Who do you say I am? Then Simon Peter spoke up, "You are the Christ" he said "the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold against it. - Matt. 16:15-18 -
After having said that, Jesus instituted the Eucharistic celebration in Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; John 6:51-58 -
Now as they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. "Take it and eat;" he said "this is my body." Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them. "Drink all of you from this" he said "for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." - Matt. 26:26-28 -
Then he took some bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which will be given for you; do this as memorial of me." He did the same with the cup after supper, and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you." - Luke 22:19-20 -
Jesus said: I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give
is my flesh, for the life of the world.
I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I lives in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead.
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever. - John 6: 51-58 -
Saint Paul, further confirmed the institution of the Holy Eucharist by the Lord Jesus Christ:
This is the reason, my dear brothers and sisters, why you must keep clear of idolatry. I say to you as sensible people: judge for yourselves what I am saying. The blessing cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf. - 1Cor. 10:14-17 -
For this is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me." In the same way he took the cup after supper and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me." Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death, and so anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be behaving unworthily towards the body and blood of the Lord.
Everyone is to recollect himself before eating this bread and drinking this cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. In fact, that is why many of you are weak and ill and some of you have died. If only we recollected ourselves, we should not be punished like that. But when the Lord does punish us like that, it is to correct us and stop us from being condemned with the world. - 1Cor. 11:23-32 -
After Jesus died, and even after He ascended into heaven, the Apostles were afraid. They feared that they, too, might be killed. But after the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost, filling them with courage and understanding, they remembered of the Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass that instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now they asked themselves; How shall we do this remembering? One of the questions that needed answering was: Is the Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass part of the regular Jewish prayer in the Temple?
At first it seemed that it was. After they finished their prayers in the Temple, the Apostles would return home and celebrate Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass. The Temple services seemed to be a natural, prayerful beginning for the Mass/Eucharist.
But one day as they were entering the Temple, apostle Peter and apostle John cured a lame man in the name of Jesus. - Acts 3:1-26 - The leaders of the Jews were angry and furious; they had forbidden anyone ever to mention the name of Jesus in the Temple. Soon these leaders forbade the Apostles ever to enter the Temple again. These same peoples put apostle Peter in prison, and they stoned to death a deacon named Stephen [first Christian martyr]. Eventually, Jesus' believers, followers stopped praying in the Temple, and decided: Christian Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass is not part of Jewish prayer.
Another question the Apostles had to deal with was: How do people qualify to take part in the Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass?
A great many of Jesus' early believers and followers after the Pentecost were Jews from Jerusalem. They were pious people who loved their Jewish prayers and customs. But many of Saint Paul's newly converted Christians were Gentiles - non Jews. Soon some of the Christian Jews began to insist that any Gentile who wanted to become a disciple or follower of Christ should become a Jew.
Saint Paul was a Jew himself, disagreed. He said that in order to be a Christian and to take part in Christian Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass just one thing was necessary: Baptism.
To settle the argument, apostle Peter, Paul, James, and the other Apostles and elders held a meeting in Jerusalem. Finally, they decided: Any baptized Christian in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and observed all the commands Jesus's gave - man, woman, pagan, slave, anyone - could take part in the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass. Apostle Paul had won the argument.
There were other problems to settle, such as: When should the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass be celebrated? And where?
The early Church decided to have the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass on Sunday because that was the day Jesus rose from the dead. And even before they stopped attending Jewish services, the early Christians shared Eucharist in each other's homes. There were various other decisions that the early Church had to make. In each case the Holy Spirit guided the Apostles in carrying out Jesus' words.
The early Christians lived in a world ruled by pagan Rome. The Romans had their own gods. When the Christians refused to worship these gods, the Romans persecuted the Christians. These persecutions began about A.D. 64 and continued, off and on, until A.D. 313, many apostles, disciples, followers, and children were cruelly martyred for the Lord Jesus Christ.
