The ritual of the early Church naturally gathered round the Holy Eucharist as the central act of worship in which the Lord was most especially present, and therefore to be most especially honoured. From the first days of the Church this had been the one distinctively Christian service; and now that the Temple services had ceased, it became more apparently even than before, the fulfilment and continuation of the sacrifices of the elder dispensations[10]: whilst it was also the Memorial of the Sacrifice of the Cross and the Representation on earth of the continual offering-up of "the Lamb as It had been slain," before the Throne of God in Heaven.
[1] St. Peter and St. John had been specially trained by their Divine Master for their special work. They with St. James, the first Apostolic martyr, had witnessed His Transfiguration, His Agony, His raising of Jairus's daughter, and had been admitted into more intimate communion with Him than the other Apostles.
[2] From passages in the works of St. Irenaeus and Eusebius. See "Some Account of the Church in the Apostolic Age," by Professor Shirley, pp. 136-140.
[3] The Apostles appear to have believed at first that our Lord's Ascension would be very speedily followed by His triumphal return to Judgment, and the glorification of His faithful people.
[4] On this point we may remember that St. John, who saw deepest into the Divine Life, did not write his Gospel till near the end of his earthly labours, almost sixty years after the Day of Pentecost.
[5] Ephesus is known to this day by the name of Aya-soluk, from Agios Theologos, or holy Divine, the title given to St. John.
[6] Or perhaps by Nero, as some ancient writers say. Nero's full name was Nero Claudius Domitianus, which may have caused this confusion.
[8] As St. Chrysostom says, "When thou beholdest the curtains drawn up, then imagine that the heavens are let down from above, and that the Angels are descending."
[9] Annotated Book of Common Prayer, Ritual Introduction, pp. xlix, 1.
[10] We are told that St. John adopted the vestments of the High Priest of the old covenant, and especially "the plate of the holy crown," with its inscription, "Holiness to the Lord," thus exhibiting very forcibly the continuity of the two priesthoods.