Expectant Fervor in the Early Church

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass had basically the same structure in the early Church as it has today. Before being fed with the Body and Blood of Christ in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the congregation was fed with the Word of God in the Liturgy of the Word. During this first part of the Mass, they would listen to readings from the Old Testament and from the epistles. Then, before the public proclamation from the gospels, which contain the only direct quotations from Jesus, they would stand as a sign of respect and sing the Great Allelulia.

The early Christians had tremendous expectancy in their faith. They could hardly wait for the words of the Gospel to be proclaimed. They were so intent on this part of the Mass that they would often memorize the words of the Gospel as they were being proclaimed to them.

We need to remember that in those times most of the people were illiterate except for the clergy and scholars, and printing had not yet been invented. But these early Christians had a faith expectancy so intense that they approached the Liturgy of the Word with a deep love and an urgent desire to absorb everything they could. This helped them better participate in the second part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The nourishment they received through these two feedings had a remarkable effect by way of miracles and healings in their individual lives and in their life together as a Christian community.

As we saw in previous articles, the outpouring of miracles and healings was characteristic of the Church during the first few centuries after the death of Christ. It probably reached its crescendo in the fourth century, when people had a particularly great love for and faith in the Eucharist. Thereafter, people began to attend Mass and receive Communion less devoutly and less frequently. There were various reasons for this decline, but later in the seventeenth century a heretical movement called Jansenism had far-reaching untoward effects on people’s attitudes toward the Eucharist. These effects persist in various degrees today.

Jansenism is named after a French bishop, Cornelius Jansen, who wrote a book, Augustinus, in 1640 which contained several ideas contrary to the teaching of the Church. Jansen was vigorously opposed by many theologians, and Pope Innocent X condemned the teachings of Jansen in 1654. However, Jansen had his following, and some of his ideas took root in people’s thinking, Among other things, Jansen opposed frequent reception of the Eucharist because he felt that human beings were basically unworthy to receive Holy Communion. He taught that only persons with perfect contrition could receive the sacraments of penance and Holy Eucharist. Although most of Jansen’s teaching eventually fell by the wayside, his influence gradually crept into the laws of the Church. At a certain point, people were permitted to receive Holy Communion only once a month, even though they were required to attend Mass every week.

For a while, this teaching of the church has a positive effect on people’s faith. They would anticipate their monthly Holy Communion with great expectancy and order their whole month around the Sunday when they would be able to receive the Eucharist. For the two weeks before their Communion, they would prepare themselves with intense prayer, mortification, and fasting so they would be worthy to receive Jesus. Communion became the climactic event in their month. The next two weeks were spent in thanksgiving for the graces they had received through the sacrament. This monthly cycle created a high level of expectant faith among many people. Eventually, though, such infrequency in the reception of Jesus in the Eucharist had a detrimental effect on their spiritual lives.

Early in this century, Pope Pius X recognized this inconsistency. To cite a later analogy drawn by  Pope Paul VI, attending Mass without receiving Holy Communion was tantamount to having a ring without the diamond in the setting. Attending Mass has value, just as a ring has a certain value. But a ring without the diamond is not as valuable as having a ring with the diamond! As a result, Pope Pius X changed the rules of the Church then in effect and allowed Catholics to receive Communion every day if they so desired.

This excerpt is from the book The Healing Power of the Eucharist, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Books, an imprint of St. Anthony Messenger Press. This and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry,