The
Fathers Speak:
The Eucharist
The Eucharist
The most famous writings testifying to
the ancient belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist are probably
those by Sts. Ignatius
of Antioch and Justin
Martyr. However, many Fathers of the
Church testified to the ancient belief in this blessed Truth. Below are a few powerful but less famous
quotes:
When, therefore,
the mixed cup [wine and water] and the baked bread receives the Word of God and
becomes the Eucharist, the body of Christ, and from these the substance of our
flesh is increased and supported, how can they say that the flesh is not
capable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life-flesh which is
nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, and is in fact a member of him? – St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, circa A.D.
180
Formerly, in an
obscure way, there was manna for food; now, however, in full view, there is the
true food, the flesh of the Word of God, as he himself says: ‘My flesh is true
food, and my blood is true drink’ [John 6:55] – Origen, de principiis, early third
century
Then, having
sanctified ourselves by these spiritual hymns, we beseech the merciful God to
send forth his Holy Spirit upon the gifts lying before him, that he may make
the bread the Body of Christ and the wine the Blood of Christ, for whatsoever
the Holy Spirit has touched is surely sanctified and changed. – Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture
23, mid-fourth century
But yet all those
who ate that food died in the wilderness, but that food which you receive, that
living Bread which came down from heaven, furnishes the substance of eternal
life; and whosoever shall eat of this Bread shall never die, and it is the Body
of Christ. – St. Ambrose,
On the Mysteries A.D. 387
In that sacrament is Christ, because it is the
Body of Christ, it is therefore not bodily food but spiritual. – St. Ambrose, On the Mysteries, A.D. 387
