Sakrament Wieczerzy Pańskiej w Kościele reformowanym w Anglii w świetle Formy Jana Łaskiego z 1555 r.

The present article discusses the question of 16th century evangelic reformed church rite, which was introduced in London by Jan Łaski. Particularly, we have analyzed one of its elements – the form of saying the Sacrament of Lord‟s Supper. The Polish reformator organizing the Reformed Church in England with the acceptance of Edward VI, focused mainly on liturgy in its broad meaning, articulating all of its elements which must find their place in the church. He did not omit the theological questions basing his claims on the authority of the Bible. His thoughts were written down on the pages of the greatest work of his life entitled “Forma i całkowity porządek kościelnego posługiwania”, which we have used as the source document. The Sacrament of Lord‟s Supper seems to be interesting in the way that in the Reformation times it caused inquisitive and heated discussions in the heart of the Protestantism itself. However, the denominational situation in the Republic of Poland in the mid 16th century that is the fatherland of the reformator did not allow him to come back to his homeland, which he desperately desired. He dedicated his work to the Polish King Zygmunt August, expressing his hopes that it would find the reach soil in Polish multidenominational movement. Łaski indicated in details how he understood the sacrament of the Supper, and also how it should be said in the churches. He theologically proved that Mass is not the repetition of the sacrifice, which was once made on the cross by Christ, therefore he strongly rejected the papists‟ teaching concerning transubstantiation. He also polemized lively in this field with the followers of Lutheran Reformation, who saw the „reality‟ in the Sacrament of the Altar and at the same time he expressed his respect towards the father of the Reformation – Martin Luther. His reformation idea „sola scriptura‟ is particularly conspicuous in his writing, as each element of the liturgy concerning the Supper had its confirmation in the Bible. Łaski worked out the whole ceremony of the liturgy for the foreign – reformed Church in England. He also described how the life of the believers should look like, and similarly to Calvin in Institutio, he worked out the organizational model of the Church defining, beside theological basis, the religious life of the congregation and the duties of the pastors.