Eucharist

M. C. STEENBERG

The Eucharist is the mystery (sacrament) of Holy Communion, in which Christian faith­ful partake of the body and blood of Jesus Christ through gifts of bread and wine sanctified and consecrated during the cele­bration of the divine liturgy. The Eucharist is considered by Orthodox to be the chief of the church’s mysteries, effecting the true communion of God and humankind and serving as the highest point of union, toward which all the sacraments aim. Its name, which comes from the Greek for “thanksgiving” (eucharistia), has been in use to refer to the sacrament since the 2nd century.

THE EUCHARIST AND INCARNATION

The Eucharist is fundamentally an incarna- tional mystery: it is grounded in the Son’s taking of human flesh and becoming a person of true human nature. As the Son united to himself the nature of man in his human birth, so the faithful Christian receives into himself or herself the true per­son of the Son in the Eucharistic gifts, sanc­tified to the Father by the Holy Spirit. From the early centuries, the fathers of the church have drawn attention to the interaction between Christ’s human and divine natures, between the Son’s eternal divinity and full humanity, in expounding the significance and power of the Eucharist. St. Gregory of Nyssa, speaking of Christ’s eating of bread in his human life, wrote:

[Christ’s] Body too was maintained by bread; which Body also by the indwelling of God the Word was transmuted to the dignity of Godhead. Rightly, then, do we believe that now also the bread which is consecrated by the Word of God is changed into the Body of God the Word.... So the bread, as the Apos­tle says, is “sanctified by the Word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4.5). It is at once transformed into His body by means of the Word, as the Word itself said, “This is my body.” (Great Catechism 37)

In a similar vein, St. Irenaeus of Lyons drew a direct correlation between the reality of the Eucharist and the reality of the incarnation:

For blood can only come from veins and flesh, and whatsoever else makes up the sub­stance of man, such as the Word of God was actually made. By His own Blood he redeemed us, as also His Apostle declares, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins” (Colos- sians 1.14).... He has acknowledged the cup, which is a part of the creation, as His own Blood, from which He bedews our blood; and the bread, also a part of the crea­tion, He has established as His own Body, from which He gives increase to our bodies. (Against Heresies 5.2.2)

THE MYSTICAL SUPPER

St. Gregory’s emphasis on Christ’s words “This is my body” exemplifies Orthodox attention to the source of the Eucharistic mystery in the Son’s “last supper” with his apostles, which is known in Orthodoxy as the “Mystical Supper” (see Mt. 26.17–29; Mk. 14.12–25; Lk. 22.7–23). The statements “This is my body ... this is my blood” are taken in the literal sense of providing for the direct communion of the disciples with Christ’s physical nature, as summed up in St. Leo the Great’s brief apothegm, “What was visible in our Savior has entered into the sacraments” (in sacramenta transivit; Homily 74.2). That is, in the Eucharist the incarnate reality of the Son – true God and true man – is made available to communi­cants. This is summed up in the traditional pre-communion prayer at the altar, also said by the priest as a direction to the people immediately prior to receiving the holy gifts: “I believe that this is, in truth, thy very Body and thy most precious Blood.” The Eucharist, then, is, understood by Orthodox as a sacramental participation in that mystical supper of the Lord recounted in the gospels. The traditional placing of an icon of this event over the Royal Doors of the iconostasis, beyond which lies the holy table on which the gifts are consecrated and through which they are brought to the people, emphasizes this connection to the gospel event. The temple itself becomes the “upper room” of that ancient meal, in which the Lord is made immediately pre­sent. As St. Cyril of Alexandria once said, “This a mystery beyond understanding: we close the doors of the church, but then Christ joins us, and appears to all of us, invisibly and visibly at the same time ... allowing and presenting His sacred body to be touched»

THE REAL PRESENCE

While questions over the nature of the Eucharistic presence (that is, whether the bread and wine are understood truly to become Christ’s body and blood, or whether they are representative memorials only) have been pivotal in much of Western Christian history, in Orthodoxy the matter has rarely been of substantial issue. Church fathers and other ecclesiastical writers such as Clement of Alexandria often reflect on the symbolic and metaphorical aspects of the Eucharistic gifts:

Elsewhere the Lord, in the Gospel according to John, brought this out by symbols, when He said: “Eat ye my flesh, and drink my blood» (John 6.34), describing distinctly by metaphor the drinkable properties of faith and the prom­ise, by means of which the church, like a human being consisting of many members, is refreshed and grows. (Paedagogus 1.6)

However, this is rarely separated from commentary on the Eucharist as the true communion in Christ’s genuine flesh and blood. St. Cyril of Alexandria (Against Nestorius; Commentary on John) raised the Eucharist up as a primary instance of the reality of the incarnation of the divine Logos, and the method by which reception of the Word in communion “deified” the believer. For their part, the liturgical texts of the divine liturgies are explicit on the true nature of the body and blood present at communion; and the renunciations tradi­tionally recited at the reception of converts into the church at the service ofchrismation include sections which make it an explicit and cardinal dimension of taking on the Orthodox faith (Hapgood 1975: 454–8), as well as positive affirmations that set it at the heart of the church’s confession: “Dost thou believe and confess that in the Divine Liturgy, under the mystical forms of the holy bread and wine, the faithful partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto the remission of sins and life eternal? This I do believe and confess” (Hapgood 1975: 459).

