The Fermentum, the Celebration of Mass, and the Reception of the Eucharist in Early Fifth-Century Rome

What is it about?

In a letter to Bishop Decentius of Gubbio, Pope Innocent I (401-417) responded to a question about Roman use of the fermentum, a portion of consecrated bread from the bishop’s Mass on Sundays that was distributed as a gesture of fraternity to urban priests celebrating Mass at their titular churches. The fermentum was not brought to priests celebrating Mass in the parrochiae and “cemeteries” outside the Wall because of the distance involved. This latter aspect of Innocent’s letter hints at a thriving church life in the Suburbium. The Ordines Romani give some hint as to how particles of consecrated bread figured in the liturgy of the Mass, papal and presbyteral. The lavish donations of sacred vessels, especially communion chalices (calices ministeriales), donated by Emperor Constantine and the popes imply that the laity did not refrain from receiving communion.

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