An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings , for sacrifices , or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines , temples , churches , and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism , Christianity , Buddhism , Hinduism , Judaism , modern paganism , and in certain Islamic communities around Caucasia and Asia Minor . Many historical-medieval faiths also made use of them, including the Roman , Greek , and Norse religions.
186-524: The modern English word altar was derived from Middle English altar , from Old English alter , taken from Latin altare ("altar"), probably related to adolere ("burn"); thus "burning place", influenced by altus ("high"). It displaced the native Old English word wēofod . Altars in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth or unwrought stone. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places. The first altar recorded in
372-432: A Communion Table adorned with a linen cloth, as well as an open Bible and a pair of candlesticks; it is not referred to as an altar because they do not see Holy Communion as sacrificial in any way. Such a table may be temporary: Moved into place only when there is a Communion Service. Some nondenominational churches have no altar or communion table, even if they retain the practice of the " altar call " that originated in
558-538: A baldachin . In Ethiopian Orthodox Church tradition an icon is placed upon but towards the rear of the altar. It is away from the wall as in the Coptic tradition. In the West Syriac Tradition, churches have altars in the eastern part of the sanctuary. Altars of East Syriac Rite are similar in appearance to Armenian altars only they are not placed on a stage. Altars are often heavily decorated in
744-586: A crucifix or some other image of Christ. When a stone altar was placed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge after rebuilding works in 1841, a case was brought in the Court of Arches which resulted in an order to remove it and replace it with a wooden communion table. In Anglican practice, conformity to a given standard depends on the ecclesiastical province and/or the liturgical sensibilities of
930-602: A crucifix , when required, can be either on the altar or near it, and it is desirable that the crucifix remain even outside of liturgical celebrations. A wide variety of altars exist in various Protestant denominations. Some Churches, such as the Lutheran , have altars very similar to Anglican or Catholic ones keeping with their more sacramental understanding of the Lord's Supper . Calvinist churches from Reformed, Baptist, Congregational, and Non-denominational backgrounds instead have
1116-527: A liturgical color that may change with the ecclesiastical season . This outer covering usually comes all the way to the floor and represents the glory of God's Throne . In many churches it is the custom for a dust cover to be placed on the Holy Table between services. This is often a simple red cloth, though it may be made of richer stuff. Sometimes it covers only the Gospel Book or the front half of
1302-553: A mixed language or a creole —a theory called the Middle English creole hypothesis . Although the great influence of these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language. English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares innovations with other Germanic languages including Dutch , German , and Swedish . These shared innovations show that
1488-666: A monstrance . Rites involving the exposure of the Blessed Sacrament include Benediction and eucharistic adoration . According to Catholic theology , the host, after the Rite of Consecration, is no longer bread, but is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. Catholics believe that Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God prefigured in the Old Testament Passover . The flesh of that Passover sacrificial lamb
1674-670: A sinner's prayer , which, in evangelical understanding, if truly heart-felt indicates that they are now "saved". They may also be offered religious literature, counselling or other assistance. Many times it is said that those who come forth are going to " be saved ". This is a ritual in which the supplicant makes a prayer of penitence (asking for his sins to be forgiven) and faith (called in evangelical Christianity "accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour"). Altars in Lutheran churches are often similar to those in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Lutherans believe that
1860-644: A 2012 official Eurobarometer poll (conducted when the UK was still a member of the EU), 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents. A working knowledge of English has become
2046-663: A central issue in the discussions and deliberations of the ecumenical movement." The New Testament was originally written in the Greek language and the Greek noun εὐχαριστία ( eucharistia ), meaning "thanksgiving", appears a few times in it, while the related Greek verb εὐχαριστήσας is found several times in New Testament accounts of the Last Supper, including the earliest such account: For I received from
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#17327658115062232-497: A change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation ." The church holds that the body and blood of Jesus can no longer be truly separated. Where one is, the other must be. Therefore, although the priest (or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion ) says "The Body of Christ" when administering
2418-597: A church may be referred to as either the Holy Table (Greek Ἁγία Τράπεζα ) or the Throne ( chu Prestól ). For both Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Eastern Catholics, the Holy Table (altar) is normally free-standing, although in very small sanctuaries it might be placed flush against the back wall for reasons of space. They are typically about one meter high, and although they may be made of stone they are generally built out of wood. The exact dimensions may vary, but it
2604-658: A distinct language from Modern English and is virtually impossible for 21st-century unstudied English-speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern German: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs had many more inflectional endings and forms , and word order was much freer than in Modern English. Modern English has case forms in pronouns ( he , him , his ) and has a few verb inflections ( speak , speaks , speaking , spoke , spoken ), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more person and number endings. Its closest relative
2790-490: A foreign language, make up the "expanding circle". The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time. For example, in the Netherlands and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it, and thus English
2976-543: A given parish. In the Parson's Handbook , an influential manual for priests popular in the early-to-mid-twentieth century, Percy Dearmer recommends that "All altars should be 3 ft. 3 in. high, and at least deep enough to take a corporal [the square of linen placed underneath the Communion vessels] 20 in. square, with an inch or two to spare." He also recommends that the altar stand upon three steps for each of
3162-509: A grave reason for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession." Since the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ, "the worship due to the sacrament of the Eucharist, whether during the celebration of the Mass or outside it, is the worship of latria , that is, the adoration given to God alone."" The Blessed Sacrament can be exposed (displayed) on an altar in
3348-458: A high altar in the main body of the church, with one or more adjoining chapels, each with its own altar, at which the Eucharist may be celebrated on weekdays. Architecturally, there are two types of altars: Those that are attached to the eastern wall of the chancel, and those that are free-standing and can be walked around, for instance when incensing the altar. In the earliest days of the Church,
3534-520: A more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English as they grow up through day-to-day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by non-native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners. Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in
3720-695: A number of other Anglic languages, including Scots and the extinct Fingallian dialect and Yola language of Ireland. Like Icelandic and Faroese , the development of English in the British Isles isolated it from the continental Germanic languages and influences, and it has since diverged considerably. English is not mutually intelligible with any continental Germanic language, as it differs in vocabulary , syntax , and phonology . However, some of these, such as Dutch or Frisian, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages. Unlike Icelandic and Faroese, which were isolated,
3906-475: A priest could take one with him and place it on an ordinary table for saying Mass. They were also inserted into the centre of structural altars especially those made of wood. In that case, it was the altar stone that was considered liturgically to be the altar. The Pontificale Romanum contained a rite for blessing at the same time several of these altar stones. In the East the antimension served and continues to serve
