Historical roots of Catholic Eucharistic theology
Encyclopedia
The historical roots of Roman Catholic Eucharistic theology are the basis upon which a number of ecclesial communities
, or churches, express their faith
in the "bread of life" as given by Jesus
, and are to be found in the Church Fathers
, Scripture
, the writings of Thomas Aquinas
, and other early church writings and traditions.
and Paul
's First Letter to the Corinthians contain versions of the Words of Institution
: "Take, eat, this is my body.... Take, drink, this is my blood.... Do this in remembrance of me." All subsequent celebration of the Eucharist
is based on this injunction.
The primary theological paradigm is rooted in New Testament
passage John
6:47-67, key to grasping how the disciples of Jesus and the first Christians understood the Eucharist. In a central portion of this passage (6:51-54), Jesus states:
In the Aramaic Peshitta text the phrase "not have life in you" is "you have no life in your inner substance."
Just as Passover recalled and made present the Exodus from bondage in Egypt, the New Passover recalls and makes present the New Exodus from bondage to sin. The New Exodus, in which the twelve tribes of Israel would be redeemed along with the nations, was a major theme of the Old Testament prophets. In Isaiah 40-55 and the New Testament (1 Peter 1:18-19), the New Exodus is closely associated with redemption from sin.
As given in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, the words Jesus spoke over the cup begin, "this is my blood of the covenant" (Mk 14:24). This phrase echoes the establishment of the Mosaic covenant in Ex 24:8, referring to the blood of the sacrificial victim that is poured out to initiate the covenant (cf. Ex 24:4-8, 11). Thus, Jesus declares at the Last Supper that his own blood, poured out in his Passion and made really present in the Eucharist, reestablishes the bond of kinship between God and man. The Last Supper and Passion established the covenant, and the Eucharist is now an on-going re-presentation of that covenantal establishment.
Jesus describes his blood as "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt 26:28). These words allude to the prophetic theme of the "many" among the exiled tribes of Israel to be redeemed in the New Exodus from and with the Gentiles (cf. Zech 10:8-11). This theme is most strongly expressed in Isaiah's fourth Servant Song, which describes a new paschal lamb (Is 53:7) whose life is "poured out" for the "sin of many" (Is 53:12) in a New Exodus (Is 52:11-12).
10:16, St. Paul states: "The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" In the next chapter, he draws the same association we find in the Didache and elsewhere, i.e. the need for purity in receiving the Eucharist. First, Paul narrates the meal with Jesus: (11:24) "And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me." Likewise with the chalice; then Paul states (11:27) "Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord." So we find that the early letters and documents, as well as the letters that became Holy Scripture among Christians, appear strongly to affirm a belief in what is today called by many the Real Presence
, a summary term that refers to the notion that Jesus Christ is "really, truly, and substantially present" in the Eucharist.
, the understanding follows this pattern: that the bread and wine that is blessed and consumed at the end of the (transformed) Passover meal literally is the body and blood of Jesus, and was treated accordingly: "Let no one eat or drink of the Eucharist with you except those who have been baptized in the name of the Lord; for it was in reference to this that the Lord said: 'Do not give that which is holy to dogs'" (Jurgens §6). The Didache also enjoins "confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure" (Jurgens §8). Others state explicitly that the consecrated bread and wine is indeed the body and blood of Christ. St. Ignatius of Antioch
, who was martyred in ca. 107
, wrote: "I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the Bread of God, which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire His Blood, which is love incorruptible" (Jurgens §54a). He recommended Christians to stay aloof from heretics
who "confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again" (Letter to the Smyrnaeans
, 8). (Note the use of "which", referring to "the flesh", not "who", which would refer to "our Saviour Jesus Christ".) St. Justin Martyr
, ca. 150
: "We call this food Eucharist; and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true.... For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by Him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nourished, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus" (Jurgens §128). From St. Clement of Alexandria, ca. 202
: "'Eat My Flesh.' He says, 'and drink My Blood.' The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutriments. He delivers over His Flesh, and pours out His Blood; and nothing is lacking for the growth of His children. O incredible mystery!" (Jurgens §408).
