The Lord's Supper In The Medieval West And The Modern Roman Catholic Church

Both the texts of the various prayers and directions for eucharistic practice survive from about the seventh century onward. The early Middle Ages was characterized by growing awe surrounding the sacrificial presence of Christ at the eucharistic altar. Controversies over the exact nature of Christ's presence in the elements of bread and wine broke out during the ninth century, with the spiritualized interpretation of Ratramnus of Corbie, being rejected in favor of the insistence on Christ's physical presence by Pascasius Radbertus. As scholastic theology developed in the medieval universities, the theology of transubstantiation emerged.

Transubstantiation states that the substance of the bread and wine is changed into Christ's body and blood, but the perceptible accidents of bread and wine remain unchanged. Transubstantiation is often misunderstood. It does not teach a crude physical presence of Christ in the eucharistic elements. Aristotelian philosophy—used by the scholastic theologians—often is at the root of this confusion. Aristotle classified things into three different categories: substance, accidents, and matter. Scholastic theologians used Aristotelian categories to explain the doctrine of transubstantiation. Thus, the physical material of the bread and wine is not changed into Christ's body and blood. Instead, the substance (i.e., the reality, the essence) of bread ceases to be the reality of bread and becomes the reality of Christ. In the context of the doctrine of transubstantiation, one might best refer to a sacramental presence of Christ, rather than a physical or carnal presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In response to Lutheran and Zwinglian understandings of Christ's presence in the Eucharist, the Council of Trent reaffirmed the sacrificial character of the Mass and the theology of transubstantiation. Historical studies and renewed efforts to explain the nature of sacramental grace have led to changes in Roman Catholic eucharistic theology and liturgy since the Second Vatican Council. The Roman Catholic liturgical renewal of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is one element contributing to sacramental and liturgical renewal in some Protestant denominations. While the origins of a specifically Western or Latin liturgical tradition are difficult to trace, at least from the third century those trends which are later clearly identified with Western practice can be detected. Both Tertullian (c. 160–220) and Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258) seem to be speaking of a Latin liturgy when writing about the Eucharist. But these early rites and practices display a great deal of diversity even though the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus (c. 215), for example, argues for the primacy of Roman eucharistic traditions. For a long time it was supposed that all Western rites had a common source in Rome and spread from there to outlying areas in a systematic way as pagan peoples were converted to Christianity. More recently, however, scholars have come to see that the lines of liturgical influence are more complex. Important ritual developments clearly took place in other Christian centers and were subsequently returned to Rome to influence eucharistic practice there. In any case, neat distinctions between West and East, Roman and non-Roman, are difficult to make in this early period of liturgical development. Eucharistic Documents We can be slightly more certain about Western eucharistic practice in the sixth to seventh centuries, since some documentary sources for this period exist. Early evidence for the beginnings of Western eucharistic practice is found in liturgical books containing the various prayers used by presiders. Several of these collections, known as sacramentaries, have survived. Generally their contents follow the course of the church year, providing texts for each celebration in the calendar. Although the earliest such manuscript (the so-called Leonine Sacramentary) dates from the seventh century, at least some of its liturgical material may be of a much earlier date. Analysis of these collections reveals the existence of a number of different euchological traditions, with Roman, Milanese, Spanish, Celtic, and Gallican books each expressing their own eucharistic personality. Still later, but sometime before the eighth century, a group of liturgical documents called Ordines begins to appear, providing fuller information about how the Eucharist was actually celebrated in Rome in the early Middle Ages. The Ordines provide the practical, ceremonial details for all participants in the liturgy. When added to the prayers of the sacramentaries, the directions in the Ordines give a picture of both eucharistic words and actions for various occasions. Often these books also contain important historical and political addenda. Eucharistic Theology and Practice in the Early Middle Ages Throughout this early period, despite the vigor of local varieties in celebration, there was a growing tendency toward the standardization of the liturgy as authority came to be centered at Rome. At the same time, eucharistic theology emphasized the sacrificial aspects of the Mass, the localized presence of Christ in the bread and wine, and allegorical interpretations of the action at the altar. Because of these trends, a sense of awe and reverence surrounding the Eucharist grew to dominate popular piety. The idea that ordinary communicants were unworthy to handle the body and blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine was fueled by an emphasis on penitence, resulting in the gradual decline of frequent Communion of the laity. Gazing upon the Eucharist at the moment of consecration was understood to be sufficient to produce a salvific effect. At the same time, the belief was strong that the Eucharist was a representation of the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ. This belief, in turn, led to the expectation that it might be practically employed to bring about desired objectives. The theological poles of medieval eucharistic debate can be clearly seen in the controversy between the ninth-century monks. In the first systematic treatise devoted solely to the Eucharist, Pascasius Radbertus (c. 785–860) describes the ways in which Christ is present in the elements of bread and wine in extremely realistic and physical terms. Ratramnus of Corbie (d. c. 868) responded and attacked the carnal view of the Real Presence in favor of a more symbolic and spiritualized interpretation. In the end, Ratramnus' view was condemned as failing adequately to safeguard the doctrine of the Real Presence. The next three centuries saw an increasing identification of the bread and wine with the physical body and blood of Christ. Abuses of eucharistic practice were not uncommon. By the eleventh century, the structure of the eucharistic rite had reached a certain stability in the West. Roman control had asserted itself over