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#17327658115064092-486: A private bedroom, closet, or other space usually occupied by one person. They are used for practices of piety intended for one person (often referred to as a "private devotion"). They are also found in a minority of Protestant worship places; in Reformed and Anabaptist churches, a table, often called a "Communion table", serves an analogous function. The area around the altar is seen as endowed with greater holiness, and
4278-684: A requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by Chemical Abstracts in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995. International communities such as international business people may use English as an auxiliary language , with an emphasis on vocabulary suitable for their domain of interest. This has led some scholars to develop
4464-407: A rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection and a fairly fixed subject–verb–object word order . Modern English relies more on auxiliary verbs and word order for the expression of complex tenses , aspects and moods , as well as passive constructions , interrogatives , and some negation . The earliest form of English
4650-405: A rule be separate from the wall so as to make it easy to walk around it and to celebrate Mass at it facing the people. It should be positioned so as to be the natural centre of attention of the whole congregation. The altar should be covered by at least one white cloth, and nothing else should be placed upon the altar table other than what is required for the liturgical celebration. Candlesticks and
4836-468: A sense of the sanctity of the altar and its surrounding area persists. In most cases, moreover, the practice of allowing only those items that have been blessed to be placed on the altar is maintained (that is, the linen cloth, candles, missal , and the Eucharistic vessels). In Greek the word βωμός ( bômós ) can mean an altar of any religion or, in a broader sense, the area surrounding it; that
5022-758: A significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the United States (at least 231 million), the United Kingdom (60 million), Canada (19 million), Australia (at least 17 million), South Africa (4.8 million), Ireland (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million). In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages and new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces. The inner-circle countries provide
5208-421: A solid front, which may or may not be ornamented. In many Anglican parishes, the use of frontals has persisted. When altars are placed away from the wall of the chancel allowing a westward orientation, only two candles are placed on either end of it, since six would obscure the liturgical action, undermining the intent of a westward orientation (i.e., that it be visible to the congregation). In such an arrangement,
5394-588: A tabernacle may stand to one side of or behind the altar, or an aumbry may be used. Sensibilities concerning the sanctity of the altar are widespread in Anglicanism. In some parishes, the notion that the surface of the altar should only be touched by those in holy orders is maintained. In others, there is considerably less strictness about the communion table. Nonetheless, the continued popularity of communion rails in Anglican church construction suggests that
5580-447: A verb ending ( present plural): From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Old English gradually transformed through language contact with Old Norse in some regions. The waves of Norse (Viking) colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with Old Norse , a North Germanic language. Norse influence was strongest in the north-eastern varieties of Old English spoken in
5766-604: A wall or touching it, altars were often surmounted by a reredos or altarpiece . If free-standing, they could be placed, as also in Eastern Christianity, within a ciborium (sometimes called a baldachin ). The rules regarding the present-day form of the Roman Rite liturgy declare a free-standing main altar to be "desirable wherever possible". Similarly, in the Anglican Communion, the rubrics of
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5952-563: Is Old Frisian , but even some centuries after the Anglo-Saxon migration, Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility with other Germanic varieties. Even in the 9th and 10th centuries, amidst the Danelaw and other Viking invasions, there is historical evidence that Old Norse and Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility, although probably the northern dialects of Old English were more similar to Old Norse than
6138-580: Is a word that sometimes means Easter, sometimes Passover.) In the Eucharist the same sacrifice that Jesus made only once on the cross is believed to be made present at every Mass. According to Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church , "The Eucharist is the very sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus which he instituted to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout
6324-466: Is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the United States as a world power. As of 2016 , 400 million people spoke English as their first language , and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language. English is the largest language by number of speakers . English
6510-610: Is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK. However, English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India. David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in
6696-407: Is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world. The Indian linguist Braj Kachru distinguished countries where English is spoken with a three circles model . In his model, Kachru based his model on
6882-413: Is any real change in the elements used, recognize a special presence of Christ in this rite. However, Christians differ about exactly how, where and how long Christ is present in it. Catholicism , Eastern Orthodoxy , Oriental Orthodoxy , and the Church of the East teach that the reality (the "substance") of the elements of bread and wine is wholly changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, while
7068-538: Is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon ( c. 450–1150 ). Old English developed from a set of West Germanic dialects, often grouped as Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic , and originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia , Lower Saxony and southern Jutland by Germanic peoples known to the historical record as the Angles , Saxons , and Jutes . From the 5th century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain as
7254-411: Is considered to be the " baptismal garment " of the altar. The linen covering symbolizes the winding sheet in which the body of Christ was wrapped when he was laid in the tomb . Since the altar is never seen uncovered thereafter, the table tends to be constructed more with sturdiness than aesthetics in mind. Above this first cover is a second ornamented altar cloth ( Indítia ), often in a brocade of
7440-467: Is digested, physically destroyed, or decays by some natural process (at which point, theologian Thomas Aquinas argued, the substance of the bread and wine cannot return). The Fourth Council of the Lateran in 1215 spoke of the bread and wine as "transubstantiated" into the body and blood of Christ: "His body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the forms of bread and wine,
7626-590: Is either the official language or one of the official languages in 59 sovereign states (such as India , Ireland , and Canada ). In some other countries, it is the sole or dominant language for historical reasons without being explicitly defined by law (such as in the United States and United Kingdom ). It is a co-official language of the United Nations , the European Union , and many other international and regional organisations. It has also become
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7812-699: Is found in the First Epistle to the Corinthians , which suggests how early Christians celebrated what Paul the Apostle called the Lord's Supper. Although the Gospel of John does not reference the Last Supper explicitly, some argue that it contains theological allusions to the early Christian celebration of the Eucharist, especially in the chapter 6 Bread of Life Discourse but also in other passages. In
7998-402: Is generally square in plan and in reasonable proportion to the size of the sanctuary. It has five legs: one at each corner plus a central pillar for supporting the relics which are placed in it at its consecration . A plain linen covering (Greek: Katasarkion , Slavonic: Strachítsa ) is bound to the Holy Table with cords; this cover is never removed after the altar is consecrated, and
8184-403: Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? The phrase κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου ( klasis tou artou , 'breaking of the bread'; in later liturgical Greek also ἀρτοκλασία artoklasia ) appears in various related forms five times in the New Testament in contexts which, according to some, may refer to the celebration of
