The Sacrament of Eucharist

by Prof. O.M Mathew Oruvattithara

The Seven Sacraments (Part 4) - The Sacrament of Eucharist 

13. The Sacrament of Eucharist-'Prior to the New Testament' 

"The 'Last Supper' of Lord Jesus was the first Eucharist", observes Rev. Liam Kelly. Since then, through thick and thin the Church has zealously carried out Christ's command to the Apostles, "Do this, in remembrance of me". St. Luke's Gospel 22:21 and St. Paul's Ist Ep. to Cor. 11:25, record these 'Words of Institution'. But, it is well to remember that, even before a single word of Paul's epistle or Gospels was written, the Sacrament of Eucharist had come to be ceremoniously observed by the Christian community. Therefore, it is antecedent or prior to the NT. Yet there should not be any misunderstanding that the Christians simply took over the sacrificial rite of the then prevailing Qumran or Essene sects. The Liturgical scholar Stegemann Hartmut poignantly points out, "there can be no question of the Eucharist having been celebrated at Qumran or of the Christians having taken it over from the Essenes". This is taken from his work 'The Library of Qumran'. 

14. 'Sacrament of Sacraments' 

If this Sacrament is the concluding event of Christ's public ministry, it is the inauguration of the public function of the Ecclesia. Through this Sacrament, the 'Preached Word' reaches its culmination. In other words, 'action' adds authenticity and provides ineffability to utterances. The Eucharist is evidently the primary Sacrament of the Primordial Sacrament, the Ecclesia. Naturally, the Church hails it, the 'Sacrament of the Sacraments' or the paradigm of all Sacraments. For, it is the Sacrament revealed by the Father, through the voice of the OT Prophet Malachi, incorporated by the Incarnate Son through the 'Words of Institution' and enlivened by the life-giving Spirit through His descent upon It in response to the invocation of the vicar of Christ. As for the Church, She draws Her vital energy through the 'grace' bestowed on this Sacrament by the Triune God. Assuredly, it is the abiding vitality in the life of the Ecclesia. As the Church received the Sacrament from the Lord, She bequeaths it as a hallowed treasure, to every succeeding generation for celebration and revitalisation. 

15. Different names - Eucharist as Thanksgiving 

The different names attributed to this Sacrament reflect the richness of it. To substantiate, the following facts may be glossed over. Initially it was celebrated as a ceremony of gratitude for what Jesus endured for mankind. Hence, the Apostles and the primitive Christians christened it in Greek, the 'Eucharist', denoting 'thanksgiving'. Even today the Christian Church has not given up this 'type' of thinking. In the Greek speaking East, the great prayer of 'thanksgiving' at the altar is called 'anaphora', which means offering or 'thing carried up' in sacrifice. In Roman use, the bread and wine set out for the thanksgiving are known 'oblata'. Its equivalent in Syrian usage contains many meanings. Offerings, Sacrifice, Prayer for the holy Qurbana or Mass are some of them. Besides being a thanksgiving, Eucharist is precisely a praise too. So far as the Church is concerned the connotation of the term, brings in a plethora of overtones. It is not a mere memorial of the words and acts of Jesus, who was entombed corporally centuries ago. The words 'do this' are deemed to be surcharged with sacrificial significance. This certainly is the conclusion from the contention of St. Paul. In fact, he sends out an awe-inspiring warning, when he forbids the unworthy from receiving the Eucharist, which is 'a spiritual banquet'. Conceded, that the Christians bring to their mind, in this Sacrament, all that transpired when Jesus lived. Nonetheless they are not the central points of the Eucharist. It is mainly a 're-enacting and a renewal' in the present, of the 'Christ-events'. The essential element in the Eucharist is not man's remembrance but commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection as found in I Cor:11. The Eucharist has an eschatological dimension too. So, the Parousia is extolled with steadfast hope and assured anticipation. In the 'Time Scale' the Eucharist unifies the past, present and the future. Differently put it is not a perfunctory giving of gratitude to a past event. It is rather, participation in 'grace-continuum' in the 'space-time continuum'. The result is that the sinner becomes sanctified and purified. St. Ephrem makes use of the imagery of the burning coal, to refer to the Eucharist. Obviously it is taken from the vision of the great prophet Isaiah. Though touched by the red hot coal, Isaiah's lips did not burn, rather he himself became purified and sanctified. Again, blessed with the 'gift of the inner eye' from the Eucharist, the mortal receives replies to the riddles of birth and death. Verily, death is dissolved and immortality is brought before the eyes of the humans, in the 'Eucharistic Sacrament'. This is the grand vision on the Eucharist, which all the saints have sung in ecstacy. The life of 'God's people' in the generations gone-by, and yet to come are spiritually integrated into one whole union, firstly with the life of the living generation and then as a communion with Christ. Proudly therefore, Ignatius of Antioch eulogises Eucharist as a 'bond' among Christians and a link with Christ. To St. Ephrem, Eucharist is the 'medicine for immortality'. St. Thomas A' Kempis extols Eucharist as the grace that restores strength for the soul. 