, c 244
: "[W]hen you have received the Body of the Lord, you reverently exercise every care lest a particle of it fall..." (Jurgens §490). From St. Ephraim, ante 373
: "Do not now regard as bread that which I have given you; but take, eat this Bread, and do not scatter the crumbs; for what I have called My Body, that it is indeed" (Jurgens §707). From St. Augustine
, c 412
: "He walked here in the same flesh, and gave us the same flesh to be eaten unto salvation. But no one eats that flesh unless first he adores it; and thus it is discovered how such a footstool of the Lord's feet is adored; and not only do we not sin by adoring, we do sin by not adoring" (Jurgens §1479a). At the Roman Council VI, 1079, Berengarius affirmed: "I, Berengarius, in my heart believe and with my lips confess that through the mystery of the sacred prayer and the words of our Redeemer the bread and wine which are placed on the altar are substantially changed into the true and proper and living flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord..." (Denziger [Dz] §355). In a discussion of the form of consecration (the word now used to refer to the blessing given by Jesus), Pope Innocent III
states (1202) "For the species of bread and wine is perceived there, and the truth of the body and blood of Christ is believed and the power of unity and of love.... The form is of the bread and wine; the truth, of the flesh and blood..." (Dz §414-4). The dogma was affirmed repeatedly by the Roman Catholic Church and within Roman Catholic theology, e.g. at the Council of Lyon
, 1274 (Dz §465); by Pope Benedict XII
, 1341 (Dz §544); by Pope Clement VI
, 1351 (Dz §574a); at the Council of Constance
, 1418 (Dz §583); at the Council of Florence
, 1439 (Dz §698); by Pope Julius III
at the Council of Trent
, 1551 (Dz §874); by Pope Benedict XIV
, 1743 (Dz §1469); by Pope Pius VI
, 1794 (Dz §1529); and by Pope Leo XIII
, 1887 (Dz §1919), inter alia. Other examples can be found to flesh out any interim.
, c 1270, is considered within the Roman Catholic Church to be the paramount expression of its theology, and as such offers a clear discussion of the Eucharist. "[F]or Christ is Himself contained in the Eucharist sacramentally. Consequently, when Christ was going to leave His disciples in His proper species, He left Himself with them under the sacramental species..." (III 73 5). "The presence of Christ's true body and blood in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone, which rests upon Divine authority. Hence, on : 'This is My body which shall be delivered up for you,' Cyril says: 'Doubt not whether this be true; but take rather the Saviour's words with faith; for since He is the Truth, He lieth not.' Now this is suitable, first for the perfection of the New Law. For, the sacrifices of the Old Law contained only in figure that true sacrifice of Christ's Passion, according to : 'For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things'" (III 75 1). "[S]ince Christ's true body is in this sacrament, and since it does not begin to be there by local motion, nor is it contained therein as in a place, as is evident from what was stated above (III 75 1 ad 2), it must be said then that it begins to be there by conversion of the substance of bread into itself" (III 75 4).
. It is frequently described as a continuation of the sacrifice that Jesus made at Calvary, with the difference that it is unbloody. Yet Catholics maintain that the belief in what occurs is unchanged since the origins of Christianity, and it is belief that Christian theology teaches is central: Jesus refers to faith, not to knowledge, in the Scriptures. For example, Jesus tells Simon that it is by faith, i.e. revealed by the Father, that he knows that Jesus is from the Father . Jesus extols faith in verses , , , , , and in other places besides. St. Thomas quotes St. Cyril in emphasizing faith as a basis for understanding. St. Augustine
writes, "I believe in order to understand" (quoted in CCC §158). Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology has always emphasized the belief that Jesus is truly, really, and objectively present in the Eucharist. Over time, the dogma was clarified and preserved, and presented consistently to catechumens.
Catholics believe Christ spoke literally when Christ said "eat my body" not only because John 6:54 uses word strictly literal for "eat or chewing" but also because in Semitic thought to "eat flesh" in figurative language means to calumniate, revile, attack speak of someone not present (as in the Quran) or insult someone unjustly." Evidence of this is shown in both New and Old Testament in Micah 3:3, Psalm 27:1-2, Isaiah 9:18-21, Isaiah 49:26 and Revelation 17:6,16. All use the expression to "eat flesh" and some "drink blood" all uses are clearly negative, whether interpreted literally or figuratively. In brief, if Christ spoke to figuratively "eat my flesh" he would be instructing his followers to "hate" him.
: "I hear that they are saying that the mystical blessing does not avail unto sanctification, if some of [the Eucharistic species] be left over to another day. They are utterly mad who say these things; for Christ is not made different, nor is His holy body changed, but the power of the blessing and the life-giving grace is uninterrupted in Him" (Jurgens §2139). With the passage of time it was possible to clarify the nature of the actual event that the blessing incurs; Pope Innocent III
in 1202 explained that "among the opinions mentioned that is judged the more probable which asserts that the water with the wine is changed into blood" in reference to the mingling of water with the wine at the Mass (Dz §416). By 1415 Pope Martin V
affirmed that "the material substance of bread and ... wine [no longer] remain" (Dz §581), also addressed by St. Thomas in the Summa e.g. III 75 4. This can be seen to be but a clarification in observing the great care, from the earliest date, taken to preserve every particle of Eucharist, e.g. Tertullian, 211
: "We take anxious care lest something of our Cup or Bread should fall upon the ground" (Jurgens §367). In other words, it was plainly assumed that the transformation of the Bread and Cup was total. Issues surrounding clarifications of this kind raise an important point: Catholic theology posits that a shepherd is necessary, and mandated by Jesus (Jn
21:15, 16, 17) in a thrice-repeated statement to "Feed my lambs/sheep": St. Clement I, ca. 99
: "Indeed you will give joy and gladness to us, if having become obedient to what we have written through the Holy Spirit, you will cut out the unlawful application of your zeal according to the exhortation which we have made in this epistle concerning peace and union" (Dz §41). The consecrating minister must be one who is correctly ordained, through that shepherd. Pope Innocent III
, 1208: "[H]owever honest, religious, holy, and prudent anyone may be, he cannot nor ought he to consecrate the Eucharist nor to perform the sacrifice of the altar unless he be a priest, regularly ordained by a visible and perceptible bishop" (Dz §424). St. Ignatius of Antioch, ca. 110
: "Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop, or by one whom he appoints" (Jurgens §65). The consecrated hosts are not merely changed permanently into Eucharist, but are due the worship of latria
. Pope Julius III
, 1551: "There is, therefore, no room left for doubt that all the faithful of Christ in accordance with a custom always received in the Catholic Church offer in veneration the worship of latria which is due to the true God, to this most Holy Sacrament" (Dz §878).
