THE MASS:

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THE MASS Its Ancient Roots
Part Ib The Holy Meal Passover
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The Night of Solemn
Observance Israel was to observe or celebrate
their departure from Egypt each year. This
celebration was to occur, on the anniversary of
their exodus from Egypt. The celebration began
after sundown, at the beginning of the fifteenth
day of the first month. This was the time of day
Israel began to leave Egypt (Numbers 331-3
Deuteronomy 161, 6). Exodus 1237-42 Then the
children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to
Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot,
besides children. A mixed multitude went up with
them also, and flocks and herds--a great deal of
livestock. And they baked unleavened cakes of the
dough which they had brought out of Egypt for
it was not leavened, because they were driven
out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they
prepared provisions for themselves. Now the
sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in
Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it
came to pass at the end of the four hundred and
thirty years--on that very same day--it came to
pass that all the armies of the LORD went out
from the land of Egypt. It is a night of solemn
observance to the LORD for bringing them out of
the land of Egypt. This is that night of the
LORD, a solemn observance for all the children
of Israel throughout their generations.
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Israel was to remember the day on which they left
Egypt. Unleavened bread was eaten for seven days,
from the beginning of fifteenth to the end of the
twenty-first day of the first month, in
remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. Exodus
133-10 And Moses said to the people Remember
this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage for by strength of hand
the LORD brought you out of this place. No
leavened bread shall be eaten. On this day you
are going out, in the month Abib. And it shall
be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the
Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and
the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to
your fathers to give you, a land flowing with
milk and honey, that you shall keep this service
in this month. Seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there
shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread
shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread
shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be
seen among you in all your quarters. And you
shall tell your son in that day, saying, This is
done because of what the LORD did for me when I
came up from Egypt.
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It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as
a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD'S
law may be in your mouth for with a strong hand
the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. You shall
therefore keep this ordinance in its season from
year to year. Deuteronomy 163 You shall eat no
leavened bread with it seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of
affliction (for you came out of the land of
Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day
in which you came out of the land of Egypt all
the days of your life. Exodus 1215-20 Seven
days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first
day you shall remove leaven from your houses.
For whoever eats leavened bread from the first
day until the seventh day, that person shall be
cut off from Israel. On the first day there
shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh
day there shall be a holy convocation for you.
No manner of work shall be done on them but
that which everyone must eat--that only maybe
prepared by you.
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So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, for on this same day I will have brought
your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore
you shall observe this day throughout your
generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the
first month, on the fourteenth day of the month
at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread,
until the twenty-first day of the month at
evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found
in your houses, since whoever eats what is
leavened, that same person shall be cut off from
the congregation of Israel, whether he is a
stranger or a native of the land. You shall eat
nothing leavened in all your dwellings you shall
eat unleavened bread. Deliverance from
Slavery the Great Remembrance When God brought
Israel out of Egypt, He was delivering them from
slavery. Leviticus 2613 I am the LORD your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that you should not be their slaves I have
broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk
upright.
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Leviticus 2613 And remember that you were a
slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your
God brought you out from there by a mighty hand
and by an outstretched arm therefore the LORD
your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Deuteronomy 621 Then you shall say to your
son We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the
LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
Deuteronomy 1515 You shall remember that you
were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD
your God redeemed you therefore I command you
this thing today. Deuteronomy 2418 But you
shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt,
and the LORD your God redeemed you from there
therefore I command you to do this thing.
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The Passover in Scripture
Exodus 12 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in
the land of Egypt, "This month shall stand at
the head of your calendar you shall reckon it
the first month of the year. Tell the whole
community of Israel On the tenth of this month
every one of your families must procure for
itself a lamb, one apiece for each household.
If a family is too small for a whole lamb, it
shall join the nearest household in procuring
one and shall share in the lamb in proportion
to the number of persons who partake of it. The
lamb must be a year-old male and without
blemish. You may take it from either the sheep
or the goats. You shall keep it until the
fourteenth day of this month, and then, with
the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall
be slaughtered during the evening twilight.
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They shall take some of its blood and apply it
to the two doorposts and the lintel of every
house in which they partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall eat its
roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter
herbs. It shall not be eaten raw or boiled, but
roasted whole, with its head and shanks and
inner organs. None of it must be kept beyond
the next morning whatever is left over in the
morning shall be burned up. "This is how you
are to eat it with your loins girt, sandals on
your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat
like those who are in flight. It is the
Passover of the LORD.
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Brant Pitre (2011), Jesus and the Jewish Roots of
the Eucharist Unlocking the Secrets of the Last
Supper, Doubleday Books New York, pg. 63.
