Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread Meaning, History, and Theology
"Be known to us in breaking bread"
- Written
- 1825
- Category
- Hymn
- Tune
- Standard Tune
- Rights
- Public domain
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Story
Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread is James Montgomery’s 1825 communion hymn inspired by the risen Christ’s recognition at Emmaus in Luke 24. The Common Meter text has been sung to several tunes, including the much older anonymous English psalter melody ST. FLAVIAN.
Overview
Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread is a compact communion prayer shaped by the risen Christ’s encounter with the disciples at Emmaus. Its central concern is recognition: the worshiping community asks to know Christ not as a figure confined to the biblical past but as the living Lord who remains present with his people as they gather, hear Scripture, share fellowship, and break bread.
The hymn joins resurrection faith with the Lord’s Supper. In Luke 24, the disciples first encounter Christ on the road and then recognize him at table. Montgomery turns that narrative into prayer, linking the church’s sacramental meal with desire for Christ’s abiding presence and spiritual nourishment.
Its brevity makes it particularly useful before or during Communion, in Eastertide, or when teaching the Emmaus story. Different Christian traditions interpret the manner of Christ’s presence at the table in different ways; the hymn does not resolve those debates, but it gives them a shared devotional center in the risen Lord whom believers seek to know in worship.
Historical Background
Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread first appeared in James Montgomery’s The Christian Psalmist; or, Hymns, Selected and Original, published in 1825. It was hymn no. 528 and consisted of only two Common Meter stanzas under the heading “The Family Table.” That heading is historically important: Montgomery did not present the text as a general Easter hymn but as a brief table prayer drawing the worshiper toward communion with Christ.
The imagery comes most clearly from Luke 24 and the post-resurrection journey to Emmaus. Rather than centering primarily on the Last Supper narrative, Montgomery focused on the later meal in which the two disciples recognize the risen Jesus in the breaking of bread. The Methodist Church’s notes for Singing the Faith highlight this unusual emphasis and describe the hymn as an intimate Communion text. Montgomery later republished it without enlarging it into a longer narrative; it appeared again as hymn no. 207 in Original Hymns for Public, Private, and Social Devotion in 1853 under the same heading.
The text also developed a second life through a composite American communion hymn. John Julian noted that Montgomery’s original two-stanza form had comparatively limited use by itself, while his stanzas became widely known when joined to anonymous material beginning with Shepherd of Souls, Refresh and Bless. In that later cento, Montgomery’s Emmaus-centered stanzas were combined with older communion imagery concerning divine provision and pilgrimage. Modern hymnals do not always identify the composite authorship consistently, so the independent 1825 hymn should be distinguished from the expanded Shepherd of Souls tradition.
No original tune was permanently attached to Montgomery’s words. Because the text is in Common Meter, editors have paired it with several established melodies. BELMONT, associated with William Gardiner’s Sacred Melodies of 1812, is used in modern British Methodist, Anglican, and ecumenical books. ST. AGNES, composed by John Bacchus Dykes in 1866, has also been prominent, especially in North American communion hymnody. Other collections use DUNDEE, LAND OF REST, or additional Common Meter tunes.
The present record represents the ST. FLAVIAN tradition. That melody is more than two and a half centuries older than Montgomery’s hymn. Its original form was printed in John Day’s The Whole Booke of Psalmes in 1562 for Psalm 132 as a Common Meter Double tune by an unknown composer. A shortened Common Meter form appeared by the end of the sixteenth century, and later harmonizations helped carry the melody into modern hymnals. Richard Redhead’s nineteenth-century harmony became especially influential. ST. FLAVIAN therefore was not written for Montgomery and was only paired with his text much later.
The hymn’s continuing circulation reflects its flexibility. Modern Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, United Church, Disciples of Christ, and other books have retained the two-stanza text, though wording and tune differ by edition. Its history is consequently less a story of one famous original melody than of a concise 1825 communion prayer repeatedly recontextualized through Common Meter tune traditions and through the changing sacramental language of different churches.
Biblical Foundations
Luke 24:30-31 provides the narrative center of the hymn. At the Emmaus table, Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to the disciples; their eyes are opened and they recognize him. The hymn transforms that moment into the church’s prayer for recognition of the risen Christ in gathered worship.
