(d.304) In 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian outlawed Christian assemblies for worship. A group of Christians continued to celebrate Mass on Sundays with the priest Saturninus in Abitinae, Africa, in modern-day Tunisia. 49 Christian men and women were put on trial and martyred for their devotion to the Eucharist.
Speaking of these martyrs, Pope Benedict XVI said in his homily in Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, on September 9, 2007: “For these Christians, the Sunday Eucharist was not a commandment, but an inner necessity. Without him who sustains our lives, life itself is empty. To do without or to betray this focus would deprive life of its very foundation, would take away its inner dignity and beauty.” The Eucharist is called “the source and summit of the whole Christian life” in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. Does the Eucharist hold this place in your life? What does the Eucharist mean to your recovery?
“We cannot live without the Lord’s Supper…Yes, I went to the assembly and I celebrated the Lord’s Supper with my brothers and sisters, because I am a Christian” (Saint Saturninus to his accusers).
Reflection by Brad Farmer