8370-485: Is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'" The Greek word used in the passage for 'remembrance' is ἀνάμνησιν ( anamnesis ), which itself has a much richer theological history than the English word "remember". The expression "The Lord's Supper", derived from Paul 's usage in 1 Corinthians 11:17–34, may have originally referred to the Agape feast (or love feast), the shared communal meal with which
8556-512: Is no use of the specific word altar ; the item in question is called the Lord's Table or Holy Table . This remains the official terminology, though common usage may call the communion table an altar. At the time of the Reformation, altars were fixed against the east end of the church, and the priests would celebrate the Mass standing at the front of the altar. Beginning with the rubrics of
8742-476: Is offered as the "table of the Lord" ( trapeza Kyriou ) mentioned by Saint Paul . The rules indicated here are those of the Latin Church . The Latin Church distinguishes between fixed altars (those attached to the floor) and movable altars (those that can be displaced), and states: "It is desirable that in every church there be a fixed altar, since this more clearly and permanently signifies Christ Jesus,
8928-447: Is official as they prefer to leave it a mystery. Lutherans believe Christ to be "truly and substantially present" with the bread and wine that are seen in the Eucharist, in a manner referred to as the sacramental union . They attribute the real presence of Jesus' living body to his word spoken in the Eucharist, and not to the faith of those receiving it. They also believe that "forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation" are given through
9114-536: Is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1150 to 1500. With the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the now-Norsified Old English language was subject to another wave of intense contact, this time with Old French , in particular Old Norman French , influencing it as a superstrate. The Norman French spoken by
9300-549: Is one bishop, along with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants: that so, whatsoever you do, you may do it according to [the will of] God. Justin Martyr (born c. 100 , died c. 165 ) mentions in this regard: And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with
9486-567: Is received by the faithful only in a heavenly and spiritual manner, a doctrine also taught in the Methodist Articles of Religion . Christians adhering to the theology of Memorialism , such as the Anabaptist Churches , do not believe in the concept of the real presence, believing that the Eucharist is only a ceremonial remembrance or memorial of the death of Christ. The Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry document of
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#17327658115069672-424: Is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, its widespread use puts them at the boundary between the "outer circle" and "expanding circle". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language. Many users of English in
9858-484: Is salvific. The concept of the Jews both destroying and partaking in some perverted version of the Eucharist has been a vessel to promote anti-Judaism and anti-Jewish ideology and violence. In medieval times, Jews were often depicted stabbing or in some other way physically harming communion wafers. These characterizations drew parallels to the idea that the Jews killed Christ; murdering this transubstantiation or "host"
10044-517: Is spoken by communities on every continent and on islands in all the major oceans. The countries where English is spoken can be grouped into different categories according to how English is used in each country. The "inner circle" countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms for English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English
10230-471: Is the most spoken language in the world, primarily due to the global influences of the former British Empire (succeeded by the Commonwealth of Nations ) and the United States . English is the third-most spoken native language , after Standard Chinese and Spanish ; it is also the most widely learned second language in the world, with more second-language speakers than native speakers. English
10416-456: Is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. Paschasius Radbertus (785–865) was a Carolingian theologian, and the abbot of Corbie , whose best-known and influential work is an exposition on the nature of the Eucharist written around 831, entitled De Corpore et Sanguine Domini . In it, Paschasius agrees with St Ambrose in affirming that the Eucharist contains the true, historical body of Jesus Christ. According to Paschasius, God
10602-637: Is the name still used by Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , Catholics , Anglicans , Presbyterians , and Lutherans . Other Protestant denominations rarely use this term, preferring "Communion", "the Lord's Supper", "Remembrance", or "the Breaking of Bread". Latter-day Saints call it " the Sacrament ". In the First Epistle to the Corinthians Paul uses the term "Lord's Supper", in Greek Κυριακὸν δεῖπνον ( Kyriakon deipnon ), in
10788-516: Is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice." According to the Catholic Church Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist in a true, real and substantial way, with his body, blood, soul and divinity. By the consecration , the substances of the bread and wine actually become the substances of the body and blood of Christ ( transubstantiation ) while
10974-777: Is the third person pronoun group beginning with th- ( they, them, their ) which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with h- ( hie, him, hera ). Other core Norse loanwords include "give", "get", "sky", "skirt", "egg", and "cake", typically displacing a native Anglo-Saxon equivalent. Old Norse in this era retained considerable mutual intelligibility with some dialects of Old English, particularly northern ones. Englischmen þeyz hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre manner speche, Souþeron, Northeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, ... Noþeles by comyxstion and mellyng, furst wiþ Danes, and afterward wiþ Normans, in menye þe contray longage ys asperyed, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng, and garryng grisbytting. Although, from
11160-406: Is to say, the entire sanctuary . In an Eastern Orthodox or a Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic church this sanctuary includes both the area behind the iconostasis , and the soleas (the elevated projection in front of the iconostasis), and the ambo . It is also called the βῆμα ( bema ). When one enters the sanctuary, one is said to be going into the βωμός or βῆμα . The altar itself in such
11346-458: Is truth itself, and therefore, his words and actions must be true. Christ's proclamation at the Last Supper that the bread and wine were his body and blood must be taken literally, since God is truth. He thus believes that the transubstantiation of the bread and wine offered in the Eucharist really occurs. Only if the Eucharist is the actual body and blood of Christ can a Christian know it
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#173276581150611532-477: Is usually physically distinguished from the rest of the church, whether by a permanent structure such as an iconostasis , a rood screen , altar rails , a curtain that can be closed at more solemn moments of the liturgy (as in the Armenian Apostolic Church and Armenian Catholic Church ), or simply by the general architectural layout. The altar is often on a higher elevation than the rest of
11718-461: The strachitsa ). The Divine Liturgy must be served on an antimension even if the altar has been consecrated and contains relics. When not in use, the antimension is left in place in the center of the Holy Table and is not removed except for necessity. The Holy Table may only be touched by ordained members of the higher clergy and nothing which is not itself consecrated or an object of veneration should be placed on it. Objects may also be placed on
11904-978: The Anglic languages in the British Isles , and into the Frisian languages and Low German /Low Saxon on the continent. The Frisian languages, which together with the Anglic languages form the Anglo-Frisian languages , are the closest living relatives of English. Low German/Low Saxon is also closely related, and sometimes English, the Frisian languages, and Low German are grouped together as the North Sea Germanic languages, though this grouping remains debated. Old English evolved into Middle English , which in turn evolved into Modern English. Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into
12090-600: The Anglo-Saxons . Late Old English borrowed some grammar and core vocabulary from Old Norse , a North Germanic language . Then, Middle English borrowed vocabulary extensively from French dialects , which are the source of approximately 28% of Modern English words , and from Latin , which is the source of an additional 28% . As such, though most of its total vocabulary comes from Romance languages , Modern English's grammar, phonology, and most commonly used words in everyday use keep it genealogically classified under
12276-485: The Augustinian canon Orrm , which highlights the blending of both Old English and Anglo-Norman elements in English for the first time. In Wycliff'e Bible of the 1380s, the verse Matthew 8:20 was written: Foxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis . Here the plural suffix -n on the verb have is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present. By the 12th century Middle English
