The Mass of the Early Christians, 2nd Edition

The Mass of the Early Christians, 2nd Edition PDF

Author: Mike Aquilina

Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor

Published: 2007-05-30

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1592767699

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What did the first Christians believe about the Eucharist? How did they follow Jesus' command, "Do this in remembrance of me"? How did they celebrate the Lord's Day? What would they recognize in today's Mass? The answers may surprise you. In The Mass of the Early Christians, respected author, scholar, and television host Mike Aquilina reveals the Church's most ancient Eucharistic beliefs and practices. Using the words of the early Christians themselves -- from many documents and inscriptions -- Aquilina traces the history of the Mass from Jesus' lifetime through the fourth century. That the Mass stood at the center of the Church's life is evident in the Scriptures, as well as the earliest Christian sermons, letters, artwork, tombstones, and architecture. Even the pagans bore witness to the Mass in the records of their persecutions. These legacies from the early Church bear witness to the same worship Catholics know today: the altar, the priest, the chalice of wine, the bread, the Sign of the Cross ... the "Lord, have mercy" ... the "Holy, holy, holy" ... and the Communion.

The Eucharist of the Early Christians

The Eucharist of the Early Christians PDF

Author: Willy Rordorf

Publisher: Liturgical Press

Published: 2001-06

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9780814660331

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We can rediscover ourselves in the faith and hope of the early Christians. These ancient (first through fourth century) writings describe the richness of the Eucharist as it was experienced and lived at that time. Included in this volume are excerpts from the Didache, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, and more, all commented on by a leading liturgical historian.

Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist

Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist PDF

Author: Brant Pitre

Publisher: Image

Published: 2016-02-02

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0385531869

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A revelatory exploration of the Jewish roots of the Last Supper that seeks to understand exactly what happened at Jesus’ final Passover. “Clear, profound and practical—you do not want to miss this book.”—Dr. Scott Hahn, author of The Lamb’s Supper and The Fourth Cup Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist shines fresh light on the Last Supper by looking at it through Jewish eyes. Using his in-depth knowledge of the Bible and ancient Judaism, Dr. Brant Pitre answers questions such as: What was the Passover like at the time of Jesus? What were the Jewish hopes for the Messiah? What was Jesus’ purpose in instituting the Eucharist during the feast of Passover? And, most important of all, what did Jesus mean when he said, “This is my body… This is my blood”? To answer these questions, Pitre explores ancient Jewish beliefs about the Passover of the Messiah, the miraculous Manna from heaven, and the mysterious Bread of the Presence. As he shows, these three keys—the Passover, the Manna, and the Bread of the Presence—have the power to unlock the original meaning of the Eucharistic words of Jesus. Along the way, Pitre also explains how Jesus united the Last Supper to his death on Good Friday and his Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Inspiring and informative, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist is a groundbreaking work that is sure to illuminate one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith: the mystery of Jesus’ presence in “the breaking of the bread.”

Breaking Bread

Breaking Bread PDF

Author: Alistair C. Stewart

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2023-06-27

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 1467466344

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What’s the difference between eucharist and agape? And how did each come to be? The liturgies of early Christians are often obscure and variegated in the historical record. This is especially true of the eucharist, where the basic practice of communal eating is difficult to disentangle from other contemporary meals, whether Greco-Roman or Jewish practices—or the ill-defined agape meal. In Breaking Bread, Alistair C. Stewart cuts through scholarly confusion about early Christian eating. Stewart pinpoints the split in agape and eucharist to the shift in celebrating the eucharist on Sunday morning, leading to the inception of agape as an evening meal. The former sought divine union, the latter, communal harmony. In the final chapter he explores a breadth of Syriac, Greek, and Latin primary sources on a variety of local eucharistic traditions, tracing their development into the familiar prayers and distribution of token amounts of bread and wine, which emerged in the third century. Nuanced and well-researched, Breaking Bread clarifies the development of the blessed sacrament and its lesser-known counterpart. Theologians and historians of early Christianity will find Stewart’s work foundational in approaching a topic of enduring scholarly interest but elusive consensus.

Consuming the Word

Consuming the Word PDF

Author: Scott Hahn

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2013-05-28

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 030759081X

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From the bestselling author of The Lamb's Supper and Signs of Life comes an illuminating work that unlocks the many mysteries of the Catholic sacrament of the Eucharist. Long before the New Testament was a document, it was a sacrament. Jesus called the Eucharist by the name Christians subsequently gave to the latter books of the Holy Bible. It was the "New Covenant," the "New Testament," in his blood. Christians later extended the phrase to cover the books produced by the apostles and their companions; but they did so because these were the books that could be read at Mass. This simple and demonstrable historical fact has enormous implications for the way we read the Bible. In Consuming the Word: The New Testament and the Eucharist in the Early Church, Dr. Scott Hahn undertakes an examination of some of Christianity's most basic terms to discover what they meant to the sacred authors, the apostolic preachers, and their first hearers. Moreover, at a time when the Church is embarking on a New Evangelization he draws lessons for Christians today to help solidify their understanding of the why it is Catholics do what Catholics do. Anyone acquainted with the rich body of writing that flows so inspiringly from the hand and heart of Dr. Hahn knows that he brings profound personal insight to his demonstrated theological expertise,” writes Cardinal Donald Wuerl in the foreword to the book. Consuming the Word continues in that illustrious tradition. It brings us a powerful and welcome guide as we take our place in the great and challenging work in sharing the Good News.

Rethinking the Origins of the Eucharist

Rethinking the Origins of the Eucharist PDF

Author: Martin D. Stringer

Publisher: SCM Press

Published: 2013-01-25

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 0334047684

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The Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship. In this book Martin Stringer brings together some of the scholarship associated with the sociological analysis of biblical texts into conversation with liturgists and historians of the first century. He begins his analysis of the Eucharist and other early Christian meals from a detailed discussion of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, the most studied text in the sociological tradition of biblical scholarship. He proposes that the meal portrayed in chapter 11 of that letter is more likely to have been an annual event rather than a weekly one. He considers other texts, both biblical and those from the first hundred and fifty years or so of Christian history and shows that the Eucharist, that is a ritual event consisting of the sharing of bread and wine, which are associated by the community with the body and blood of Jesus, is most likely to have been an invention of the Asian or Roman church in around 100-110 CE. Martin D. Stringer is Professor of Liturgical and Congregational Studies in the Department of Theology and Religion in Birmingham. His main book so far is A Sociological History of Christian Worship (CUP 2005).

Eucharist and Excommunication

Eucharist and Excommunication PDF

Author: Kenneth Hein

Publisher: Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften

Published: 1973

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13:

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This work, whose theme was prompted by the present-day question about «intercommunion», seeks objectively to investigate how early Christianity dealt with similar problems. The question is pursued from its roots in Judaism up to the time of Cyprian, who marks the end of a certain stage of development in the matter. The study is concerned mainly with the evolution of eucharistic excommunication.

The Patient Ferment of the Early Church

The Patient Ferment of the Early Church PDF

Author: Alan Kreider

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2016-03-29

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1493400339

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How and why did the early church grow in the first four hundred years despite disincentives, harassment, and occasional persecution? In this unique historical study, veteran scholar Alan Kreider delivers the fruit of a lifetime of study as he tells the amazing story of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Challenging traditional understandings, Kreider contends the church grew because the virtue of patience was of central importance in the life and witness of the early Christians. They wrote about patience, not evangelism, and reflected on prayer, catechesis, and worship, yet the church grew--not by specific strategies but by patient ferment.