Paragraph 5. The Communion of Saints

After confessing “the holy catholic Church”, the Apostles’ Creed adds “the communion of saints”. In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: “What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?”1 The communion of saints is the Church.

“Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others…. We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head…. Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments.”2 “As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund.”3

The term “communion of saints” therefore has two closely linked meanings: communion “in holy things (sancta)” and “among holy persons (sancti)”.

Sancta sanctis! (“God’s holy gifts for God’s holy people”) is proclaimed by the celebrant in most Eastern liturgies during the elevation of the holy Gifts before the distribution of communion. The faithful (sancta) are fed by Christ’s holy body and blood (sancta) to grow in the communion of the Holy Spirit (koinonia) and to communicate it to the world.