Of Lay Communion under One Form. As in the Confessions of the princes
and cities they enumerate among the abuses that laymen commune only
under one form, and as, therefore, in their dominions both forms are
administered to laymen, we must reply, according to the custom of the
Holy Church, that this is incorrectly enumerated among the abuses, but
that, according to the sanctions and statutes of the same Church it is
rather an abuse and disobedience to administer to laymen both forms. For
under the one form of bread the saints communed in the primitive Church,
of whom Luke says: "They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine
and fellowship, and in breaking of bread." Acts 2:42. Here Luke mentions
bread alone. Likewise Acts 20:7 says: "Upon the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together to break bread." Yea, Christ, the
institutor of this most holy sacrament, rising again from the dead,
administered the Eucharist only under one form to the disciples going to
Emmaus, where he took bread and blessed it, and brake and gave to them,
and they recognized him in the breaking of bread. Luke 24:30, 31: where
indeed Augustine, Chrysostome, Theophylact and Bede some of whom many
ags ago and not long after the times of the apostles affirm that it
was the Eucharist. Christ also (John 6) very frequently mentions bread
alone. St. Ignatius, a disciple of St. John the Evangelist, in his
Epistle to the Ephesians mentions the bread alone in the communion
of the Eucharist. Ambrose does likewise in his books concerning the
sacraments, speaking of the communion of Laymen. In the Council of
Rheims, laymen were forbidden from bearing the sacrament of the Body to
the sick, and no mention is there made of the form of wine. Hence it is
understood that the viaticum was given the sick under only one form. The
ancient penitential canons approve of this. For the Council of Agde put
a guilty priest into a monastery and granted him only lay communion. In
the Council of Sardica, Hosius prohibits certain indiscreet persons
from receiving even lay communion, unless they finally repent. There has
always been a distinction in the Church between lay communion under
one form and priestly communion under both forms. This was beautifully
predicted in the Old Testament concerning the descendants of Eli: "It
shall come to pass," says God, 1 Kings 2; 1 Sam. 2:36, "that everyone
that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of
silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, 'Put me, I pray thee,
into one of the priests' office' (Vulgate reads: "Ad unam partem
sacerdotalem."), 'that I may eat a piece of bread.'" Here Holy Scripture
clearly shows that the posterity of Eli, when removed from the office
of the priesthood, will seek to be admitted to one sacerdotal part, to a
piece of bread. So our laymen also ought, therefore, to be content
with one sacerdotal part, the one form. For both the Roman pontiffs
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account