Communion on the Moon
“I wondered if it might be possible to take communion on the moon,” Astronaut Buzz Aldrin told Guideposts of his 1969 moon landing, “symbolizing the thought that God was revealing Himself there too, as man reached out into the universe.”
He shared the idea with the Rev. Dean Woodruff, pastor of Webster Presbyterian Church, where Aldrin was an active member at the time of Apollo 11’s mission to the moon. Aldrin said Dean found him a silver chalice that has small enough to make the trip. Aldrin said, “I hefted it and was pleased to find that it was light enough to take along. Each astronaut is allowed a few personal items on a flight; the wine chalice would be in my personal-preference kit.”
Before Astronaut Neil Armstrong made his historic “One small step for man”, Buzz Aldrin radioed back to earth, “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.”
He would later write,
Kamagra Oral Jelly gives the individual taking it the capacity to keep up a typical erection amid a period sufficient for a cialis canada cheap sound sex. Lack of hydration is BAD for erections. http://respitecaresa.org/staff/l-mejia/ cheapest prices for cialis If pressure is placed on the pump, the liquid will be pushed into the cylinders within the penis. brand cialis price Blood system is directly related to the penile organ, http://respitecaresa.org/winter-holiday-camp-2018/holiday-camp-2018/ commander levitra and pinching of scrotal tissue.“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’….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.”
Yet the moment of silence was all he could request as NASA was in a litigation over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. Aldrin arranged to take reserved sacrament (already blessed bread and wine) with him to the moon. Aldrin had earned a Ph.D. in astrophysics from MIT. He was as educated as anyone in the Apollo missions and he could think of no better way to offer thanks for the moon landing than with the common elements of bread and wine. He had permission to bring the sacrament on board as long as he didn’t talk of it for two decades.
Back on earth, members of Webster Presbyterian held a communion service at the same hour so as to join with Aldrin in his prayers from the lunar surface. This communion from reserved sacrament is part of the HBO series From the Earth to the Moon which shows Aldrin taking communion using the notes he made on the card shown at right.
This day marks the 50th anniversary of that communion on the moon. The following prayer for space exploration is appropriate for this day:
Creator of the universe, your dominion extends through the immensity of space: guide and guard those who seek to fathom its mysteries. Save us from arrogance lest we forget that our achievements are grounded in you, and, by the grace of your Holy Spirit, protect our travels beyond the reaches of earth, that we may glory ever more in the wonder of your creation: through Jesus Christ, your Word, by whom all things came to be, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
You can read the Guideposts article here: Apollo 11: When Buzz Aldrin Took Communion on the Moon.
See also the Rev. Bosco Peter’s post, First Communion on the Moon, with a note from a later pastor of Webster Presbyterian Church.
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