Holy Trinity Parish El Dorado Hills, California
"The main purpose of this work is to trace elements of Eucharistic doctrine from the day our Lord Jesus Christ announced it for the first time in the synagogue in Capernaum (John, Chapter 6) down to our day." Rev. Roberto de la Vega, Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Eucharist Through The Centuries.
16th-century fresco depicting the Council of Nicaea - Sistine Chapel
The First Ecumenical Council of Nicea 325
With persecution unleashed by the Roman Emperors to keep paganism the State religion, the early years of the fourth century were difficult years for the Church. The persecutions finally came to an end in 313 by the order of Emperor Constantine.
Though the persecutions were over, the Church had a new threat, the heresy of Arianism. Named after Arius, a priest from Egypt, who believed that Jesus was not really God, but only like God and the greatest creature that God created.
The first ecumenical council of Nicea in 325 was called to settle the issue of Arianism. Saint Athanasius of Alexandria would lead the discussion at the Council on the divinity of Christ. The Council refuted the Arian heresy with an expansion to the Apostles' Creed which became the Nicean Creed and specifically clarified the divinity of Christ, that he is truly God and of the same substance or nature of God the Father.
Eusebius of Caesarea (died 340)
Eusebius was Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine from about 313 to 340. Because of his 10 books entitled "Ecclesiastical History," Eusebius is known as the Father of Church History. Here are some of the things Eusebius said about the Eucharist:
"We who live on the earth are made partakers of the bread that came down from heaven and of the Word (Christ) who emptied himself...He will be able to delight in the Lord, he who is purified in the affections of his soul, so that he can eat the living bread and the life-giving flesh and drink his saving blood. Having been nourished and strengthened with these, he rejoices in divine rapture."
"We celebrate our Pasch every Sunday, we are always filled with the body of the Savior, we always partake of the blood of the Lamb, and the Gospel wants us to do this not only once a year but always and daily."
"We mark the lintels of our souls with the blood of the Lamb that has been sacrificed for us in order to make our mortal enemy (Satan) flee from us."
Saint Athanasius (died 373)
Saint Athanasius was the Bishop who defended Christ's divinity during the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea. Here are some of his writings on the Eucharist:
"Now we do not offer a material lamb but the true Lamb, which was immolated, our Lord Jesus Christ...Then the Jews celebrated the feast of the Pasch with the meal of the flesh of an irrational lamb, and they warded off the (angel) exterminator with branches dipped in the blood of the Paschal lamb. But now we eat the Word of the Father (God the Son), and we sign the lips of our hearts with the blood of the New Testament."
"Let us pray that we do not eat the Pasch unworthily, so as not to be entangled in the danger. The Pasch will truly be heavenly food for those who celebrate the Feast with purity; but for those who are impure and indifferent it will be danger and shame. Because it is written: 'He who eats and drinks unworthily will be guilty of the death of the Lord' (1 Co. 11:27). Therefore in order not to approach the celebration of the festival rite without preparation, and in order to be worthy to approach the divine Lamb and taste the heavenly foods, let us purify our hands, cleanse our body, and have our conscience free from all deception."
"'The words which I have spoken to your are spirit and life' (John 6:63), as if he were to say that what is seen and what is given for the salvation of the world is the flesh which I carry; and this same flesh with its blood I shall give you spiritually as nourishment, so that in this way it is distributed spiritually to each one, and is for all of you a defense for the resurrection to eternal life."
"You will see the deacons who bring the bread and chalice with wine and place them on the altar. And as long as prayers and invocations are not finished, it is only bread and chalice. But once the great and admirable prayers are finished, then the bread becomes the body and the chalice the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, let us come to an understanding of the mysteries, this bread and this chalice, as long as the prayers and invocations have not been made, are only bread and chalice, but as soon as the great prayers and holy invocations are said, the Word (God the Son) descends to the bread and chalice, and they become his body."
Saint Ephraem (died 373)
Saint Ephraem was from Mesopotamia what is now Iraq. He was a deacon all his adult life.
Saint Ephraem on the Eucharist:
"Brothers, in the waters of baptism you put on white garments. Do not stain your garments with sinful works. Behold, you sit at a banquet, which is the holy Church, in it you eat the living body and drink the propitiatory blood. He who sits at this banquet and delights in these pleasures, and at the same time does evil and sins woe to him on the day of the resurrection. On that day when the King will come to glory to establish his throne of judgment, he will sit on his throne to take vengeance and to judge the peoples...and on that day a thousand woes to him who on Sunday neglects Christ immolated and sits in the plaza."
