Mystery of the Divine Eucharist
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The Mystery of the Divine Eucharist- by Fr. Anthony Hernandez
Holy and Great Thursday
On Holy and Great Thursday we commemorate the Mystical Supper of Christ with His apostles. This is the "night he was betrayed, or rather, when he surrendered himself for the life of the world." On that evening Christ, mystically gave His body and blood to the disciples. He showed Himself to be the Lamb of God whose blood would ransom mankind from sin.
The Passover
The events known as the Passover occurred nearly one thousand six hundred years before Christ. The Israelites were oppressed in Egypt for several centuries. Through the prophet Moses, God told the Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, to let His people go free. The Lord warned Pharaoh that disobedience to His will would have disastrous consequences. Since the Egyptians refused, the Lord punished the land of Egypt ten times. The tenth punishment was the most destructive: the death of all the first-born Egyptian males and of all their first-born male animals.
In order to spare the Israelites from the effects of the tenth plague, the Lord commanded that they carry out a special ritual on the day He appointed. The Israelites were instructed to slaughter lambs, and to mark the doorposts and the lintels of their homes with the lambs' blood. When the time chosen by the Lord arrived, the power of the Lord went through the land of Egypt and destroyed all the firstborn men and animals of the Egyptians. But the Lord passed over the Israelites whose homes had been marked with the blood of the lambs. The Egyptians finally let the Israelites go free. This event is known as the Passover, as the Lord passed over the Israelites, and made them pass from slavery to freedom.
Passover Supper
Every year the Jews celebrated the Passover with a special meal known later as the Seder. The Passover is a ritual reminder of what God did for their ancestors. Each year the Passover story is told in the homes of devout Jews. They are encouraged to celebrate the Passover meal as if they themselves were been freed from slavery. Our Lord Jesus approached His passion and resurrection at the time the Jews were focusing on the Passover themes of deliverance from death and liberation from slavery.
The Mystical Supper
Eastern Christian tradition holds that the last meal of Christ with His disciples, the Mystical Supper, was not the Passover Supper. According to the Gospel of John, the day on which the Lord died "was preparation day for Passover." (Jn. 19:14). Passover was observed by the Jews that year on Friday evening (after Christ's death).
It is important to know that among the Jews days were marked as beginning at sundown. So, Thursday evening was the beginning of Friday; and Friday evening was the beginning of Sabbath (Saturday).
Now we see the close connection between the Mystical Supper on Holy Thursday, and Christ's death and burial on Holy Friday: The Mystical Supper was offered on the same day as Christ's death and burial. The Mystical Supper is a prelude to and also a making present of the holy sacrifice of Christ's body and blood on the Cross.
At midday people brought lambs to the temple. In the afternoon the priests ritually slaughtered the Iambs there. As this was happening at the same time Christ was undergoing His passion and death on the Cross. He is the Lamb slain for our salvation. Three years before Christ's passion, his cousin, the holy Forerunner and Baptist John declared concerning Christ: ''Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!" (John 1:29). Christ is the unblemished Lamb who was led to the slaughter and whose blood was shed in sacrifice.
"The Lord Jesus, on the night He was handed over [betrayed], took bread, and, after He had given thanks, broke it and said, 'This is My body that is [broken] for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same ·way also the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes." (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Broken For You
The words "broken for you" (1 Cor. 11:24) are found in some Greek manuscripts. Here broken (Greek: Klomenon) may be understood as severely wounded. St. John's gospel tells us that just as the Passover lamb's bones were not to be broken (cf. Exodus 12:46), so, Christ's bones were not broken in His crucifixion. (Cf John 19:31-36
Christ broke the bread and poured the wine to show that as the Lamb of God His body was being broken for us and his blood was being shed (poured out) for our sins. The Apostle Paul said: "Christ our Passover (Pasch) has been sacrificed." (1 Corn. 5:7). On the third day our Lord Jesus passed over from death to life (resurrection). He made it possible for us to pass from the slavery of sin and death, to the freedom of life in God.
During the Mystical Supper, Christ changed the bread and wine into His Body and Blood by His own word. Then the Lord said to the Apostles: "Do this in remembrance of Me." In the Divine Liturgy, the Church has continued to do what the Lord commanded. Now the priests of the Church repeat the words of Christ and invoke (Epiclesis) the Holy Spirit upon the gifts. The Holy Spirit, by His divine power, changes the bread and wine into the life-giving Body and Biood of Christ.
From the Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom:On the night he was betrayed, or rather, when he surrendered himself for the life of the world, he took bread into his holy and all-pure and immaculate hands, gave thanks and blessed, sanctified, broke., and gave it to his holy disciples and apostles, saying: Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you for the remission of sins. Likewise, he took the chalice after supper, saying: Drink of this all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.
