Communion stamp
Last Supper tokens ( French méreaux , English communion tokens , Dutch avondmaalsloodje ) were tokens made of lead , brass or copper that entitle them to participate in the ( reformed ) communion .
history
Up until the 19th century, Holy Communion stamps were used in Reformed churches around the world for admission to the Lord's Supper. Jean Calvin and Pierre Viret had in Geneva initially tried unsuccessfully in 1560 to introduce the communion token. As part of church discipline, they should exclude unworthy parishioners from the celebration of the Lord's Supper according to ( 1 Cor 11:28 NSC ): "Man test himself, and so he eat of this bread and drink from this cup".
But as early as 1561, the brands existed in many French Reformed communities in Geneva and in southern France . They were also used in the Netherlands , England , Ireland and especially Scotland . As a means of church discipline , they became indispensable and part of the obligatory Christianity. They spread worldwide and came among other things. a. to Canada , Australia , New Zealand and the USA .
The Huguenot refugees (Réfugiés) also used communion stamps when they came after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes (1685) and the like. a. came to German territories. In the newly founded French Reformed refugee congregations, they were part of the mandatory communion practice. The communion stamps also served to ward off strangers.
Communion stamps in French Reformed congregations in Germany
In the German refuge of Huguenots and Waldensians , the communion stamps also helped to count the guests of the communion, as provided for by church regulations.
The Reformed Lord's Supper was usually held four times a year, at Christmas , Easter , Pentecost and on the first Sunday in September. Previously, the parishioners' eligibility to attend the Lord's Supper was determined during home visits by pastors or church elders. Before the celebration of the Lord's Supper, the anciens (church elders) distributed the Lord's Supper tokens and collected them again after receiving bread and wine. The issue of the sacrament stamps was associated with a donation that benefited the poor of the congregations.
After the Enlightenment in philosophy and theology, the Lord's Supper and the strict discipline associated with it lost their original meaning in the Reformed congregations. Therefore, from now on, the brands could not be used. Remaining copies have been preserved in some communities, e.g. B. in Angermünde, Berlin, Dresden, Erlangen, Halberstadt, Koenigsberg, Leipzig, Magdeburg and Schwedt.
Communion stamps in German Reformed and Lutheran congregations in Germany
In some German-Reformed and in a few German-Lutheran congregations the use of communion stamps has been proven. They were relatively widespread in the German Reformed communities in the Rhineland , where they became known as "Loodjes" based on the Dutch language. You were u. a. part of the Lord's Supper practice in Cologne, Düsseldorf and the Kleve region. Communion stamps were also to be found in East German parishes in Breslau and especially in Gdansk.
Design of the Lord's Supper stamps
The communion token were usually in a tin - lead - alloy cast or stamped from thin brass or copper sheet. Molds are known from the French Reformed communities in Erlangen and Leipzig. Sheet metal stamps with one-sided embossing were in use in Berlin and in the Huguenot communities in the Uckermark .
They often showed the name of the community as a transcription. Elements of the community seal or symbols from the iconography of the Last Supper such as bread and goblet or grape leaves and grapes are occasionally used as emblems . A dove with the oil leaf in Erlangen and Magdeburg underscores the reconciliation character of the Lord's Supper. The lamb with the victory flag in Göttingen and Danzig reminds of the risen Christ who was believed to be present in the Lord's Supper . In Berlin and other French Reformed communities, octagonal brass stamps only had the imprint "ADMISSIBLE" (approved).
Last Supper stamps in German museums
Last Supper stamps are in the German Huguenot Museum in Bad Karlshafen and in the Huguenot Museum in Berlin. Individual brands are kept in local museums, e.g. B. in the Ehm-Welk- und Heimatmuseum Angermünde and in the cultural history museum in Prenzlau .
Web links
- Mereaux - Last Supper stamps in the German Huguenot Museum, Bad Karlshafen
- The Protestant communion stamps in the Musee du Desert, Mialet France
Individual evidence
- ^ Token . In: James Hastings (Ed.): Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics . Vol. 12, pp. 359 .
- ^ Communion Tokens of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012 ; Retrieved April 11, 2011 .
- ^ Raymond A. Mentzer: The Reformed Churches of France and the Visual Arts . In: Paul Corby Finney (ed.): Seeing Beyond the Word: Visual Arts and the Calvinist Tradition . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids 1999, ISBN 0-8028-3860-X , p. 220–221 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Jochen Desel: Access to the Last Supper, Méreaux in the German Refuge and in other German-speaking communities . German Huguenot Society, Bad Karlshafen 2013, ISBN 978-3-930481-36-1
- ↑ Reiner Wilker: Waldensians in the Uckermark . In: Waldenser Magazin No. 249, 1/2013, p. 11.
- ^ Barbara Dölemeyer, Jochen Desel: German Huguenot and Waldensian medals. Contributions to a Histoire Métallique du Refuge Allemand . Bad Karlshafen 1998. Charles Delormeau: The Last Supper of the Reformed Churches . In: Der Deutsche Hugenott 44 (1980), pp. 2-5. Charles Delormeau: Les méreaux de Communion des Eglises protestantes de France et du Refuge . Mialet 1983.
- ↑ Paul Weinmeister: The coin-shaped Supper sign of Saxon Reformed congregations . In: Blätter für Münzfreunde 35th Vol. 11 (1900), p. 151 f.
- ^ Emil Bahrfeldt (ed.): The coin and medal collection in the Marienburg. Volume V: Coins and Medals of the City of Gdansk . Danzig 1910. Lester Burzinski: Communion Tokens of the World . Madison 1999.