3/7/23
Scholarly Reflections
Mazza, Enrico. "Chapter Four: From the Jewish Liturgy to the Christian Eucharist." The Celebration of the Eucharist: The Origin of the Rite and the Development of Its Interpretation. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press/Pueblo, 1999, 29-34.
Mazza had previously suggested that the Last Supper was not a Passover meal. He now considers that, as described by Luke, the meal follows the pattern of a "Jewish festive meal" (Mazza 1999, 29). The opening prayers introduce the meal. At the end of the meal, there is a thanksgiving over a cup. The opening prayers include a ritual cup and breaking of bread.
The same order of events is present in the eucharistic meal described in Didache 9-10 (Mazza 1999, 30). In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 Paul describes the eucharistic rite he was given, then in 11:23-25 he tells of Jesus' Last Supper as an institution of the eucharist (Mazza 1999, 31). In chapter 10 there is no full meal, yet the other parts of the ritual are present.
Mazza's evaluation concludes that the entirety of the ritual around the festive meal was compressed to the events at the beginning, resulting in the eucharistic form which developed quite early (Mazza 1999, 31). In effect, this also removed the first cup from the event, leaving us with the bread first, then the cup, our modern order, and combining the prayers into one (Mazza 1999, 33).
Scholarly Reflections
Mazza, Enrico. "Chapter Four: From the Jewish Liturgy to the Christian Eucharist." The Celebration of the Eucharist: The Origin of the Rite and the Development of Its Interpretation. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press/Pueblo, 1999, 29-34.
Mazza had previously suggested that the Last Supper was not a Passover meal. He now considers that, as described by Luke, the meal follows the pattern of a "Jewish festive meal" (Mazza 1999, 29). The opening prayers introduce the meal. At the end of the meal, there is a thanksgiving over a cup. The opening prayers include a ritual cup and breaking of bread.
The same order of events is present in the eucharistic meal described in Didache 9-10 (Mazza 1999, 30). In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 Paul describes the eucharistic rite he was given, then in 11:23-25 he tells of Jesus' Last Supper as an institution of the eucharist (Mazza 1999, 31). In chapter 10 there is no full meal, yet the other parts of the ritual are present.
Mazza's evaluation concludes that the entirety of the ritual around the festive meal was compressed to the events at the beginning, resulting in the eucharistic form which developed quite early (Mazza 1999, 31). In effect, this also removed the first cup from the event, leaving us with the bread first, then the cup, our modern order, and combining the prayers into one (Mazza 1999, 33).
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