James Baquet

    One of the most important ceremonies in many Christian churches today is called in some churches “Holy Communion,” in others, “the Eucharist,” or “the Lord’s Supper,” or simply “Mass.”

    “The Lord’s Supper” is the most revealing, because the service commemorates an important moment in the life of Jesus and his relationship to his followers. The night before he was executed, he had dinner with his closest students, called “the Twelve Apostles.” He gave them bread and said “This is my body,” and the wine, he said, was his blood. He then told them to repeat this ritual to remember him, and that is what many churches still do.

    Shortly before dinner, he announced that one of those present — one of his dearest followers — would betray him to the Roman authorities. A hubbub ensued, with most of the Apostles asking “Is it I, Lord? Is it I?” As the story continues, we discover that the deed was done by Judas, whose name has become a synonym for “traitor.”

    This moment was portrayed in one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous works. Called “The Last Supper” (L’Ultima Cena), it was painted on the wall of the refectory of a convent in Milan — suitable, to put a dinner in a dining room!

    Leonardo’s painting is not the first one of this scene, but his is the most famous. It has been widely copied, although Mary Shelley, author of “Frankenstein,” saw it and wrote, “How vain are copies! not in one, nor in any print, did I ever see the slightest approach to the expression in our Saviour’s face, such as it is in the original.”

    In choosing to portray that particular moment, da Vinci was able to show all the confusion, consternation, and turmoil of the Apostles. Not only was Jesus to die, he had told them, but one of them would be responsible. And in fact he was arrested that same night, as Judas arrived with the soldiers and marked him out by kissing him.

    Look at Leonardo’s painting (easy to find on the Internet) and you’ll see that each Apostle has his own, unique, personal reaction. Which one is Judas? He is fourth from the left, leaning away from Jesus (in the center) as though horrified.

    Vocabulary:

    Which word above means:

    1. a ceremony, usually religious

    2. a word that means the same thing

    3. dining hall in a religious building (or sometimes, a college)

    4. loud, confused noise

    5. amazed confusion

    6. killed as a punishment

    7. followed; resulted

    8. remembers

    9. one who betrays

    10. deliver to an enemy