Utraquism

Luther and Hus serving communion under both kinds together, an imaginative woodcut from 16th-century Saxony representing the affinity of Lutherans and Moderate Hussites

Utraquism (from the Latin sub utraque specie, meaning "under both kinds"), also called Calixtinism (from chalice; Latin: calix, borrowed from Greek kalyx, "shell, husk"; Czech: kališníci), was a belief amongst Hussites, a pre-Protestant reformist Christian movement in fifteenth century Bohemia that communion under both kinds (both the consecrated host and the precious blood, as opposed to the consecrated host alone) should be administered to the laity during the celebration of the Eucharist. Communion in both kinds was a principal dogma of the Hussites and one of the Four Articles of Prague.

After the Hussite movement split into various factions early in the Hussite Wars, Hussites that emphasized the laity's right to communion under both kinds became known as Moderate Hussites, Utraquist Hussites, or simply Utraquists. The Utraquists were the largest Hussite faction.

History

Utraquism was a Christian dogma first proposed by Jacob of Mies, professor of philosophy at the University of Prague, in 1414. It maintained that the Eucharist should be administered "under both kinds" – as both sacred host and precious blood – to all the congregation, including the laity. The practice among Roman Catholics at the time was for only the priests to partake of the consecrated wine, the Precious Blood.

Jacob taught that communion should be provided and taken under both kinds, which as a precept of Christ could not be changed by the church. Only those who received the utraquist (both kinds) communion belong to the church of Christ.^{: 51} There is disagreement in sources about whether he, or early Utraquists, taught this was necessary for salvation^{: 180} (as claimed by Catholic detractors such as Andrew of Brod), or necessary to receive the salvific effect of the eucharist^{: 174} or an obligation.^{: 518}

The 15th century Utraquists were a moderate faction of the Hussites with strong respect for the sacrament and, generally, endorsed transubstantiation and Catholicity (in contrast to the more radical Taborites, Orebites and Orphans who were closer to the beliefs of John Wycliffe). They were also known as the Prague Party or the Calixtines – from calix, Latin for their "emblem", the chalice.

The Utraquists eventually allied themselves with the Catholic forces (following the Council of Basel) and defeated the more radical Taborites and Orphans at the Battle of Lipany in 1434. After that battle, nearly all forms of Hussite revival were Utraquist, as seen with George of Poděbrady, who even managed to cause the town of Tábor, the famous Taborite stronghold, to convert to Utraquism.

An agreement of mutual accommodation was agreed in 1485 between Catholics and Utraquists: the religious peace of Kutná Hora ended the Hussite wars. Following the victory of allied Utraquist and Catholic forces in the Hussite Wars, Utraquists constituted a majority of the Bohemian lands.

Further development

In the 16th century much of the population then adopted the pre-Lutheran Protestant Unity of the Brethren and eventually Lutheranism; the Utraquist Church remained strong in the cities.

The Battle of White Mountain, in 1620, marked the end of the Bohemian Revolt and, led to recatholisation in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. In 1627, communion under both kinds was again not made available, until the eventual Josephinian Patent of Toleration in 1781.

In modern Catholic practice since the Second Vatican Council, it is determined by each local bishop whether communion is available in one or both kinds in their diocese.

See also

• Altar Wings of Roudníky
• Concomitance (doctrine)

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

The principal dogma, and one of the four articles, of the Calixtines or Hussites. It was first promulgated in 1414, by Jacob of Mies, professor of philosophy at the University of Prague. John Hus was neither its author nor its exponent. He was a professor at the above-named university, which required its bachelors to lecture on the works of a Paris, Prague, or Oxford doctor; and in compliance with this law, Hus, it seems, based his teaching on the writings of John Wyclif, an Oxford graduate. The opinions of Wyclif — which were a cause of Utraquism — were imbibed by the students of Prague, and, after Hus had been imprisoned, the Wycliffian influence showed itself in the Hussites' demand for Communion under both forms as necessary for salvation. This heresy was condemned in the Councils of Constance, Basle, and Trent (Denzinger-Bannwart, 626, 930 sqq.).