Given the Orthodox insistence that the Eucharist offers to the faithful Christ’s true body and blood, its position is sometimes compared to the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation (that the bread and wine are substantively transformed into body and blood; and more specifically, that the substance of the elements is transformed, while the accidents – those things discernable to the senses, such as taste and appearance – remain unchanged), contrasted with the Lutheran conception of consubstantiation (that Christ’s body and blood are “with” the bread and wine in sacramental experience). While it may rightly be said that the Ortho­dox view accords more strongly with a transubstantionist position, the traditional Orthodox response has been to insist that both views are external to the church’s nor­mal mode of expression, and that transub- stantiation in particular suffers from proposing too scientific a means of explaining the Eucharistic mystery (its spe­cific definition being rather late, likely dating to the 12th century, and building upon a renewed attention in the West to Aristote­lian categories of substances and accidents). Nonetheless, the Greek term metousiosis, which is comparable to the Latin transubstantiatio, does appear in Orthodox liturgical and theological texts – though not as often as other vocabulary (e.g., metastoi- cheiosis, “a change of elements”).

A LITURGICAL MYSTERY

The Eucharist stands at the heart of the divine liturgy, and in Orthodox understand­ing the liturgy is the sole venue of Eucharistic consecration. While the holy gifts sanctified during the liturgy may be taken to the sick or housebound and administered there with care by a priest, the liturgy nonetheless re­mains the one supreme venue of Eucharistic sacramentality.

This is an important point, for while the Eucharist may be the chief Orthodox mystery, it is not an element that can be detached from the full liturgical life of the church. Participa­tion in Christ’s body and blood is understood as part of a life of ascetical worship that culmi­nates in the liturgical act, and in which the whole “mystical life” (that is, the life of the sacraments) has a part.

In typical Orthodox practice this means that the Eucharist, celebrated in the context of the liturgy, forms the central event of the weekly cycle of liturgical worship. It is pre­ceded by Vespers and Matins, which may (as in the Russian/Slavic practice) be served together the night before as the All-Night Vigil, or (as in the Greek) separately on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. While distinct in office and form, these services are not separate from the overarch­ing liturgical act that leads to the Eucharis­tic chalice, and provide both the ascetical and theological focus for the celebration of the liturgy. These services constitute an experiential recollection of the whole of creation (particularly symbolized in the first half of Vespers), through the coming of Christ in the incarnation (poignantly the focal point of the Evloghitaria of Matins), and ultimately to the joining of the faithful to this incarnation in the Eucharistic mys­tery of the liturgy itself.

Similarly, the liturgical context of the Eucharist means that it is intrinsically joined to the other liturgical mysteries of the church. Baptism and chrismation are understood as fundamental prerequisites for participating in the Eucharist, as the foundations of entry into the Christian body which has its center and head in the presence of the Lord – the very Eucharistic reality. The sacrament of confession, too, is traditionally tied to the reception of com­munion as a means of preparing the heart to receive its King worthily, not harboring hatred against a brother nor retaining iniq­uities without repentance. Differing local traditions within the church foster this practice differently: some encourage (or require) confession prior to every reception of the Eucharist, while others may not insist as strongly upon a one-to-one correlation of the two sacraments. But in all cases, reg­ularity of confession and its importance in terms of preparing for communion are foundational to Orthodox practice. None­theless, Orthodox saints have been keen to emphasize that the need for confession and repentance prior to communion does not make one “worthy’ to partake of the Eucharistic mystery. In the words of St. John Cassian:

We must not avoid the Lord’s Communion because we consider ourselves sinful, but should more and more eagerly hasten to it for the healing of our soul and purifying of our spirit, and seek there rather a remedy for our wounds with humility of mind and faith, as considering ourselves unworthy to receive so great grace. Otherwise we cannot worthily receive the Communion even once a year, as some do, who live in monasteries and hold the dignity and holiness and value of the heavenly sacraments in such high regard as to think that none but saints and spotless persons should venture to receive them, instead of thinking rather that they would make us saints and pure by taking them. (Third Conference of Abbot Theonas: On Sinlessness, 21)

RECEIVING THE EUCHARIST

As intimated above, customary practice in the Orthodox Church is for the faithful to participate fully in the liturgical life and cycles of the church, including attendance at Vespers and Matins (or the combined Vigil) previous to the divine liturgy, when it is intended that one will receive commu­nion. In many Slavic traditions, confessions are heard on the eve of reception (normally at or after the Vigil service). Specified pre­communion prayers are normally read at home or in the church directly before communing. In some traditions these are combined with the recitation of other special prayers (canons and Akathists) to form a longer prayer-rule of preparation for the Eucharist.

