eulogia

noun

1. (historical)The practice of sending the consecrated Eucharist to those not present, or the Eucharist itself so sent.

   “To Severus he sends "a Campanian loaf from his cell, as a eulogia," together with a boxwood casket, and begs him, as before, by accepting the loaf in the name of the Lord to convert it into a eulogia.”

   “At Easter it was even sent into other dioceses, bishops being in the habit of sending the consecrated host to each other as a mark of intercommunion, of brotherhood and amity. To the sacred host, on these occasions, the name of eulogia was given, and thus until the fifth century the word eulogia appears to have been synonymous with eucharistia, and used interchangeably with it to designate the sacrament of the altar, the chalice and bread of benediction spoken of by St. Paul.”

   “It was there decreed that the hallowed elements were no longer to be sent as Eulogiae into strange dioceses, at the feast of Easter.”

   “Popular devotion to the consecrated host grew significantly from the eleventh century onwards, and a number of twelfth- and thirteenth-century texts indicate that it was reverence, not indifference, which discouraged frequent lay reception of the eucharist. The eulogia, meanwhile, came to be regarded as, at least in a partial sense, a surrogate for communion.”

2. (form-of, plural, rare)plural of eulogium

   “So many memorials of character, and so many eulogia on his talents have fallen to the lot of few writers of that age.”

   “We confess our inability to dod justice to a theme so mighty; but if our pen is inadequate to the eulogia, our humble attempt will at least prove, that our heart is not insensible to the excellencies of […]”

   “The almanac obtained general circulation, not only as a marine, but also as an astronomical ephemeris, and the objects, arrangements, and rigid accuracy of its execution, became the subject of warm eulogia; added to which, many valuable papers were occasionally subjoined, which were directly or indirectly connected with its general contents, and principal object.”