, and claim that this is the context in which the acts and ordinances of Jesus and his apostles came to be memorialized. Although Christian authorities made no reference whatever to the purported mystical benefits of flesh-eating and blood-drinking that were proclaimed by proponents of cannibalism and of animal sacrifices among the mystery cults
who promoted Omophagy and the ritual eating of raw flesh and organs of conquered leaders to absorb their power, they taught that the Christian "unbloody mysteries" (cf. Basil the Great, John Chrysostom
, Council of Trent
, Theses of Bonn) convey actual divine benefits. The scholars in question consider this comparison grounds for saying that Christianity presents the vestiges of ancient ritualistic cannibalism transferred into modern times.
This theory is rejected in Catholic Eucharistic theology. In fact, Christianity and the Eucharistic rite began not among people who believed in or practised the mystery religions, but within Judaism: the first Christians were all Jews. Paul
's 57 AD First Letter to the Corinthians , written little more than thirty years after the death of Jesus, and the Acts of the Apostles
present the rite of "the Lord's supper" or "the breaking of bread" as dating from the very beginning of Christianity, when Christianity was still an entirely Jewish phenomenon, even before Gentiles, initially from among "the God-fearing" (a term used for Gentile
s who attended Jewish synagogue services but held back from becoming full-scale proselyte
s), were accepted as members of the Christian community. These writings, which are the earliest evidence about the rite of the Eucharist, thus indicate that these Christians believed they were continuing an already traditional reenactment of something that Jesus did and said at his last supper, and not performing a rite newly adapted from paganism, to which the same writings show they were strongly opposed. In fact, in , Paul cites precisely the Eucharistic rite as a reason for refusing to have anything to do with the idolatry and sacrifices of the pagans.
(c 110
) called the Eucharist "the medicine of immortality, the antidote we take in order not to die but to live for ever in Jesus Christ" (Letter to the Ephesians, 20:2b). There are many related conclusions that flow naturally within Roman Catholic theology from the historical understanding of the Eucharist, which have deeply influenced the spirituality exhibited by many centuries of Christians. The following are all spiritual points of view that stem from the belief that Jesus is truly, really, and substantially present in the Eucharist:
These and many more besides are points of spiritual theology that have been spoken by the saints and expounded in books for spiritual guidance. Belief in the Real Presence is key to the Roman Catholic conception of progression in prayer life along the purgative way to the illuminative and unitive ways (see prayer
). The seven Sacraments, as a group, are "seven springs of life", springs in the progression toward union with God. "First of all, the initial sacrament that sows the seeds of eternity, Baptism.... The Eucharist feeds the holy growth with a substance which is none other than the very substance of the Son of God and the Son of man, the sovereign food of the divine life and of the human life in the Christian, since Jesus Christ has the fullness of the divine life and the human life.... The sacraments produce sacramental grace. What is this grace? It is a right, founded on sanctifying grace, and in virtue of which I can demand and receive at the proper time the help of actual grace.... If only I knew how to preserve these rights and to fall back upon them! Assuredly, if God gives them me, it is not for me to neglect them" (Tissot). Thus, through the twentieth century, Roman Catholic theology and spirituality yet teaches us that Jesus Christ in the Eucharist has meaning for us as individuals, a theme elaborated especially well by Dietrich von Hildebrand in Transformation in Christ.