The Divine Liturgy
The Divine Liturgy is the Church's celebration of Christ's Passover from death to life. Our Lord said: "Do this in remembrance of Me.'' We remember all that Christ did for us. We recall His suffering and death, His resurrection and sitting at the right hand of the Father. At the same time, the Divine Liturgy is the work of God. God is the one who gathers us as a people and gives us the ability to offer fitting worship. The Liturgy is a unique and privileged time in which the Lord Himself acts today for our salvation. When the Church assembles to remember the saving works of Christ, God also "remembers", and He makes present and real to us today all that Christ has done for us. The Holy Spirit then bestows upon us the spiritual gifts gained for us by Christ's saving works.
Eucharist: Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
In the Divine Liturgy the priest calls out: "Let us give thanks to the Lord!" The Divine Liturgy is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God: for who He is, and also for all the good that He-has done, still does, and will do for us.It is proper and just to sing hymns to You, to bless You, to praise You, to thank You, to worship You in every place of Your Kingdom; for You are God ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever-existing, yet ever the same, You, and Your only-begotten Son, and Your Holy Spirit; You brought us forth from nonexistence into being, and raised us up again when we had fallen, and left nothing undone, until You brought us to heaven and bestowed upon us Your future Kingdom. For all this we give thanks to You, and to Your only-begotten Son, and to Your Holy Spirit, for all that we know and that we do not know, the manifest and hidden benefits bestowed upon us. We thank You also for this Liturgy, which You have willed to accept from our hands... (Anaphora, before the 'Holy, holy, holy')
The Eucharist: the Body and Blood of the Lord
In Holy Communion we truly receive the sacred and most pure Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the Last Supper Christ declared over the bread and wine, "This is My Body ... This is My Blood." By His word the bread and wine became His true Body and Blood. Today, at the Divine Liturgy, the priest performs the actions of Christ and speaks His words. The priest prays for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Gifts to. sanctify them. By the power of the Holy Spirit the Gifts are changed into the life-giving Body and Blood of Christ."The bread and also the wine mixed with water, through the epiclesis and coming of the Holy Spirit, are supernaturally changed into the Body and Blood of Christ.'' (Saint John Damascene).
The Holy Oblation
The sacrifice that Christ offered on the Cross nearly two thousand years ago, is made present to us today in the Liturgy. Christ is the true Priest who offers the sacrifice, and He is also the Lamb of sacrifice. "For it is You, 0 Christ, our God, who offer and are offered." (From a prayer before the Anaphora) In Baptism we become members of the holy priesthood. As a priestly people, we offer ourselves in union with the offering of Christ the one High Priest. Saint Peter reminds us that we have been made participants in "a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Pet. 2:5).
Holy Communion: Partaking of the Lamb"For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us celebrate the feast ..." 1 Corinthians 5: 7.
After offering their lambs in the Temple, the Jews would bring the lambs' bodies home to prepare them for the Passover meal. Then they would eat the lambs according to the prescribed ritual. Saint Paul the Apostle reminds us that Christ was sacrificed as our Passover Lamb. We are now invited to partake of the Feast and to eat the Lamb with sincere hearts and with faith. This is what we do when we partake of Holy Communion in the Divine Liturgy.
Although there are some similarities between the Jewish sacrificial meals and the mystical Supper of the Lord, there are also great differences. When the Jews partook of their sacrificed lambs (or other animals), they had to divide their bodies and consume them. But in Holy Communion we partake of the risen and living Lamb. When the priest breaks the sanctified Bread he says: "Broken and distributed is the Lamb of God, broken yet not divided, ever eaten yet never consumed, but sanctifying those who partake thereof." The Lord Himself is not broken or destroyed when the faithful partake of His holy Body and Blood. This is because on the third day after His death, Christ rose from the dead and is no longer subject to destruction and death.
Bread nourishes the life of the body. In a similar way, Christ, ''who was sent forth as the heavenly Bread for the nourishment of the whole world" makes us share in the very life of God.
Holy Communion and the Forgiveness of Sins
"...that to those who partake of them, they may be for the purification of the soul, for the remission of sins ..." Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom.
The Divine Eucharist brings pardon for sins and grace to overcome sin in our lives. Forgiveness of sins is one of the graces given to those who receive Communion with faith and love. At the same time, we have to be careful to receive Communion with sincerity and with purity of heart. If we are conscious of having sinned in a serious manner, we are to first confess our sins and receive absolution from the priest, before receiving Holy Communion.
Holy Communion and the Christian Community
Partaking of Divine Eucharist brings us into union with Christ, the Son of God. For this reason it is called Holy Communion (meaning to be united). Receiving the Eucharist unites us to all Persons of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Holy Communion also brings us into union with all who receive Christ. For this reason, it is the tradition of our Church to offer one bread (the Lamb) that is sanctified during the Anaphora and given in Holy Communion.
"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body,for we all partake of the one bread." (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
lf we are one Body in Christ, the Church, we have to act that way. Saint Paul taught that those who disregard others in the Body of Christ (the Church) receive unworthily the Body of the Lord in Holy Communion. (1 Corinthians 11:17-34). Those who share in the Body of Christ must live in communion with each other, living lives of love, peace and justice. The goodness of our lives in Christ is also to be extended to all persons in the world. In this way we may be witnesses of the love and goodness of God to others.