COMMINATION. The word means a _threat_, or _denunciation of vengeance_. The Service, so-called in our Prayer Book, took its present shape in 1549. It is, as the first exhortation states, an imperfect substitute for the primitive practice of open penance. Notice that in using this Service we do not invoke the wrath of God on sinners, but merely declare that a curse must rest on sin. The Service is used on Ash Wednesday, although, if ordered, it may be used at other times. The first seven sentences are from Deut. xxvii.15-26; the eighth is from Jer. xvii.5; the ninth is an agglomeration of sins condemned in Scripture. The _Amen_ here means not _So be it_, but _So it is_. The exhortation which follows is a succession of quotations from Scripture. The Rubric mentions the "place where they are accustomed to say the Litany," which place is neither the _pulpit_ nor _reading pew_ mentioned in the first Rubric in the Office, but is a desk placed "in the midst of the church" (Injunctions of 1549). Following the Lord's Prayer, Versicles, and Collects, comes a most forcible confession couched in the words of Scripture, but less comprehensive than those of the Morning and Communion Services. The Blessing, added in 1662, is a shortened form of the old Jewish Blessing (Num. vi.24-26), but here it is precatory not declaratory. COMMITTAL PRAYER. That prayer in the Burial Service in which the minister _commits_ the body to the ground, "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." (See _Burial Service_.) COMMON PRAYER, _see_ Liturgy. COMMUNION, THE HOLY. Variously called the _Lord's Supper_ and the _Eucharist_. This Service, formerly exclusively called the _Liturgy_ is the highest act of Christian worship. We will consider it under four heads,--(1) History; (2) Rubrics; (3) Service; (4) Views.