In a wide variety of traditions, spirituality is seen as a path toward one or more of the following: a higher state of awareness, perfection of one's own being, wisdom, or communion with God or with creation.

' I think Thérèse is a rare and beautiful film ... no film has ever before transmitted so involvingly the bliss the mystics describe of communion with God, the intense pleasure a saint like Thérèse felt at her intimacy with Jesus, the deprivation she experienced when He seemed to be absent and the comfort and affection of young women sequestered together ... Cavalier's visual style, the film's restrained spectrum, its dove greys, bistres, waxy whites, recall the quiet images Gwen John painted in Normandy of nuns reading, praying ... Cavalier scans the properties of convent life ...

While it is easy enough to ridicule Hawkins' pronouncement in Pleas Of The Crown from a metaphysical point of view, the concept of the `` oneness '' of a married couple may reflect an abiding belief that the communion between husband and wife is such that their actions are not always to be regarded by the criminal law as if there were no marriage.

This is in full accord with Roman Catholic Church belief that communion under the form of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace.

Protestant beliefs of original sin, the importance of biblical reading and meditation, the acceptableness of church officials marrying, the cleansing of sin only through Christ ’ s sacrifice, and the discrediting of the Catholic belief that during holy communion the sacramental bread actually becomes Jesus ’ physical body, were all major points the Virtues expounded upon in post-Reformation morality plays.

Many Protestant traditions do not share the belief in the Real Presence but otherwise are varied ; for example, they may believe that in the bread and wine, Christ is present only spiritually, not in the sense of a change in substance ( Methodism ) or that the bread and wine of communion are a merely symbolic reminder ( Baptist faith ).

But to the practitioner within those religious belief systems, the religious and spiritual practice remains valid and necessary as " the sacrificial ceremony acts as a medium, a means of communication with the sacred, which enables him to create a link, a communion between him and the invisible powers ".

This belief led to the communion controversy: Because of his conversion experience, Solomon stressed the importance of an open communion which would be used as a converting ordinance.

Since those who have died in the state of grace ( with all mortal sins forgiven ) are members of the communion of saints, it is the belief of the Catholic Church that the living can help those whose purification from their sins is not yet completed not only by prayer but also by obtaining indulgences for them.

They also continue his belief that the divinity of Jesus was progressive, and that the Lord's supper is a mystical spiritual partaking of the body of Christ in open communion.

They contain the expression " communion of saints " in reference to the belief in a mystical bond uniting both the living and the dead in a confirmed hope and love.

The 4th-century Apostles ' Creed states belief in the communion of saints.

Episcopius held that the Nicene fathers did not consider a belief in our Lord's true and proper divinity as an indispensable term of catholic communion ; Bull wrote the Judicium to prove that they did.

Returning, she leads the People in the Gnostic Creed, which announces a belief ( or value ) in the Lord, the Sun, Chaos, Air, Babalon, Baphomet, the Gnostic Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the Miracle of the Mass ( i. e. the Eucharist ), as well as confessions of their birth as incarnate beings and the eternal cycle of their individual lives.

Chinese authorities also have reportedly pressured Catholics to break communion with the Vatican by requiring them to renounce an essential belief in Roman Catholicism, the primacy of the Roman Pontiff.

Chinese authorities also have reportedly pressured Catholics to break communion with the Vatican by requiring them to renounce an essential belief in Roman Catholicism, the primacy of the Roman Pontiff.

The Eastern Catholic Churches, which practice infant communion, have no hesitation in communing the developmentally disabled, agreeing in practice and belief with the Eastern Orthodox Churches ( mentioned in the next section ).

To the kapparot practitioner within this religious belief system, even as in other religious systems requiring forms of sacrifice, this religious and spiritual practice remains valid and necessary as " the sacrificial ceremony acts as a medium, a means of communication with the sacred, which enables him to create a link, a communion between him and the invisible powers ".

The communion of saints is the relationship that, according to the belief of Christians, exists between them as people made holy by their link with Christ.

In practice, " extraordinary " circumstance have included disagreeing with Episcopalian views of the episcopate, and as a result, ELCA pastors ordained by other pastors are not permitted to be deployed to Episcopal Churches ( they can, however, serve in Presbyterian Church USA, United Methodist Church, Reformed Church in America, and Moravian Church congregations, as the ELCA is in full communion with these denominations ).

In practice, as before the Reformation, many received communion rarely, as little as once a year in some cases ; George Herbert estimated it as no more than six times.

However practice was variable: very high attendance at festivals was in most places the order of the day and in some places regular communion was very popular, in other places they stayed away or sent " a servant to be the liturgical representative of their household.

These may be either communities of interest, practice or communion.

* Closed communion is the practice of restricting the communion to members of a particular church or congregation

* Open communion is the practice of allowing members of other churches to share communion, followed by most Protestant Christian churches

There is no standard frequency ; John Calvin desired weekly communion, but the city council only approved monthly, and monthly celebration has become the most common practice in Reformed churches today.

United Methodists practice open communion, inviting " all who intend a Christian life, together with their children " to receive Communion.

Some Protestant communities including most Lutheran churches practice closed communion and require catechetical instruction for all people before receiving the Eucharist.

Many of the stricter communities of the Reformed and Presbyterian denominations practice a form of restricted Communion, which they designate Close Communion ( to distinguish it from the closed communion system mentioned above ).

