By the death of Eleusis in AD 392, the Eucharist of the female-run house churches and subterranean refrigeria was no more. In perfect imitation of Roman governance and law, women had been systematically excluded from the priesthood. And the bishop had come more and more to resemble a monarch, seated on his throne at the head of the new aboveground basilicas. Like loyal subjects, the parishioners lined the pews to witness the consecration of very ordinary bread and wine by very ordinary men with no particular pharmacological expertise.