16. Eucharist as 'Holy Communion' 

More often than not, this Sacrament is hailed the 'Holy Communion'. Originally, it was a simple informal meal 'among the community of believers'. Still, right from the very beginning it was distinct from the 'agape' or love-feast, prevailing among certain other organisations and communities. The answer to the question how, is provided by the following contention. The 'bread and wine', the essential elements in the communal meal of Christians came to be regarded as 'holy', 'spiritual sustenance'. The real reason for this belief is that Jesus Himself is the fountain-head of this tradition of offering bread and wine, in perfect fulfilment of the pronouncement in prophet 'Malachi' 1:10. St. Paul has dwelt on this theme at length in one of his epistles. It is common knowledge that the original characteristics or sometimes acquired attributes of a thing, determines its nature. May be on the basis of this maxim, the 'Didache', the oldest extant liturgy of the Church, declares, "To us, thou has given spiritual food and drink through thy servant". The narration of the Most Rev. Sheehan in his book, 'The Sacrifice of the Mass' is quite fascinating. "The 'Bread' of the 'Last Supper' was indicated in the very name of the town where Christ was born. Bethlehem means the House or Home of Bread. The 'Wine' of the 'Last Supper' was spoken of by the ancient Jewish Patriarch Jacob. On his death bed, he delivered the sublimest message to his son Judah".... that from him would be descended the Messiah who would wash his robe in 'wine' and his garment in the blood of the grape". The basis of Sheehan's surmise is found in Gen. 49:8-11. Reference must also be made to what Dr. J.S. Whale brings out through a lecture that he delivered at the Cambridge University, during the Michaelmas of 1940. He opines that mankind has attempted more than once to alter the 'constitutive elements' of the Eucharist. In support, he says that the evidences of the catacombs suggest that the Eucharist of the early Church was celebrated with fish, perhaps as a thanksgiving of Christ's feeding of the five thousand. The Kollyridians, a Christian community of the fourth century, used something like cheese-cakes. Much later, a Protestant sect, called Mennonites in Frisia, a part of Germany, practised mutual feet-washing, as celebration of the Eucharist, in deference to the writ of Jesus as recorded in the moving words of St. John's Gospel 13. A heretical sect, used 'aqua' or water instead of wine, and thus they earned the nickname 'Aquarians'. Yet, Dr. Whale correctly concludes that 'bread and wine' 'the original elements are what which are used by the Church, even today. No doubt, the more the things change the more they remain the same. When these elements receive the grace of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharistic celebration, they are no longer 'bread and wine'. Apparently they remain so, but in reality, they have become 'heavenly' 'Bread and Wine'. In other words, by some 'mystery' of the Eucharist, they turn out into the 'body and blood' of Christ, the Saviour. To put it precisely, the sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist eclipsed the concept of Eucharist as a communal meal and established It as the 'holy communion'. At this juncture, it is to be recalled that the exaggerated stress in the Roman Catholic Church, on the social aspect of the Eucharist is corrected by the Encyclical 'Mysterium fideii', promulgated in 1965, by Pope Paul VI. 

