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JillD
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Visalia, California USA |
| Posts: | 754 |
| First Name: | Jill | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | heathen, EvFree, Messianic, LC-MS, Catholic 2007 |
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Posted: Tue Apr 10th, 2007 01:02 am |
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Someone I know made this claim. Is there any substance to the charge, especially for the early Church? I've certainly never heard of it...
Jill
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"I praise you, for I am wondrously made. Wonderful are our works! My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret." Ps 139
"Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men." Ps 140
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CajunRick
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5310 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Tue Apr 10th, 2007 01:17 am |
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JillD wrote: Someone I know made this claim. Is there any substance to the charge, especially for the early Church? I've certainly never heard of it...
There was a heresy at one time which taught that the common person was not "worthy" to receive Eucharist (as if any of us could ever be worthy of Christ's sacrifice!). The Church instituted a law at that time (which is still in effect) that every Catholic is required to receive the Eucharist at least once a year during the Easter season, which runs from Easter Sunday to Trinity Sunday.
During the centuries leading up to the Protestant Revolution, sacraments were not generally available to the public. Priests were paid for the sacraments they administered, and some sacraments, such as the Anointing of the Sick, were so expensive they were not commonly celebrated at all. This was among the abuses Martin Luther legitimately protested, and led to the reforms instituted at the Council of Trent.
So the answer to your question is that no, it has never been "official" Church practice or teaching that the Eucharist was distributed only once a year, but yes, it was a common practice that people did not receive the Eucharist except once a year.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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DrDave
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| Joined: | Mon Nov 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Mildura, Australia |
| Posts: | 226 |
| First Name: | Dave | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Cradle - Lapsed - Renewed Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Apr 13th, 2007 02:09 am |
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It is my understanding (subject to change without notice) that it is this law regarding the Eucharist that engendered the practice of going to confession once a year during lent so that one would be properly disposed for their obligitory recieption of the Eucharist during the Easter season. I have looked and cannot find anything specific about an obligation to confess, but I can find the obligation to recieve during Easter, and an obligation to be properly disposed in order to recieve, so if you put the two together...
Strangely enough I have a parish leader (Sister of Mercy, we have no resident Priest) who actively discourages confession as "not neccessary in the majority of cases", but actively encourages weekly if not daily reception of the Blessed Sacrament, even though, strictly speaking it too is "not neccessary in the majority of cases":?
Regards Dave
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David W. Emery
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 2034 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Apr 13th, 2007 08:56 am |
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From the Compendium of the Catechism, Appendix B:
The five precepts of the Church:
1. You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and remain free from work or activity that could impede the sanctification of such days.
2. You shall confess your sins at least once a year.
3. You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season.
4. You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.
5. You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.
So reception of the sacraments of penance and Eucharist is obligatory at least once a year. The recommendation, of course, is that these sacraments be received “frequently,” because the sacraments in general are our primary sources of divine grace. Without grace, no one can even begin to fulfill the requirements for salvation: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).
David
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Gnyssa
Member
| Joined: | Sat Nov 18th, 2006 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 29 |
| First Name: | Gnyssa | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Episcopalian, Roman Catholic since 2003, RC priest 2006 |
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Posted: Sat Jun 2nd, 2007 08:12 am |
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I know of no evidence that suggests that in the early Church the Eucharist was celebrated only once a year, and this sounds like a Protestant myth. The Biblical references to the Apostles gathering to break bread and the ancient liturgical texts which have survived make it clear that it was frequent. Dom Gregory Dix's book of liturgy, "The Shape of the Liturgy" discusses the development of the Eucharisitc rite in detail - but its rather a beefy tome. He partcularly discusses Jewish ceremonial meals which both influenced Christian worship as well as suggesting a frequent Eucharist. Even today, a devout Jewish family ceremonials blesses bread and wine on Friday night after sundown - if you have been at a Shabbat meal it is kind of obvious how the Mass developed.
A fascinating window on the early Church is found in the letters of Pliny the Younger, a pagan Roman and a Procurator of Bythinia, who wrote to the Emperor askng what to do about the Christians in the later 2nd century AD. He had arrested and tortured some women, but all he could find was that they met in the early morning on the first day of the week to have some kind of harmless meal. He had no idea what he was looking at - but it was almost certainly the Mass.
Gnyssa
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Br_Carlo
Member
| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Tyler, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 150 |
| First Name: | Br_Carlo (Vince Brach) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Presbyterian, Episcopalian, CATHOLIC |
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Posted: Sat Jun 2nd, 2007 09:08 am |
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| God's peace. I haven't read this letter of Pliny the Younger. Is there any mention of the (male) celebrants of these early Masses? Blessings, ~Br_Carlo~
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Gnyssa
Member
| Joined: | Sat Nov 18th, 2006 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 29 |
| First Name: | Gnyssa | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Episcopalian, Roman Catholic since 2003, RC priest 2006 |
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Posted: Sat Jun 2nd, 2007 01:21 pm |
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No - the celebrants were not mentioned and Pliny does not seem to know it is even a ritual or liturgy - he simply thinks it is a very simple meal - and indeed it possibly could have been a meal and not the mass, but I doubt it. The women he refers to as "ministrae", the feminine plural, which is best rendered as "attendants." although some have rendered it "deaconesses". The word "minister" is of much later use and I do not think he regarded them as clergy, even though pagans did have priestesses in various cults. He does not use the Latin words "sacerdos" or "flamen" meaning "priest".
The letters of Pliny the Younger are translated and published in Penguin paperbacks, but I am sure a web search could find the ones you want.
best
Gnyssa
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