An agape feast or lovefeast is a term used for various communal meals shared among Christians. The name comes from the Greek word ἀγάπη (agape), which implies love in the sense of brotherly or familial affection.
Fresco of a banquet at a tomb in the Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Via Labicana, Rome.
A Moravian diener serves bread to fellow members of her congregation during the celebration of a lovefeast at Bethania Moravian Church in North Carolina.
Moravian dieners serve bread to fellow members of their congregation during the celebration of the lovefeast at Bethania Moravian Church in North Carolina.
Traditional Love Feast among the Schwarzenau Brethren, 1883.
The Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion, Blessed Sacrament and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper, the night before his crucifixion, giving his disciples bread and wine. Passages in the New Testament state that he commanded them to "do this in memory of me" while referring to the bread as "my body" and the cup of wine as "the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many". According to the Synoptic Gospels this was at a Passover meal.
The Eucharist has been a key theme in the depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art, as in this 16th-century Juan de Juanes painting, after Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper.
A Kremikovtsi Monastery fresco (15th century) depicting the Last Supper celebrated by Jesus and his disciples. The early Christians too would have celebrated this meal to commemorate Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection.
Eucharistic window (1898–1900) by Józef Mehoffer
Christ with the Eucharist, Vicente Juan Masip, 16th century.
