Communion Cups - Knowing More about Them
For the ordinary layman hearing about communion cups, the first thing that comes to mind is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Popular culture has depicted some of the most significant religious artifacts in a very unorthodox manner, but the good thing is that it helps ordinary people to get acquainted with these religious items.
In the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana is hunting for what people revere as the ultimate communion cup, the Holy Grail.
In some literary works, the Holy Grail is not taken to just mean the cup that Christ had used, but also the dish as well as plate that Christ had used as well in the Last Supper that he had with his disciples.
As centuries passed, however, the meaning of the Holy Grail became synonymous with what we now call as our communion cup.
Nevertheless, even if people actually know about it, the use of communion cups all over the world has expanded and is very varied. The cups that are used are usually made from different kinds of materials depending on the people who make it as well as the country they are from.
Today, we have come a long way from the glass communion cups that were used before during communion masses. Some small congregations still use glass cups, but it’s a very time consuming process to have to wash each cup after service. Hence, most churches, especially big ones, go for plastic communion cups instead.
One important purpose for communion cups is to symbolize the blood of Christ and faith of the people, hence, they are an important part of the Christian belief, no matter what they are made of.
History is an integral part of communion cups, whether it be the silver cups that the Egyptians and Sumerians used or the plastic cups that most churches use now. They are an important piece of element for the people that use them.
The chalice or a symbolized form for the Holy Grail is definitely a major part of the church. In fact, for some churches, they are often blessed before they are used.
Even if the Bible does not offer the cup during the Last Supper dinner or make any significance about it, believers still uphold it as a sacred item. Pilgrims in Jerusalem believed that another significant cup was still venerated in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
This is thought to be the cup that was used by Christ in his crucifixion in Calvary and still supposedly contains that sponge that he used. This is of course, different from the cup and tradition surrounding the cup from the Last Supper.
Out of this faith came the belief in the legends of the cup, from Indiana Jones to Merlin and Dan Brown, the story of the ultimate Communion Cup or the Holy Grail is still alive and celebrated.
The stories have become muddled throughout the years and this is no surprise. However, no matter what the truth is about the Holy Grail, there is no denying the fact that the communion cups of today are still a huge part of the celebrations that we have today.
Article by James Taylor, learn more about Communion Cups and Communion Plates.