Sick evening meal

As medical Supper is called the celebration of the Eucharist with the faithful who can not participate in a church service due to illness or age-related ailments for some time, or even more.

history

From the earliest times, one of the tasks of the church was to care for the sick. In addition to physical care and care, this also included the soul and questions of salvation or eternity. The practice of the sick evening meal is documented as early as the second century on Justin the Martyr . The Council of Nicaea already mentions the evening meal and assigns it to the sacraments of the dead .

Since the Carolingian liturgical reform, the dispensing of the Lord's Supper to the sick has been reserved for the priests alone.

practice

The elderly, the sick, and the infirm can have sacrament at their request at home, with the family, or with other church members. In exceptional cases, it is celebrated with individuals and the local or hospital pastor is responsible for it. This is how the Evangelical Reformed Church of Basel-Stadt stipulates:

The sick and dying are to be brought to their home or hospital. In other cases justified by pastoral care, the Lord's Supper is given to individuals.

Individual evidence

↑ "And (then) the distribution and the enjoyment of the (gifts) for which thanks have been said occur for everyone, and those who are absent are sent (of them) by the deacons" (Justin, 1 Apol 67,5)
↑ "But as far as the dying are concerned, the old and canonical law should also now be observed that one must not withhold the last and most necessary food for the journey from those who are dying; ... in general, however, the bishop should also be who is dying and asks to receive the Eucharist, to offer it with due trial. " (Council of Nicaea, Can. 13)
↑ Church Ordinance, Art. 32, Last Supper, 2006.

Web links

Recommendations of the EKD , Section 3.6, accessed on June 12, 2012

literature

Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (ed.): The Last Supper. A guide to understanding and practicing the Lord's Supper in the Protestant Church (PDF; 8.9 MB), accessed on June 12, 2012, Gütersloher Verlagshaus: Gütersloh 5th edition, 2008, p. 51. ISBN 978-3-579-02378 -6
Evangelical pastoral. Prayers and readings on pastoral care, Gütersloh 1981, ISBN 3-579-04766-3

[1] "And (then) the distribution and the enjoyment of the (gifts) for which thanks have been said occur for everyone, and those who are absent are sent (of them) by the deacons" (Justin, 1 Apol 67,5)

[2] "But as far as the dying are concerned, the old and canonical law should also now be observed that one must not withhold the last and most necessary food for the journey from those who are dying; ... in general, however, the bishop should also be who is dying and asks to receive the Eucharist, to offer it with due trial. " (Council of Nicaea, Can. 13)

[3] Church Ordinance, Art. 32, Last Supper, 2006.