"It is you, O Lord, that we eat, and it is you that we drink, not in a way that we annihilate you, but so that we live for you."
Julius Firmicus Maernus (died after 348)
Maternus was a layman and convert from paganism who wrote around 348.
"There is another food that gives health and life, another food that really commends man to God and returns him to God, another food that strengthens the weak, calls back those who stray, lifts the fallen, and gives to the dying signs of eternal immortality. Seek the bread and the chalice of Christ, so that, having overcome earthly weakness, the substance of man maybe fed with immortal food. This divine bread is given to the baptized by God."
St. Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310-367)
Born of pagan parents, St. Hilary of Poitiers lived in France and was an orator and philosopher. His writings on the Trinity earned him the title of Doctor and Father of the Church. Here is what he writes on the Eucharist.
"Now if the Word (God the Son) really was made flesh, and if by taking the Lord's food we truly receive the Word made flesh, then how can He not be expected to remain in us naturally? For when he was born man, he took to himself in an inseparable way the nature of our flesh, and he joined the nature of his flesh with his eternal nature in the sacrament in which he was to give us his flesh...The flesh in which the eternal Work, the Son of God, was born remains among us through the sacrament...Give us this day our daily bread."
St. Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386)
St. Cyril wrote about what Mass was like and how to receive Communion in Jerusalem in 348.
"On another occasion with one of his miracles he (Christ) changed water into wine in Cana of Galilee, and are we not to believe when he changes wine into his blood?"
"With no doubt whatsoever we partake of the body and blood of Christ; for in the form of bread his body is given to you, and in the form of wine his blood is given to you, so that having partaken of the body and blood of Christ, you become concorporate and consanguine with him. In this way we become bearers (carriers) of Christ, as his body and blood are distributed through the members of our body. And so, according to Blessed Peter (2 Peter 1:4) we are made sharers (partakers) in the divine nature."
"Do not take them for mere bread and mere wine, because they are the body and blood of Christ according to the solemn affirmation of the Lord. Now although the senses suggest to you that it is mere bread and wine, yet faith must convince you. In this matter do not judge according to taste, but according to the faith. Believe firmly without a doubt that you have been made worthy of the body and blood of Christ."
"Now when you approach do not approach with the palms of our hands stretched out nor with your fingers separated, but make you left hand a throne for your right, as if the right was to receive a king; and with the hollow of your hand receive the body of Christ, while you answer the Amen."
St. Ambrose (c. 340-397)
St. Ambrose was born in Treves in what is today Germany. He became the Bishop of Milan in northern Italy, and the Church declared him a Father and Doctor of the Church. The most famous of all his converts was St. Augustine of Hippo. Here are some of St. Ambrose's writings and sayings:
"Where Peter (the Pope) is, there is the Church."
"Christ is for me, food; Christ is for me, drink. The flesh of God is food for me; and the blood of God is drink for me. Now for my fill I do not wait for the annual harvests, since Christ is served to me every day."
"Receive daily that which is of daily benefit to you. Live in such a way that you are worthy to receive it every day."
"Who is the author of the sacraments but he Lord Jesus? From heaven came the sacraments...this bread is bread before the sacramental words; but once it receives the consecration, from bread it is made the flesh of Christ...once the moment arrives in which the venerable sacrament is confected (made present), the priest no longer speaks with his own words, but uses the words of Christ. Therefore, it is the word of Christ that confects this sacrament. Now what is the word of Christ? That word with which everything has been made. The Lord gave the order and heaven was made; the Lord gave the order and the earth was made; the Lord gave the order and the seas were made; the Lord gave the order and every creature was produced. Just look what power the word of Christ has. And if there is so much power in the word of the Lord Jesus that there began to be what before did not exist, how much more powerful is his word to change things that already exist into something else?"
"It is not, therefore, in vain that you say 'Amen' confessing in spirit that you receive the body of Christ. When you approach, the priest says to you, 'Body of Christ,' and you say 'Amen,' that is, 'It is true.' What your tongue confesses retain in your consent."
St. Basil the Great (330-379)
The following three Saints are know as the Cappadocian Fathers: St. Basil the Great, his friend St. Gregory of Nanziansus and his brother St. Gregory of Nyssa. All three are recognized as Doctors of the Church and defenders of the faith against Arianism. St. Basil and his brother spoke at length about the Eucharist, St. Gregory Nazianus spoke only in passing about the Eucharist.