Luke 24:35 makes the connection explicit by describing how the disciples reported that Christ had been recognized in the breaking of the bread. The Emmaus account also places table fellowship beside the opening of Scripture on the road, suggesting a pattern in which word, hospitality, recognition, and shared meal belong together.
Acts 2:42 shows the earliest Christian community persevering in apostolic teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. This broadens the hymn beyond one resurrection appearance and places breaking bread within the ordinary life of the church.
First Corinthians 10:16 and 11:26 add two important dimensions. Communion is participation in Christ and also proclamation of the Lord’s death until he comes. John 6:35 supplies the wider biblical image of Christ as the bread of life, supporting the hymn’s language of spiritual nourishment while reminding worshipers that the deepest gift of the meal is Christ himself.
Verse Explanation
The hymn begins with the Emmaus theme of recognizing the risen Christ in the shared meal and immediately turns that recognition into a prayer for continuing fellowship. The emphasis is not on a fleeting encounter but on Christ remaining with and within the worshiping community.
The second movement deepens the table imagery into spiritual nourishment. Communion is presented as participation in divine love and as sustenance for life with Christ. In only two stanzas, the hymn therefore moves from recognition to abiding presence and from shared bread to enduring communion with the Savior.
Theological Reflection
The hymn brings resurrection and Communion into a single theological vision. The one sought at the table is the crucified and risen Christ. Christian worship therefore does more than recall a deceased teacher; it confesses that the living Lord continues to gather and sustain his people.
Its language of recognition is especially significant. In the Emmaus narrative, Christ is present before the disciples fully perceive who he is. The hymn turns that narrative into a prayer for spiritually opened eyes, reminding worshipers that sacramental participation should be accompanied by faith, attention, gratitude, and discernment.
The text also supports a theology of abiding communion with Christ. The worshiper does not seek a momentary religious experience that ends when the meal is over. The prayer reaches toward an enduring fellowship in which Christ nourishes the inner life and remains central to the community’s identity.
Christian traditions differ over how Christ is present in the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper. Montgomery’s brief text does not define transubstantiation, real presence, sacramental union, receptionism, or memorialism. Its usefulness across traditions comes partly from this restraint: it strongly affirms Christ, table fellowship, spiritual nourishment, and communion without attempting a complete sacramental system.
Church Impact
The hymn has maintained a modest but durable place in English-language communion repertory. Hymnary indexes the independent text in dozens of hymnals, while Montgomery’s two stanzas have reached additional congregations through the composite Shepherd of Souls tradition. Its circulation includes Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, United Church, Disciples of Christ, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, and other Protestant collections.
Editors have used the hymn particularly for Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, Maundy Thursday, and Eastertide. The New Century Hymnal links it both with Holy Thursday and the Third Sunday of Easter because the Emmaus narrative allows the hymn to bridge passion, resurrection, and table fellowship. Presbyterian books have also paired it effectively with ST. FLAVIAN.
Its ability to survive with several tunes illustrates an older pattern of hymnody in which the text’s meter, rather than a fixed text-tune pairing, governed musical transmission. British books often favor BELMONT, some North American books use ST. AGNES, and others retain ST. FLAVIAN or DUNDEE. This variety has helped the text move between traditions without acquiring one universally dominant melody.
The hymn’s continuing value lies in its concentration. It provides a complete communion prayer in very little space: the risen Christ, recognition, abiding presence, sacramental fellowship, and spiritual nourishment are brought together without lengthy explanation. That compactness makes it particularly useful during the distribution of Communion or as a meditative response to the Emmaus Gospel.
Musical Notes
Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread is in Common Meter, 8.6.8.6, so it has never depended on a single melody. Modern hymnals pair it with BELMONT, ST. AGNES, ST. FLAVIAN, DUNDEE, LAND OF REST, and other Common Meter tunes. BELMONT is standard in Singing the Faith and several Anglican books, while ST. AGNES has had substantial North American use.
The ST. FLAVIAN setting represented here comes from the English metrical-psalm tradition. The original melody appeared in The Whole Booke of Psalmes, printed by John Day in 1562, as a Common Meter Double tune for Psalm 132. The composer is unknown. By about 1598 the melody had been shortened for ordinary Common Meter texts, and later versions altered some melodic details.
