munion of the Blood of Christ?" (I Cor. 10:16).  By receiving the precious Blood of the Lord, when we make our Communions we are made one with him who poured forth his Blood in sacrifice for us. The one cup is a further sign of the unity of the Church, and the Church itself is a sacrificial Body offering itself in union with its Lord for the redemption of the world. Christ is the true vine: we live by His life, as the branches live by their union with the vine; and as the branches bring forth their fruit because they are living in the vine, so our lives can bring forth good fruit through being renewed by his life in the Holy Communion. "Without me ye can do nothing," Our Lord said, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13).

THE POST-COMMUNION PRAYER

After the salutation "Let us pray," the Priest sings the Post-Communion prayer. The congregation responds with the Prayer of Thanksgiving for the gift of Holy Communion.

Thanksgiving is an integral part of all Christian prayer. As in supplication we entreat God for his mercies, so in thanksgiving we acknowledge our indebtedness to him for the goodness he has shown to us. Like supplication, thanksgiving ought to extend to the whole of our needs. We have received many gifts and blessings from God, among them none for which our thanks are more due than for the spiritual sustenance of our souls in Holy Communion.

The Eucharistic rite is itself a thanksgiving to God, yet even in the act in which we render him thanksgiving, we receive the greatest benefits of which we are capable. The thanks that we pay in the Post-Communion prayers