FINDING OUT MORE
THE "BREAKING OF BREAD" (FRACTIO PANIS)
We have a good example of the painting of the
Eucharist, the fractio panis, in the catacombs of Priscilla which duly
reminds us of the important rite celebrated in all the tituli, in the
various domus ecclesiae, such as those which existed here in Trastevere
(tituli of Cecilia, Chrysogonus and Callixtus). The Breaking of Bread
was not just the opening gesture of the agape as such, but was surrounded
by a complex liturgy: there were psalms, readings from the prophets, homily
of the celebrant, etc.
Among the various representations of the banquet associated with the Eucharist,
let us choose to look more closely at that of Priscilla where a veiled woman
is among those at table. In such banquets in the pagan world, a veiled woman
would make no sense. Beside the figures are seven baskets of bread which underline
the meaning of the scene as a symbol of the Eucharist.
In the Cemetery of San Callisto, in the crypts of Lucina, there occurs in another painting the same basket of bread, accompanied by a fish: certainly we are reminded of the miracle of the multiplication of the bread in the wilderness; but below the basket and fish there is grass. The painter wished to recall this miracle, but he has also put inside the wicker basket, under the loaves, a glass of red wine. In the desert, Jesus did not have wine to drink, but had spoken clearly of this miracle of which it was a prophecy more than any other. The loaves, apart from reminding us of the desert, if taken with the wine, mean the Eucharist.
Returning to the painting of the fractio panis
in the catacombs of Priscilla, the eucharistic gesture is indicated and brought
out well by the presence of the one shown seated at the head of the table in the
banquet (in the ancient world, the most important person was seated at the head
of the table). The presider at the feast in this picture holds a strange posture
for a communal meal but one very well suited to a eucharistic celebration: his
outstretched hands are breaking the bread. In front of him is a chalice. It is
clearly a painting of a eucharistic banquet. Many are the eucharistic paintings
preserved in the catacombs.
(Umberto Fasola)
