Curiously, the copy I found from the 1st apology #66 has some different things to say...
And this food is called among us Εύχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn
(First Apology 66).
Contrary to what the Catholic religion and Justin Martyr claim, the Mithra religion started about 3500 years ago...Mithra was the Sun god whose birth was celebrated on Dec. 25...
The Catholic Eucharist is very similar to one of the rituals used in worshiping Mithra...
What Justin Martyr is describing is what the early Christians actually believed and practiced. As Justin shows, this is based on the institution of the Eucharist by our Lord at the Last Supper. You are not saying that Jesus was just imitating Mithra, are you? I am so sorry that the historical record of what the early Christians believed and practiced is Catholic and not Protestant.
Iscool:
Or maybe the Mitra followers mimicked the Catholics. For the record, the OT Jews used bread and wine to celebrate the Passover. You going to criticize them as well.
The Use of Bread and Wine goes back to Melchizedek in Genesis.