Let Us Break Bread Together

Representative Text

1 Let us break bread together on our knees.
Let us break bread together on our knees.

Refrain:
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord have mercy on me.

2 Let us drink wine together on our knees.
Let us drink wine together on our knees. [Refrain]

3 Let us praise God together on our knees.
Let us praise God together on our knees. [Refrain]

Source: Voices Together #482

Text Information

First Line: Let us break bread together on our knees
Title: Let Us Break Bread Together
Meter: 7.3.7.3 with refrain
Source: African American spiritual
Language: English
Refrain First Line: When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun
Notes: Spanish translations: "De rodillas partimos hoy el pan" by Carlos A. Steger; see also "De rodillas partimos hoy el pan" by Federico J. Pagura; Swahili translation: See "Tuumege mkata pamoja" by David Makathimo
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Some of the stanzas of this African American spiritual may date back to the eighteenth century. Other stanzas have been added by oral tradition. A look through modern hymnals will reveal an array of variations on the text. The most notable alteration in the Psalter Hymnal is the phrase "to the Lord of life" in place of the original "to the rising sun," in which "sun" was an ambiguous metaphor referring to God. The song's use at communion services probably dates from after the American Civil War. Miles Mark Fisher notes in Negro Slave Songs in the United States (1953),

[Originally the hymn] relates hardly at all to holy communion, which does not necessarily require early morning administration or a devotee who faces east. [This] it seems was a signal song of Virginia slaves during the eighteenth century who used it and similar ones to convene their secret meetings.

The text discerns participation in the Lord's Supper as a humble act in which we not only eat the bread (st. 1) and drink the wine (st. 2) but also praise our God (st. 3) "on our knees." The refrain ends with a prayer for mercy, an African American kyrie (see PHH 258) that reminds us of the tax collector's prayer in Luke 18:13.

Liturgical Use:
Lord's Supper–during preparation for the sacrament or during distribution of the bread and wine.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

Tune

LET US BREAK BREAD

The tune BREAK BREAD TOGETHER, like the text, has been subject to variation. It became widely known after publication in The Second Book of Negro Spirituals (1926), compiled by the brothers James Weldon Johnson and Rosamond Johnson. The tune gained further popularity through a variety of choral arra…

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Instances

Instances (1 - 76 of 76)

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Hymns Ancient and Modern, New Standard Edition #480

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Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #403

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The Cyber Hymnal #3672

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生命聖詩 - Hymns of Life, 1986 #234

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Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #304

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The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration #323

The Covenant Hymnal #572

A Teaching Hymnal #66

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Discipleship Ministries Collection #124

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Rejoice Hymns #333

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Ambassador Hymnal #285

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Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #387

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Breaking Bread (Vol. 39) #306

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Celebrating Grace Hymnal #461

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Chalice Hymnal #425

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The Hymnal 1982 #325

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Lift Every Voice and Sing II #152

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The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #338

Include 35 pre-1979 instances
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