Dissertation on the Most August Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood

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Header: Book I. On the Venerable Sacrament

...also, what the Apostle says elsewhere: When you come together into one place, it is not now to eat the Lord's supper. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 20. original: "Conuenientibus vobis in vnum, iam non est Dominicam caenam manducare." For St. Paul does not call the Holy Eucharist "the supper" with these words, but expressly distinguishes the latter from the former. For he adds:

Luke writes the same in chapter 22, verse 20; and St. John in chapter 13, verse 4, testifies in clear words that Christ rose from the supper to wash the disciples' feet, and after they were washed, he distributed the divine Sacraments. Therefore, the Apostle in the place cited does not call the Holy Eucharist "the Lord's supper," because no one went hungry or was drunk on account of the Eucharist—as the Apostle says of the Corinthians in that passage—and both poor and rich alike could obtain it for themselves.

Rather, he understands that common meal which they could take at home just as well as in the churches. First before, then after the receiving of the Eucharist, wealthy Christians—in imitation of Christ—would provide this meal to all others, both rich and poor, as a symbol of mutual charity; for this reason it was called Agape From the Greek word for "love" or "charity." In the early Church, this was a communal meal shared by Christians., which is as if you were to say "charity." Now, it is clear that the Apostle is speaking of this from the following words: What, have you not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God: and put them to shame that have not? verse 22.

And yet, most Lutherans as well as Calvinists The author is addressing the major Protestant movements of his time, who often used the term "The Lord's Supper" to emphasize the meal-like aspect of the ritual. contend that it was not permitted in the past, nor is it permitted today, even for the sick to receive the Eucharist at home; therefore, according to their own doctrine, the Apostle is not to be understood as speaking of the Eucharist, but of the common meal. This meal can be taken at home and was also formerly publicly provided in the churches, as Baronius Cesare Baronius (1538–1607) was a Cardinal and historian who wrote the "Annales Ecclesiastici" to defend the history of the Catholic Church. teaches in volume 1, regarding the year of Christ 57.

In this same sense, ancient authors, when they write on this subject, accept the name "Lord's Supper." By it, they do not mean the Holy Eucharist, but the common refreshment which Christ took with his disciples immediately before the institution of the Venerable Sacrament—though some, caring little for specific or borrowed names, have not employed that strict distinction of the word. However, this Sacrament has been called by the name Eucharist From the Greek eucharistia, meaning "thanksgiving." ever since the times of the Apostles. This is evident from the letter of St. Ignatius St. Ignatius of Antioch (died c. 107 AD), an early Christian martyr and bishop. to the Smyrnaeans. This name is consistent with the act of Christ's institution and the words of Scripture already cited; for Matthew says in this verse and the following; Mark, chapter 14, verses 22 and 23; Luke, chapter 22, verses 17 and 19; and St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 11, verse 24, that Christ gave thanks and blessed in its institution. It is with this same phrase that the Apostle says elsewhere: