Joseph Smith's Sacrament of Bread and Wine at Harmony
Published October 5, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Joseph Smith reports that in obedience to a revelation, he and several others (Newel Knight, his wife, Joseph Knight and his wife, and John Whitmer) prepared wine of their own make to partake of the sacrament. While they were together, the Spirit of the Lord was poured out upon them, they confirmed the two members of the Church, and they prophesied and rejoiced exceedingly. Newel Knight’s autobiography confirms this visit occurred as part of Joseph’s early missionary work in Colesville and Harmony, noting that these five individuals held the meeting in private to partake of the sacrament and confirm the new converts, reflecting the small, sacred nature of these foundational gatherings.
In Their Own Words
“In the month of August, 1830, I went with my wife to Colesville, to visit the Saints there. We found them in a state of great anxiety, and they were much concerned about the things of the kingdom of God. We held a meeting, and the Spirit of the Lord was with us. I had previously received a commandment to go to Colesville, and also to Harmony, and to confirm the members of the Church. While we were at Colesville, I received a revelation, which I have already recorded, concerning the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. In obedience to this commandment, we prepared some wine of our own make, and held our meeting, consisting only of us five, viz., Newel Knight and his wife, Joseph Knight and his wife, and John Whitmer. We then partook together of the Sacrament; after which we confirmed these two members of the Church, and spent the evening in a glorious manner. The Spirit of the Lord was poured out upon us, and we prophesied and rejoiced exceedingly. We also confirmed some others, and the Lord was with us, and we felt that we were blessed in our labors, and that the work of the Lord was prospering in our hands.”
— Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. 1, pp. 106-107
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 27 March 1882 (Vol. 44, No. 13). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1882-03-27_44_13 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Newel Knight, Autobiography and Journal, in Michael Hubbard MacKay and William G. Hartley, eds., The Rise of the Latter-day Saints (Religious Studies Center, BYU, 2019), 46-104. https://rsc.byu.edu/rise-latter-day-saints/introduction Full first-person account: History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 1 https://archive.org/details/historyofchurcho01smitrich/page/106/mode/2up
Related Miracles
Similar miracle types and stories from the 1830s.
Miracle of the Week
One remarkable, documented account in your inbox every Monday, drawn from the full archive.