"Keep it Holy"

The Romanward wing of the Anglican Church won a great victory in London last week when the House of Clergy voted, 176-91, to amend the Prayer Book to permit "reservation of the Sacrament."

What does this mean? With no attempt at theological niceties, and admitting that the explanation is technically inadequate, it means this:

At the mass (or "Lord's Supper") the priest blesses or consecrates a certain physical amount of bread or wine or both for distribution to the participants in the holy feast. (In the Roman Catholic Church, only the priest drinks of the wine; in the Protestant Churches, the communicants may also drink thereof.) If the total amount of bread and wine so consecrated is not consumed by those attending the service, these "elements" may be "reserved." That is, having been blessed, the bread is put into some sacred place and may later be "adored" by the worshippers. That is called "reservation of the Sacrament." It is usually applied only to the bread.

Hitherto, such reservation has not been technically permitted by the Anglican Church, except for subsequent use by the sick or dying. It is, henceforth, permitted not only for the sick but also for the purpose of adoration by believers.

Is this significant? Yes. It is the whole question of transubstantiation vs. consubstantiation all over again. Four hundred years ago, the world was torn in two, ostensibly because of this question.

Transubstantiation, a dogma of the Holy Roman Church, is the belief that the bread at mass does actually become the Body of Jesus Christ. Martin Luther finally came to the conclusion that Rome was in error on this point. He said, in effect: "The bread and wine do not become the Body and Blood of Christ, but they have the effect of being so." Eventually Protestants went further and declared that the bread and wine were simply a sacred token of the Body of Christ.

Obviously, if the bread is in very fact of fact the Body of Christ, it is worthy of adoration. Hence, if not consumed by the priest or worshipper it should be "reserved," kept holy, for future adoration by those who so believe. The House of Clergy so voted.