Following the Great Amen, which concludes the Eucharistic Prayer portion of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we now move into the Communion Rite. Gathered around the table of the Lord whereupon Christ is truly present in the Eucharistic elements, we stand and join our voices (sung or spoken) in the prayer that Jesus himself taught us, the Our Father. This prayer has been part of the Mass since around the 4th century. It serves as an appropriate preparation to receive the Eucharist since the Our Father includes a petition to give us “our daily bread” which can be understood in part to be a reference to the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ we are preparing to receive. It also includes the petition to “forgive us our trespasses” or in other words to purify us from our sin, so that we may be holy in order to receive what is holy. And finally we pray to forgive “those who trespass against us” – an acknowledgement that as we receive communion, we must be in right relationship with the people around us with whom we share communion. The priest then continues with a prayer known as the Embolism (Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil…) An embolus is an “insertion” or “wedge.” A medical embolism is an obstruction in a blood vessel caused by foreign material such as a blood clot or air bubble too large to pass through. During a Leap Year, February 29 is an embolism into the regular calendar. So this prayer is “wedged” between the Our Father and the Doxology, separating the two and at the same time forming a bridge between them. In some Christian traditions the Doxology follows immediately upon the Our Father each time it is prayed. In our tradition, however, we keep them distinct from one another since the Doxology is not technically a part of the Lord’s Prayer. Finally, we pray together the Doxology (For the kingdom, the power, …) an acclamation of praise which expresses our anticipation of the second coming of the Lord in glory.