The Mass Lesson four part2

The Sacrifice of Calvary

Having taken a brief look at sacrifice in the Old Testament we are now ready to look at Christ’s sacrifice. The Sacrifice of Calvary consists of much more than what took place on Calvary. It starts at the Last Supper and continues today in Heaven and in each Mass. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of His Body and Blood. This He did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'

As stated previously the Sacrifice of the Mass was instituted by Christ Himself at the Last Supper. On Calvary we start to see the Jewish Passover and the Day of Atonement played out. The Old Passover is being replaced by the new Passover. Christ is the perfect unblemished Lamb of God sacrificed for our sins. As with the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement the sacrificial victim needs to be presented to God. On the Day of Atonement the High Priest took the victim into the Holy of Holies. The victim on Calvary -- Jesus Christ -- Is presented to God forty days after His Crucifixion when He ascends to Heaven offering Himself to God for our sins. As the High Priest Jesus continues to offer to the Father what He first offered at His Ascension - His perfected Self-Offering.

The Mass in the New Testament

There are numerous New Testament passages that refer to the Eucharist. We will start by looking at the one which describes Our Lord’s institution of the Eucharist.

And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, 'Take this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And likewise the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22: 14-20)

Both the Passover celebration and the Day of Atonement are a type of the Eucharist. Looking back at the Passover celebration we can see that it foreshadowed the Eucharist in two ways: first, lambs were sacrificed then second they were eaten. At the Last Supper Christ is the Lamb of God who will sacrifice Himself. He is also eaten by all those present. The Day of Atonement foreshadows Christ’s sacrifice of Himself for the sins of the world.

Prior to the Last Supper Christ started preparing the apostles and His disciples for the Eucharist. We read in John 6

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal. Then they said to him, 'What must we do, to be doing the works of God?' Jesus answered them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.' So they said to him, 'Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, `He gave them bread from heaven to eat. ’ Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.' They said to him, 'Lord, give us this bread always.' Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.' The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven.' They said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, `I have come down from heaven’?' Jesus answered them, 'Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, `And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.' The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.
This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.' This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, 'This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?' But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, 'Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. And he said, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.' After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you also wish to go away?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.' Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?' He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him. (John 6:27-71)

Christ told His followers He was going to give them the Bread of Life - His Body and Blood. Most could not accept this and turned away. Today many do the same thing. We can be like the Apostles and believe and partake in the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist - The Bread of Life-or we can miss out on this great gift and turn away as many of His followers did then. The next lesson will go into greater depth concerning the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. For now let it surfice to know that the early Church and even those opposed to the Church believed in the Real Presence.

The Epistles of Paul

Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians gives us some insight to the Mass of the first century. Probably at this time Christians were attending the Jewish services on Saturday. Hearing the word of God and then on Sunday attending a service that included readings and some form of Eucharist. From Paul’s letter it would seem that the Christians in Corinth combined the Eucharist with an Agape (love) meal. In this first passage Paul is reminding them that taking of bread and wine they participate in is the Body and Blood of Christ.

Therefore, my beloved, shun the worship of idols. I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (1Corinthians 10:14-22)

In this next passage we see Paul chastising the Christians of Corinth for not living as Christians should, they can’t even treat each other with respect when they gather to participate in the Lord’s Supper.

But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, for here must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you meet together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. (1Corinthians 11:17-22)
Paul then explains to them how they should go about preparing for and participating in the Eucharist. Every time we participate in the Eucharist we need to be mindful of Paul’s words,
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another -- if any one is hungry, let him eat at home -- lest you come together to be condemned. About the other things I will give directions when I come. (1Corinthians 11:22-34)

The Book of Revelation

We can also find information concerning early worship in John’s Apocalypse. The scenes described in the two passages below reappear in many of the early liturgies.

After this I looked, and lo, in heaven an open door! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, "Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and (Revelation power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created." (Revelation 4:1-11)

And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!"And from the throne came a voice crying, "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great." Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure" -- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God." (Revelation 19:4-9)

From these passages and others in the Gospels we find the essentials for the celebration of the Eucharist:
1.Bread and wine are brought to the alter;
2.The priest gives thanks;
3.The priest takes the bread and wine, blesses them and then says the words of consecration;
4.The consecrated bread and wine, which have now become the Body and Blood of Christ is given to the people.

