IN A NAME? Eucharist, mass, Holy Communion, Lord's Supper
- does the name matter?
much debate the General Synod has opted to call the new Communion
Order for the Celebration of the HOLY COMMUNION also called THE
EUCHARIST and THE LORD'S SUPPER.'
had previously rejected THE EUCHARIST as the main title
and opted for HOLY COMMUNION , but the Revision Committee
decided to insert the extra words ?Celebration of'.
all this it is interesting to ask: What's
in a name?
name ?the Lord's Supper' is found in 1 Corinthians 11: 20 and
whilst it is not entirely clear what was in view it was evidently
a meal of some sort taken in obedience to Christ's command as
a means of remembering and proclaiming His death.
in 1 Corinthians 10: 16 and 17 the author speaks of the cup being
the ?communion of the blood of Christ' and the bread being the
?communion of the body of Christ'. In modern translations the
word `communion' becomes `fellowship' or ?sharing', though this
latter word is rather too weak. The title Holy Communion
draws from this verse but is peculiar to the Protestant Reformation,
it highlights the fact that in taking the bread and wine in faith
we are united with Christ and he with us.
title ? Eucharist ' is a Greek word meaning ?thanksgiving'
which captures one of the prime elements of the service. This
title is an ancient one, but in the Bible it is not used in relation
to the Lord's Supper. Liturgists particularly like the name because
they can use the adjective ?eucharistic' or even ?eucharistical'!
Roman Catholic and high Anglican churches the title ?The Mass'
predominates. It appears that the title comes from the dismissal
sung by the Deacon at the end of the service which in Latin was
? Ite, missa est ', translating as ?Go, the (congregation)
2: 42 and 20: 7 both speak of ?breaking of bread' but this seems
more like a simple description rather than a title.
the light of this the most appropriate title is ?The Lord's Supper',
which is also the main title given in the Book of Common Prayer.
It is the only unequivocal biblical title; it is plain English;
it doesn't need qualification and it is not as narrow in its meaning
contents of this page are taken from an article in Cross†Way
for PDF of this article