In No. 102 we saw that the great festival of the Jews was the Pasch or Pass over. This festival was celebrated each year, not in the Temple, but in the homes of the people. It commemorated the deliverance of the Jews from the land of Egypt and the house of bondage. The chief portion of the ceremony consisted in eating the paschal lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in memory of the night when the children of Israel started on their long journey to the promised land. As the deliverance from Egypt was a prophecy of the deliverance of all the human race from the bondage of sin, so the paschal lamb was a prophecy of Christ, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, and the paschal meal became the prophecy of the Lord's Supper. The Jews ate the paschal meal and recited thereat how God had brought them from under the sway of the oppressor. The Christians were ordered to partake of the Lord's Supper and to show forth His death until He should come. His death wrought our redemption, and the mystical renewal of that death in the sacrifice of the Mass applies the fruits of redemption to our souls.
Hence it was that our Lord instituted the Eucharist at the last passover meal lie took with His disciples. He sent them into the city, and at a certain house they prepared the supper according to the law. When all was ready He came with the twelve. After they had partaken of the paschal meal He instituted the Eucharist, the passover of the New Law, and from the supper room He went to Gethsemani to be betrayed into the hands of His enemies.
"Now on the first day of the unleavened bread when they sacrificed the passover the disciples say to Him: Whither wilt Thou that we go and prepare for Thee to eat the passover. And He sendeth two of His disciples and saith to them: Go ye into the city; and there shall meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. And whithersoever he shall go, say to the master of the house: The Master saith, Where is my refectory, where I may eat the passover with My disciples? And he will show you a large dining room furnished; and there prepare ye for us. And His disciples went their way and came into the city; and they found as He had told them, and they prepared the passover." (Mark 14)
"And when the hour was come He sat down and the twelve Apostles with Him. And He said unto them: With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you that from this time I will not eat it till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And, having taken the chalice, He gave thanks and said: Take and divide it among you. For I say unto you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, till the kingdom of God come. And taking bread He gave thanks and brake and gave to them saying: This is My body which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me. In like manner the chalice also after He had supped saying: This is the chalice the new testament in My blood which shall be shed for you." (Luke 22)
As the Paschal meal was a religious observance it was accompanied by religious ceremonies which are observed by the Jews even to the present day. Some of those were prescribed in the Law of Moses. Thus we read that when they had slain the lamb and sprinkled the door posts with its blood, Moses ordered them:
Thou shalt keep this thing as a law for thee and thy children forever. And when ye have entered into the land which the Lord will give you as He hath promised, ye shall observe these ceremonies, and when your children shall say to you what is the meaning of this service? ye shall say to them: It is the victim of the passage of the Lord, when He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt striking the Egyptians and saving our houses." (Exodus 12)
In the course of time other ceremonies and prayers were added to the simple ritual prescribed by Moses. The program of the supper ran as follows:
- The family enter the supper room and recline on couches set about the table.
- The head of the family blesses a cup of wine, and gives it to the others. All wash their hands.
- The unleavened bread and bitter herbs are served together with a dish containing raisins, dates and other fruits steeped in vinegar.
- The head of the family tastes of this dish, and then serves it to the others.
- The cup is filled with wine a second time, and the son asks his father "the meaning of this service."
- The father tells the story of the Exodus, and the family sings the "Egyptian Hallel." Hallel means "Praise," and the Egyptian Hallel consists of several Psalms, ending with Psalm 113, "In exitu Israel."
- The second cup of wine is blessed, and after the family has partaken of it, the lamb is brought in and eaten.
- After a third cup of wine, grace is said, and the meal proper is ended.
- After a closing service, Psalm 135, known as the Great Hallel, or Great Thanksgiving, is sung, and the cup of wine is passed round for the fourth time.
It was probably at this point that our Lord instituted the Eucharist. He took one of the unleavened loaves, and gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take ye and eat. This is My Body." Likewise He took the cup, and said, "Drink ye all of this, for this is My Blood." By these words He changed the bread into His Body and the wine into His Blood. Then He added, "Do this in memory of Me," and there by made the Apostles priests, with power to pass down the same dignity to others, who were in this sacrifice of the New Law to show forth the death of the Lord until He comes again.
When the Apostles proceeded to carry out our Lord's command they followed His actions as closely as they could. First, they took the bread and wine offered them by the people. Then they lifted up their eyes to heaven and gave solemn thanks to God. "When this was finished they consecrated the Bread and Wine. The breaking of the bread followed, with the distribution of the Body and Blood to those who were present. We have, therefore, in the Sacrifice the following five parts corresponding to the five actions of our Lord:
- He took the bread. = The Offertory.
- He gave thanks. = Preface and Sanctus.
- He blessed. = The Consecration.
- He brake. = The Fraction.
- He gave to the Apostles. = The Communion.
- taken from The Mass, by Father Peter Christopher Yorke