Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/646

 640 LORD'S SUPPER Lord's supper was always celebrated under the two forms of the bread and the cup, and that sects like the Manichseans, who rejected the wine, were strongly censured. It was, however, an early custom to carry to sick per- sons merely the bread dipped in wine. In the 13th century Robert Pulleyn of Oxford de- clared it a good custom to give to the laity the bread only, to avoid the danger of spilling any of the wine. This view was very soon adopt- ed by all the scholastics, who maintained that Christ was wholly present under either form, and that one form was sufficient for a valid communion, while for the celebration of the mass, or a true sacrifice, both elements were required. Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventura especially recommended the universal intro- duction of the communion under one form, and this soon became the practice of the entire church. All the sects and reformers of the middle ages, as the Waldenses, Huss, Wycliffe, and Savonarola, protested against this with- holding of the cup from the laity. The Prot- estant churches agreed in regarding the use of both forms as essential both for communion and for the celebration of the ordinance. The practice of the Roman Catholic church was confirmed by the council of Trent in 1563, and has always since been adhered to by the church. Those portions of the eastern church- es which have acknowledged the supreme juris- diction of the pope (United Greeks, Armeni- ans, Copts, &c.) have been permitted to retain the communion under both forms, and the same was offered to the Protestants in the attempts to effect a corporate union between them and the Roman Catholic church. In the ancient church bread and wine were consecrated by the bishops and presbyters and distributed by the deacons. What change is effected by the con- secration is, like the essence of the Lord's sup- per itself, a subject of controversy among the various Christian denominations. The Roman Catholic and the eastern churches believe that the consecration was the change of the elements into the body and the blood of Christ; the Protestant denominations think that, in gen- eral, the consecration was regarded in the an- cient church, as it is by them now, as a setting apart for and devoting to sacred use, without any substantial change in the elements. The formulas used at the distribution of the Lord's supper were early fixed in liturgies. All the old liturgies contain the words of institution and a prayer ; that of the Greek church a prayer to the Holy Spirit to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. The place where the Lord's supper was celebrated was at first the dwellings of the believers. In times of persecution they often had to cele- brate it in hidden places,. such as the tombs of the martyrs. As ecclesiastical architecture was developed, special altar tables or altars were introduced for its celebration. The time of celebration was at first, in accordance with the name and the institution of the ordinance, the night or evening; but it soon became a practice to connect it with the morning ser- vice, and so it is still in most churches; the Moravians, however, celebrate it always at the evening service. Communion was gener- ally very frequent in the first ages, but became gradually rarer. In the 5th century several ecclesiastical writers complained of the re- missness of Christians in this respect. Later synods prescribed that all the faithful should receive it on the high festivals of the church (Epiphany, Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas). The fourth council of Lateran, in 1215, com- manded that all adults should receive commu- nion at Easter time, under pain of mortal sin. All the writers of the church strongly recom- mended to the faithful frequency of commu- nion. The same was urged by the reformers of the 16th century. The Protestant churches in former centuries in some cases punished those who had not appeared at the communion table for a long time or who despised the eucharist with banishment, excommunication, and refusal of Christian burial. The free Protestant churches have generally in their constitutions and statutes some provision for the proceedings to be observed toward church members who refrain from the celebration of the Lord's supper. The ancient church ex- cluded the catechumens and the lapsi from the Lord's supper, and often gave it to children. Infant communion lasted in the Latin church till the 12th century, and still exists in the Greek church. The deacons used to carry it to those who were prevented from being present at divine service. The apostles received it from Christ, according to eastern custom, re- clining ; in the 4th century the custom of stand- ing, and later that of kneeling, was introduced. Kneeling is still the general or prevailing practice among Roman Catholics, the eastern churches, the Protestant Episcopal church, the Methodists, and the Lutherans; in the other churches, sitting prevails, as being a more Scriptural posture. In a few denominations it is customary to sit round a table, and in some places 12 always sit down at a time. At first bread and the cup were given into the hands of the communicants; later the distributing clergyman sometimes placed the bread in their mouth, and held the cup to their lips. The self-communion of the laity is prohibited by all the Christian churches ; the self-communion of clergymen is generally practised in the Ro- man Catholic and the eastern churches, and is also customary in the Protestant Episcopal church and among the Moravians. In some churches various ceremonies, as burning of candles, &c., accompany the celebration; in most of the reformed churches nothing is changed in the usual form of the divine ser- vice, except that a special communion service is used. The Protestant churches generally have allowed a great liberty with regard to the mode of celebration, and there is accord- ingly a great variety of usages, which it would