In his newsletter today, Mike Gendron had the following:

The False Christ of Roman Catholicism
We know from God’s inspired Word that false teachers will come and preach another Jesus that the apostles never preached (2 Cor. 11:3-4). So it should not surprise us that there are many counterfeit Christs in false religions masquerading as the true Christ. By far, the most deceptive false Christ is the Eucharist of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Blasphemous Hoax That Deceives Catholics
In The Faith of Millions, a book certified by the Catholic Church to be “free of doctrinal errors”, Catholic priest John O’Brien explains how the Eucharist becomes Jesus during the Mass: “When the priest pronounces the words of consecration, he reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man. It is a power greater than that of saints and angels. The priest speaks and lo! Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows His head in humble obedience to the priest’s command.”
The Outrageous Lie and its Implications
As preposterous and unthinkable as this may sound, the Catholic priest is said to have the power to call almighty God down from heaven and continue on an altar what the Lord Jesus finished on the cross (John 19:30). It is unfathomable that Catholics would believe a sinful priest can command our holy God to do anything and that God would actually obey him. Yet, over 200,000 times each day, throughout the world, priests believe they can re-present Jesus as a sacrificial victim for sins. Our Lord Jesus was immersed in the wrath of God and endured excruciating pain once for all time for all sin (Heb. 10:10,12). It is unconscionable that Catholics would want to continue His suffering on their altars. It is also dishonoring to refer to Jesus as a “victim.” He laid His life down on His own initiative as an act of sacrificial love for His sheep (John 10:18). He was a “victor” who defeated death, not a “victim.”

The ceremony that Roman Catholic priests perform is part of their church services. But, traditionalists should understand that early church services were not like Roman Catholic mass.

Here is some information that is in my book, Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church:

