WINE ON THE MOON?
By ELIZABETH CARR
Holy bread and wine on the moon?
The first food and drink consumed on the moon was the reserved sacrament of communion. At first, it was kept secret. To mark the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing, Bosco Peters has posted the details of this Christian Act of Worship 235,000 miles from the earth. The First Communion on the Moon is now one of The Episcopal Church’s ‘lesser feasts and fasts’, he writes.
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. »