contains the important line, "Give us this day our daily bread." Here the word "daily" is used to translate the Greek word epiousios
. But "daily bread" can also be translated "supersubstantial bread" (as found in some Bible translations and in some prayers such as the "Prayer of St. Bonaventure" which begins: "Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul..."). The Catholic Mass is offered daily, as are Eastern Orthodox communions. The active liturgical life of the Catholic faith is a key element in the theology of the Eucharist. At the Mass, it is prayed, Perceptio Corporis tui, Domine Jesu Christe, quod ego indignus sumere praesumo, non mihi proveniat in judicium et condemnationem: sed pro tua pietate prosit mihi ad tutamentum mentis ot corporis, et ad medelam percipiendam... essentially meaning, 'though I am unworthy, I presume to receive Thy Body; may it not turn to my judgment and condemnation'. (The Mass is available in Latin in hundreds of locations worldwide.) The daily bread in this prayer given by Jesus
is a reference to the Eucharist according to many Church Fathers including St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom
, St. Jerome
, and St. Cyprian
of Carthage who in 251
wrote: "As the prayer continues, we ask and say, 'Give us this day our daily bread.' ... And we ask that this bread be given us daily, so that we who are in Christ and daily receive the Eucharist as the food of salvation, may not, by falling into some more grievous sin and then in abstaining from communicating, be withheld from the heavenly Bread, and be separated from Christ's Body. ... He Himself warns us... (Jn
6:54)" (Jurgens §559). Cyprian again: "We can understand this petition [give us this day our daily bread] in a spiritual and in a literal sense. For in the divine plan both senses may help toward our salvation. For Christ is the bread of life; this bread does not belong to everyone, but is ours alone. When we say, our Father, we understand that he is the father of those who know him and believe in him. In the same way we speak of our daily bread, because Christ is the bread of those who touch his body" (Liturgy of the Hours, 1975, Vol. III, Eleventh Week, Thursday, Office of Readings, Second Reading, emphases added). From the very earliest Church, it is clear that the Pater Noster refers to the Eucharist in conjunction with traditional Christian belief (faith) that it is the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Ecclesial Community
An ecclesial community is, in Roman Catholic terminology, a Christian religious group that does not meet the Roman Catholic definition of a "Church"...
, or churches, express their faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
in the "bread of life" as given by Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, and are to be found in the Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
, Scripture
Biblical canon
A biblical canon, or canon of scripture, is a list of books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example...
, the writings of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
, and other early church writings and traditions.
Institution
The three synoptic GospelsSynoptic Gospels
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording. This degree of parallelism in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence structures can only be...
and Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
's First Letter to the Corinthians contain versions of the Words of Institution
Words of Institution
The Words of Institution are words echoing those of Jesus himself at his Last Supper that, when consecrating bread and wine, Christian Eucharistic liturgies include in a narrative of that event...
: "Take, eat, this is my body.... Take, drink, this is my blood.... Do this in remembrance of me." All subsequent celebration of the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
is based on this injunction.
The primary theological paradigm is rooted in New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
passage John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
6:47-67, key to grasping how the disciples of Jesus and the first Christians understood the Eucharist. In a central portion of this passage (6:51-54), Jesus states:
- I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.
In the Aramaic Peshitta text the phrase "not have life in you" is "you have no life in your inner substance."
Old Testament Foundations of the Eucharist
In the perspective of Catholic theology, the foundations of the Eucharist were laid in the Old Testament. The most explicit connection with the Old Testament is the idea of the Eucharist as a New Passover in which Christ serves as the paschal lamb whose body and blood, offered as a sacrifice in his Passion, effect redemption (1 Cor 5:7-8). The Eucharist relates to the Passover specifically as a sacrifice through their common background in the todah or thanksgiving sacrifice (Lev 7:12-15). The Passover sacrifice was the collective todah of Israel under the Mosaic covenant and, as such, the highest instance of todah sacrifice in the Old Testament. Likewise, the very term "Eucharist" (from the Greek eucharistia) reflects the centrality of thanksgiving. Christ's words of institution emphasize the essential todah elements of thanksgiving and remembrance, whose object in this case is his "body which is given for you" (Lk 22:19). As suggested by the Gospel's use of Psalm 22, a classic todah psalm, Christ's Passion, death, and resurrection exemplify the characteristic todah movement from lament to praise.Just as Passover recalled and made present the Exodus from bondage in Egypt, the New Passover recalls and makes present the New Exodus from bondage to sin. The New Exodus, in which the twelve tribes of Israel would be redeemed along with the nations, was a major theme of the Old Testament prophets. In Isaiah 40-55 and the New Testament (1 Peter 1:18-19), the New Exodus is closely associated with redemption from sin.
As given in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, the words Jesus spoke over the cup begin, "this is my blood of the covenant" (Mk 14:24). This phrase echoes the establishment of the Mosaic covenant in Ex 24:8, referring to the blood of the sacrificial victim that is poured out to initiate the covenant (cf. Ex 24:4-8, 11). Thus, Jesus declares at the Last Supper that his own blood, poured out in his Passion and made really present in the Eucharist, reestablishes the bond of kinship between God and man. The Last Supper and Passion established the covenant, and the Eucharist is now an on-going re-presentation of that covenantal establishment.
Jesus describes his blood as "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt 26:28). These words allude to the prophetic theme of the "many" among the exiled tribes of Israel to be redeemed in the New Exodus from and with the Gentiles (cf. Zech 10:8-11). This theme is most strongly expressed in Isaiah's fourth Servant Song, which describes a new paschal lamb (Is 53:7) whose life is "poured out" for the "sin of many" (Is 53:12) in a New Exodus (Is 52:11-12).
Documents selected for New Testament Scriptures
The Scriptures, too, are testimony by the early Christians. In 1 CorFirst Epistle to the Corinthians
The first epistle of Paul the apostle to the Corinthians, often referred to as First Corinthians , is the seventh book of the New Testament of the Bible...
10:16, St. Paul states: "The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" In the next chapter, he draws the same association we find in the Didache and elsewhere, i.e. the need for purity in receiving the Eucharist. First, Paul narrates the meal with Jesus: (11:24) "And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me." Likewise with the chalice; then Paul states (11:27) "Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord." So we find that the early letters and documents, as well as the letters that became Holy Scripture among Christians, appear strongly to affirm a belief in what is today called by many the Real Presence
Real Presence
Real Presence is a term used in various Christian traditions to express belief that in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, a figure of speech , or by his power .Not all Christian traditions accept this dogma...
, a summary term that refers to the notion that Jesus Christ is "really, truly, and substantially present" in the Eucharist.
Early Christian documents
From the earliest Christian documents, such as the DidacheDidache
The Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles is a brief early Christian treatise, dated by most scholars to the late first or early 2nd century...
, the understanding follows this pattern: that the bread and wine that is blessed and consumed at the end of the (transformed) Passover meal literally is the body and blood of Jesus, and was treated accordingly: "Let no one eat or drink of the Eucharist with you except those who have been baptized in the name of the Lord; for it was in reference to this that the Lord said: 'Do not give that which is holy to dogs'" (Jurgens §6). The Didache also enjoins "confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure" (Jurgens §8). Others state explicitly that the consecrated bread and wine is indeed the body and blood of Christ. St. Ignatius of Antioch
Ignatius of Antioch
Ignatius of Antioch was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology...
, who was martyred in ca. 107
107
Year 107 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sura and Senico...
, wrote: "I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the Bread of God, which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire His Blood, which is love incorruptible" (Jurgens §54a). He recommended Christians to stay aloof from heretics
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
who "confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again" (Letter to the Smyrnaeans
Letter to the Smyrnaeans
The Letter to the Smyrnaeans was written by Saint Ignatius of Antioch around AD 110 to the Early Christians in Smyrna.It mentions the resurrection of Jesus:...
, 8). (Note the use of "which", referring to "the flesh", not "who", which would refer to "our Saviour Jesus Christ".) St. Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
, ca. 150
150
Year 150 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Squilla and Vetus...
: "We call this food Eucharist; and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true.... For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by Him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nourished, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus" (Jurgens §128). From St. Clement of Alexandria, ca. 202
202
Year 202 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Antoninus...
: "'Eat My Flesh.' He says, 'and drink My Blood.' The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutriments. He delivers over His Flesh, and pours out His Blood; and nothing is lacking for the growth of His children. O incredible mystery!" (Jurgens §408).
Over the centuries
Christian documents show that this dogma was maintained with the passage of time. From OrigenOrigen
Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
, c 244
244
Year 244 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Armenius and Aemilianus...
: "[W]hen you have received the Body of the Lord, you reverently exercise every care lest a particle of it fall..." (Jurgens §490). From St. Ephraim, ante 373
373
Year 373 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens...
: "Do not now regard as bread that which I have given you; but take, eat this Bread, and do not scatter the crumbs; for what I have called My Body, that it is indeed" (Jurgens §707). From St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, c 412
412
Year 412 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius...
: "He walked here in the same flesh, and gave us the same flesh to be eaten unto salvation. But no one eats that flesh unless first he adores it; and thus it is discovered how such a footstool of the Lord's feet is adored; and not only do we not sin by adoring, we do sin by not adoring" (Jurgens §1479a). At the Roman Council VI, 1079, Berengarius affirmed: "I, Berengarius, in my heart believe and with my lips confess that through the mystery of the sacred prayer and the words of our Redeemer the bread and wine which are placed on the altar are substantially changed into the true and proper and living flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord..." (Denziger [Dz] §355). In a discussion of the form of consecration (the word now used to refer to the blessing given by Jesus), Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
states (1202) "For the species of bread and wine is perceived there, and the truth of the body and blood of Christ is believed and the power of unity and of love.... The form is of the bread and wine; the truth, of the flesh and blood..." (Dz §414-4). The dogma was affirmed repeatedly by the Roman Catholic Church and within Roman Catholic theology, e.g. at the Council of Lyon
Council of Lyon
The Council of Lyon refers to either the 13th or 14th ecumenical councils of the Roman Catholic Church, both held in Lyon, France during the 13th century:*First Council of Lyon...
, 1274 (Dz §465); by Pope Benedict XII
Pope Benedict XII
Pope Benedict XII , born Jacques Fournier, the third of the Avignon Popes, was Pope from 1334 to 1342.-Early life:...
, 1341 (Dz §544); by Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI , bornPierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352...
, 1351 (Dz §574a); at the Council of Constance
Council of Constance
The Council of Constance is the 15th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418. The council ended the Three-Popes Controversy, by deposing or accepting the resignation of the remaining Papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V.The Council also condemned and...
, 1418 (Dz §583); at the Council of Florence
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It began in 1431 in Basel, Switzerland, and became known as the Council of Ferrara after its transfer to Ferrara was decreed by Pope Eugene IV, to convene in 1438...