Utraquism, briefly stated, means this: Man, in order to be saved, must receive Holy Communion when he wishes and where he wishes, under the forms of bread and wine (sub utraque specie). This, said the Hussite leader, is of Divine precept. For, "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you" (John, vi, 54). To receive only the Sacred Host is not "drinking" but "eating" the Blood of Christ. That this is of Divine precept, continued the Hussite, is further evident from tradition, as up to the eleventh or twelfth century the Chalice and the Host were offered to the faithful when they communicated. Add to this, that more grace is conferred by the reception of the Eucharist under both forms, and it is clear, so Jacob of Mies maintained, that communion sub uraque specie is obligatory. This conclusion the Council of Constance rejected (Denzinger-Bannwart, 626). Then followed the Hussite wars. To make peace, the Council of Basle (1431) allowed Communion under both forms to those who had reached the age of discretion and were in the state of grace, on the following conditions: that the Hussites confess that the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ were contained whole and entire both under the form of bread and under that of wine; and that they retract the statement that Communion under both forms is necessary for salvation (Mansi, XXX). To this some of the Hussites agreed, and were known as the Calixtines, from their use of the chalice. The others, led by Ziska, and called Taborites, from their dwelling on a mountain top, refused and were defeated by George Podiebrad in 1453, from which date Utraquism in Prague has been practically an empty symbol. But it is still a tenet of Anglicanism, and is enumerated among "The Plain reasons against joining the Church of Rome" (London, 1880). The Catholic Church has never said that Communion under both forms is of itself either sinful or heretical. The Church has withheld the chalice from the laity out of reverence for the Precious Blood, and condemned the Hussites because they argued it was essential to salvation, and threatened to revive a heresy.

The Nestorians were condemned in the patristic period, and the heretics in the Council of Trent, because they denied that the Real Presence was whole and entire under each form (Denzinger Bannwart, 930 sqq.; Mansi, XXX). The Nestorians had denied that the Real Presence was wholly and entirely under each form. The bread, they said, contained only the Body of Christ and the wine only His Blood. This is heretical. Because, as the Church quotes (and the text is the authentic Greek), "whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord" (I Cor., xi, 27). For, "Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more" (Rom., vi, 9). Separation of flesh and blood is death, and hence Christ's presence whole and entire under each species is a dogma of Catholic belief. Catholic theology offers this explanation: By the words of consecration, Christ's Body is under the appearance of bread, and His Blood under the appearance of wine. The Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ form one indivisible Person, and must be found together. That virtue or force which unites the body to the blood, and vice versa, in the Eucharist, is known in Catholic theology under the term concomitance. Utraquism tended to undo this dogma, because it declared communion under both forms essential to salvation. This was virtually to deny that Christ was whole and entire under each form. It went further, in declaring that Communion-the reception of the Eucharist-was absolutely necessary to salvation.

Theologians distinguish two kinds of necessity: that of means and that of precept. Necessity of means is that absolutely obligatory use of those things required to attain a purpose. It is an "imperative must "that arises from the very nature of things. Necessity of precept is an obligation imposed by a command, and for good reasons that which is prescribed may be dispensed with. The Hussites contended that the Eucharist was a necessary means to salvation, so that those who died without having received the Eucharist, e.g. the insane, the young could not, according to the Hussites, be saved. All this they inferred from Christ's words: "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood you shall not have life in you" (John, vi, 54). Now the Catholic Church denies that the Eucharist is necessary as a means to salvation. She commands the faithful to receive the Eucharist, emphasizes its importance, and declares it wellnigh impossible for one to continue long in the state of grace without it. This is a precept; from it dispensations are possible. Hence if any one died without this sacrament, his eternal 1088 would not, merely for this reason, be a necessary consequence. This is clear from the practice of the Early Church. Even when Communion under both forms prevailed, some received under only one species. To the sick it was thus often given, and the Church has never considered them lost. As to the text which seems to oblige Communion under both forms, it is a question of interpretation. The Catholic Church is the only authoritative interpreter of Christ's doctrine; to none other has this power been granted. Omitting here the many meanings Catholic theologians attribute to the verse, "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you" (John, vi, 54), it should be noted that the Catholic Church has officially declared that these words do not make Communion under both forms obligatory (Denzinger-Bannwart, 930). This conclusion is substantiated by Scripture: "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world" (John, vi, 52). It is true that some theologians believe more grace is conferred by Communion under both forms. But this question is speculative, not practical. It does not affect the Church's dogma, nor is this opinion by any means common to all Catholic theologians.

B. HUGHES

Bibliography

• Ogden, C. K; Richards, I. A. (1989) [1923]. "Chapter VI: The Theory of Definitions". The Meaning of Meaning. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 0-15-658446-8.