Here are some of St. Basil's words:
"Now it is necessary not to be doubting the things the Lord says, but on the contrary to convince one's self that every word of God is true and possible, even though it be contrary to nature, because here is precisely the battleground of the faith."
"Partaking of the body and blood of Christ is likewise necessary for eternal life. As Christ said, 'Amen, amen, I say to you: If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.'"
"He who approaches Communion without considering that there is given to him a partaking of the body and blood of Christ receives no benefit from it; and he who receives unworthily is condemned."
St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 - 395)
St. Gregory of Nyssa was the youngest brother of St. Basil. Here are some of St. Gregory of Nyssa's words:
"Jesus says, 'My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.' Now he who loves this flesh is no friend of his own flesh; and he who loves this blood will not be guilty of natural blood. Because the flesh of the Word (Christ) and the blood that is in the flesh do not have an ordinary grace; but they are pleasing to those who taste them, appetizing to those who desire them, and attractive to those who love them."
"The bread at first is ordinary, but once the mystery consecrates it, it is called and becomes the body of Christ. Likewise, the holy oil and the wine, although things of small value before the blessing, after the sanctification brought about by the Holy Spirit each of these things produces marvelous results."
St. John Chrysostom (c. 344-407)
St. John Chrysostom was the first in the history of the Church to be given the title, "Doctor of the Eucharist."
Here are some of the writings and sermons of St. John Chrysostom:
"They dare to approach negligently and distractedly this table (altar) on feast days without considering that the time to receive Communion does not depend on the feast day...but on a pure conscience and a life withdrawn from all mortal sin...Therefore I exhort all of you not to participate in the divine mysteries negligently, as if obliged by the feast;...but purify yourselves many days before by penance, prayer, almsgiving, and spiritual exercises; and do not return to what you have cast off, as do the dogs."
"Do not be fainthearted, do not cry, do not fear the difficult times. For he who did not refuse to shed his own blood for everyone and even made us partakers of his body and blood, what will he refuse to do for our salvation? Take heart, therefore, with this hope. Let us call on him continually and give ourselves to prayer and supplication."
On missing Mass through one's own fault: "When the priest said, 'Lift up your thoughts and your hearts,' did you not make him a promise when you said, 'We have them lifted up to the Lord?' Are you not embarrassed and ashamed to be found a liar at that hour (of Mass)?...The mystical supper is prepared, and the Lamb of God is immolated for you; the priest is greatly concerned about you; spiritual fire shoots out from the sacred table (altar); the Cherubim are present; the Seraphim fly round about; the angels with six wings cover their faces; all the spiritual Virtues together with the priest intercedes for you; the spiritual fire (God) descends from heaven; the blood is poured out from the immaculate side into the chalice for your purification and you, have you no fear and no shame to be found a liar at that tremendous hour?"
"A week has one hundred and sixty-eight hours, and God set aside only one for himself; and you use that hour to do works that are profane and silly...With what confidence can you later approach the mysteries (Communion)? If you have filth on our hand, would you dare touch the hem of a garment of an earthly king? By no means."
"We become one body with Christ and members of his flesh and blood. Let the baptized follow this thought. Well now, so that we come to be that (one body with Christ) not only through love but also in reality, let us commingle ourselves with that flesh of his. For this is what is brought about through that food that he gave us, when he wished to give us a proof of the burning love he has for us. For that reason he commingles himself with us, puts his own body in us as ferment, so that we come to form a unit with him, just as a body is united with its head."
"Christ is whole and entire, not only under each form or species of bread and wine, but also in each particle after the species is divided."
"So too we are mutually united to one another and to Christ. Now you do not feed on one body and your neighbor on another, but we all feed on the same body. Therefore Paul adds, 'We partake of one and the same bread.'"
"This body, which death could not hold, is the body that he gives to us to hold and eat. In that we have a proof of his intense love...And so Christ lets us fill ourselves with his flesh, and thus brings us into greater friendship."
"Now see how intimately Christ has been united to his spouse (Church); see with what food he satisfies us. He himself is our food and nourishment; and just as a women nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, Christ also constantly nourishes with his own blood those to whom he has given birth (by baptism)."
Lord God, look kindly on all who put their trust in our prayers and fill them with every bodily and spiritual grace.
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