, 1439 (Dz §698); by Pope Julius III
Pope Julius III
Pope Julius III , born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was Pope from 7 February 1550 to 1555....
at the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
, 1551 (Dz §874); by Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV , born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was Pope from 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758.-Life:...
, 1743 (Dz §1469); by Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI , born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, was Pope from 1775 to 1799.-Early years:Braschi was born in Cesena...
, 1794 (Dz §1529); and by Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
, 1887 (Dz §1919), inter alia. Other examples can be found to flesh out any interim.
The Summa Theologiae by Thomas Aquinas
The Summa TheologiaeSumma Theologica
The Summa Theologiæ is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas , and although unfinished, "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature." It is intended as a manual for beginners in theology and a compendium of all of the main...
, c 1270, is considered within the Roman Catholic Church to be the paramount expression of its theology, and as such offers a clear discussion of the Eucharist. "[F]or Christ is Himself contained in the Eucharist sacramentally. Consequently, when Christ was going to leave His disciples in His proper species, He left Himself with them under the sacramental species..." (III 73 5). "The presence of Christ's true body and blood in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone, which rests upon Divine authority. Hence, on : 'This is My body which shall be delivered up for you,' Cyril says: 'Doubt not whether this be true; but take rather the Saviour's words with faith; for since He is the Truth, He lieth not.' Now this is suitable, first for the perfection of the New Law. For, the sacrifices of the Old Law contained only in figure that true sacrifice of Christ's Passion, according to : 'For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things'" (III 75 1). "[S]ince Christ's true body is in this sacrament, and since it does not begin to be there by local motion, nor is it contained therein as in a place, as is evident from what was stated above (III 75 1 ad 2), it must be said then that it begins to be there by conversion of the substance of bread into itself" (III 75 4).
Faith
In this last example from the Summa one can observe, with the passage of time, attempts to explain exactly what does take place in the event now termed transubstantiationTransubstantiation
In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...
. It is frequently described as a continuation of the sacrifice that Jesus made at Calvary, with the difference that it is unbloody. Yet Catholics maintain that the belief in what occurs is unchanged since the origins of Christianity, and it is belief that Christian theology teaches is central: Jesus refers to faith, not to knowledge, in the Scriptures. For example, Jesus tells Simon that it is by faith, i.e. revealed by the Father, that he knows that Jesus is from the Father . Jesus extols faith in verses , , , , , and in other places besides. St. Thomas quotes St. Cyril in emphasizing faith as a basis for understanding. St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
writes, "I believe in order to understand" (quoted in CCC §158). Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology has always emphasized the belief that Jesus is truly, really, and objectively present in the Eucharist. Over time, the dogma was clarified and preserved, and presented consistently to catechumens.
Catholics believe Christ spoke literally when Christ said "eat my body" not only because John 6:54 uses word strictly literal for "eat or chewing" but also because in Semitic thought to "eat flesh" in figurative language means to calumniate, revile, attack speak of someone not present (as in the Quran) or insult someone unjustly." Evidence of this is shown in both New and Old Testament in Micah 3:3, Psalm 27:1-2, Isaiah 9:18-21, Isaiah 49:26 and Revelation 17:6,16. All use the expression to "eat flesh" and some "drink blood" all uses are clearly negative, whether interpreted literally or figuratively. In brief, if Christ spoke to figuratively "eat my flesh" he would be instructing his followers to "hate" him.
Other historical Eucharistic dogmas
Apart from the historical theology of the Real Presence, many other aspects of the Eucharist have long historical roots that can be located in Church Fathers and Scripture. The Eucharist is a permanent sacrament, not merely a temporary change during the liturgical service. From St. Cyril of Alexandria, ca. 440440
Year 440 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valentinianus and Anatolius...
: "I hear that they are saying that the mystical blessing does not avail unto sanctification, if some of [the Eucharistic species] be left over to another day. They are utterly mad who say these things; for Christ is not made different, nor is His holy body changed, but the power of the blessing and the life-giving grace is uninterrupted in Him" (Jurgens §2139). With the passage of time it was possible to clarify the nature of the actual event that the blessing incurs; Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
in 1202 explained that "among the opinions mentioned that is judged the more probable which asserts that the water with the wine is changed into blood" in reference to the mingling of water with the wine at the Mass (Dz §416). By 1415 Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...
affirmed that "the material substance of bread and ... wine [no longer] remain" (Dz §581), also addressed by St. Thomas in the Summa e.g. III 75 4. This can be seen to be but a clarification in observing the great care, from the earliest date, taken to preserve every particle of Eucharist, e.g. Tertullian, 211
211
Year 211 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Terentius and Bassus...
: "We take anxious care lest something of our Cup or Bread should fall upon the ground" (Jurgens §367). In other words, it was plainly assumed that the transformation of the Bread and Cup was total. Issues surrounding clarifications of this kind raise an important point: Catholic theology posits that a shepherd is necessary, and mandated by Jesus (Jn
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
21:15, 16, 17) in a thrice-repeated statement to "Feed my lambs/sheep": St. Clement I, ca. 99
99
Year 99 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Palma and Senecio...
