After communion there is always a pause. We have just shared in bread and wine, we have remembered Christ’s death and resurrection, we have received his life into our own. It would be strange to rush away without giving thanks.
That is why the service includes a prayer after communion. This tradition goes back a very long way. In the early church, when Christianity became legal and Christians began to gather in larger public buildings, it was natural to add a prayer at the end of the meal – a prayer of thanksgiving and dedication, before the dismissal. By the fifth century in the Roman rite, this prayer usually asked for grace to persevere in the Christian life. The Church of England’s Prayer Book of 1549 carried on this tradition with a fixed Prayer of Thanksgiving. Later versions moved the pieces around – sometimes placing the Lord’s Prayer here, sometimes the Gloria – but always the heart of it was the same: to pause, to give thanks, and to ask for strength to live out what we have just received.
In Common Worship today there are proper post-communion prayers provided for each Sunday and feast, as well as some general prayers that can be used at any time. The one we often use begins:
“Father of all, we give you thanks and praise, that when we were still far off you met us in your Son and brought us home.”
These words echo the parable of the prodigal son. Humanity had wandered far from God, yet the Father ran to meet us in Christ and welcomed us home. Communion is not something we achieve – it is pure grace, God’s gift to the undeserving.
The prayer continues: “Dying and living, he declared your love, gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory.” Here the whole story of salvation is summed up in just a few words: the cross, the resurrection, and the new life opened for us through Christ.
Then comes the part that looks forward. “May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world.” Notice the movement: from receiving to living, from gift to responsibility. Communion is never meant to end with us. What we have received we are called to share – in acts of love, in bringing life where there is hurt, in shining as light in the world.
The prayer goes on: “Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us, so we and all your children shall be free, and the whole earth live to praise your name.” That hope is not just for us individually, but for the whole creation. Communion points us forward to the great banquet at the end of time, when all God’s children are gathered, and the earth itself is renewed.
So what is the prayer after communion for? It is a hinge between the table and the world, between worship and daily life. It takes what we have just done – receiving Christ – and asks that it will bear fruit in us, in our community, and in all creation.
That is why it matters to pause and pray these words together. Communion is not just about being fed; it is about being sent. And in this prayer we ask that the grace we have received will flow through us, so that our lives become thanksgiving – living to the praise of God’s name.