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The Mass of the Catholic Church started on the night of the Last Supper when the Lord took bread and wine and prayed the blessing, then gave each to his disciples and said Take and eat (while holding the bread) this is my body. And likewise with the wine, He said take and drink, this is the cup of my blood...
From this time onward the early Christians celebrated this service and called it the Eucharist, "the giving of thanks". They took his words literally and believed that the wine became his blood and the bread became his flesh, since this hearkened back to his sermon a year earlier in John 6 when he told them they must eat his body and drink his blood.
Paul later described the Mass again in Corinthians when he rebuked the church there for their abuses of this sacred meal. 'Some of you are sick and dying because you take the Lord's body and blood improperly" The early christian church always believed that communion which is the focus of the Mass was literal and not to be taken symbolically.
All of the fathers of the early church who were direct successors of the apostles, wrote about the Eucharist and Justin martyr in the 2nd century described the order of the Mass which is amazingly unchanged even to this day. Augustine and others wrote extensively about the Mass and the Eucharist being the literal flesh of Christ.
So the Mass as it came to be called was initiated by Christ and continues unchanged to this day through the Catholic Church.
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What does Christmas mean when it's broken down?
It comes from Christ Mass. A Mass is a Roman Catholic service. Christ refers to Jesus Christ. So, the Mass celebrating the birth of Christ was called the Christ Mass, shortened to Christmas.
The Christian Passover is celebrated in the Holy Sacrifice of the?
Mass
When is Catholic Passover in 2009?
Passover is a Jewish tradition, not Catholic. Catholics observe Holy Thursday, the Mass of the Last Supper.
The Christian Passover is celebrated in the Holy Sacrifice of what?
The Sacrifice of the Mass
How is the Mass the Passover Meal of Christians?
uh, isn't that Jewish? @______@
Where does the name Christmas come from?
:Christmas comes from the words Christ and mass. "Christ" refers to Jesus Christ, the Christian messiah; and mass is a religious ceremony or celebration.
Why is it that we have Christmas?
because christ mas is when jesus was born... ( christ mass)
What does mas on Christmas mean?
The word “Christmas” comes from the “Christ mass” or “Mass of Christ”. The “mas” part of “Christmas” is the same as the word Catholics still use for a church service - a mass. It comes from the time when every saint had their own saint's day on which a mass or communion service was said in their memory.
Why Catholics pray to the Father at Mass?
The Mass if the re-presentation of Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ's offering of himself to the Father. We are joining at the Mass in Christ's prayer, we are adding our prayers to His to the Father.
Where do you get the name Christmas from?
The Mass for Christ (literally).
In the mass the church gathers as the?
Body of Christ
What does Christ's Mass mean?
Christmas