During this time of persecution, a great number of Christians went into hiding. This explains why not much information about the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass comes to us from this period. However, we do know that the early Christians kept true to the teaching they had received from the Apostles. They passed on this teaching to their children, and those children told their children. ( Teaching passed on in this way is called oral tradition )
After a while some of the Christians feared that not enough of them would be left alive to pass on the tradition. To make sure that others coming after them would act as the Apostles did and as the Lord Jesus Christ wanted them to do, these Christians began to write down what they were doing. ( Teaching passed on in this way is called written tradition ) One of these writings was discovered in the city of Constantinople [Istanbul] in 1875. The document was titled The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, and seems to have been written about the year 100. In the early third century, Saint Hippolytus, a priest who lived in Rome, also wrote a book that he called The Tradition of the Apostles.
One of the things we learn from these writings is that the ordained priest who led at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass could make up most of his own prayers. Since this was so, probably no two ordained priests prayed the same prayers. In other words, there was great diversity - a great deal of difference - in the way the Eucharist/Mass was prayed. However, when it came to the consecration of the bread and wine, each ordained priest repeated Christ's words just as our ordained priests do today. On this one point there was unity.
Unity and diversity are not words that have to do only with the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass. Think of the human body. The eye is different from the ear, and the ear differs from the toe. That is diversity. But all these parts form one body. That is unity. Or take the family. Each members differs from the other. That is diversity. But they all form one family. That is unity.
This unity and diversity both in the celebration of Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass and in Christian practices was common in the early Church. In the third century a man named Firmilian, who was bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, made a journey from country to country. Along the way, Firmilian noticed many differences in Christian practice. Stopping in Rome, he wrote the following lines:
"Not only in the celebration of Easter, but in many other points, the Romans have their own customs, different from those of Jerusalem. In most of the countries, according to the diversity of places and people, many things are different. But in spite of this, nothing draws the people away from the peace and unity of the Catholic Church."
By the middle of the third century most of the Christians were unable to understand Greek, the language in which the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass was celebrated. They spoke and understood Latin. Saint Callistus, who was bishop of Rome at that time, told his priests to begin celebrating Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass in Latin so that people could follow what was going on.
At first not everyone wanted to make this change. In Church where many of the Christians were Greek, the priests were slow to adapt to the new regulation. In the end, the Church of Rome made the change. Except for a few Greek words, the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass in Rome was celebrated in Latin.
When Saint Callistus, the bishop of Rome, told priests to begin celebrating the liturgy in Latin, all the priests obeyed him. An earlier bishop of Rome, Saint Clement, had criticized the Christians of Corinth, a city in Greece, about the way they behaved during the Eucharist/Mass. In that case, too, the people obeyed the bishop of Rome and changed their ways. The people listened to these two bishops because they had special authority. Through the ages, the bishop of Rome has been recognized as the chief bishop, "the Pope." This is why, when Saint Callistus and Saint Clement made regulations for celebrating the liturgy, the Christians obeyed.
The early Christians suffered much for their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is one reason the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass meant so much to them. It brought them Christ. The worst punishment they could suffer was to be judged unworthy of holy communion, for the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass gave them joy, peace, love and courage.
The Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass also created a bond of unity among believers. No matter how far away from one another the Christian communities were, they were one in the love and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It was dangerous to celebrate the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass during the times of persecution and because of the danger, Christians who came to the Sunday Eucharist would be permitted to take home some of the consecrated bread - the Body of Christ. They could then receive the Lord Jesus Christ in their homes during the week. They also carried holy communion to the sick. Some even risked sneaking holy communion into prisons to Christians who were to be executed as martyrs for the faith.
Even children did daring things for the Lord Jesus Christ. One boy named Tarcisius begged a priest to let him take holy communion to some Christians who were condemned to die. On his way to the prison, a group of pagan boys met Tarcisius and tried to snatch what he was carrying. The boys never got hold of the sacred Host because someone came along and broke up the fight. But it was too late for Tarcisius. The boys had beaten him to death. The heroism of this young martyr is an example of how the life of the early Christians was centered on the Holy Eucharist/Holy Communion/Holy Mass.
Up until the year A.D. 313, Christians in many parts of the Roman Empire had to live in hiding much of the time. Suddenly, in the year 313, everything changed for them. Not only were they allowed to practice their faith freely but the emperor himself became a Christian. Everything was so wonderful for the Christians that historians have called this period the Golden Age. It began with the reign of Emperor Constantine in A.D. 313, and ended with the death of Pope Gregory the Great in A.D. 604.