12462-538: The Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper , is a Christian rite , considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper , the night before his crucifixion , giving his disciples bread and wine. Passages in the New Testament state that he commanded them to "do this in memory of me" while referring to
12648-569: The Book of Common Prayer assumed an altar fixed against the wall, until Prayer Book revision in the twentieth century removed language which assumed any particular form of altar. As well as altars in the structural sense, it became customary in the West to have what in Latin were referred to as altaria portatilia (portable altars), more commonly referred to in English as altar stones . When travelling,
12834-546: The Danelaw area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in Scots and Northern English . The centre of Norsified English was in the Midlands around Lindsey . After 920 CE, when Lindsey was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, English spread extensively throughout the region. An element of Norse influence that continues in all English varieties today
13020-750: The Eastern Orthodox Church or among the Eastern Catholic Churches . These also speak of "the Divine Mysteries", especially in reference to the consecrated elements, which they also call "the Holy Gifts". The term Divine Service ( German : Gottesdienst ) has often been used to refer to Christian worship more generally and is still used in Lutheran churches , in addition to the terms "Eucharist", "Mass" and "Holy Communion". Historically this refers (like
13206-552: The European Free Trade Association , Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of
13392-495: The Methodist Church . Some Methodist and other evangelical churches practice what is referred to as an altar call , whereby those who wish to make a new spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ are invited to come forward publicly. It is so named because the supplicants, at the end of the sermon , kneel at the altar rails , which are located around the altar within chancel . Those that come forward will often recite
13578-561: The Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist . According to the Catholic Church doctrine receiving the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin is a sacrilege and only those who are in a state of grace, that is, without any mortal sin, can receive it. Based on 1 Corinthians 11:27–29, it affirms the following: "Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution , unless he has
13764-530: The Second Prayer Book of Edward VI published in 1552, and through the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (which prevailed for almost 300 years and is still in occasional use), the priest is directed to stand "at the north syde of the Table". This was variously interpreted over the years to mean the north side of the front of a fixed communion table, the north end of a fixed table (i.e., facing south),
13950-604: The United Nations at the end of World War II , English had become pre-eminent and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations. It is one of six official languages of the United Nations. Many other worldwide international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee , specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation. Many regional international organisations such as
14136-674: The World Council of Churches , attempting to present the common understanding of the Eucharist on the part of the generality of Christians, describes it as "essentially the sacrament of the gift which God makes to us in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit", "Thanksgiving to the Father", "Anamnesis or Memorial of Christ", "the sacrament of the unique sacrifice of Christ, who ever lives to make intercession for us", "the sacrament of
14322-518: The palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see Phonological history of Old English § Palatalization ). The earliest varieties of an English language, collectively known as Old English or "Anglo-Saxon", evolved from a group of North Sea Germanic dialects brought to Britain in the 5th century. Old English dialects were later influenced by Old Norse -speaking Viking invaders and settlers , starting in
14508-535: The tabernacle , candles, ceremonial fans , a cross, and the Gospel Book . The altar is often located upon a kind of stage above a row of icons. Altars in the Alexandrian ( Coptic Orthodox Church ) tradition must have a square face upon which to offer the sacrifice. As the standard Coptic liturgy requires the priest to encircle the altar, it is never attached to any wall. Most Coptic altars are located under
14694-564: The "outer circle" countries are countries such as the Philippines , Jamaica , India , Pakistan , Singapore , Malaysia and Nigeria with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business, and its routine use for school instruction and official interactions with the government. Those countries have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to
14880-617: The 8th and 9th centuries. Middle English began in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest of England, when a considerable amount of Old French vocabulary was incorporated into English over some three centuries. Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the start of the Great Vowel Shift and the Renaissance trend of borrowing further Latin and Greek words and roots, concurrent with
15066-608: The Angles. English may have a small amount of substrate influence from Common Brittonic, and a number of possible Brittonicisms in English have been proposed, but whether most of these supposed Brittonicisms are actually a direct result of Brittonic substrate influence is disputed. Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects ( Mercian and Northumbrian ) and the Saxon dialects ( Kentish and West Saxon ). Through
15252-524: The British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies. For example, the view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India. English
15438-491: The Catholic Church the Eucharist is considered as a sacrament , according to the church the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life". "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch." ("Pasch"
15624-494: The Catholic Church, do not formally use this term for the rite, but instead mean by it the act of partaking of the consecrated elements; they speak of receiving Holy Communion at Mass or outside of it, they also use the term First Communion when one receives the Eucharist for the first time. The term Communion is derived from Latin communio ("sharing in common"), translated from the Greek κοινωνία ( koinōnía ) in 1 Corinthians 10:16: The cup of blessing which we bless,
15810-419: The Church continued to presume that the officiating bishop could circle the altar during the consecration of the church and its altar. Despite this, with the increase in the size and importance of the reredos , most altars were built against the wall or barely separated from it. In almost all cases, the eastward orientation for prayer was maintained, whether the altar was at the west end of the church, as in all
15996-550: The Divine Liturgy and perform the ablutions . The Syriac Maronite Church, along with the other Syriac Churches, has freestanding altars in most cases so the priests and deacons can circumambulate the altar during processions and incensations. Traditionally the Maronite liturgy was offered with the priest and people oriented to the East but because of modern latinizations it is common to find Maronite liturgies offered with
16182-547: The Early Modern period includes the works of William Shakespeare and the translation of the Bible commissioned by King James I . Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the consonant clusters /kn ɡn sw/ in knight , gnat , and sword were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent
16368-655: The English Language , which introduced standard spellings of words and usage norms. In 1828, Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English language to try to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent of the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of
16554-557: The English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce koineised forms of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers. English has ceased to be an "English language" in
16740-536: The Eucharist appears to have been celebrated on portable altars set up for the purpose. Some historians hold that, during the persecutions, the Eucharist was celebrated among the tombs in the Catacombs of Rome , using the sarcophagi of martyrs as altars on which to celebrate. Other historians dispute this, but it is thought to be the origin of the tradition of placing relics beneath the altar. When Christianity
16926-475: The Eucharist are considered as one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." In the holy sacrifice of the Mass, "it is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it