It is expected that all the Orthodox who are to commune will observe a strict fast prior to receiving the holy gifts. This means complete abstention from all food and drink from midnight beforehand, or at least the moment of rising from sleep on the morning a liturgy will be served – though in some places a stricter practice of fasting from the Vigil earlier the evening before may be followed.

The holy gifts are received by all the faith­ful in both kinds (that is, all partake of both the body and blood), though there is a distinction in the form of reception between clergy and laity. The former commune in the altar, at the holy table, partaking of the elements individually: the body is received in the hand, and the blood in a threefold partaking of the chalice. The laity receive both kinds together outside the Royal Doors, presented to them on a spoon by the priest.

Following the receipt of the holy gifts, the faithful receive zapivka: a “break-fast” (literally, a breaking of the pre-communion fast) of bread and wine mixed with warm water, both as a source of refreshment after the fast which has culminated in the Eucha­rist, as well as a practical means of ensuring that all of the gifts have been consumed and do not remain in the mouth.

Post-communion prayers are normally said immediately following the divine liturgy, either in the church by a reader, or at home by an individual or family.

The frequency of participation in communion is a point of variance among different Orthodox traditions. While the practice of only communing a few times a year (for example, on Pascha and Nativity), which had become widespread in the 19th and early 20th centuries, is now regarded as regrettable by most, there is no consensus on what a regular pattern for reception ought to be in the Orthodox life. In some local prac­tices the Eucharist is received nearly every week, and nearly every liturgy, while in other practices it is received less frequently, though still regularly. While ultimately a person’s frequency of communion is a matter for discernment with the aid of his or her spiritual father, it remains the case that there is some disagreement among local Orthodox churches as to what the norms should be in this regard.

THE PURPOSE OF THE EUCHARIST

In liturgical form, rite, theology, and praxis, therefore, the Eucharist is at the center of Orthodox worshipping life. What, then, is the purpose of this sacrament that holds so central a position in the church? The Eucharist is offered, first and foremost, “for the remission of sins,” as Christ himself says (see Mt. 26.28). By serving as the abid­ing memorial of the Lord’s incarnation, offered “for the life of the world,” the Chris­tian liturgical memory makes ever present the self-offering of the one who “takes away the sins ofthe world” (Jn. 1.29). The Eucha­rist, then, serves as the perfection and fulfillment of confession: the sinner, who has offered up his transgressions and received absolution, is united in flesh and blood to the Son who is the true Redeemer of the fallen creature.

Secondly, and in a directly connected way, the Eucharist serves as the height of human persons’ union with, and commu­nion in, his or her Maker. In the remission of sins, the fallen person is drawn into renewed communion with the Lord, which leads to their deeper union in the Lord’s person. In this way, the Eucharist is inextri­cably connected to the Orthodox under­standing of deification, whereby the human creature participates in God’s glory, the divine energies, being transfig­ured thereby into “god by participation.” To put it in the words of St. John of Damascus:

Participation is spoken of, for through [the Eucharist] we partake of the divinity of Jesus. Communion, too, is spoken of, and it is an actual communion, because through it we have communion with Christ and share in His flesh and His divinity: yea, we have communion and are united with one another through it. For since we partake of one bread, we all become one body of Christ and one blood, and members one of another, being of one body with Christ. (Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.13)

The Eucharist, therefore, is the mystery of the Son’s incarnation – his gift in coming to humankind – made wholly accessible to the human creature, drawing the latter up into that sacred and central reality of the Christian faith. The incarnation, which once took place in Bethlehem and united the Creator to his creation, is rendered present, and the faithful are drawn into its full reality,

for we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by a word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so we have learned that the food, made a Eucharist by a word of prayer that comes from Him, from which our blood and flesh are nourished, by change are the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus. (St. Justin Martyr, First Apology 66)

This flesh and blood, which draw the person into the incarnation of the Son, at one and the same time draw him or her into the full life of the Trinity, for the power of the Spirit effects the offering by which the Son draws creation to his Father. It is this that allows the Christian faithful, having partaken of the sacred mysteries, to pronounce together at the end of the divine liturgy: “We have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true faith, worship­ping the undivided Trinity; for the Trinity has saved us.”

SEE ALSO: Christ; Confession; Deification; Divine Liturgy, Orthodox; Iconostasis; Mystery (Sacrament); St. Cyril of Alexandria (ca. 378–444)

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Gebremedhin, E. (1977) Life-Giving Blessing: An Inquiry into the Eucharistic Doctrine of Cyril of Alexandria. Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksell.

Goguel, M. (1910) L’Eucharistie des origines ajustine martyr. Paris: Editions du Cerf.

Hapgood, I. (ed.) (1975) Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church. Englewood, NJ: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.

Sheerin, D. J. (ed.) (1986) The Eucharist: Message of the Fathers of the Church, Vol. 7. Wilmington: M. Glazier.

Wainwright, G. (1978) Eucharist and Eschatology. London: Epworth Press.