In the year A.D. 303, the Emperor Diocletian began the last and most brutal of the persecutions. His goal was complete extermination of all Christians. Priests and deacons, Christian soldiers and court officials, anyone who professed Christianity, were arrested, tortured, and executed. In the West the persecution stopped in A.D. 305. But in the East it raged on, reaching its peak between the years A.D. 305 and A.D. 311. The number of martyrs was very high.
In April of A.D. 311 the new ruler, Galerius, realized that the persecution was a failure; he brought it to a halt with his famous 'Edict of Toleration' which declared: "... may they from now on be Christians." And from then on, Christianity was no longer against the law.
A young general named Constantine came south across the Alps and overcame the latest Roman emperor, Maxentius in A.D. 312. On the night before battle, Constantine saw a large cross in the sky. Circling the cross were these words: "In this sign you shall conquer." Since the cross was the symbol or sign of Christianity, Constantine gave credit for his victory to the prayers of his Christian mother and Christian soldiers.
After his victory at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine became emperor. He declared himself a Christian and supported Christianity in every way. The next year, A.D. 313, he published a famous document which is called the Edict of Milan. Galerius had made Christianity legal. Constantine now gave it full equality with all the other religions. But Constantine did even more. He donated great buildings to be used as Christian Church. Some were so magnificent that they were called basilicas - royal buildings.
For about 250 years, it had been common for small groups of Christians to meet in underground cemeteries called catacombs or in secret hiding places. Now they had legally approved Church in which several thousands could gather at once. Instead of the dark, damp underground caves, they had beautiful buildings filled with priceless works of art. In fact, all this had its effect on Christians worship. The Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass/Holy Communion became surrounded with pomp and splendor.
After Constantine became emperor, he left Italy and moved his court to Turkey, where he built a new city, Constantinople, in honor of himself. This new city became the political center of the East.
Rome, the city of the former emperors, was left in the hands of the pope. Christians and pagans alike turned to the pope. He was not only head of Christianity and guardian of the faith but also the guide and defender of the city. One of the popes laughingly said, 'I no longer know whether I am a pope or emperor.' The other bishops, too, served as political leaders as well as spiritual guides. It was about this time that the Church in Rome and the surrounding countries came to be known as the Western Church. In Constantinople and its neighboring territory, the Christians were known as the Eastern Church or Greek Church.
For several centuries after the 'Age of Persecution' God gave the Church some of its greatest saints. In the Eastern Church were Saint Athanasius, Saint John Chrysostom, and Saint Basil. In the West, there were Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome, and later, Gregory the Great.
The outstanding Christian leaders saved the Church from new paganism that hordes of barbarians were spreading over Europe. They also defended the Church against heresy - false teaching or false doctrine. They defended particularly against the heresy of Arius, a priest who denied that the Lord Jesus Christ is Son of the living God. This false doctrine/teaching struck at the very heart of Christian life, that is, the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass.
In A.D. 590, Gregory was elected pope. By that time many developments had taken place in the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass. Gregory tried to put these developments into organized form for his Roman Church. He was so successful that when he died in A.D. 604 the Roman liturgy - public worship - was established. He set up one form of prayers to be used before, during, and after the consecration of the bread and wine. He organized all the other prayers of the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass around the Canon, which means Rule. He established Latin as the language of the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass. He developed a special type of singing for the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass. This music is still used and is called Gregorian chant, after Saint Gregory.
Gregory wanted to make sure that plain chant would be done well. He organized a boys' choir. Even when he was in bed with rheumatism, he would gather the group for practice. He directed the singers with a stick that was long enough to discourage any fooling around.
From the time of Saint Gregory, the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass was in many ways as it is today: a completely organized set of prayers and actions.
In Rome nothing equaled the splendor with which the pope surrounded the sacred liturgy. On a Sunday morning it was a common sight to see the pope mounted on horseback, accompanied by the entire Roman court, riding from his palace to the basilica where Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass was to be celebrated. With him rode the city officials since the pope was not only bishop of Rome but also the Roman governor.
A group of bishops and priests met the pope at the basilica. They welcomed him and led him to the sacristy, the room where he prepared for Holy Mass. His rich vestments were a far cry from the poor garments of priests during the days of the persecution! Choir boys were there, too, robed in colorful gowns.
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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