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For on this same night I will go through Egypt,
striking down every first--born of the land,
both man and beast, and executing judgment on
all the gods of Egypt-I, the LORD! But the blood
will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the
blood, I will pass over you thus, when I strike
the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will
come upon you.
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"This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate with
pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual
institution. For seven days you must eat
unleavened bread. From the very first day you
shall have your houses clear of all leaven.
Whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to
the seventh shall be cut off from Israel.
On the first day you shall hold a sacred
assembly, and likewise on the seventh. On these
days you shall not do any sort of work, except
to prepare the food that everyone needs. "Keep,
then, this custom of the unleavened bread. Since
it was on this very day that I brought your
ranks out of the land of Egypt, you must
celebrate this day throughout your generations
as a perpetual institution. From the evening of
the fourteenth day of the first month until the
evening of the twenty-first day of this month
you shall eat unleavened bread.
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For seven days no leaven may be found in your
houses. Anyone, be he a resident alien or a
native, who eats leavened food shall be cut off
from the community of Israel. Nothing leavened
may you eat wherever you dwell you may eat
only unleavened bread. Moses called all the
elders of Israel and said to them, "Go and
procure lambs for your families, and slaughter
them as Passover victims. Then take a bunch of
hyssop, and dipping it in the blood that is in
the basin, sprinkle the lintel and the two
doorposts with this blood. But none of you
shall go outdoors until morning. For the LORD
will go by, striking down the Egyptians. Seeing
the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts,
the LORD will pass over that door and not let
the destroyer come into your houses to strike
you down. "You shall observe this as a perpetual
ordinance for yourselves and your descendants.
Thus, you must also observe this rite when you
have entered the land which the LORD will give
you as he promised. When your children ask you,
'What does this rite of yours mean? you shall
reply, 'This is the Passover sacrifice of the
LORD, who passed over the houses of the
Israelites in Egypt when he struck down the
Egyptians, he spared our houses.'"
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Then the people bowed down in worship, and the
Israelites went and did as the LORD had
commanded Moses and Aaron. At midnight the LORD
slew every first-born in the land of Egypt,
from the first-born of Pharaoh on the throne to
the first-born of the prisoner in the dungeon,
as well as all the first-born of the animals.
Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all
his servants and all the Egyptians and there
was loud wailing throughout Egypt, for there
was not a house without its dead. During the
night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and
said, "Leave my people at once, you and the
Israelites with you! Go and worship the LORD as
you said. Take your flocks, too, and your
herds, as you demanded, and be gone and you
will be doing me a favor.
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The Egyptians likewise urged the people on, to
hasten their departure from the land they
thought that otherwise they would all die. The
people, therefore, took their dough before it was
leavened, in their kneading bowls wrapped in
their cloaks on their shoulders. The Israelites
did as Moses had commanded they asked the
Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and
for clothing. The LORD indeed had made the
Egyptians so well-disposed toward the people
that they let them have whatever they asked for.
Thus did they despoil the Egyptians. The
Israelites set out from Rameses for Succoth,
about six hundred thousand men on foot, not
counting the children.
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A crowd of mixed ancestry also went up with
them, besides their livestock, very numerous
flocks and herds. Since the dough they had
brought out of Egypt was not leavened, they baked
it into unleavened loaves. They had been rushed
out of Egypt and had no opportunity even to
prepare food for the journey. The time
the Israelites had stayed in Egypt was four
hundred and thirty years. At the end of four
hundred and thirty years, all the hosts of the
LORD left the land of Egypt on this very date.
This was a night of vigil for the LORD, as he
led them out of the land of Egypt so on this
same night all the Israelites must keep a vigil
for the LORD throughout their generations.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are
the regulations for the Passover. No foreigner
may partake of it. However, any slave who has
been bought for money may partake of it, provided
you have first circumcised him. But no
transient alien or hired servant may partake of
it. It must be eaten in one and the same house
you may not take any of its flesh outside the
house. You shall not break any of its bones. The
whole community of Israel must keep this feast.
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If any aliens living among you wish to celebrate
the Passover of the LORD, all the males among
them must first be circumcised, and then they
may join in its observance just like the natives.
But no man who is uncircumcised may partake of
it. The law shall be the same for the resident
alien as for the native. All the Israelites
did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and
Aaron. On that same day the LORD brought the
Israelites out of Egypt company by company.
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The End of History of the Mass, Ancient Roots
Part Ib Go to History of the Mass, Ancient
Roots Part Ic