Increase your Understanding
If you would like to receive feedback from me copy and paste the questions into your e-mail, answer them and send to me at mass1@musingsofacatholic.com

1.When and where was the Eucharistic Sacrifice instituted?

2.Who instituted the Sacrifice of the Mass?

3.In what was is the old Passover replaced by the new Passover?

4.How did the Passover foreshadow the Eucharist?

5.What did Jesus say to His disciples according to John 6 that caused many of them to turn away?

6.What do we know from the writings of the Apostle Paul about how the first century Christians worshipped?

7.What was the Agape meal?

8.What did Paul tell the people of Corinth concerning preparation to receive the Eucharist?

9.What are the essentials for celebration of the Eucharist that can be found in the writings of the New Testament?

The First Four Hundred Years

The Didache

The first document we find outside of the New Testament that deals with the Eucharistic literature is the Didache, often referred to as “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.” The Didache was written sometime between 60 A.D. and 100 A.D.. Most scholars put it between 90 and 100 A.D.. The Didache was used by second century bishops and priest to instruct new Christians. Quotes in this section have been taken from the New Advent web site section entitled Church Fathers.
Chapter 9 of the Didache seems to provide us with a thanksgiving prayer that was used as part of the Eucharistic celebration along with a reminder that those participating in the Eucharist need to be baptized Christians.

Chapter 9. The Thanksgiving (Eucharist)
Now concerning the Thanksgiving (Eucharist) thus give thanks. First, concerning the cup: We thank you, our Father, for the holy vine of David Your servant, which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory for ever. And concerning the broken bread: We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory for ever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom; for Yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever. But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving (Eucharist), but they who have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord has said, give not that which is holy to the dogs.

Chapter 10 seems to be a post communion prayer. It would also seem to indicate that the Eucharistic celebration and the agape meal were combined.

Chapter 10. Prayer after Communion
But after you are filled, thus give thanks: We thank You holy Father, for Your holy name which You caused to tabernacle in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality, which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory for ever. You, Master almighty, created all things for Your name's sake; You gave food and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to You; but to us You freely gave spiritual food and drink and life eternal through Your Servant. Before all things we thank You that You are mighty; to You be the glory for ever. Remember, Lord, Your Church, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in Your love and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for Your kingdom which You have prepared for it; for Yours is the power and the glory for ever. Let grace come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the God (Son) of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen. But permit the prophets to make Thanksgiving as much as they desire.

Chapter 14 provides direction to those coming to participate. First they should gather regularly, every Sunday. Second they should come having confessed there transgressions so that their sacrifice of self might not be profained.

Chapter 14. Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day
But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations.

Saint Clement of Rome

Saint Clement of Rome, the third successor of Peter, writing in 80A.D. to the Corinthians points out to them that they should celebrate sacrifices and services at set times and places and these should be conducted in a orderly manner. He also points out that they can only be led by specific persons. So we see as early as 80 A.D. that the liturgy of the Eucharist was being formalized.

These things therefore being manifest to us, and since we look into the depths of the divine knowledge, it behooves us to do all things in [their proper] order, which the Lord has commanded us to perform at stated times. He has enjoined offerings [to be presented] and service to be performed [to Him], and that not thoughtlessly or irregularly, but at the appointed times and hours. Where and by whom He desires these things to be done, He Himself has fixed by His own supreme will, in order that all things, being piously done according to His good pleasure, may be acceptable unto Him. Those, therefore, who present their offerings at the appointed times, are accepted and blessed; for inasmuch as they follow the laws of the Lord, they sin not. For his own peculiar services are assigned to the high priest, and their own proper place is prescribed to the priest, and their own special ministrations devolve on the Levites. The laymen is bound by the laws that pertain to laymen. (Chapter 40)

Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Saint Ignatius of Antioch is another first century Bishop that provides us some insight to the Mass of the early Christians. If you read the letters written in the first three centuries A.D. it becomes evident that the writers said little about the liturgy or the Eucharist. Even so we are not left entirely without information concerning these first three centuries. Most of the early Church believed that only baptized Christians should be made aware of the Eucharist and all it meant. In the early Church those who were learning would leave the Mass prior to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Mike Aquilina in his book The Mass of the Early Christians lists six reasons the early Church fathers gave for this:

1. The mysteries of faith were so great that reducing them to words would be a profanation.

2. The Church should not risk exposing the mysteries to ridicule by those who would not understand.

3. Unbelievers were unworthy even to here the mysteries, since they had not received sufficient grace through baptism.

4. No one should presume upon the work of a teacher in the Church.

5. The sacraments were intimate matters and , like intimacy in marriage were not suitable for public conversation.

6. The best witness of Eucharistic faith is not abundant words, but a pervasive culture of Christian charity.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch along with several others provides us with some insight. Writing in about 80 - 110 A.D he speaks of the Eucharist in several of his letters. In his letter to the Smyrnaeans he says:

But consider those who are of a different opinion with respect to the grace of Christ which has come unto us, how opposed they are to the will of God. They have no regard for love; no care for the widow, or the orphan, or the oppressed; of the bond, or of the free; of the hungry, or of the thirsty.
They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised again.

Saint Justin Martyr

Saint Justin Martyr in his First Apology written between 148 and 155 A.D. describes the Mass after the baptism of a new Christian:

But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized [illuminated] person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to [so be it]. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion.
And this food is called among us Thanksgiving [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of, and sins unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, This do in remembrance of Me, Luke 22:19 this is My body; and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, This is My blood; and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn.

Then in the very next paragraph he describes a Sunday Mass.

And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who orphans succours the and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons wrote in his Against Heresies, 180 A.D. :

Christ has declared the cup, a part of creation, 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.

The writings of Tertullian of Carthage (d 222) provide us with additional in site to the Mass of the early Christians.. A passage from The Chaplet shows that only those that preside at the Mass could distribute communion.

We assemble before daybreak, and take the sacrament of the Eucharist from the hand on none but those who preside. This the Lord commanded to be eaten at mealtimes and urged to be taken by everyone.

The following passage taken from his thesis On Prayer show us that very early on the practice of offering the sign of peace during Mass was a normal practice.

Another custom has now become prevalent. Such as are fasting withhold the kiss of peace, which is the seal of prayer, after prayer made with brethren. But when is peace more to be concluded with brethren than when, at the time of some religious observance, our prayer ascends with more acceptability; that they may themselves participate in our observance, and thereby be mollified for transacting with their brother touching their own peace? What prayer is complete if divorced from the holy kiss? Whom does peace impede when rendering service to his Lord? What kind of sacrifice is that from which men depart without peace? Whatever our prayer be, it will not be better than the observance of the precept by which we are bidden to conceal our fasts; Mathew 6:16-18 for now, by abstinence from the kiss, we are known to be fasting. But even if there be some reason for this practice, still, lest you offend against this precept, you may perhaps defer your peace at home, where it is not possible for your fast to be entirely kept secret. But wherever else you can conceal your observance, you ought to remember the precept: thus you may satisfy the requirements of Discipline abroad and of custom at home. So, too, on the day of the passover, when the religious observance of a fast is general, and as it were public, we justly forego the kiss, caring nothing to conceal anything which we do in common with all. Chapter 18

From these writings and others of the time it is clear that the Mass of the first several hundred years after Christ was similar to the Mass we celebrate today.
It consisted of the reading of word and the celebration of the Eucharist. It is also clear that they believed in the real presence of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine.
It is also quite clear that the Mass of the early Church was for the most part conducted in the homes of the Christians and was an adaption of the synagogue word service and a slowly developing Eucharistic celebration.

Increase Your Understanding
If you would like to receive feedback from me copy and paste the questions into your e-mail, answer them and send to mass1@musingsofacatholic.com

1.What does the Didache tell us about the celebration of the Eucharist in the early Church?

2.What did Clement of Rome point out to the Corinthians concerning Eucharistic
celebration?

3.What are some of the reasons the early Church fathers did not write about the Eucharist?

4.What aspects of the Mass described by St. Justin Martin are similar to the Mass of today?