What were early church services like?
Scripture-focused.
Teaching in harmony with scriptures (Eusebius, p. 112) is what the original liturgy (or format of services) was like. Notice something about Polycarp and his teachings:
For he would extend his discourse to great length on diverse subjects, and from the actual Scripture which was read he would furnish edification with all demonstration and conviction …
And on the sabbath, when prayer had been made long time on bended knee, he, as was his custom, got up to read; and every eye was fixed upon him. Now the lesson was the Epistles of Paul (Life of Polycarp, Chapter 24. From J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 3.2, 1889, pp. 488-506)
As far as the original church services, Polycarp taught using actual scriptures and did so on the Sabbath (Saturday).
Bishop Melito of Sardis (considered a Greco-Roman and COG saint) said during a church service:
First of all, the Scripture about the Hebrew Exodus has been read and the words of the mystery have been explained as to how the sheep was sacrificed and the people were saved. (Melito, Homily on the Passover, Verse 1)
This is of liturgical interest as it shows that the Old Testament was being read, and that Melito may not have been the only speaker and that church service included more than one sermon message.
This is consistent with the Continuing Church of God practice of having a sermonette and sermon or two “split-sermons” as part of weekly church services.
Here is something from a Roman Catholic writer about the early church services, which for this purpose could also be called their ‘liturgy’:
The primary points of contact for our knowledge of the first century liturgy lie on one end with the Jewish liturgies, and the little data which can be gleaned from the New Testament, and … a few texts, reliable but vague, from the second and third century that help us piece together the puzzle. …
The Judeo-Centricity of Early Christianity
For about the first 10 years of Christianity, it was almost exclusively composed of Jewish converts.The early Christians were in the habit of attending temple …The early Christians continued celebrating in the Synagogues alongside the Jews on the Sabbath for several years in some places.Up to nineteen years after Christ’s resurrection, new converts to Christianity, generally speaking, had to convert to Judaism before becoming Christian. Namely, they were to be circumcised, to eat Kosher, and to follow the Mosaic Law …
‘Synaxis’ is the Greek word meaning “meeting” and is the organic continuity of the Saturday Synagogue worship. When the Christians were no longer allowed in the synagogues, they continued celebrating approximately the same rite with added Christian developments and themes (like using the New Testament). The original liturgies would have been held, like the synagogue service, in Hebrew, and some of the words, like “amen” and “hallelujah,” survive to this day. In the early part of the first century, it is unlikely that the Synaxis would have been recognizably different from the Synagogue service except for the setting. …
Basic Structure
Greeting and Response (The Lord be with you – or Peace be unto you)Lections & Psalmody (The Jews read in order of descending importance, starting with the Pentateuch. The early Christian kept the original order of the Synagogue, but as Christian Scripture became available, it was tacked on at the end. Thus the order of importance became reversed for Christians. They read in ascending order of importance)
Old Testament Reading
ii. Psalmody (or chanted Psalm)
iii. New Testament Reading (sometimes included non-canonical books like 1 Clement)
iv. Psalmody
v. Gospel ReadingHomily (Bishop delivers while seated)Dismissal of Catechumens by DeaconIntercessory Prayers of the FaithfulDismissal of the Faithful
Occasionally a collection would be taken for the poor at the end. …
By the end of the first century, the standard Christian liturgical observations would be as follows. On Saturday, you would attend the Synaxis.
(Troutman TA. Christian Worship in the First Century. Called to Communion. © 2017 June 17, 2010. http://www.calledtocommunion.com/2010/06/christian-worship-in-the-first-century/#footnote_2_5127 accessed 07/06/20)
(Note: The term catechuman refers to a Christian convert who is under instruction before baptism.)
While some of the above details can be debated, yes, original church services (called the Synaxis above—synaxis means ‘congregating’ or ‘meeting’) were on Saturday. In time, the Greco-Romans adopted Sunday (with the Greeks retaining some aspects on Saturday), but the faithful in Judea/Palestine, Asia Minor, Antioch, etc. held to Saturday.
In the CCOG, similar to the previous listed “liturgy,” we have three sets of hymns/psalms, a short message, a sermon/homily, and a closing prayer. We accept Jesus’ “once for all” sacrifice (Romans 6:10), hence do not attempt to repeat it. We also have an opening prayer, as well as announcements, both of which likely were also part of the early Christian liturgy.
There was no daily nor weekly “sacrifice” of Jesus either—which is consistent with scriptures like:
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; (Romans 6:10, OSB)
24 … Christ … 25 … does not have to offer himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own, 26 or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. As it is, he has made his appearance once and for all, at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. (Hebrews 9:24-26, NJB)
10 And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ made once and for all. (Hebrews 10:10, NJB)
So, no, early Christians did not have a “mass” where Jesus was regularly sacrificed. The New Testament is clear that Jesus was only sacrificed once.
This is known, of course, to Roman Catholic writers. Here is something from one of them:
The Letter to the Hebrews makes clear that Jesus definitively ended the need for the repetitive animal sacrifices of Temple worship, when he suffered and died once for all (Heb. 7:27). In doing so, he culminated his one Sacrifice of Calvary in everlasting glory in the heavenly sanctuary, not a mere earthly one, (Hebrews 8:1-3; 9:11-12, 23-24); (Nash T. Divinely Planned Obsolescence. The Catholic World Report, December 3, 2017).
Yes, Jesus was sacrificed once, and does not need to be sacrificed again. The Christian Passover is a memorial of the event, not a repeating of it.

Mike Gendron’s newsletter also had the following:

Worshiping the Eucharist Is Idolatry
Catholics who worship the Eucharist can be compared to the Israelites who worshiped the golden calf as their true God (Exodus 32:4). The punishment imposed by God for their most serious sin of idolatry was death (Exodus 32:27-28). The same sin of idolatry is committed by Catholics who worship the Eucharist as the true Christ. Catholics must be warned that the resurrected and exalted Christ is too awesome and glorious to be captured in any image, let alone a wafer (Exodus 20:4-6). They need to know that God seeks worshipers in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
What Must We Instruct Catholics To Do?
If we truly love Catholics we must warn them of their pending peril. They must repent and “flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14). Paul warned that those who practice idolatry will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21). They need to become true disciples of Christ by abiding in God’s Word. Then they will know the truth and the truth will set them free from religious bondage and deception (John 8:31-32).

That said, did early Christians use a round eucharistic host?

No.

A careful comparison of what is taught in the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church along with eucharistic practices should make this clear to any truly interested in the truth.

Let’s first start out with two translations of a quote from the Apostle Paul:

1 Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1, Douay-Rheims)
1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1, NKJV)

The Apostle Paul is teaching that Christians are to follow or imitate him as he imitates Christ (the Greek word translated as follow/imitate above is mimetes; the English word mimic comes from it). Thus, all should be careful to carefully follow Jesus and the Apostle Paul in this regard.

Notice what the Apostle John wrote:

6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (1 John 2:6)

Article 3, under the Seven Sacraments of the Church in the Catechism of the Catholic Church discusses the eucharist. Section II asks and answers the question, What is this Sacrament Called? Several names are listed, including “The Breaking of Bread” (#1329).

It also states the following:

1339 Jesus choose the time of the Passover…And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them…(Catechism of the Catholic Church. Imprimatur Potest +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, NY 1995, p. 373)

Now the above is scriptural. Here are some related scriptures:

19 And the disciples did as Jesus appointed to them, and they prepared the pasch.
26 And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. (Matthew 26:19,26 Douay-Rheims)
22 And whilst they were eating, Jesus took bread; and blessing, broke, and gave to them, and said: Take ye. This is my body. (Mark 14:22, Douay-Rheims)
19 And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake; and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me. (Luke 22:19, Douay-Rheims)

Notice, it is very clear that Jesus BROKE the bread on Passover (Pasch means Passover).

The Apostle Paul confirmed that it was the practice of the early Christians to break bread:

16 The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord? (1 Corinthians 10:16, Douay-Rheims).
23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.
24 And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. (1 Corinthians 11:23-24, Douay-Rheims)

The Apostle Paul followed Jesus’ practice and broke bread (see also Early Christianity and the Eucharist?).

Roman Catholic Priest and scholar Bagatti admits that the original “Eucharist” was not like the one that is now used by his church:

At first the celebration of the Eucharist or “the breaking of bread” was not associated with the readings and ritual prayers, but with the agape, in imitation of the Supper of the Lord. (Bagatti, Bellarmino. Translated by Eugene Hoade. The Church from the Circumcision. Nihil obstat: Marcus Adinolfi, 13 Maii 1970. Imprimi potest: Herminius Roncari, 14 Junii 1970. Imprimatur: +Albertus Gori, die 26 Junii 1970. Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem, 1971, p. 114)

By “Supper of the Lord,” Priest Bagatti essentially means the New Testament Passover—which is only an annual event.

Furthermore, notice what The Catholic Encyclopedia teaches in its article “Host”:

… the first Christians … simply used the bread that served as food. It seems that the form differed but little from what it is in our day. The loaves discovered in an oven of a bakery at Pompeii weighed about a pound each. One of these, being perfectly preserved, measured about seven inches in diameter and was creased with seven ridges which facilitated the breaking of the loaf without the aid of a knife. (Leclercq, Henri. “Host.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 28 Feb. 2011 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07489d.htm>)

Notice the article basically says that the practice of the first Christians, which is consistent with the Bible, was to use normal loaves of bread that resemble what is still in use today. And that it was broken. (The article never says where the round host actually came from, other than it was first mentioned in writing in the fourth century by Epiphanius and that earlier paintings in catacombs and bas-reliefs showed something like that. But I should state that the oldest early painting in a catacomb I am aware of has a woman, Priscilla, presiding over the ceremony, so the Church of Rome may wish to be careful about relying on that as they do not allow women to do that. Hence, the earliest picture of the eucharist host did not come from what is practiced in today’s Roman Catholicism–so the question from whence the Catholics adopted it remains.)

Thus, to have a Passover/eucharistic ceremony where the bread is not broken is certainly not imitating Jesus, the Apostle Paul, nor the early Christians. It is a change that the Church of Rome must have gotten outside of the Bible.

Yet, in the eucharistic ceremonies in the Roman Catholic Church, the bread is not broken. Instead, it is a round host that the Catechism of the Catholic Church says can/should be worshipped and adored (CCC #1378, p. 385). Yet, there is no indication that the early Christians or the apostles did anything like that.

They basically taught that it was to be eaten.

Worshipers of sun-gods worshiped round symbols. Early Christians did not.

