We sec, from 1 Cor. xi, 24, that in the apostolic Church the bread was broken. This custom was dis- continued in the Roman Church when, in the 12th and 13th centuries, the host or holy wafer was cut in a pe- culiar way, so as to represent upon it a crucified Saviour. Luther retained the wafer, but the lieformed churches reintroduced the use of common bread and the breaking of it. The same was the case with the Socinians and the United Evangelical Church of Germany. In the Episcopal Church of England, and the churches derived from it, cut pieces of common wheaten bread are given into the hands of the communicants. See J. G. Her- mann, Hist, conveiiationuni de pane asymo (Lips. 1737) . Marheineke, Das Brod in A bendmahle (Berlin, 1817),
(6) The second element used by Christ was icine. It is not certain of what color the wine was, nor whether it was pure or mixed with water, and both points were always regarded as indifferent by the Christian Church. The use of mixed wine is said to have been introduced by pope Alexander I ; it was expressly enacted in the 12th century by Clement III, and divers allegorical significations were given to the mingling of these two elements. Also the Greek Church mingles the wine with water, while the Armenian and the Protestant churches use pure wine.
The question as to whether the wine originally used in the Lord's Supper wa.?, fermented or not, would seem to be a futile one in view of the fact, 1. that the unfer- mented juice ofthe grape can hardly, with propriety, be called wine at all; 2. that fermented wine is of almost universal use in the East ; and, 3. that it has invariably been employed for this purpose in the Church of all ages and countries. But for the excessive zeal of cer- tain modern well-moaning reformers, the idea that our Lord used any other would hardly have gained the least currency. See Wink.
In accordance with the original institution, both ele- ments were used separately during the first centuries, but it became early a custom to carry to sick persons bread merely dipped m wine. The Manichasans, who abstained wholly from wine, were strongly oiiposed b}' teachers of all other parties, and pope (iclasius I, ofthe 5th, called their practice f/rande sacrilegiitni. In the 10th century it became freijuent in the West to use only consecrated bread dippeii in wine, but it was not before the end of the 13th century that, in accordance with the doctrine, then developed by the Scholastics, that Christ was wholly present in both bread and wine,
and that the partaking of the bread was sufficient, the Church began to withhold the wine from the laity alto- gether. The AValdenseSjWickliffe, Huss, and Savonarola protested against this withdrawal of the cup, and aU the Protestant denominations agreed in restoring the use of both elements. The Greek Church has always used the wine for the laity also. See Spitler, Geschichte des Kelches im Abendmahl (Lemgo, 1780) ; Schmidt, De fatis calicis euckaristid (Helmstadt, 1708).
2. Consecration and Distribution ofthe Elements. — To " consecrate" meant in the ancient Church only to set apart from common and devote to a sacred use. But, by degrees, a magical effect was attributed to conse- cration, as was aheady done by Augustine, and when the doctrine of transubstantiation became prevalent in the Roman Church, it was supposed that the pronuncia- tion of the words " This is my body" changed the ele- ments into the body and blood of Christ. The formulae which were used at the consecration were at first free, but afterwards fixed by written liturgies. All liturgies contain the words of institution and a prayer; the lit- urgy of the Greek Church, moreover, a ])rayer to the Holy Spirit to change the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. In the ancient Church both ele- ments were distributed by the deacons, afterwards only the wine; at a later period of the Church, again, both elements. According to the Protestant theologians, the administration belongs properl}' to the ministers of the Church ; but Luther, and many theologians with him, maintained that where no regular teachers can be ob- tained, this sacrament may be administered by other Christians to whom this duty is committed by the Church.
3. Time and Place. — In the apostolic Church, as we have seen, the Lord's Supper was regularly celebrated in the public assemblies, hence in private dwellings, at common tables, during the persecutions in hidden places, at the sepulchres ofthe martvTS, and, later, in the church- es at special tables or altars. In imitation of its first celebration by Christ, it was at first celebrated at night; later, it became almost universally connected with the morning service. In the primitive Church, Christians partook of it almost daily: and when this was made im- possible by the persecutions, at least several times a week, or certainly on Sundays. In the 5th century many theological writers complain of the laxity of Christiana in the participation of the Lord's Supper, and afterwards several synods had to prescribe that all Christians ought to partake of it at least a certain number of times. The fourth Synod of Lateran, in 1415, restricted it to once a j-ear. The Reformers insisted again on a more fre- quent participation, without, however, making any defi- nite prescriptions as to the number of times. Many of the Protestant states punished those who withdrew altogether from it with exile, excommunication, and the refusal of a Christian burial.