10/30/2026
WHAT IS THE POST-COMMUNION CANTICLE? In Luke 2:25ff, we read the account of a godly and presumably old man named Simeon. The Holy Spirit had promised Simeon that he would live to see the long-promised Christ. He fulfilled His promise when Mary and Joseph went to the Temple in Jerusalem to present Jesus before the Lord. Simeon picked up infant Jesus and, holding Him in his arms, he spoke by the guiding of the Holy Spirit, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy Word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A Light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel.”
From this text we derive the Post-Communion Collect called the Nunc Dimittis (meaning “now dismiss” or “now let [us] depart”). Simeon had seen all he needed to see and he could now die in peace. He had held and seen the Savior, who was God in the flesh; he had seen the God-man Jesus who had come to bring salvation to Israel and to the world. God had kept his promise; salvation had arrived.
What wonderful words to apply to the end of Communion. Like Simeon, who had been led by the Holy Spirit to hold the holy Child and enlightened by the Spirit that this was the long-awaited Savior, so we too are led by the Spirit to receive the holy Christ as we receive the bread and w**e, indeed the very body and blood of Christ Himself. Having now seen and even received Christ in our hands and in our mouths, we depart from the Lord’s Table and go back into the world in peace. For in the reception of Christ, we now have all that we need. (https://hcilc.com/the-divine-service-explained/ )