17112-515: The Eucharist was originally associated. The Agape feast is mentioned in Jude 12 but "The Lord's Supper" is now commonly used in reference to a celebration involving no food other than the sacramental bread and wine. The Didache (Greek: Διδαχή , "teaching") is an Early Church treatise that includes instructions for baptism and the Eucharist. Most scholars date it to the late 1st century, and distinguish in it two separate Eucharistic traditions,
17298-401: The Eucharist, celebrating it rarely. Both Catholics and Protestants celebrate the Eucharist at such altars outside of churches and chapels, as outdoors or in an auditorium. The Eastern Catholic Churches each follow their own traditions, which in general correspond to those of similar Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox Churches. All Christian Churches see the altar on which the Eucharist
17484-556: The Eucharist, in either closer or symbolically more distant reference to the Last Supper. This term is used by the Plymouth Brethren . The " Blessed Sacrament ", the "Sacrament of the Altar", and other variations, are common terms used by Catholics, Lutherans and some Anglicans ( Anglo-Catholics ) for the consecrated elements, particularly when reserved in a tabernacle . In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
17670-706: The Germanic branch. It exists on a dialect continuum with Scots and is then most closely related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages . English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . Old English originated from a Germanic tribal and linguistic continuum along the Frisian North Sea coast, whose languages gradually evolved into
17856-457: The Gospel is kept the antimension , a silken cloth imprinted with an icon of Christ being prepared for burial , which has a relic sewn into it and bears the signature of the bishop . Another, simpler cloth, the ilitón , is wrapped around the antimension to protect it, and symbolizes the "napkin" that was tied around the face of Jesus when he was laid in the tomb (forming a companion to
18042-681: The Hebrew Bible is that erected by Noah . Altars were erected by Abraham , by Isaac , by Jacob , and by Moses . After the theophany on Mount Sinai , in the Tabernacle —and afterwards in the Temple —only two altars were used: The Altar of Burnt Offering, and the Altar of Incense, both near where the Ark of the Covenant was located. The remains of three rock-hewn altars were discovered in
18228-403: The Holy Table before they are taken to the center of the church to be venerated by the faithful. In place of the outer covering, some altars have a permanent solid cover which may be highly ornamented, richly carved, or even plated in precious metals. A smaller brocade cover is used on top of this if it is desired that the altar decoration reflect the liturgical season. The Holy Table is used as
18414-720: The Holy Table, because it represents the Tomb of Christ, and the Gospel lessons for Sunday Matins are always one of the Resurrection appearances of Jesus . On the northern side of the sanctuary stands another, smaller altar, known as the Table of Oblation ( Prothesis or Zhértvennik ) at which the Liturgy of Preparation takes place. On it the bread and wine are prepared before the Divine Liturgy . The Prothesis symbolizes
18600-414: The Holy Table, but it may be large enough to cover the entire Holy Table and everything on it, including candlesticks and the seven-branch candelabra. Atop the altar is the tabernacle ( Kovtchég ), a miniature shrine sometimes built in the form of a church, inside of which is a small ark containing the reserved sacrament for use in communing the sick. Also kept on the altar is the Gospel Book . Under
18786-472: The Host and "The Blood of Christ" when presenting the chalice, the communicant who receives either one receives Christ, whole and entire. "Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ." The Catholic Church sees as the main basis for this belief the words of Jesus himself at his Last Supper:
18972-514: The Indian tradition. In Malayalam Altar is called Madbah English language English is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , whose speakers, called Anglophones , originated in early medieval England on the island of Great Britain . The namesake of the language is the Angles , one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to Britain . It
19158-468: The Land of Israel: one below Tel Zorah , another at the foot of Sebastia (ancient Samaria), and a third near Shiloh . The word altar , in Greek θυσιαστήριον ( see : θυσία ), appears twenty-four times in the New Testament . In Catholic and Orthodox Christian theology, the Eucharist is a re-presentation, in the literal sense of the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross being made "present again". Hence,
19344-599: The Living Stone. In other places set aside for sacred celebrations, the altar may be movable." A fixed altar should in general be topped by a slab of natural stone, thus conforming to tradition and to the significance attributed to the altar, but in many places dignified, well-crafted solid wood is permitted; the supports or base of a fixed altar may be of any dignified solid material. A movable altar may be of any noble solid material suitable for liturgical use. The liturgical norms state: This last norm explicitly excludes
19530-603: The Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks ( εὐχαριστήσας ), he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me". The term eucharistia (thanksgiving) is that by which the rite is referred to in the Didache (a late 1st or early 2nd century document), by Ignatius of Antioch (who died between 98 and 117) and by Justin Martyr ( First Apology written between 155 and 157). Today, "the Eucharist"
19716-554: The Roman economy and administration collapsed . By the 7th century, this Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain , replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409): Common Brittonic , a Celtic language , and British Latin , brought to Britain by the Roman occupation. At this time, these dialects generally resisted influence from the then-local Brittonic and Latin languages. England and English (originally Ænglaland and Ænglisc ) are both named after
19902-411: The Table of Oblation. The Epitaphios and Cross are also placed on the Table of Oblation before the priest and deacon solemnly transfer them to the Holy Table. In addition to the higher clergy, subdeacons are permitted to touch the Table of Oblation, but no one of lesser rank may do so. The Table of Oblation is the place where the deacon will consume the remaining Gifts ( Body and Blood of Christ ) after
20088-494: The Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations. Although in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language . In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than Ireland and Malta ). In
20274-472: The West, the Roman Missal recommends that in new churches there should be only one altar, "which in the gathering of the faithful will signify the one Christ and the one Eucharist of the Church." This does not exclude altars in distinct side chapels, however, but only separate altars in the main body of the church. But most Western churches of an earlier period, whether Roman Catholic or Anglican, may have
20460-408: The ages until his return in glory." "When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made present the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present. [...] The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the same and only sacrifice offered once for all on the cross" The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of
20646-556: The altar as part of the process for setting them aside for sacred use. For example, icons are usually blessed by laying them on the Holy Table for a period of time or for a certain number of Divine Liturgies before sprinkling them with holy water , and placing them where they will be venerated . The Epitaphios on Good Friday , and the Cross on the Feasts of the Cross , are also placed on
20832-664: The altar at the east end. Then the ministers and congregation all faced east during the whole celebration; and in Western Europe altars began, in the Middle Ages, to be permanently placed against the east wall of the chancel. Most rubrics , even in books of the seventeenth century and later, such as the Pontificale Romanum , continued to envisage the altar as free-standing. The rite of the Dedication of
21018-424: The altar represents Christ and should only be used to consecrate and distribute the Eucharist. Lutheran altars are commonly made out of granite, but other materials are also used. A crucifix is to be put above the altar. Sometimes relics are also placed around the altar. Altars in the Anglican Communion vary widely. In the Book of Common Prayer , the basis of doctrine and practice for the Church of England , there
21204-413: The appearances (the "species") remain. Transubstantiation ("change of the substance") is the term used by Catholics to denote what is changed, not to explain how the change occurs, since the Catholic Church teaches that "the signs of bread and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding , the Body and Blood of Christ". The Orthodox use various terms such as transelementation, but no explanation
