Zwingle, first of all, preached from the words, "It is the Lord's passover." After the conclusion of the sermon a table was covered with a white cloth, unleavened bread, and cups filled with wine, to recall the remembrance of the last supper of our Lord with His disciples. The minister then approached the table. The words of institution from the epistle to the Corinthians, and other portions were read aloud by the deacons. The crowd was so great, and the services so prolonged, that several ministers and deacons assisted. After prayer, and exhorting the people to self-examination, the minister lifted the bread, and, with a loud voice, repeated the institution of the Lord's supper. He then delivered the bread, and afterward the cup, to the deacons, to present them to the people, and for the people to distribute them to each other. While the elements were passing round, one of the ministers read from the Gospel of St. John those ever fresh and ever blessed discourses, held by the Lord with His disciples, immediately following the feast of the passover, in chapter 13. After the supper the congragation all knelt down, and offered up their grateful adorations and thanksgivings; then hymns, full of the expression of love and praise to their Savior and Lord, terminated this solemn and affecting scene—the first celebration of the Lord's supper by the Reformers in Switzerland. It occupied three days—Thursday in Passion Week, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.
For the establishment of the good work in Zurich, and for the spread of the truth elsewhere, Zwingle, Leo Juda, and other learned men, published about this time, several useful works on the holy scriptures; such as the Pentateuch, and other historical books of the Old Testament, besides an able commentary on "True and False Religion."
We may now leave Zurich for a time. Having given a somewhat minute account of the work of God's Spirit there, we must be brief with the other places, as many fields still lie before us. Besides, there is a great similarity in the work in the different places.