In replying to a question asked her about administering and receiving the communion, in the Church of Christ, Scientist, Mrs. Eddy referred to the Master's last supper with his disciples before the crucifixion, and then said (Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 90, 91): "His spiritually prepared breakfast, after his resurrection, and after his disciples had left their nets to follow him, is the spiritual communion which Christian Scientists celebrate in commemoration of the Christ. This ordinance is significant as a type of the true worship." And she explained further, "It is imperative, at all times and under every circumstance, to perpetuate no ceremonials except as types of these mental conditions,—remembrance and love; a real affection for Jesus' character and example."

After their meeting with the Master in the light of his great victory, the disciples more clearly grasped the significance of what Jesus had taught them throughout his ministry. Reawakened to a deeper love for the Christ, Truth, which he revealed and manifested, they went forth, as he bade them do, themselves to demonstrate with increasing certainty the power of Spirit to redeem men from the beliefs of the flesh. They now knew better than they had known before that life is spiritual and deathless, for they saw and acknowledged that Jesus had proved the fact of immortal being.

Christian Science not only emphasizes remembrance of Christ Jesus, the beloved Way-shower to men, but also requires the evidence of spiritual healing as a proof that God and His Christ are understood as ever present. Communion such as this is celebrated not alone on stated occasions, but continuously in spiritual worship. At certain intervals communion is observed in the branch Churches of Christ, Scientist, and one feature of this service is the reading of the Tenets of The Mother Church, written by our Leader. These Tenets, which may be found on pages 15 and 16 of the Church Manual and on page 497 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," present the important points in the teaching of Christian Science, including acknowledgment of the one God, one Christ, and man in God's likeness; of Jesus' atonement, and of the obligation of each member to pray for "the mind of Christ." The spirit of these Tenets, lived, leads thought to continuous communion with God, as the only Life, the source of man's perfect and eternal being. And as thought is thus held in sacred and habitual communion with God, human lives are made better and, step by step, redeemed from bondage to beliefs of sorrow, sickness, and limitation, in whatever phase of discord material sense may claim to impose.

In his last meeting with his disciples before the crucifixion, when he celebrated the Passover with them, "Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." For centuries since that solemn occasion the spiritual significance of the sacrament of the Lord's supper has been sought by the followers of the Master. Though feeling deep love for him and gratitude for all he did for men, his followers, because of the blinding influence of materialism, yet had seemed to lose sight of the way of spiritual power which he had pointed out and steadfastly exemplified. That all sincere love for the great Master, all loving remembrance of his sacrifice, has helped the world onward cannot be doubted, for this love has at least clung to the hope of fulfillment of the promised redemption through Christ.

The spiritual import of his words and example, however, must needs be grasped that his mission be carried on by his followers through emulation of his works, as he required, as well as through faith in his words. "The genius of Christianity is works more than words," writes our Leader in her sermon "Christian Healing" (p. 2), "a calm and steadfast communion with God." Faith in the coming of the Comforter which was promised, must needs ripen into revelation and realization; and this it has done in her discovery and founding of Christian Science. Having in this Science the true illumination of Jesus' life and works, Christian Scientists strive to give evidence of their communion with God through demonstration of their understanding of Him as divine Love. No longer need men vainly long to partake of the Christ, for through gaining an understanding of the Science of Mind they may take of the bread "which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world."

Partaking of this spiritual bread or truth means following the Master's example in turning away from the belief of existence as material and dwelling in the spiritual sense of being. This exchange of the material for the spiritual is not achieved through human rites, but through the habitual effort so to discipline individual thinking that it can hold to the truth of being in the face of whatever evidence of the material senses. It means to seek and gain the purity of heart which sees God as infinite good—All. It means practically to apply and demonstrate the divine Principle, Love, in all human relationships and experiences.

Jesus revealed the spiritual opposite of the material self-hood and its mesmeric environment of good and bad, and its false sense of substantiality. He revealed the way to eternal life, which is to be found only in the opposite of all that seems real to the material senses. Clearly, religious rites cannot meet the human need in this great surrender of the unreal for the real. Only the constant refreshing of hope through communion with God, the infinite Father-Mother, can meet the heart's great need. Therefore, in studying and listening to the reading of the Lesson-Sermon on "Sacrament," Christian Scientists are reminded of the deep things of Spirit which Jesus revealed and proved, and which Christian Science has illumined. In these services, through the "mental conditions,—remembrance and love," they are inspired to renew their consecration to Truth, quickened to open their hearts to receive more of the Christ-spirit, that day by day they may prove the immortal fact that their spiritual selfhood is not subject to matter. This is the great truth which Jesus, through his sacrifice and love, gave to men. Having, therefore, through the Master's teaching and sacrifice, the revelation of "a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us," we may draw near to God and to His Christ "with a true heart and in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience."

In this sacred communion with God, as the infinite Father-Mother, each one may realize the power of Truth to overcome that which would hinder true selflessness and joy, and thus find redemption from the false bonds of sin and disease. In the light of divine Science—the Comforter promised by the Master—each one may feel the assurance of eternal life, and the certainty of demonstrated good in the present time, because he is intelligently and gratefully receiving of "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost."

Copyright, 1935, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, One, Norway Norway Street, Boston, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 11, 1918.