Breaking of the bread

[rivera01]

This might be a dumb question, but I started to think about this, and I was wondering. During the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest says that Christ took the bread, gave thanks, and breaks it. Why doesnt the priest break the bread at that point?

 

[laszlo]

This might be a dumb question, but I started to think about this, and I was wondering. During the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest says that Christ took the bread, gave thanks, and breaks it. Why doesnt the priest break the bread at that point?

The answer is: tempora mutatuntur and we mutamur in illis.

The ancient Masses were breaking the bread and distributing it to those present. As the number of the Christians was growing this became inconvenient, the consecration was surrounded by a long prayer the Canon, and the communion became a separate event. Between the reformation and St Pius X the communion of the laity became even scarce, once a year

 

[NeedImprovement]

This might be a dumb question, but I started to think about this, and I was wondering. During the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest says that Christ took the bread, gave thanks, and breaks it. Why doesnt the priest break the bread at that point?

It isn’t a dumb question rivera01 - it’s a valid one, a good one… EWTN provides a fairly good answer for it here

 

[rivera01]

Thank you all, makes sense now.