 The complete ensemble, containing a paten, chalice, and straw | |
| Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Year | c. 1240 |
| Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters |
The Metropolitan Museum of Art possesses a collection of items used for the celebration of the Eucharist. The ensemble, which includes a paten, a chalice, and a straw, is currently on display at The Cloisters.
In Catholicism, the Eucharist is a liturgical rite that is performed as a holy sacrament. In the course of the ceremony, bread and wine are consecrated and considered changed in substance into the body and blood of Christ and are then consumed by the participants. The ceremony is considered of great importance, and thus special items are made exclusively for use during the sacrament. These items are commonly made of valuable materials such as gold or silver, earthly elements strongly associated with Christ. [1] [2] The principal items used are a plate (called a paten) and a chalice; the paten holds the communion bread, while the chalice holds the wine. [3] [4]
The paten in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dates to the late 13th century. The piece was likely made for the monastery of Saint Trudpert in Southern Germany. Made from gilded silver, the plate depicts four figures arranged in a four-pointed cross centered around a golden disc. At the top of the cross, Christ is depicted holding a chalice. On the sides of the cross, two figures from the Old Testament flank Christ; the priest-king Melchizedek to Christ's left, Abel to his right. Saint Trudpert is seen at the bottom of the cross, indicating that the pattern was made for the monks of Saint Trudpert. [5]
The MET possess in its collection a chalice from Medieval Germany; as with the pattern it is displayed with, the chalice is likely from the monastery of Saint Trudpert in Germany. The chalice, done in silver, gold, and niello, is intricately detailed and adorned with jewels. The chalice's relief metalwork depicts scenes from scenes from the New Testament and the Twelve Apostles. [6]
The third item in the ensemble is a straw, also known as a fistula or calamus, used to sip the wine held by the chalice. Historically, a straw was needed to ensure that none of the consecrated wine was spilled during the Eucharist. Made from gilded silver, the straw features an intricate, vine-like grip made from silver and studded with gems. [7]
The Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament and the Lord's Supper is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper, the night before his crucifixion, giving his disciples bread and wine. Passages in the New Testament state that he commanded them to "do this in memory of me" while referring to the bread as "my body" and the cup of wine as "the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many". According to the Synoptic Gospels this was at a Passover meal.
Divine Liturgy or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, a liturgical rite developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox, the Greek Catholic Churches, and the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. Although the same term is sometimes applied in English to the Eucharistic service of Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, they use in their own language a term meaning "holy offering" or "holy sacrifice". Other churches also treat "Divine Liturgy" simply as one of many names that can be used, but it is not their normal term.
A chalice or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning.
A monstrance, also known as an ostensorium, is a vessel used in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, High Church Lutheran and Anglican churches for the display on an altar of some object of piety, such as the consecrated Eucharistic host during Eucharistic adoration or Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. It is also used as reliquary for the public display of relics of some saints. The word monstrance comes from the Latin word monstrare, while the word ostensorium came from the Latin word ostendere. Both terms, meaning "to show", are used for vessels intended for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, but ostensorium has only this meaning.
A Papal Mass is the Solemn Pontifical High Mass celebrated by the Pope. It is celebrated on such occasions as a papal coronation, an ex cathedra pronouncement, the canonization of a saint, on Easter or Christmas or other major feast days.
A ciborium is a vessel, normally in metal. It was originally a particular shape of drinking cup in Ancient Greece and Rome, but the word later came to refer to a large covered cup designed to hold hosts for, and after, the Eucharist, thus the counterpart of the chalice.
A tabernacle or sacrament house is a fixed, locked box in which the Eucharist is stored as part of the "reserved sacrament" rite. A container for the same purpose, which is set directly into a wall, is called an aumbry.
A paten or diskos is a small plate, used during the Mass. It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium.
An altar cloth is used in the Christian liturgy to cover the altar. It serves as a sign of reverence as well as a decoration and a protection of the altar and the sacred vessels. In the orthodox churches it is covered by the antimension, which also contains the relics of saints.
During the Mass of the Faithful, the second part of the Mass, the elements of bread and wine are considered to have been changed into the veritable Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The manner in which this occurs is referred to by the term transubstantiation, a theory of St. Thomas Aquinas, in the Roman Catholic Church. Members of the Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran communions also believe that Jesus Christ is really and truly present in the bread and wine, but they believe that the way in which this occurs must forever remain a sacred mystery. In many Christian churches some portion of the consecrated elements is set aside and reserved after the reception of Communion and referred to as the reserved sacrament. The reserved sacrament is usually stored in a tabernacle, a locked cabinet made of precious materials and usually located on, above, or near the high altar. In Western Christianity usually only the Host, from Latin: hostia, meaning "victim", is reserved, except where wine might be kept for the sick who cannot consume a host.
Blood of Christ, also known as the Most Precious Blood, in Christian theology refers to the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ primarily on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby, or the sacramental blood (wine) present in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, which some Christian denominations believe to be the same blood of Christ shed on the Cross.
The Alexandrian rites are a collection of ritual families and uses of Christian liturgy employed by three Oriental Orthodox churches, and by three Eastern Catholic Churches.
Eucharist is the name that Catholics give to the sacrament by which, according to their belief, the body and blood of Christ are present in the bread and wine that are consecrated during the Catholic eucharistic liturgy, generally known as the Mass. The definition of the Eucharist in the 1983 Code of Canon Law as the sacrament where Christ himself "is contained, offered, and received" points to the three aspects of the Eucharist according to Catholic theology: the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Holy Communion, and the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
In Eastern and Western Christian liturgical practice, the elevation is a ritual raising of the consecrated Sacred Body and Blood of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist. The term is applied especially to that by which, in the Catholic Roman Rite of Mass, the Sacred Body of Christ (Host) and the chalice containing the Most Precious Blood of Christ are each lifted up and shown to the congregation immediately after each is consecrated. The term may also refer to a musical work played or sung at that time.
Sacramental wine, Communion wine, altar wine, or wine for consecration is wine obtained from grapes and intended for use in celebration of the Eucharist. It is usually consumed after sacramental bread.
Communion under both kinds in Christianity is the reception under both "species" of the Eucharist. Denominations of Christianity that hold to a doctrine of Communion under both kinds may believe that a Eucharist which does not include both bread and wine as elements of the religious ceremony is not valid, while others may consider the presence of both bread and wine as preferable, but not necessary, for the ceremony. In some traditions, grape juice may take the place of wine with alcohol content as the second element.
The Spear or Lance is a liturgical implement used during the Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches.
The Spoon is a liturgical implement used to distribute Holy Communion to the laity during the Divine Liturgy in some Eastern Christian rites.
A credence table is a small side table in the sanctuary of a Christian church which is used in the celebration of the Eucharist..
The Eucharist in the Lutheran Church refers to the liturgical commemoration of the Last Supper. Lutherans believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, affirming the doctrine of sacramental union, "in which the body and blood of Christ are truly and substantially present, offered, and received with the bread and wine."