: "Indeed you will give joy and gladness to us, if having become obedient to what we have written through the Holy Spirit, you will cut out the unlawful application of your zeal according to the exhortation which we have made in this epistle concerning peace and union" (Dz §41). The consecrating minister must be one who is correctly ordained, through that shepherd. Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
, 1208: "[H]owever honest, religious, holy, and prudent anyone may be, he cannot nor ought he to consecrate the Eucharist nor to perform the sacrifice of the altar unless he be a priest, regularly ordained by a visible and perceptible bishop" (Dz §424). St. Ignatius of Antioch, ca. 110
110
Year 110 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Priscinus and Scipio...
: "Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop, or by one whom he appoints" (Jurgens §65). The consecrated hosts are not merely changed permanently into Eucharist, but are due the worship of latria
Latria
Latrīa is a Latin term used in Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic theology to mean adoration, a reverence directed only to the Holy Trinity. Latria carries an emphasis on the internal form of worship, rather than external ceremonies.-Catholic teachings:In Catholic teachings, latria also applies...
. Pope Julius III
Pope Julius III
Pope Julius III , born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was Pope from 7 February 1550 to 1555....
, 1551: "There is, therefore, no room left for doubt that all the faithful of Christ in accordance with a custom always received in the Catholic Church offer in veneration the worship of latria which is due to the true God, to this most Holy Sacrament" (Dz §878).
Alleged origins in mystery religions
Some scholars note a similarity between the idea of feeding on the life-force of a mystical entity characteristic of the central rites of Graeco-Roman and Near-Eastern mystery religionsGreco-Roman mysteries
Mystery religions, sacred Mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious cults of the Greco-Roman world, participation in which was reserved to initiates....
, and claim that this is the context in which the acts and ordinances of Jesus and his apostles came to be memorialized. Although Christian authorities made no reference whatever to the purported mystical benefits of flesh-eating and blood-drinking that were proclaimed by proponents of cannibalism and of animal sacrifices among the mystery cults
Greco-Roman mysteries
Mystery religions, sacred Mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious cults of the Greco-Roman world, participation in which was reserved to initiates....
who promoted Omophagy and the ritual eating of raw flesh and organs of conquered leaders to absorb their power, they taught that the Christian "unbloody mysteries" (cf. Basil the Great, John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
, Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
, Theses of Bonn) convey actual divine benefits. The scholars in question consider this comparison grounds for saying that Christianity presents the vestiges of ancient ritualistic cannibalism transferred into modern times.
This theory is rejected in Catholic Eucharistic theology. In fact, Christianity and the Eucharistic rite began not among people who believed in or practised the mystery religions, but within Judaism: the first Christians were all Jews. Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
's 57 AD First Letter to the Corinthians , written little more than thirty years after the death of Jesus, and the Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
present the rite of "the Lord's supper" or "the breaking of bread" as dating from the very beginning of Christianity, when Christianity was still an entirely Jewish phenomenon, even before Gentiles, initially from among "the God-fearing" (a term used for Gentile
Gentile
The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
s who attended Jewish synagogue services but held back from becoming full-scale proselyte
Proselyte
The biblical term "Proselyte", derives from the Koine Greek προσήλυτος/proselytos, as used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the New Testament for a convert to Judaism from Paganism...
s), were accepted as members of the Christian community. These writings, which are the earliest evidence about the rite of the Eucharist, thus indicate that these Christians believed they were continuing an already traditional reenactment of something that Jesus did and said at his last supper, and not performing a rite newly adapted from paganism, to which the same writings show they were strongly opposed. In fact, in , Paul cites precisely the Eucharistic rite as a reason for refusing to have anything to do with the idolatry and sacrifices of the pagans.
Union with God
Ignatius of AntiochIgnatius of Antioch
Ignatius of Antioch was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology...
(c 110
110
Year 110 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Priscinus and Scipio...
