Around 155 A.D., St. Justin Martyr wrote a legal petition to the emperor, Antoninus Pius. In it, he urges the Roman State to stop persecuting Christians merely for the act of professing to be Christians. “The First Apology (or reasoned defense) of Justin Martyr” answers the false rumors being spread about Christians in those days (including charges of cannibalism, orgies, incest, and sedition) by presenting Christians’ true beliefs and practices.
This ancient text gives us today a window into the Catholic identity of Early Christianity, including how they celebrated the Holy Mass. In the excerpts below, I have made note of the Catholic beliefs and practices on display using [Bold Captions].
“Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. [Sunday as the Lord’s Day and New Sabbath] For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun (Sunday), having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. [Apostolic/Sacred Tradition]
“…After we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching [Baptism], we bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, [Communal Worship] in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the illuminated person, and for all others in every place [Prayers of the Faithful], that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. [Belief that Christian Salvation is not by “Faith Alone,” but by Faith and Sacrament and Holiness of Life]
“Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. [The Sign of Peace] There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. [The Eucharistic Preface and Prayers] And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying “Amen.” [The Great Amen]
“…And this food is called among us the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. [Closed Communion] For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, [The Words of Consecration] in order to nourish and transform our flesh and blood, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. [The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist] For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, This do in remembrance of Me, this is My body; and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, This is My blood; and gave it to them alone.
“…On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; [The Liturgy of the Word] then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. [Preaching] Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying “Amen;” and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. [Deacons, Communion to the Sick or Homebound, and the Enduring Real Presence of the Eucharist] And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, [The Collection] who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.”
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