First Communion on the Moon
Bosco Peters remembers the 40th anniversary of the first communion on the Moon.
He writes on his blog Liturgy:
On Sunday July 20, 1969 the first people landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were in the lunar lander which touched down at 3:17 Eastern Standard Time.Buzz Aldrin had with him the Reserved Sacrament. He radioed: “Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, whoever or wherever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.”
Later he wrote: “In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.’ I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute Deke Slayton had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly…Eagle’s metal body creaked. I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”NASA kept this secret for two decades. The memoirs of Buzz Aldrin and the Tom Hanks’s Emmy- winning HBO mini-series, From the Earth to the Moon (1998), made people aware of this act of Christian worship 235,000 miles from Earth.
Thank you for sharing this! I had not heard this before.
Posted by Rick Millsap![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 20, 2009 11:12 AM
According to Wiki, Aldrin was a member of Webster Presbyterian Church, Webster, TX and used the pastor's home communion kit. The chalice is kept at the church and the event is commemorated there each year on the Sunday closest to 20 July.
This raises a couple interesting questions. I wasn't aware Presbyterians had a doctrine of the real presence and reserved the sacrament or that they used wine. It was grape juice drunk from little shot glasses in the pews at the local Presbyterian Church in my home town as I learned when attending there with the Scots side of my family.
Posted by Paul Woodrum![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 20, 2009 11:33 AM
Paul Woodrum-
yes, Presbyterians have a doctrine of the Real presence. To be more precise it is a "mystical union" of the sacramental signs with Christ in and through the Holy Spirit. That is slightly different from a physical transformation, but the idea is there. It's in their Book of Confessions. Calvin also taught that the Sacrament "transported" the recipient to the presence of Christ and made them a participant in the Wedding feast of the Lamb.
Posted by JohnRobison![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 20, 2009 11:08 PM