Pietro Siffino