Justin Martyr and The Mass

I was not always Catholic. Those who knew me before my conversion may be laughing because I was trying to drag them out of the Catholic Church—and regrettably, sometimes I was successful. To me the Church was the antithesis of the gospel, and it was my obligation as a “Bible believing” Christian to pull as many people as possible out of it.

One such person I tried to separate from the Church was my wife. For the sake of her soul I believed I had to show her the errors of the Church and lead her to the truth. This is where things took an interesting turn. This whole time I was attending Mass with her because it was important that we attend Mass as a family, and I would go to another church on my own afterwards. I was also enrolled in one of the largest Baptist seminaries at the time, and my major was Church history.

Introduced to Justin Martyr

Among my first few assignments were readings from the Early Church Fathers. The first writer I encountered was St. Justin Martyr, and what I read would unexpectedly change the course of my life. In reading St. Justin’s first apology there appeared, in black and white, a description of what I called a “church service” in the early Church.

Space doesn’t allow for the full quotation here, but St. Justin described the full order of the Catholic Mass. He explained the sequence clearly: it began with readings from the prophets and the gospels, and then the presider would speak to his congregation to urge them to live virtuous lives. Afterward they stood to pray, and at the conclusion of the prayer, the gifts of bread and wine were brought forward. The presider prayed over them and those that believed that it became the Body and Blood of Christ responded “Amen!” and consumed the species of bread and wine.

The Early Church Celebrated the Mass

Having read this description I was armed with the ammunition to show my wife that the Mass did not resemble what St. Justin Martyr had described. There was only one problem – apparently, I had never paid attention to a full Mass before!

As Mass began, I finalized my mental checklist. Mass began, the opening prayer was said, then came the first reading from one of the prophets from the Old Testament. Check. Afterward, a reading from one of the epistles and a gospel. Check. The priest came forward to discuss the reading and how to apply it to our lives. Check.

At that point I was thinking that this had to be coincidental, but that conclusion was wrong. The gifts of bread and wine were brought forward, but the water that Justin had described was missing. Just as that thought came into my head, the altar server brought a cruet of water to the deacon. I listened intently to hear anything that would contradict the writing of this great saint, but that was an exercise in futility. The Eucharistic Prayer was said, the gifts were consecrated, and they were declared to be the body and blood of Christ.

The Ancient Faith

For many Protestants, seeing this primitive description of the Mass is a real challenge because it is so different than what we know. In my case it sent me on a journey to see if other churches around me met this description. I visited non-denominational, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, and many other churches. In addition to visiting them, I studied their various teachings to drill down to their beliefs.

Lo and behold, it was the Catholic Church that best fit the description that St. Justin Martyr gave!

St. Justin Martyr shoved me toward the Church and did so in a way a loving friend shows another the error of his ways. Christ established a Church, and the description given was in that Church. It was this Church that I had to find if I were to be spiritually and intellectually honest. It had been in front of me for quite a while, but my pride kept me from paying attention.

St. Justin Martyr pray for us!