17. Eucharist as Sacrifice 

By the close of the 1st century, if not earlier, Christians began to revere the Eucharist as a Sacrifice and Feast of the Saviour Jesus. It was hailed, 'hallowed, mysterious and unique', because, Jesus Himself was the Sacrificer and the Sacrifice, or the giver of the Feast and the Feast itself. The 'Didache', the earliest document of the 'Teachings of the Lord through the twelve Apostles', applies the appellation 'sacrifice' to the 'Eucharist'. Ancient Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, Clement of Rome, Justin the Martyr, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Irenaeus, etc. considered Eucharist to be a sacred sacrifice. The observation of Marcel Metzger, in the Book 'History of the Liturgy' is worth quoting. "The oldest description of the Eucharistic celebration is in the 'First Apology' of St. Justin". From the 'Apologia', that Justin sent to the then Roman Emperor, about A.D. 200, the following points can be picked. In the sacrificial service of the Eucharist, there were Bible readings, Offertory, Liturgy and Communion. 'Apostolic Tradition' of Hippolytus contains the earliest elaborate Eucharistic prayer, now extant. By the 3rd century, the ritualistic and sacrificial aspect became more formalistic. This was given official confirmation, with emperor Theodocius making Christianity the state religion. Another significant development also took place almost at this time. Eucharistic sacrifice became what is called, 'Leitourgia' in Greek, signifying a service in the name of or on behalf of the people. 'Liturgy' was celebrated by bishops and priests. The congregation, attended and watched rather than 'participated'. 'Seeing' the sacrifice silently till the words of dismissal in Latin, 'Ite missa est', were announced, became the norm. The word 'Mass' that is used to signify the Eucharistic sacrifice, is actually formed from the above quoted phrase. About the year 500 A.D, King Gundolald of Burgandy asked in a letter to Bishop Avitus of Vienna as to the meaning of the phrase. The Bishop replied that it was a common usage in the courts and cathedrals and it meant "go, the congregation is dismissed". Feeling of fright and fear were instilled by the declarations of Cyril of Jerusalem and John Chrysostom. While the former spoke of the 'presence of Jesus' in the Eucharist 'as the most terrifying hour' the latter depicted the 'table of sacrifice', as a place of 'terror and shuddering'. Cyprian expatiates on the 'terrifying consequences' of desecrating the Sacrament. The hymns of Ephrem and the misals written by many Church Fathers too, had this effect on the minds of the congregations. For Irenaeus, the Eucharist is the 'new oblation of the new covenant' which the Ecclesia was privileged to receive through the Apostles, and subsequently offer to God. A superstition that after 'seeing the Eucharist, a person would not die on that day', also chanced to crop up in the minds of men. Perhaps, the fall out of too much of awe! An interesting episode is narrated by Rev. Fr. Liam Kelly, in the article 'Story of the Mass'. Back-benchers who could not 'see' the celebration, used to shout to the officiating priest 'Higher, Sir, Higher'. 

18. Structure of the Eucharist 

The Eucharist is said to consist of two parts, the Offertory and the Oblation. This feature has historic roots. Offertory denoted the bread and wine, that the people used to bring to the church in the early periods as offerings. Or better, they may be styled symbols of their 'lives'. They were treated as 'life-symbols' because, the bread made of wheat, was the staple food and wine extracted from grapes was the main drink. Together they sustained human life. The congregation used to 'offer', these, in response to hearing the 'glad' news or the 'gospel' as it was called, or the 'Evangelion' as referred to by the Greek term. The priest then took these 'symbols of lives' to the sanctum, offered them at the altar, to be incorporated in the body of Christ, Who was supposed to be present mystically. The priest here 'acts' as Christ, who invites every one to His Table, where He is the host of the Feast as well as the Feast itself. The priest now performed the second part of the Eucharist, namely Oblation. The core of the Oblation is the 'breaking of the bread' or the 'fraction ceremony' as it is called in Liturgical language. Christ is made known to the congregation through 'fraction ceremony' and distributing Him in 'Holy Communion'. The whole 'act', thus viewed, gets a new dimension. The congregation, as part and parcel of the Ecclesia, which is the mystical body of Chirst, is joined to the head, Christ Himself through the 'offerings'. Christ and the congregation, together then perform the Sacrifice. The congregation thus 'participates' in the sacrificial act. The entire act becomes a 'holy Oblation of the whole Church'. Christ intercedes as the priest, and receives the Oblation as King and Lord. This is the mystery of the Eucharist. The description by Gregory Dix, the great authority on Liturgy, in his classical work.' The Shape of the Liturgy' is to be incorporated here. He says that originally the celebration of the Eucharist comprised of a scheme of seven different actions. "At the Last Supper, our Lord took bread; gave thanks over it; broke it, distributed it; He took a cup of wine, gave thanks over it; and handed it to His disciples". Dix continues, "the liturgical tradition reduced these seven actions to four; the offertory, bread and wine are taken together and together are placed on the altar; prayer of thanksgiving, the presiding official gives 'thanks' to God over bread and wine together; the fraction, the bread is broken; and the communion, bread and wine are distributed together". 


Next: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS - (PART 5) - Theories on Eucharist 
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Published with the permission of the Author. This web site may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the author. This book was first published in December 2001 -- Moran 'Etho Series No.16 --Publishers:- ST. EPHREM ECUMENICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (SEERI) Baker Hill, Kottayam, Kerala, India. Pin- 686 001