) called the Eucharist "the medicine of immortality, the antidote we take in order not to die but to live for ever in Jesus Christ" (Letter to the Ephesians, 20:2b). There are many related conclusions that flow naturally within Roman Catholic theology from the historical understanding of the Eucharist, which have deeply influenced the spirituality exhibited by many centuries of Christians. The following are all spiritual points of view that stem from the belief that Jesus is truly, really, and substantially present in the Eucharist:
- that he will feed man with his own flesh and blood
- that he, as food, is left so we will not fall through weariness (recall that Jesus stumbles on the way to Calvary)
- that Jesus is the perfection of the type of the seder supper, the true Passover lamb, true flesh and blood
- by washing the disciples' feet shortly before instituting the Eucharist he showed us perfect charity that should be the fruit of the Sacrament
- as Mary prayed to perpetually adore the Word made Flesh within her, so we will adore the Flesh within us at Holy Communion
- Mary teaches us to unite ourselves to Our Lord
- with Christ we are blessed to enjoy true interpenetration: "He Himself is in us by his flesh and we are in him" (St Hilary in Gabriel)
- we are made part of the living vine (JnGospel of JohnThe Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
15:1-4) - in Holy Communion we have physical union with Christ
- nourished by the Eucharist we live by Christ as Christ lives by the Father alone
- as Jesus lives for the glory of the Father so should the communicant live only for the glory of Jesus
- to receive worthily we must not only receive the sacrament of confession but we must also be well disposed to the Eucharist, enlarging our hearts with love for what it is
- the humility he teaches us is exemplified in his own very humble way of coming to us under the forms of bread and wine
- God loves us so much, despite our fallen nature, that he performs this miracle of transubstantiation at every Mass, to give us a chance to return to him and be part of the true vine
These and many more besides are points of spiritual theology that have been spoken by the saints and expounded in books for spiritual guidance. Belief in the Real Presence is key to the Roman Catholic conception of progression in prayer life along the purgative way to the illuminative and unitive ways (see prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
). The seven Sacraments, as a group, are "seven springs of life", springs in the progression toward union with God. "First of all, the initial sacrament that sows the seeds of eternity, Baptism.... The Eucharist feeds the holy growth with a substance which is none other than the very substance of the Son of God and the Son of man, the sovereign food of the divine life and of the human life in the Christian, since Jesus Christ has the fullness of the divine life and the human life.... The sacraments produce sacramental grace. What is this grace? It is a right, founded on sanctifying grace, and in virtue of which I can demand and receive at the proper time the help of actual grace.... If only I knew how to preserve these rights and to fall back upon them! Assuredly, if God gives them me, it is not for me to neglect them" (Tissot). Thus, through the twentieth century, Roman Catholic theology and spirituality yet teaches us that Jesus Christ in the Eucharist has meaning for us as individuals, a theme elaborated especially well by Dietrich von Hildebrand in Transformation in Christ.
Prayers
Many prayers exist within Roman Catholic spiritual life, reflecting on the dogma of the Eucharist. From St. Thomas: Sit, Jesu dulcissime, sacratissimum Corpus tuum et Sanguis, dulcedo et suavitas animae meae,... (Sweetest Jesus, Body and Blood most holy, be the delight and pleasure of my soul...). Also: "Not through any merit of my own, but only through the goodness of Your mercy, You have considered me — a sinner, a useless servant — worthy to be nourished with the precious Body and Blood of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ." The Pater NosterLord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
contains the important line, "Give us this day our daily bread." Here the word "daily" is used to translate the Greek word epiousios
Epiousios
Epiousios is a Greek word used in the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke . The word is not found elsewhere in Classical Greek literature. The term was rendered as cotidianum in the Vetus Latina and revised to supersubstantialem in...
. But "daily bread" can also be translated "supersubstantial bread" (as found in some Bible translations and in some prayers such as the "Prayer of St. Bonaventure" which begins: "Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul..."). The Catholic Mass is offered daily, as are Eastern Orthodox communions. The active liturgical life of the Catholic faith is a key element in the theology of the Eucharist. At the Mass, it is prayed, Perceptio Corporis tui, Domine Jesu Christe, quod ego indignus sumere praesumo, non mihi proveniat in judicium et condemnationem: sed pro tua pietate prosit mihi ad tutamentum mentis ot corporis, et ad medelam percipiendam... essentially meaning, 'though I am unworthy, I presume to receive Thy Body; may it not turn to my judgment and condemnation'. (The Mass is available in Latin in hundreds of locations worldwide.) The daily bread in this prayer given by Jesus
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
is a reference to the Eucharist according to many Church Fathers including St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
, St. Jerome
Saint Jerome
Saint Jerome is a Christian church father, best known for translating the Bible into Latin.Saint Jerome may also refer to:*Jerome of Pavia , Bishop of Pavia...
, and St. Cyprian
Cyprian
Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education...
of Carthage who in 251
251
Year 251 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Etruscus...
wrote: "As the prayer continues, we ask and say, 'Give us this day our daily bread.' ... And we ask that this bread be given us daily, so that we who are in Christ and daily receive the Eucharist as the food of salvation, may not, by falling into some more grievous sin and then in abstaining from communicating, be withheld from the heavenly Bread, and be separated from Christ's Body. ... He Himself warns us... (Jn
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
6:54)" (Jurgens §559). Cyprian again: "We can understand this petition [give us this day our daily bread] in a spiritual and in a literal sense. For in the divine plan both senses may help toward our salvation. For Christ is the bread of life; this bread does not belong to everyone, but is ours alone. When we say, our Father, we understand that he is the father of those who know him and believe in him. In the same way we speak of our daily bread, because Christ is the bread of those who touch his body" (Liturgy of the Hours, 1975, Vol. III, Eleventh Week, Thursday, Office of Readings, Second Reading, emphases added). From the very earliest Church, it is clear that the Pater Noster refers to the Eucharist in conjunction with traditional Christian belief (faith) that it is the body and blood of Jesus Christ.