CATECHISM ON THE OFFICE OF HOLY COMMUNION. PART I. Q. What is the most holy of all Christian services? A. The Holy Communion.1 Q. Why do we call It by this name? A. Because in It our LORD JESUS CHRIST unites Himself to us,2 and because it is the means and sign of union between Christians.3 Q. How does our LORD unite Himself to us in the Holy Communion? A. By feeding us with His Body and Blood.* Q. What other names has the Holy Communion ? A. The LORD's Supper and the Holy Eu charist.6 Q. Why is It called the LORD's Supper? A. Because our LORD JESUS CHRIST ordered it first at the Paschal supper the night before He died.7 1 I. Cor. x. 16. 3 I. Cor. x. 17. 5 I. Cor. xi. 20. xxvi. 26; S. Mark 1. Cor. xi. 23. 2 Rev. iii. 20. 4 S. John vi. 55, 56. 6 Phil. iv. 6. 7 S. Matt. xiv. 22; S. Luke xxii. 19; Q. Is it right to celebrate it in the evening now? A. No, for the Church in very early days altered the time to the morning. Q. Is there any clue in the New Testament as to the hour at which the Apostles celebrated? 4. Yes, S. Paul joined in the breaking of Bread at Troas after midnight.1 Q. Can you give any reasons for this change? A. S. Augustine gives two; saying first, that it pleased the HOLY GHOST that in honour of the Lord's Body it should be the first food tasted by Christians in the day; and next, that S. Paul altered the hour to prevent such scandals as those which happened in the Corinthian Church.2 Q. Why should we fast before Communion, if the Apostles did not at the first Eucharist? 4. The Apostles did come fasting to the Paschal Supper, which, itself a Holy Sacrifice, was on that occasion the first part of the new Eucharist. Q. What is the difference now? A. Since the Passover was done away, as it was on that night, all meals which Christians take, except the Holy Communion, are only common food, and the Eucharist should come first. Q. What does Eucharist mean? A. Thanksgiving. Q. Why is the Holy Communion greater than any other acts of worship? A. Because the others are only steps towards our LORD, but He comes to us Himself in the Holy Communion.3 1 Acts xx. 7. 2 I. Cor. xi. 20, 23. 3 S. John vi. 51. Q. What kind of service is the Holy Communion? A. It is a Sacrifice.1 Q. What is a Sacrifice? A. An offering made on an altar to God.2 Q. What did they offer? A. Abel offered lambs, and Cain the fruits of the earth.3 Q. Did God Himself ever command such sacrifices? 4. Yes, He ordered Abraham to offer them,* and also the Jews, when He gave them the Ten Commandments.5 Q. Why were corn and wine and other fruits of the earth offered ? A. To remind men that it is GOD only Who gives all these things.6 Q. Why were sheep and other animals killed in sacrifices? A. Because our sins deserve death, and GOD allowed men to put the blood of animals before Him instead of their own blood when they went into His temple to pray.7 Q. For what else were these sacrifices ordered? A. As signs of the one great offering of our LORD JESUS CHRIST upon the Cross. 8 1 Mal. i. 11.; Heb. xiii. 10, 15, 16; I S. Pet. ii. 5. 2 Exod. xx. 24; II. Kings xiv. 4 ; 4 Gen. xv. 9; xxii. 13. 3 Gen. iv. 3, 4. 5 Exod. xx. 24. 6 Deut. xxiv. 10. 7 Exod. xii. 23; Lev. xvii. 11. 8 Col. ii. 17; Heb. viii. 5. Q. What were the two greatest parts of the Sacrifices? A. First, the killing of the victim, and next, the sprinkling of its blood on the altar.1 Q. What two sacrifices amongst the Jews were the chief signs of our LORD's death? 4. The Passover, and the Great Atonement. Q. What was the Passover? A. A lamb slain and then eaten in every Jewish family, in memory of the deliverance out of Egypt.2 Q. What was the Great Atonement ? 4. An offering made once a year for the sins of all the people.3 Q. Who only could make this offering? Q. How was he to do it? A. He was to kill the victims in the Holy Place, and then to go into the Holy of Holies within the veil, and sprinkle the blood on the Mercy-seat in the Presence of GOD.5 Q. What is the likeness between the Passover and our LORD's death? A. Because He is the Lamb of GOD, Who was slain for our offences, and because we feed on Him.7 Q. What does S. Paul call Him? A. "Our Passover sacrificed for us." 1 Lev. iv. 4, 5, 6. 2 Exod. xii. 3; 1 Cor. v. 7. 3 Lev. xvi. 29, 30. 4 Lev. xvi. 3, 32. 6 S. John i. 29, 36; 7 S. John vi. 54. 5 Lev. xvi. 11, 14, 15. 1 S. Pet. i. 19; Rev. v. 6. 8 I Cor. v. 7. Q. Is His sacrifice of Himself over? A. It is, so far as pain and death are concerned, for He suffered once for all.1 Q. Is that all His Sacrifice? A. No, for He is still offering His Blood in Heaven as a Propitiation for our sins.2 Q. How was the Great Atonement a sign of this? A. Because He, our great High Priest, offered Himself to die on the Cross3 in Jerusalem, GOD'S Holy Place, and then went up into Heaven, the Most Holy Place, to offer His Blood in the Presence of His Father." Q. When will that Sacrifice be over? A. Not until He comes again in glory.7 Q, Why must He still offer this Sacrifice? A. Because we are always sinning, and without the shedding of His Blood there is no remission for our sins.9 Q. How can we take part in His Sacrifice? 4. By celebrating the Holy Communion. Q. How do we know this? A. Because S. Paul says, "As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the LORD's death till He come."10 Q. What is it then which we do when we celebrate the Holy Communion? 1 Rom. vi. 10; Heb. vii. 27; ix. 12, 26, 28; x. 12. 2 Rom. vii. 3, 4; Heb. x. 2; 1 S. John ii. 1, 2. 3 Heb. vii. 27. Ps. ii. 6; xlviii. 2; S. Matt. v. 3. 5 Heb. ix. 24; x. 20. 7 I Cor. xi. 26. 6 Heb. ix. 12, 23, 24. 8 Ps. xiv. 1, 3; liii. 3. 10. Prov. xxiv. 16; Rom. iii. 9 Heb. ix. 22; 1 S. John i. 7. 10 I Cor. xi. 26. |