21390-408: The appearances or "species" of the bread and wine remain unaltered (e.g. colour, taste, feel, and smell). This change is brought about in the eucharistic prayer through the efficacy of the word of Christ and by the action of the Holy Spirit. The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist, that is, until the Eucharist
21576-407: The base from which English spreads to other countries in the world. Estimates of the numbers of second language and foreign-language English speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1 billion, depending on how proficiency is defined. Linguist David Crystal estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. In Kachru's three-circles model,
21762-453: The basis for the required controlled natural languages Seaspeak and Airspeak, used as international languages of seafaring and aviation. English used to have parity with French and German in scientific research, but now it dominates that field. It achieved parity with French as a language of diplomacy at the Treaty of Versailles negotiations in 1919. By the time of the foundation of
21948-400: The beginning, Englishmen had three manners of speaking, southern, northern and midlands speech in the middle of the country, ... Nevertheless, through intermingling and mixing, first with Danes and then with Normans, amongst many the country language has arisen, and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and grating gnashing. John Trevisa , c. 1385 Middle English
22134-575: The biblical text, "Lord's Supper" came into use after the Protestant Reformation and remains the predominant term among Evangelicals , such as Baptists and Pentecostals . They also refer to the observance as an ordinance rather than a sacrament. Use of the term Communion (or Holy Communion ) to refer to the Eucharistic rite began by some groups originating in the Protestant Reformation . Others, such as
22320-587: The body and blood of Christ, the sacrament of his real presence ", "Invocation of the Spirit", "Communion of the Faithful", and "Meal of the Kingdom". Many Christian denominations classify the Eucharist as a sacrament . Some Protestants (though not all) prefer to instead call it an ordinance , viewing it not as a specific channel of divine grace but as an expression of faith and of obedience to Christ. In
22506-475: The bread and wine having been transubstantiated, by God's power, into his body and blood". In 1551, the Council of Trent definitively declared: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place
22692-429: The bread as "my body" and the cup of wine as "the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many". According to the synoptic Gospels this was at a Passover meal. The elements of the Eucharist, bread , either leavened or unleavened , and wine (non-alcoholic grape juice in some Protestant traditions), are consecrated on an altar or a communion table and consumed thereafter. The consecrated elements are
22878-659: The bread was broken. In the one prayer given to posterity by Jesus, the Lord's Prayer , the word epiousion —which is otherwise unknown in Classical Greek literature—was interpreted by some early Christian writers as meaning "super-substantial", and hence a possible reference to the Eucharist as the Bread of Life . In the Gospel of John, however, the account of the Last Supper does not mention Jesus taking bread and "the cup" and speaking of them as his body and blood; instead, it recounts other events: his humble act of washing
23064-585: The building in imitation of the sanctuary of the Jerusalem Temple. Although in the days of the Jerusalem Temple the High Priest indeed faced east when sacrificing on Yom Kippur , the sanctuary within which he stood was located at the western end of the Temple. The Christian replication of the layout and the orientation of the Jerusalem Temple helped to dramatize the eschatological meaning attached to
23250-627: The cave of Bethlehem and also the Anointing Stone at which the Body of Christ was prepared after the Deposition from the Cross . The Table of Oblation is also blessed, sprinkled with holy water and vested at the consecration of a church, but there are no relics placed in it. Nothing other than the sacred vessels, veils , etc. which are used in the Liturgy of Preparation may be placed on
23436-456: The church. Churches generally have a single altar, although in the Western branches of Christianity, as a result of the former abandonment of concelebration of Mass , so that priests always celebrated Mass individually, larger churches have had one or more side chapels, each with its own altar. The main altar was also referred to as the " high altar ". Since the revival of concelebration in
23622-459: The congregation is sent out to serve Christ. At least in the Catholic Church, the Mass is a long rite in two parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist . The former consists of readings from the Bible and a homily , or sermon, given by a priest or deacon. The latter, which follows seamlessly, includes the " Offering " of the bread and wine at the altar, their consecration by
23808-638: The consensus of educated English speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation. American listeners readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world. Both standard and non-standard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers. The settlement history of
23994-466: The de facto lingua franca of diplomacy, science , technology, international trade, logistics, tourism, aviation, entertainment, and the Internet . English accounts for at least 70% of total speakers of the Germanic language branch, and as of 2021 , Ethnologue estimated that there were over 1.5 billion speakers worldwide. Old English emerged from a group of West Germanic dialects spoken by
24180-476: The development of English was influenced by a long series of invasions of the British Isles by other peoples and languages, particularly Old Norse and French dialects . These left a profound mark of their own on the language, so that English shows some similarities in vocabulary and grammar with many languages outside its linguistic clades —but it is not mutually intelligible with any of those languages either. Some scholars have argued that English can be considered
24366-414: The disciples' feet, the prophecy of the betrayal, which set in motion the events that would lead to the cross, and his long discourse in response to some questions posed by his followers, in which he went on to speak of the importance of the unity of the disciples with him, with each other, and with God. Some would find in this unity and in the washing of the feet the deeper meaning of the Communion bread in
24552-476: The distinct characteristics of Early Modern English. In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says, "The Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests." This exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with subject–verb–object word order, and the use of of instead of the non-possessive genitive), and
24738-474: The earlier tradition in chapter 10 and the later one preceding it in chapter 9. The Eucharist is mentioned again in chapter 14. Ignatius of Antioch (born c. 35 or 50 , died between 98 and 117), one of the Apostolic Fathers, mentions the Eucharist as "the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ": They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be
24924-544: The earliest churches in Rome, in which case the priest celebrating Mass faced the congregation and the church entrance, or whether it was at the east end of the church, in which case the priest faced the eastern apse and had his back to the congregation. This diversity was recognized in the rubrics of the Roman Missal from the 1604 typical edition of Pope Clement VIII to the 1962 edition of Pope John XXIII : " Si altare sit ad orientem, versus populum ... " When placed close to
25110-609: The early 50s of the 1st century: When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. So Paul's use of the term "Lord's Supper" in reference to the Corinthian banquet is powerful and interesting; but to be an actual name for the Christian meal, rather than a meaningful phrase connected with an ephemeral rhetorical contrast, it would have to have some history, previous or subsequent. Nevertheless, given its existence in
25296-401: The early period of Old English were written using a runic script . By the 6th century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms . It included the runic letters wynn ⟨ ƿ ⟩ and thorn ⟨ þ ⟩ , and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ ð ⟩ , and ash ⟨ æ ⟩ . Old English is essentially
25482-551: The educational reforms of King Alfred in the 9th century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex , the West Saxon dialect became the standard written variety . The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Cædmon's Hymn , is written in Northumbrian. Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from
25668-695: The elite in England eventually developed into the Anglo-Norman language . Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking English, the main influence of Norman was the introduction of a wide range of loanwords related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains. Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative cases
