Lord's Supper in the Early Church

[Reformed_Rob]

I’ve been wondering this a long time.

My former pastor used to say it, that in the “early church” their celebration of the Lord’s Supper was like a sit down meal.

I never put much stock in that, I just figured it was his uninformed opinion based upon Scripture alone (ie. I Corinthians 11:21,34).

But then, while I was on vacation last year, I went to a Catholic Church that was having a series of services. At one of these services, a priest of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament gave the homily. In the homily, he said that in the early church, the celebration fo the Lord’s Supper was like a sit down meal. Kind of like the Jewish passover. And he should be the guy to know, right?

Now, that’s not such a big deal…Except for… Liturgy!!

Where’s the Liturgy in a sit down communal meal??

Anybody have information about that? Are my former pastor and that priest wrong in their information, or am I misunderstanding it??

Thanks -

Rob

 

[Fidelis]

Hi Reformed -

Bot your former pastor and the priest you heard are under-informed. The words of the early Church seem to imply anything but that this was an ordinary meal:

**Paul writing in 1 Cor 10:15-16 **

“I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?”

**Paul writing in 1 Cor 11:23-30 **

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

**Ignatius of Antioch, 110 AD **

“They [the heretics] abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in his goodness, raised up again… Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop, or by one whom he appoints. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” (Epistle to the Smyreans)

“Take heed, then, to have but one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to [show forth] the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants: that so, whatsoever you do, you may do it according to [the will of] God.” (Epistle to the Philadelphians)

**Justin Martyr, 150 AD **

“We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration and is thereby living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nourished, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus.” (First Apology of Justin)

**Irenaeus of Lyons, 190 AD **

“Christ has declared the cup… to be his own Blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own Body, from which he gives increase to our bodies. If the Lord were from other than the Father, how could he rightly take bread, which is of the same creation as our own, and confess it to be his body and affirm that the mixture in the cup is his blood?” (Against Heresies Book V)

 

[mercygate]

How early? The oldest above-ground church ever uncovered is in Mesopotamia at the Dura-Europa site. It dates from about 250 A.D. It had an altar against the wall. Clearly, everyone faced the same direction, and there was no sit-down meal for the liturgy.

The liturgical assembly derives heavily from synagogue worship. That wasn’t a sit-down meal either.

Reformed: you’re better at this game than the old hands.

Come on in, man! We NEED you!

 

[Reformed_Rob]

Fidelis:

Hi Reformed -

Bot your former pastor and the priest you heard are under-informed. The words of the early Church seem to imply anything but that this was an ordinary meal:

**Paul writing in 1 Cor 10:15-16 **

**Paul writing in 1 Cor 11:23-30 **

**Ignatius of Antioch, 110 AD **

**Justin Martyr, 150 AD **

**Irenaeus of Lyons, 190 AD **

Thanks so much for your response and citations, Fidelis!

I suppose that those quotes above do not necessarily rule out the “communal meal” idea. But yeah, agreed, obviously it wasn’t an “ordinary” meal. Perhaps it could have been a “special/unique” sit down meal???

I’ve never heard it gone into detail about what such a meal was supposedly like. Perhaps because nobody knows of any records of such a “sit down” meal, therefore why speculate about it being like that in the first place??

I don’t know. That’s why I ask. It’s not like a crux issue for me, just curious.

 

[Reformed_Rob]

mercygate:

How early? The oldest above-ground church ever uncovered is in Mesopotamia at the Dura-Europa site. It dates from about 250 A.D. It had an altar against the wall. Clearly, everyone faced the same direction, and there was no sit-down meal for the liturgy.

The liturgical assembly derives heavily from synagogue worship. That wasn’t a sit-down meal either.

Reformed: you’re better at this game than the old hands.

Come on in, man! We NEED you!

Mercygate, hello

Thanks, that’s helpful about that archaeology. I bet the altar faced to the east, hey!!

You didn’t mean to, I know, but please be careful with my pride, it’s never helped me too much before.

Have a good day!

 

[jeanine]

ok…here us what i picture during the concecration of the mass…and let’s face it, none of us were there…but we do know what a jewish sador is…here is more food for thought…if there was food…there were women and children…how about the story of mary and martha???

newlastsupper.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?details=on&hits_seen=0&cart_id=7271270_10776&product=Prints&product_id=LSP

 

[NotWorthy]

OK, here’s the way I understood it. This came from Mike Aquilina’s “Mass of the Early Christians”. The “Liturgy of the Word” took place in the morning, with Catechumens and Baptized alike. In the evening the Baptized would gather and celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Now, doesn’t Paul address this where some were bringing rich foods for themseslves to eat, and not sharing ? I’m a little murky on that.

