The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-03-18

ginning Oh l0SLlFdl AlhO thO pACoChI'
and which consequently was really
fermented like the wine used hither-
to. Whoever then examines care
fully st. Johns narrative of the mir
acle of Cana, cannot help seeing that
the wine obtained by Christ's power
at the marriage feast was real fer
mented wine.
In the second question proposed, we
are asked, first: "Was the wine used
by Christ at the Last Supper fer
mented wine?" To this query the fol-
lowing is our brief answer: accord
ing to the Gospels, the Last Supper
was undoubtedly Paschal celebra-
ton, and one actually prepared after
the usual manner among the Jews of
the time. This is plain from the fact
that on the appointed day, the disci-
pies asked their Master not how but
where wilt Thou that we prepare to
eat the Pasch?" and on having found
the place indicated in His answer,
they prepared the Pasch," knowing
full well what Jesus meant by His
general direction to them: 'and there
prepare" (Cf. Math. XI, 1913; Mark
XIV, 1916; Luke XXI, 7-13.) That
such preparation included a supply of
wine, and indeed of fermented wine
to be used at the Paschal supper ad-
mits of no possible doubt. No other
kind Of wine was then used by the
Jews for the Paschal celebration, and
no other kind has been used by them
for this purpose to the present day.
In fact, no other kind Of wine could
then be procured, for the Pasch came
half year after the grape harvest,
and there is no hint in all the liter
allure of the Jews that they used in
Christ's time any device to keep the
juice from fermenting.
While reclining at table for His
Last Supper, Jesus did not raise any
objection to the feremented wine
which had been prepared, and no OBJ
lection can reasonably be supposed to
have been raised by Him, for in re-
gard to the use of fermented wine,
Christ's conduct was the very oppO-
site of that of His forerunner, John.
The son Of Zachary vigorously OBJ
stained from every fermented bever-
age, wine included (Cf. Luke ], 16;
WI, 33); the Son of Man, on the con-
trary: drank" wine, and expressly
resented the charge of being wine
bibber' directed against Him On this
account by His relentless enemies (Cf
Luke VII, 34). In the eyes of Jesus,
the wine poured into the cup at the
Last Supper was indeed fermented
for in speaking of this fruit of the
vine," (Cf. Math. XVI, 20; Mark
XIV, rs; Luke XXI, 1877, He used the
familiar Jewish expression to denote
fermented wine both in the Old Tesla.
ment and in the formula used by the
Jews of His time to bless the Paschal
cup. Finally, according to Christ
own declaration, 'this fruit of the
vine" is to be contrasted not with any
other kind of wine, an unfermented
wine for instance, that could be OBJ,
tanned on earth, but with the new
wine to be supplied only in the heav-
emily bliss where all things will be
new (Math. XVI, 20; Mark XIV,
25).
A few words remain to be said
anent the last query of the second
question proposed, viz: ''Was this
wine ii. e., fermented) used for the
Mass in the early church," In the
First Epistle to the Corinthians *
14-22), we readily see that the mem
bers of the early Church offered to
God the Sacrifice of the Mass. In
their meetings, they blessed the wine
of ''the cup Of blessing" and broke
the bread" with a view to "commun-
ion" with "the blood" and 'the body
of Christ OK, 49,, and they per-
formed sacrificial act of Divine
worship as did the non-Christian
Jews (''Israel! according to the
fiesh") who offered sacrifices at
their own altar OK, 1S), and as did
the Gentiles. who, however, ''sacri-
feed to demons and not to God" *,
2O. Our query, therefore, amounts
to this: Was the wine used for "the
coup of blessing" real feremented
wine? And to this we must decided
ly answer: 1t was that kind of wine.
Under the pen of st. Paul, "the cup
of blessing" manifestly refers to the
cup denoted by this very expression
at the Jewish Pasch; the Christians
blessed it as Jesus did in their Pasch-
al celebration, and as Jesus had done
in the Paschal celebration of His last
supper; and such identity of both ex-
preston and rite evidently points to
identity of contents for ''the cup of
blessing" viz, to real fermented wine.
Again, in l Cor. x, q, the cup which
the early Church blessed at Mass, is
called by st. Paul: "the cup of the
Lord" Now one can easily ascertain
the exact meaning of this expression
by referring to- tire next chapter OF
this very Epistle, where the Apostle
again calls "the cup of the Lord" (XI,
27) the cup drunk in the meetings of
the early Church. He thus designates
this cup after recording the institu-
ton of the Holy Eucharist even "as
he had delivered it unto the faith
full tx, %, eqq.), and after conclud-
ing his record of Christ's blessing of
the cup with these words: "This do
re, as often as you shall drink for the
commemoration of me. For as often
as you shall eat this bread and drink
the cup, you shall show the death of
the Lord, until He come" XXI, 1920.