25854-473: The end product of the Eucharistic Prayer . Christians generally recognize a special presence of Christ in this rite, though they differ about exactly how, where, and when Christ is present. The Catholic Church states that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ under the species of bread and wine. It maintains that by the consecration, the substances of the bread and wine actually become
26040-408: The expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use the language. Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties. Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in
26226-420: The flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. [...] Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Take heed, then, to have but one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to [show forth ] the unity of His blood; one altar; as there
26412-461: The forms of the bread and wine, known as the sacramental union . Reformed Christians believe in a real spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Anglican eucharistic theologies universally affirm the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist , though Evangelical Anglicans believe that this is a spiritual presence, while Anglo-Catholics hold to a corporeal presence. As a result of these different understandings, "the Eucharist has been
26598-721: The growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a superpower following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the BBC and other broadcasters, caused the language to spread across the planet much faster. In the 21st century, English is more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been. As Modern English developed, explicit norms for standard usage were published, and spread through official media such as public education and state-sponsored publications. In 1755, Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of
26784-479: The history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the Great Vowel Shift (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation. The Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a chain shift , meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. Mid and open vowels were raised , and close vowels were broken into diphthongs . For example,
26970-407: The history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time. Countries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where
27156-403: The inner-circle countries, and they may show grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries. In the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as
27342-468: The introduction of loanwords from French ( ayre ) and word replacements ( bird originally meaning "nestling" had replaced OE fugol ). By the late 18th century, the British Empire had spread English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication. English
27528-409: The introduction of the printing press to London. This era notably culminated in the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare . The printing press greatly standardised English spelling, which has remained largely unchanged since then, despite a wide variety of later sound shifts in English dialects. Modern English has spread around the world since the 17th century as a consequence of
27714-431: The languages have descended from a single common ancestor called Proto-Germanic . Some shared features of Germanic languages include the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, the use of modal verbs , and the sound changes affecting Proto-Indo-European consonants, known as Grimm's and Verner's laws . English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as
27900-434: The north side of a free-standing table (presumably facing those intending to receive the Elements who would be sitting in the quire stalls opposite), or at the north end of a free-standing table lengthwise in the chancel, facing a congregation seated in the nave . Often, where a celebrant chose to situate himself was meant to convey his churchmanship (that is, more Reformed or more Catholic). The use of candles or tabernacles
28086-438: The old altar is so positioned that it makes the people's participation difficult but cannot be moved without damage to artistic value, another fixed altar, skillfully made and properly dedicated, should be erected and the sacred rites celebrated on it alone. In order that the attention of the faithful not be distracted from the new altar the old altar should not be decorated in any special way." The altar, fixed or movable, should as
28272-401: The other three Gospels. In John 6:26–65, a long discourse is attributed to Jesus that deals with the subject of the living bread; John 6:51–59 also contains echoes of Eucharistic language. 1 Corinthians 11:23–25 gives the earliest recorded description of Jesus' Last Supper: "The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This
28458-478: The place of offering in the celebration of the Eucharist , where bread and wine are offered to God the Father and the Holy Spirit is invoked to make his Son Jesus Christ present in the Gifts. It is also the place where the presiding clergy stand at any service, even where no Eucharist is being celebrated and no offering is made other than prayer . When the priest reads the Gospel during Matins (or All-Night Vigil ) on Sunday, he reads it standing in front of
28644-444: The practice customary in recent centuries of inserting relics into a specially created cavity within the table of an altar or altar stone . Placing of relics even in the base of a movable altar is also excluded. "In building new churches, it is preferable for a single altar to be erected, one that in the gathering of the faithful will signify the one Christ and the one Eucharist of the Church. In already existing churches, however, when
28830-426: The prestige varieties among the middle classes. In modern English, the loss of grammatical case is almost complete (it is now only found in pronouns, such as he and him , she and her , who and whom ), and SVO word order is mostly fixed. Some changes, such as the use of do-support , have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word "do" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it
29016-404: The priest facing against the people from the opposite side of the altar, in imitation of modern practices in the Latin Church. In the Armenian Rite the altar is placed against the eastern wall of the church, often in an apse . The shape of the altar is usually rectangular, similar to Latin altars, but is unusual in that it will normally have several steps on top of the table, on which are placed
29202-409: The priest through prayer, and their reception by the congregation in Holy Communion. Among the many other terms used in the Catholic Church are "Holy Mass", "the Memorial of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord", the "Holy Sacrifice of the Mass", and the "Holy Mysteries". The term Divine Liturgy ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Θεία Λειτουργία ) is used in Byzantine Rite traditions, whether in
29388-453: The reign of Henry V . Around 1430, the Court of Chancery in Westminster began using English in its official documents , and a new standard form of Middle English, known as Chancery Standard , developed from the dialects of London and the East Midlands . In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English. Literature from
29574-400: The sacrificial death of Jesus the High Priest in the Epistle to the Hebrews." The ministers ( bishop , priests , deacons , subdeacons , acolytes ), celebrated the Eucharist facing east, towards the entrance. Some hold that for the central part of the celebration the congregation faced the same way. After the sixth century the contrary orientation prevailed, with the entrance to the west and
29760-468: The same purpose. The term movable altar or portable altar is now used of a full-scale structural altar, with or without an inserted altar stone, that can be moved. Movable altars include the free-standing wooden tables without altar stone, placed in the choir away from the east wall, favoured by churches in the Reformed tradition . Altars that not only can be moved but are repeatedly moved are found in low church traditions that do not focus worship on
29946-415: The sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English . Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons. Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an "Afro-Saxon" language community that unites Africans from different countries. As decolonisation proceeded throughout
30132-474: The southern dialects. Theoretically, as late as the 900s AD, a commoner from certain (northern) parts of England could hold a conversation with a commoner from certain parts of Scandinavia. Research continues into the details of the myriad tribes in peoples in England and Scandinavia and the mutual contacts between them. The translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 shows examples of case endings ( nominative plural, accusative plural, genitive singular) and
30318-455: The study of English as an auxiliary language. The trademarked Globish uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words, designed to represent the highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include Simple English . The increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into