Notworthy

 

[cestusdei]

I suggest the book: The Mass of the Early Christians by Mike Aquilina. It is easy to read and gives a good brief history of the Mass. There was an agape meal, but it was not what we call the Mass.

 

[Reformed_Rob]

NotWorthy and CestusDei,

Thanks both of you for the complementary props to the same book!! I probably won’t get it anytime soon, I’ll take both your word’s for it.

Very interesting, thanks!!

-Rob

 

[AquinasXVI]

By the way, a ‘sit down dinner’ for the post modern American sensibility is completely different from the ‘sit down dinner’ of the Jewish passover…in a very fundamental way, the Passover dinner was very liturgical…so we need to clarify which context we want to use when we say ‘sit down dinner.’

Check out Scott Hahn’s The Fourth Cup it is available on CD and cassettes…easy to track down.

in XT.

 

[JaneFrances]

Hey Rob,

I think a major issue in comparing “early Church” with more modern Church liturgy is to keep in mind what liturgy actually is.

Liturgy, in the Greek sense of the word, is a public work. This is how the early Church understood it and it is how the Church today understands it.

Liturgy does not equal ritual. Liturgy does not equal ceremony. These are misconceptions regarding the real essence of what liturgy is.

Liturgy is a work of the people. In the Church, it is the work of faithful which brings us into closer communion with God and with each other. We, the Church, recognize certain litugical movements (prayers, rites, sacraments, etc.) which we can share communally.

When considering the early Church’s liturgy of the Lord’s Supper, it is most important to learn what they believed and why they did what they did. The form of the liturgy is important, of course, however whether the Lord’s supper most resembled a Passover meal or a modern Mass is irrelevant. What is relevant is that the early Church recognized, as does the modern Church, the Real Presence of Christ and celebrated the Eucharistic liturgy with much attention to reverance and communion.

AND, it should be pointed out that communal meals such as the Passover are perfect examples of ancient Jewish liturgy! The Jewish liturgy of the Passover meal, despite whatever impression you may have, is rich with ritual and ceremony. It is no less “liturgical” because it took place in homes, just as early Christian Eucharistic celebrations are no less “liturgical” because they took place in caves and upper rooms than in Gothic Cathedrals.

 

[Hegesippus]

Isn’t there a reference in the Book of Jude that refers to a “sit down meal” which is different than the breaking of the bread. If so this certainly implies that the celebration of the Lord’s supper was more than just a “sit down meal”.

 

[Todd_Easton]

We still have a sit down meal associated with the Eucharistic celebration only now it’s called, “Coffee and donuts in the parish hall after Mass.”

In A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. by Bernard Orchard et al, pub. by Thomas Nelson & Sons: 1953, in its comments on 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, on page 1093, it says in part:In the Apostolic age the Mass was usually celebrated on Sunday evening, as it seems. The small congregation ate supper together before the Mass, in memory of the Last Supper and of the suppers at which the risen Christ had appeared to the Apostles. The food was provided by the richer Christians and the supper was called ‘the Charity’ (Agape). There was therefore as yet no fast before Communion. The change to Sunday morning Mass and fasting Communion was made some time before A.D. 112, and may have taken place in the lifetime of the Apostles. … By the term ‘the Lord’s supper’ Paul here seems to denote supper and Mass together.

 

[Contarini]

Reformed Rob:

I’ve been wondering this a long time.

My former pastor used to say it, that in the “early church” their celebration of the Lord’s Supper was like a sit down meal.

I never put much stock in that, I just figured it was his uninformed opinion based upon Scripture alone (ie. I Corinthians 11:21,34).

But then, while I was on vacation last year, I went to a Catholic Church that was having a series of services. At one of these services, a priest of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament gave the homily. In the homily, he said that in the early church, the celebration fo the Lord’s Supper was like a sit down meal. Kind of like the Jewish passover. And he should be the guy to know, right?

Now, that’s not such a big deal…Except for… Liturgy!!

Where’s the Liturgy in a sit down communal meal??

Anybody have information about that? Are my former pastor and that priest wrong in their information, or am I misunderstanding it??

Thanks -

Rob

Rob,

I recommend Dom Gregory Dix’s *The Shape of the LIturgy. *It’s old now, but still highly regarded, even if not all his points are universally accepted. Dix (an Anglican) argued that the basic elements of the early liturgy were four actions: taking, blessing, breaking, and distributing the elements. Later liturgy, theology, etc., was all implicit in this “fourfold action.” And yes, this did take place in a meal-like context (Dix actually gives a modern reconstruction of what an early liturgy would be like, and it involved everyone sitting around a big table in the dining room of the bishop’s house!).