provincial control of ecclesiastical matters. Because of this control, the Eucharist, as it was celebrated in Rome (and particularly as it was celebrated by the bishop of Rome), came to be normative for the rest of the Christian West. But while in Rome large numbers of liturgical personnel were available, in outlying areas a single priest might be called upon to conduct the eucharistic rites alone. The variety of service books for each participant caused certain difficulties. The dissemination of Roman missals, which brought together the prayers, ceremonial directions, the sung parts of the Mass, and readings collected from a variety of liturgical books, not only made the celebration by a single person easier, but also further encouraged the uniformity of eucharistic rites and ceremonies according to Roman patterns. Eucharistic Theology in the Late Middle Ages Popular distortions of eucharistic theology and particularly the grossly carnal interpretation of the elements of bread and wine caused the thirteenth-century scholastics to give it special consideration. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council used the term transubstantiation to describe the change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. However, Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) was the first person to systematically describe transubstantiation by applying Aristotelian philosophical categories to the Eucharist. Aquinas proposed that while what is perceptible (the accidents of bread and wine) remains unchanged, the essential reality (the substance) is transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. But even though transubstantiation was originally put forward to combat an overly realistic view of eucharistic presence, its philosophical nuances were difficult to translate into common terms. In the centuries which followed, transubstantiation came to be itself increasingly associated with the carnal presence of Christ in the elements of bread and wine. By the time of the sixteenth-century Reformation, several trends in eucharistic theology and practice had crystallized. Because of the fear of defiling the body and blood of Christ, lay persons received Communion infrequently. Since the thirteenth century, the chalice had been withheld from them. However, eucharistic piety was high. Such popular devotions as benedictional exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, perpetual adoration, and the feast of Corpus Christi can trace their roots to the late Middle Ages. Because the Mass was thought to make present the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, the number of Masses were multiplied to ensure an abundance of saving grace. Many religious houses, as well as parish clergy, made their living from the Mass stipends paid by groups and individuals who wished the Eucharist to be offered to bring about desired consequences for them—especially the early release of their souls from purgatory. Although Roman eucharistic practice tended to dominate, some local variety in rites, texts, and lectionaries remained. The Catholic Reformation and the Eucharist At the same time, the Catholic Reformation (often called the Counter-Reformation) left its own mark on eucharistic practice and piety. An ecumenical council convened at Trent (1545–1563) sought to curb abuses and to settle matters which the success of Protestantism in Europe had thrown into question. Several of the council's sessions dealt directly with the Eucharist. At the second meeting of the council (1551), the theology of the Eucharist was more precisely defined. Both Lutheran and Zwinglian positions were specifically rejected. Later sessions reaffirmed the sacrificial character of the Mass. The issue of Christ's presence in the elements was addressed at the third meeting of the council (1562). The council determined that the cup was properly denied to the laity because the whole Christ was present in both bread and wine. One important result of the council deliberations was the establishment of the Congregation of Sacred Rites. Aiming at the standardization of public worship according to the council's decrees and aiming, as an ultimate goal, at a uniform liturgy for all of Roman Catholicism, the council immediately undertook the reform of liturgical books, including the missal. In the end, the rites of the Tridentine Missal (1570) embodied what was current eucharistic practice in the city of Rome and essentially ignored the diverse, local liturgical heritage of the church. Although some of these local rites (and especially those in France) continued to be used after Trent, the rites of the Tridentine Missal formed the official eucharistic liturgy of the Roman Catholic church until the Second Vatican Council undertook revision nearly four centuries later. Contemporary Roman Catholic Eucharistic Thought and Influence In the twentieth century, a renewal of attention to the Eucharist has taken place among many Western Christians. In Roman Catholicism, historical studies uncovered the earlier variety in eucharistic practice and documented the accumulation of devotional adjuncts. The Second Vatican Council sought to restore the Eucharist to the center of the Christian life by attempting to strip away the extraneous liturgical material in the eucharistic rites, to simplify rubrics, to recover ancient signs and symbols, to adapt eucharistic practice to indigenous cultures, and to elicit the "?full, conscious, active participation?" of the faithful. At the same time, eucharistic theology underwent a similar renewal, with such classic works as Edward Schillebeeckx's Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God (1960) providing a systematic reflection on the Christocentric nature of sacramental grace. It is this more relational understanding of the Eucharist which underlies the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (December 4, 1963), as well as the new eucharistic prayers which began to appear in 1967. In some of the Protestant churches, too, the Eucharist has been the subject of renewed interest in the late twentieth century. Beginning in the 1960s, the Roman Catholic liturgical agenda began to affect the revisions of Protestant services of the Lord's Supper. Historical studies and ecumenical contacts have facilitated some interdenominational convergence in eucharistic theology and practice. Most American Lutherans and Episcopalians have sought to reintroduce the Eucharist as the main Sunday service, and some Methodists and Presbyterians also view this as a desirable goal. But many American Protestants, especially those with strong ties to revivalist worship patterns and Enlightenment sacramental theology, have remained relatively untouched by these trends. Noneucharistic worship remains the norm. Most of the ecclesiastical descendants of the Reformers, however, have begun to search for their eucharistic roots in the early church and in the Continental and English Reformations, and have found a balance between ecumenical convergence and authentic Protestant diversity.