30504-421: The substances of the body and blood of Jesus Christ ( transubstantiation ) while the appearances of the bread and wine remain unaltered (e.g. colour, taste, feel, and smell). The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches agree that an objective change occurs of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Lutherans believe the true body and blood of Christ are really present "in, with, and under"
30690-408: The synoptic Gospels and Paul's recount that Jesus at the time of taking the bread and the cup said: "This is my body […] this is my blood." The Catholic understanding of these words, from the Patristic authors onward, has emphasized their roots in the covenantal history of the Old Testament. The interpretation of Christ's words against this Old Testament background coheres with and supports belief in
30876-439: The synoptic Gospels, Mark 14:22–25, Matthew 26:26–29 and Luke 22:13–20 depict Jesus as presiding over the Last Supper prior to his crucifixion. The versions in Matthew and Mark are almost identical, but the Gospel of Luke presents a textual difference, in that a few manuscripts omit the second half of verse 19 and all of verse 20 ("given for you […] poured out for you"), which are found in the vast majority of ancient witnesses to
31062-685: The table upon which the Eucharist is consecrated is called an altar. The altar plays a central role in the celebration of the Eucharist , which takes place at the altar on which the bread and the wine for consecration are placed. Altars occupy a prominent place in most Christian churches, both Eastern and Western branches. Commonly among these churches, altars are placed for permanent use within designated places of communal worship (often called "sanctuaries" ). Less often, though nonetheless notable, altars are set in spaces occupied less regularly, such as outdoors in nature, in cemeteries, in mausoleums/crypts, and family dwellings. Personal altars are those placed in
31248-411: The term " The Sacrament " is used of the rite. The term " Mass " is used in the Catholic Church , the Lutheran churches (especially the Churches of Sweden , Norway and Finland ), and by some Anglicans. It derives from the Latin word missa , a dismissal: " Ite missa est ", or "go, it is sent", the very last phrase of the service. That Latin word has come to imply "mission" as well because
31434-580: The term "worship" itself) to service of God, although more recently it has been associated with the idea that God is serving the congregants in the liturgy. Some Eastern rites have yet more names for the Eucharist. Holy Qurbana is common in Syriac Christianity and Badarak in the Armenian Rite ; in the Alexandrian Rite , the term prosphora (from the Greek προσφορά ) is common in Coptic Christianity and Keddase in Ethiopian and Eritrean Christianity . The Last Supper appears in all three synoptic Gospels : Matthew , Mark , and Luke . It also
31620-417: The text. If the shorter text is the original one, then Luke's account is independent of both that of Paul and that of Matthew/Mark. If the majority longer text comes from the author of the third gospel, then this version is very similar to that of Paul in 1 Corinthians, being somewhat fuller in its description of the early part of the Supper, particularly in making specific mention of a cup being blessed before
31806-485: The three sacred ministers, and that it be decorated with a silk frontal in the seasonal colour . In some cases, other manuals suggest that a stone be set in the top of wooden altars, in the belief that the custom be maintained of consecrating the bread and wine on a stone surface. In many other Anglican parishes, the custom is considerably less rigorous, especially in those parishes which use free-standing altars. Typically, these altars are made of wood, and may or may not have
31992-626: The vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about language death , and to claims of linguistic imperialism , and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives. Eucharist The Eucharist ( / ˈ juː k ər ɪ s t / YOO -kər-ist ; from Koinē Greek : εὐχαριστία , romanized: evcharistía , lit. ' thanksgiving ' ), also called Holy Communion ,
32178-468: The washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished,
32364-473: The word bite was originally pronounced as the word beet is today, and the second vowel in the word about was pronounced as the word boot is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages. English began to rise in prestige, relative to Norman French, during
32550-406: The words of Christ in the Eucharist to those who believe his words ("given and shed for you"). Reformed Christians also believe Christ to be present in the Eucharist, but describe this presence as a spiritual presence , not a physical one. Anglicans adhere to a range of views depending on churchmanship although the teaching in the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles holds that the body of Christ
32736-785: The world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries. This is particularly true of the shared vocabulary of mathematics and the sciences. English is a pluricentric language , which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language. Spoken English, including English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents , but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English . The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by
32922-539: The world, but the number of English speakers in India is uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India. Modern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca , is also regarded as the first world language . English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy. English is, by international treaty,
33108-438: The worldwide influence of the British Empire and the United States. Through all types of printed and electronic media in these countries, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional contexts such as science, navigation , and law. Its modern grammar is the result of a gradual change from a dependent-marking pattern typical of Indo-European with
33294-405: Was adopted in parts of North America, parts of Africa, Oceania, and many other regions. When they obtained political independence, some of the newly independent states that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political and other difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others. In the 20th century
33480-428: Was banned by canon law , with the only appointed adornment being a white linen cloth. Beginning with the Oxford Movement in the 19th century, the appearance of Anglican altars took a dramatic turn in many churches. Candles and, in some cases, tabernacles were re‑introduced. In some churches two candles, on each end of the altar, were used; in other cases six—three on either side of a tabernacle, typically surmounted by
33666-454: Was fully developed, integrating both Norse and French features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes Geoffrey Chaucer 's The Canterbury Tales , and Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur . In the Middle English period, the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer. The next period in
33852-410: Was legalized under Constantine the Great and Licinius , formal church buildings were built in great numbers, normally with free-standing altars in the middle of the sanctuary, which in all the earliest churches built in Rome was at the west end of the church. "When Christians in fourth-century Rome could first freely begin to build churches, they customarily located the sanctuary towards the west end of
34038-452: Was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to indicating possession . The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms, and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible. The transition from Old to Middle English can be placed during the writing of the Ormulum . The oldest Middle English texts that were written by
34224-533: Was only used in question constructions, and even then was not obligatory. Now, do-support with the verb have is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in -ing , appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as had been being built are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. dreamed instead of dreamt ), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. more polite instead of politer ). British English
34410-450: Was thought of as a repetition of the event. Jewish people's eagerness to destroy hosts were also a variation of blood libel charges, with Jews being accused of murdering bodies of Christ, whether they be communion wafers or Christian children. The blood libel charges and the concept of Eucharist are also related in the belief that blood is efficacious, meaning it has some sort of divine power. Most Christians, even those who deny that there
34596-425: Was to be consumed by the family members. Any left overs were to be burned before daybreak so that none of the Passover Lamb's flesh remained. Only by marking the doorposts and lintel of one's home with the Blood of the Lamb were the members of the household saved from death. The consumption of the Lamb was not to save them but rather to give them energy for the journey of escape (Exodus = escape from slavery in Egypt) as
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