Elevation (liturgy) - Lutheran Practice

Lutheran Practice

While Martin Luther himself sometimes defended the practice of the elevation and sometimes treated it as an adiaphoron, Lutheran practice is by no means uniform. After the Protestant Reformation, Lutherans largely dispensed with the elevation, putting the Eucharist in the category of beneficium rather than sacrificium, that is, as a gift from God to us rather than from us to God. However, a renewed interest in liturgy has brought the practice back to Lutheran congregations.

In the many Lutheran churches where it is practiced, the elevation may take place both immediately after the consecration of the elements or during the pax. This elevation gives opportunity to adore the real presence of Christ by either bowing deeply at the waist or genuflecting. The elements may also be elevated following the chanting of the Lord's Prayer, by which the celebrant may use the elements to make the sign of the cross over the congregation.

The precise practice of the elevation in the Lutheran communion is somewhat less uniform than in the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox communions. Therefore a variety of specific practices exist within the Lutheran communion for the elevation and adoration of the actual elements.