The Size of "The Cup"

They shared the cup!

This practice continued for many years among the Roman Catholics. Somewhere along the way I suppose the priests decided they did not want to share the cup and decreed that all elements of the Eucharist were in the bread!

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http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/resources-for-the-eucharist/distribution-of-communion/

Adapted from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2011)
The distribution of Holy Communion under both kinds has been the norm for more than a millenium. It began during the first days of the Church's celebration of the Eucharist in fulfillment of the Lord's command to "take and eat . . . take and drink." This practice continued until the late eleventh century when the custom of distributing communion to the faithful under of the form of bread alone began to grow.

The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council restored the distribution of Holy Communion under both kinds at the bishop's discretion. Support for this practice has grown even more strongly with the third typical edition of the Roman Missal:

Holy Communion has a fuller form as a sign when it takes place under both kinds. For in this form the sign of the Eucharistic banquet is more clearly evident and clearer expression is given to the divine will by which the new and eternal Covenant is ratified in the Blood of the Lord, as also the connection between the Eucharistic banquet and the eschatological banquet in the Kingdom of the Father.

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I believe that the Old Regular Baptist still use a common cup. Other groups may also share the cup.

 

Not at all. You need to meditate on my first statement before you jump the gun! Then read the remainder of the post slowly. All the RC laity get is a wafer of unleavened bread! Most Baptists get a thimble full of grape juice with a smaller wafer of unleavened bread! I believe Old Regular Baptists, and perhaps Primitive Baptists, get a swig [of grape juice] and a small "piece" of unleavened bread.

 

Another thing to think about is the bread. In all of the communion accounts we have the bread being broken as part of the observance, symbolizing the breaking of Christ's body for us.

 

All the bread I ever got had already been broken into little half-inch squares. Well not really it was baked that way!:tear:

 

I was told that in Viet-Nam the Catholic priests/chaplins couldn't keep the communal cup full, it was drained way before the end of the rows.

The cup was also most likely metal not plastic or glass.

 

At my home church, Little Martha, the women bake three pans of unleavened bread, while we have our business meeting. They put stripes in the bread prior to baking it, too. Then on that sunday(first sunday after the first saturday{Bro. OldRegular knows what I am saying... }). after the last preacher closes, we have a short break while the deacons and their wives prepare the table. We are called back in by song. Then our moderator reads from, usually Matthew 26, or one of the other corrseponding books, and then we, the ordained authority(Elders and Deacons), gather around the table, and wash our hands and break the bread. Then one of us will ask the blessing over the fruit of the vine, and another asks the blessing of the bread.

Now, I agree that the size of the cup doesn't matter, but what shape the heart is in does. We are to examine ourselves only. So one could drink a cup the size of two gallons, and if their heart isn't right with God, it will do more harm than good to partake of the Lord's table.

 

That's one thing that I love about the ORB's. Most, if not all churches, bake their own bread. The Sisters will get together and prepare it, and some of the men and other women will gather in and sing a few songs, and some even hold prayer. Shoot, I have heard stories about church breaking out during these glorious times.

 

Off topic warning:

Years ago we went to the evening service and the pastor opened up for testimony of what the Lord had been doing. People started sharing and sharing and finally the pastor stood and said that he thought it was time for him to sit down and shut up, people kept sharing. After about an hour of blessings the sharing was over, the pastor moved into the Lord's table time.

The service about over we stood to sing WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED UP YONDER, as we sang the lights all over Denver went out - my immediate and only thought was what a time for you to come Lord

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