The question I’d like to ask you is “what do you mean by liturgy”? If “liturgy” is basically the fourfold action, then that can take place in the context of a meal. “Liturgy” is not elaborate vestments or incense or even certain prescribed words. At least not if you believe Dix.

A “Roman” Catholic approach can be found (among other places) in Josef Jungmann’s The Mass of the Roman Rite.

Edwin

 

[Contarini]

Mercygate,

Dura Europos, as you note, dates from around 250. So this is hardly the very earliest Church (though it’s the earliest building we know). By 250 I think most would agree that the “agape” meal aspect had largely disappeared.

I think JaneFrances and AquinasXVI are spot on. The “meal” wasn’t an “ordinary” meal by our standards in the sense of having no sacred, transcendent aspect (perhaps the problem is with our ordinary meals?); and “liturgy” is far broader than normal usage would suggest.

Edwin

 

[Fidelis]

Reformed Rob:

I’ve never heard it gone into detail about what such a meal was supposedly like. Perhaps because nobody knows of any records of such a “sit down” meal, therefore why speculate about it being like that in the first place??

In addition to the quote above from St. Justin Martyr, I could have added this excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church which extensively quotes that early 2nd century saint:

**1345 ** As early as the second century we have the witness of St. Justin Martyr for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration. They have stayed the same until our own day for all the great liturgical families. St. Justin wrote to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) around the year 155, explaining what Christians did:

*On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.
The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.

When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.

Then we all rise together and offer prayers* for ourselves . . .and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.

Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.

He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.

When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: ‘Amen.’

When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the “eucharisted” bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent. *

**1346 ** The liturgy of the Eucharist unfolds according to a fundamental structure which has been preserved throughout the centuries down to our own day. It displays two great parts that form a fundamental unity:
– the gathering, the liturgy of the Word, with readings, homily and general intercessions;
– the liturgy of the Eucharist, with the presentation of the bread and wine, the consecratory thanksgiving, and communion.

The liturgy of the Word and liturgy of the Eucharist together form “one single act of worship”; the Eucharistic table set for us is the table both of the Word of God and of the Body of the Lord.

tcrnews2.com/genmass4.html

Sounds very much like the modern Mass to me. The way Justin describes it, it sounds like by that early date, it was already an established procedure. And, taken with the previous quotes, indicates that it was anything other than an ordinary meal.

 

[Northwind]

As a compliment to what has been offered above…

In the apostolic period the eucharist was celebrated daily in connection with a simple meal of brotherly love *(agape), *in which the Christians, in communion with their common Redeemer, God. But this childlike exhibition of brotherly unity became more and more difficult as the church increased, and led to all sorts of abuses, such as we find rebuked in the Corinthians by Paul.

The lovefeasts, therefore, which indeed were no more enjoined by law than the community of goods at Jerusalem forgot all distinctions of rank, wealth, and culture, and felt themselves to be members of one family, were gradually severed from the eucharist, and in the course of the second and third centuries gradually disappeared.

History of the Christian Church, Volume I: Apostolic Christianity. Philip SchaffA.D. 1-100.

 

[Reformed_Rob]

Fidelis:

In addition to the quote above from St. Justin Martyr, I could have added this excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church which extensively quotes that early 2nd century saint:
Sounds very much like the modern Mass to me. The way Justin describes it, it sounds like by that early date, it was already an established procedure. And, taken with the previous quotes, indicates that it was anything other than an ordinary meal.

Yes, what St. Justin Martyr describes appears to have the basic structure of what we know of as “the Mass.”

Thanks, Fidelis!!

And everyone else, keep discussing that’s fine, I’ll be reading if you continue, but I won’t have much to contribute.

 

[rwoehmke]

mercygate:

How early? The oldest above-ground church ever uncovered is in Mesopotamia at the Dura-Europa site. It dates from about 250 A.D. It had an altar against the wall. Clearly, everyone faced the same direction, and there was no sit-down meal for the liturgy.The liturgical assembly derives heavily from synagogue worship.

Mercygate, it was recently in the news that they had found what was thought to be an early Christian church near Megiddo in Israel. They dated it sometime in the early to mid 4th century and said it was possibly the earliest known Christian church known, I think someone mentioned this event in the Forums possibly under Catholic News.
I have an interest in archeology and wondered if you could direct me to a source where I could read more about the Church you have described above. Thanks Dick