As far as the word “host”, The Catholic Encyclopedia teaches:

The bread destined to receive Eucharistic Consecration is commonly called the host , and though this term may likewise be applied to the bread and wine of the Sacrifice , it is more especially reserved to the bread.
According to Ovid the word comes from hostis, enemy: “Hostibus a domitis hostia nomen habet”, because the ancients offered their vanquished enemies as victims to the gods. However, it is possible that hostia is derived from hostire, to strike, as found in Pacuvius. (Leclercq, Henri. “Host.”)

The word “host” (or derivatives) do not appear to be a direct translation of any of the original Hebrew or Greek that the Bible was actually written in. Hence, it does not seem to be a biblical term, but instead may have pagan ties according to certain Roman Catholic researchers. Does anyone really think that Jesus wanted to be considered the “host” of pagan militaristic rituals?

Since it did not come from the Bible, the Eucharistic Host is not holy.

It has been reported that there were many similarities between ancient pagan Egyptian practices and the Roman eucharist:

The Egyptians celebrated ten great mysteries on ten different nights of the year. The first was the night of the evening meal (literally the last supper), and the laying of offerings on the altar…
The altar or communion-table thus provisioned was the coffin lid. This also was continued in the ritual of Rome, for it is a fact that the earliest Christian altar was a coffin. According to Blunt’s Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology (p. 16), this was a hollow chest, on the lid or mensa of which the eucharist was celebrated. This, as Egyptian, was the coffin of Osiris that constituted the altar on which the provisions were laid in Sekhem for the eucharistic meal. Hence the resurrection is described as “dawn upon the coffin of Osiris.” Therefore he rose in spirit from the mummy in the coffin, beneath the lid which constituted the table. This was the body supposed to be eaten as the eucharist, which was represented by the provisions that were laid upon the altar for the sacramental meal…The first of the Osirian mysteries is the primary Christian sacrament. “Provisioning the altar ” was continued by the Church of Rome. “The mysteries laid upon the altar” which preceded ” the communion of the body and blood of Christ ” were then eaten in the eucharistic meal (Neale, Rev. J. M., The Liturgies, Introd., p. 33). Thus we see in the camera obscura that the provisions laid on the altar or table represented the flesh and blood of the victim about to be eaten sacramentally. The night of the things that were laid upon the altar is the night of the great sacrifice, with Osiris as the victim. The things laid on the altar for the evening meal represented the body and blood of the Lord. These, as the bread and wine, or flesh and beer, were transelementecl or transubstantiated by the descent of Ra the holy spirit, which quickened and transformed the mummy Osiris into the risen sahu, the unleavened bread into the leavened, the water into wine. Osiris, the sacrifice, was the giver of himself as “the food which never perishes” (Rit, ch. 89).
The Christian liturgies are reckoned to be the “most pure sources of eucharistical doctrine.” And liturgy appears to have been the groundwork of the Egyptian ritual. It is said by one of the priests (Rit., ch. i), “I am he who reciteth the liturgies of the soul who is lord of Tattu “—that is, of Osiris who establishes a soul for ever in conjunction with Ra the holy spirit in the mysteries of Amenta. In one character Osiris was eaten as the Bull of Eternity, who gave his flesh and blood as sustenance for humanity, and who was the divine providence as the provider of food. (Massey G. Ancient Egypt, the light of the world: a work of reclamation and restitution in twelve books, Volume 1. T. F. Unwin, 1907. Original from Princeton University, Digitized Mar 19, 2008, pp. 220-221)

A more recent author reported, somewhat “tongue-in-cheek”:

Of course, average Catholics have no idea their beloved Eucharist is nothing more than an updated version of an ancient Babylonian occult practice. When this religion spread to Egypt, the Egyptians worshipped the sun god, Osiris, and the priests claimed “to have magical powers which enabled [the priests] to change the great Sun God, Osiris, into a wafer.” Because the Eucharist is based upon the ancient worship of the sun, the host is made into the shape of a circle—the shape of the sun…Alberto warns that Catholics are also unaware that the initials on their hosts, IHS, really stand for the Egyptian gods Isis, Hoeb, and Seb. This was the origin of the Catholic practice of the Eucharist, the central act of worship in Roman Catholicism. ..
As this religious system was forming, many Christians realized the real occult nature of the Catholic Church and rejected it. They fled into the hills and took the true copies of the Scriptures with them. When they were caught, they were given the choice to convert or be killed. This is the origin of such groups as the Waldneses and Anabaptists. (Gonzalez D. Steps of Grace. Dog Ear Publishing, 2010, p. 39)

Now, some of the above seems to be his former belief and speculative (and understand that not all who were called Waldneses or Anabaptists were true Christians). Yet it is clear that the round host most certainly did not come from the Bible nor the earliest faithful Christians.