Most Protestant communities, including Reformed, Evangelical, Methodist, the Church of Sweden, and Anglicans practice open communion in the sense of not limiting it to members of their own Church alone, but some of them require that the communicant be a baptized person or a member of a partner church.

Most churches in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States, also practice their own form of open communion, provided those who receive are baptized and believe in the Real Presence.

The practice of apostolic succession both ensures the legitimacy of the church's mission and establishes the unity, communion, and continuity of the local church with the universal church.

Adventists usually practice communion four times a year.

One of the implications of this is the further practice of infant communion was formally recognized.

The practice of weekly communion is increasingly the norm again in most Lutheran parishes throughout the world.

This also extended to children who had reached the " age of discretion ", though he did not permit the ancient Eastern practice of infant communion.

In fact, full communion is seen as an essential condition for sharing together in the Eucharist, apart from exceptional circumstances, in line with the second-century practice witnessed to by Saint Justin Martyr, who, in his First Apology, wrote: " No one is allowed to partake ( of the Eucharist ) but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined.

* joint celebration of the Lord's Supper / Holy Communion / Eucharist ( these churches practice open communion )

Modern Christian views vary as to whether witchcraft is a generalterm for communion with evil, or a specific form of religious system and practice.

The Schwarzenau Brethren groups ( the largest being the Church of the Brethren ) regularly practice Agape feasts ( called " Love Feast "), which include feetwashing, a supper, and communion, with hymns and brief scriptural meditations interspersed throughout the worship service.

In addition, the church teaches sacred ordinances through which adherents make covenants with God, including baptism, confirmation, the sacrament ( holy communion ), endowment, and celestial marriage ( marriage blessings which extend beyond mortality ), which are of great significance to church members.

Some of them claim to be the one true Catholic Church from which, in their view, other Christians, including those in communion with the Pope, have fallen away.

Both the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church recognise as ecumenical the first seven councils, held from the 4th to the 9th century ; but while the Eastern Orthodox Church accepts no later council or synod as ecumenical, the Roman Catholic Church continues to hold general councils of the bishops in full communion with the Pope, reckoning them as ecumenical, and counting in all, including the seven recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church, twenty-one to date.

Recently, Presbyterian and Reformed Churches have been considering whether to restore more frequent communion, including weekly communion in more churches, considering that infrequent communion was derived from a memorialist view of the Lord's Supper, rather than Calvin's view of the sacrament as a means of grace.

Variations of the Eucharistic Prayer are provided for various occasions, including communion of the sick and brief forms for occasions that call for greater brevity.

More specifically, the title Episcopal ( capitalized in this instance ) is applied to several churches historically based within Anglicanism ( Episcopalianism ) including those still in communion with the Church of England.

These organizations are in full communion with each other, so any priest of any of those churches may lawfully minister to any member of any of them, and no member of any is excluded from any form of worship in any of the others, including reception of the Eucharist.

Contemporary chroniclers catalogued his various anti-religious habits at length, including his failure to take communion, his blasphemous remarks, and his witty but scandalous jokes about church doctrine, including jokes about the implausibility of the Resurrection.

The result will be a form of full communion similar to that outline in the Formula of Agreement, including orderly exchange of ministers.

In addition to leading of singing in which the congregation participates, such as hymns and service music, some church choirs still sing full liturgies, including propers ( introit, gradual, communion antiphons appropriate for the different times of the liturgical year ).

For the celebration of the Eucharist in Eastern churches, including those in full communion with the Holy See, other terms such as the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Qurbana and the Badarak are normal.

" Unlidded " mugs and lidded tankards may be the most familiar pewter artifacts from the late 17th and 18th centuries, although the metal is also used for many other items including porringers, plates, dishes, basins, spoons, measures, flagons, communion cups, teapots, sugar bowls, beer steins, and cream jugs.

Laurentius was brought back to Rome by his supporters, and a sizeable group of the clergy, including most of the most senior clerics, withdrew from communion with him.

However, other issues surfaced during the discussions in the following years, including frequency of communion and how church discipline should be conducted.

Calwell's loyalty to the party was to cause him much personal and political anguish: he lost many of its oldest friends at this time, including the Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix, and was for a time denied communion at his parish church.

Having thus discreetly assured his position, he was summoned to the Council of Chalcedon in October 451, and took his seat without question, and when the acts of the Second Council of Ephesus were quashed, including the deposition of the other prelates, a special exception was made of the substitution of Maximus for Domnus on the express ground that Leo had opened communion with him and recognized his episcopate ( Philippe Labbe, Concilia, iv.

The Roman Catholic Church ( including all its component particular Churches, whether Latin or Eastern ) practices closed communion.

Generally, members of the various denominations acknowledge each other as Christians, at least to the extent that they have mutually-recognized baptisms and acknowledge historically orthodox views including the Divinity of Jesus and doctrines of sin and salvation, even though doctrinal and ecclesiological obstacles hinder full communion between churches.

By 1708, the date of the first Brethren baptisms, Mack had rejected this position in favor of forming a separate church with visible rules and ordinances — including threefold baptism by immersion, a Love Feast ( that combined communion with feetwashing and an evening meal ), anointing, and use of the " ban " against wayward members.