Many modern settings reflect a harmony derived from Richard Redhead’s Church Hymn Tunes Ancient & Modern of 1853. Hymnary commonly indexes ST. FLAVIAN in F major or modal form with the incipit 11713 22114 31233. Its balanced four-line shape and restrained character suit a short communion prayer, but worship leaders should avoid implying that it was Montgomery’s original tune.
Because both the 1825 text and the sixteenth-century melody are public domain, churches may use the underlying works freely. Particular modern harmonizations, descants, instrumental settings, or altered texts can carry separate copyrights.
Application
- Prepare for Communion by reading Luke 24:13-35 and asking not only what the disciples learned about Jesus but how their recognition of him changed their understanding of the journey.
- Approach the Lord’s Table as part of a larger pattern of Scripture, fellowship, prayer, thanksgiving, and shared life rather than as an isolated ritual action.
- Ask God for spiritual attentiveness so that familiar worship practices do not become automatic or detached from living faith in the risen Christ.
- Let participation in Communion deepen fellowship with other believers, remembering that 1 Corinthians connects sharing in the bread and cup with participation in Christ.
- Use the hymn during Eastertide to connect resurrection appearances with the continuing worship of the church.
- When teaching the hymn ecumenically, acknowledge differences in sacramental theology while identifying the common biblical center in Christ’s death, resurrection, presence, and nourishing grace.
Discussion Questions
- Why does Montgomery build a communion hymn around the Emmaus meal rather than only around the Last Supper?
- What does the disciples’ delayed recognition of Jesus in Luke 24 teach about spiritual perception and attention in worship?
- How do Acts 2:42 and 1 Corinthians 10:16 broaden the meaning of breaking bread beyond an individual devotional experience?
- Why can the hymn be used by churches that hold different doctrines concerning Christ’s presence in Communion?
- What is gained or lost when the same hymn text is sung to different Common Meter tunes such as BELMONT, ST. AGNES, or ST. FLAVIAN?
- How can receiving Communion shape the congregation’s life after the service has ended?
Teaching Tips
- Begin with Luke 24:13-35 and trace the narrative sequence from conversation on the road, through the opening of Scripture, to recognition at the table.
- Explain that the text first appeared in The Christian Psalmist in 1825 as hymn no. 528 under the heading “The Family Table” and originally consisted of only two stanzas.
- Distinguish the independent Montgomery hymn from the later composite Shepherd of Souls tradition, in which his stanzas were joined to anonymous communion material.
- Teach the tune history separately from the text: ST. FLAVIAN comes from the 1562 English psalter and was never Montgomery’s original melody.
- Compare ST. FLAVIAN with BELMONT or ST. AGNES to demonstrate how Common Meter allowed nineteenth- and twentieth-century editors to place the same text in different musical settings.
- Use the hymn as a brief prayer before or during Communion, allowing its compact form to support contemplation rather than adding unnecessary explanatory material while it is sung.
Sources
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Montgomery, James. The Christian Psalmist; or, Hymns, Selected and Original. 1825, hymn no. 528, “The Family Table.”
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Montgomery, James. Original Hymns for Public, Private, and Social Devotion. 1853, hymn no. 207, “The Family Table.”
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Julian, John. A Dictionary of Hymnology, revised edition, entry on Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread.
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University of Sheffield Archives, biographical record for James Montgomery, 1771–1854.
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The Methodist Church, Singing the Faith no. 573, historical notes on Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread.
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Hymnary.org, text authority page for Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread.
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Hymnary.org, text authority page for Shepherd of Souls, Refresh and Bless, documenting the later composite tradition.
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Day, John, printer. The Whole Booke of Psalmes. London, 1562, original psalter source of the melody later called ST. FLAVIAN.
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Hymnology Archive, historical study of ST. FLAVIAN in connection with Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days.
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Hymnary.org, tune authority page for ST. FLAVIAN.
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The Presbyterian Hymnal, 1990, no. 505, Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread with ST. FLAVIAN.
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Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal, 2013, no. 500, Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread with ST. FLAVIAN.
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World English Bible, public-domain Scripture text.
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