Some may argue that it matters not what ancient pagans did to worship their gods. But notice what the Bible teaches:

2 Destroy all the places in which the nations, that you shall possess, worshipped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and under every shady tree: 3 Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their names out of those places. 4 You shall not do so to the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 12:2-4, Douay-Rheims)
29 When the Lord thy God shall have destroyed before thy face the nations, which then shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt possess them, and dwell in their land: 30 Beware lest thou imitate them, after they are destroyed at thy coming in, and lest thou seek after their ceremonies, saying: As these nations have worshipped their gods, so will I also worship. 31 Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God. For they have done to their gods all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth (Deuteronomy 12:29-31, Douay-Rheims).

So God does not want altars, like the pagans had, to be used to worship Him. Nor does He want their practices continued.

And while some have argued that the reason God allowed the pagans to have the practices that they did was so that they would later accept Christ, the reality is that the early Christians did not have a round Eucharistic host that was consecrated over an altar. There is no justification in scripture nor in the earliest traditions of the Christian church for getting away from the practices of Jesus and Paul in this area.

As far as the origin of the initials IHS, The Catholic Encyclopedia offers an alternative explanation:

IHS
A monogram of the name of Jesus Christ. From the third century the names of our Saviour are sometimes shortened, particularly in Christian inscriptions (IH and XP, for Jesus and Christus). In the next century the “sigla” (chi-rho) occurs not only as an abbreviation but also as a symbol . From the beginning, however, in Christian inscriptions the nomina sacra, or names of Jesus Christ, were shortened by contraction, thus IC and XC or IHS and XPS for Iesous Christos. These Greek monograms continued to be used in Latin during the Middle Ages. Eventually the right meaning was lost, and erroneous interpretation of IHS led to the faulty orthography “Jhesus”… Towards the close of the Middle Ages IHS became a symbol , quite like the chi-rho in the Constantinian period. (Maere, René. “IHS.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 28 Feb. 2011 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07649a.htm>)
The familiar monogram I H S was first popularized by St. Bernardine of Siena in the early fifteenth century (Hassett, Maurice. “Monogram of Christ.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 28 Feb. 2011 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10488a.htm>).

Notice the following from another Roman Catholic author (bolding mine):

SAINT BERNADINE OF SIENA 1380-1444…He is especially remembered for his zeal…and he popularized, with the help of St. John Capistrano, a symbol representing the Holy Name. The Gothic letters for the name of Jesus, “IHS,” were set in a blazing sun to whose tongues of fire and spreading rays he attributed mystical significance. For a time the Saint was denounced as a heretic and the symbol regarded as idolatrous…(Cruz JC. The Incorruptibles. Nihil Obstat Henry C. Bezon, November 11, 1974. Imprimatur +Philip M. Hannan, Archbishop of New Orleans, November 19, 1974. TAN Books 1977, p. 127)
IHS…{an} innovation over five hundred years ago. (Cruz, p. 127)

Notice that the IHS and the use of the sun as symbols were innovations, and that the promoter was properly condemned as a heretic when he initially promoted them. Innovations like that were NOT part of the earliest tradition of the Christian church and have pagan elements.

So, the Roman Catholics are not truly clear where IHS came from, they suggest that IHS appeared in Roman Catholicism no earlier than the fourth century, and that for centuries their church did not know the meaning of the abbreviation, it did not become popular until much later, and the one who popularized it was denounced as a heretic promoting idolatry. This, of course, is not proof that IHS did or did not come from Egypt. Yet, the lack of knowing where IHS came from supports the possibility that it likely came from outside of Christianity.

The use of broken bread, without IHS, is still observed by faithful groups in the 21st century like the Continuing Church of God.

Do you follow the practices of the early faithful Christians?

Most who profess Christianity, including the various forms of Protestantism, do not.

Article with related written items and videos: MG: The False Christ of Roman Catholicism

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