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St. Ignatius of Antioch, ca. A.D. 110
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. (Letter to
Romans 7:3)
Take care, then, to use one Eucharist, so that whatever you do, you do according
to God: For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup in the
union of His blood; one altar, as there is one bishop with the presbytery...
(Letter to Philadelphians 4:1)
They [the Gnostics] abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they
do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ,
flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in his goodness,
raised up again. (Letter to Smyrn 7:1)
St. Justin Martyr, ca A.D. 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 and who has been washed in the washing which
is for the remission of sins and for regeneration [being born again in Baptism],
and is thereby living as Christ has enjoined. 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 blood of that incarnate
Jesus. (First Apology 66)
Moreover, as I said before, concerning the sacrifices which you at that time
offered, God speaks through Malachi [1:10-12]...It is of the sacrifices offered
to Him in every place by us, the Gentiles, that is, of the bread of the Eucharist
and likewise of the cup of the Eucharist, that He speaks at that time; and
He says that we glorify His name, while you profane it. (Dialogue with Trypho
41)
St. Irenaeus, ca A.D. 140-202
He took from among
creation that which is bread, and gave thanks, saying This is My body." The
cup likewise, which is from among the creation to which we belong, He confessed
to be His blood. (Against Heresies 4:17:5)
But what consistency is there in those who hold that the bread over which
thanks have been given is the body of their Lord, and the cup His blood,
if they do not acknowledge that He is the Son of the Creator... How can they
say that the flesh which has been nourished by the body of the Lord and by
His blood gives way to corruption and does not partake of life? ...For as
the bread from the earth, receiving the invocation of God, is no longer common
bread but the Eucharist, consisting of two elements, earthly and heavenly...
(Against Heresies 4:18:4-5)
If the body be not saved, then, in fact, neither did the Lord redeem us with
His Blood; and neither is the cup of the Eucharist the partaking of His blood
nor is the bread which we break the partaking of His body... He has declared
the cup, a part of creation, to be His own blood, from which He causes our
blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, He has established us as
His own body, from which He gives increase to our bodies. When, therefore,
the mixed cup 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...receiving the Word of God, becomes the
Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ... (Against Heresies 5:2:2-3)
Tertullian, ca A.D. 155-250
The flesh feeds
on the body and blood of Christ, so that the soul too may fatten on God.
(Resurrection of the Dead 8:3)
The Sacrament of the Eucharist, which the Lord commanded to be taken at meal
times and by all, we take even before daybreak in congregations... We take
anxious care lest something of our Cup or Bread should fall upon the ground...
(The Crown 3:3-4)
Origen, ca. A.D. 185-254
We give thanks
to the Creator of all, and, along with thanksgiving and prayer for the blessings
we have received, we also eat the bread presented to us; and this bread becomes
by prayer a sacred body, which sanctifies those who sincerely partake of
it. (Against Celsus 8:33)
You are accustomed to take part in the divine mysteries, so you know how,
when you have received the body of the Lord, you reverently exercise every
care lest a particle of it fall, and lest anything of the consecrated gift
perish... how is it that you think neglecting the word of God a lesser crime
than neglecting His body? (Homilies on Exodus 13:3)
Formerly there was baptism in an obscure way . . . now, however, in full
view, there is regeneration in water and in the Holy Spirit. 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 6:56]" (Homilies on
Numbers 7:2).
St. Clement of Alexandria, ca. A.D. 150-216
Calling her children
about her, she [the Church] nourishes them with holy milk, that is, with
the Infant Word...The Word is everything to a child: both Father and Mother,
both Instructor and Nurse. "Eat My flesh," He says, "and drink My blood."
The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutriments. He delivers over His
flesh amd pours out His blood; and nothing is lacking for the growth of His
children. O incredible mystery! (Instructor of Children 1:6:42,1,3)
St. Cyprian of Carthage, ca A.D. 200-258
He Himself warns
us, saying, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood
you shall not have life in you." Therefore do we ask that our Bread, which
is Christ, be given to us daily, so that we who abide and live in Christ
may not withdraw from His sanctification and from His Body. (The Lord's Prayer
18)
St. Aprahat, ca A.D. 280-345
After having spoken
thus ["This is My body, This is My blood"], the Lord rose up from the place
where He had made the Passover and had given His Body as food and His Blood
as drink, and He went with His disciples to the place where He was to be
arrested. But He ate of His own Body and drank of His own Blood, while He
was pondering on the dead. With His own hands the Lord presented His own
Body to be eaten, and before He was crucified He gave His blood as drink...
(Treatises 12:6)
St. Ephraim the Syrian, ca. A.D. 306-373
Our Lord Jesus
took in His hands what in the beginning was only bread; and He blessed it,
and signed it, and made it holy in the name of the Father and in the name
of the Spirit; and He broke it and in His gracious kindness He distributed
it to all His disciples one by one. He called the bread His living Body,
and did Himself fill it with Himself and the Spirit. And extending His hand,
He gave them the Bread which His right hand had made holy: "Take, all of
you eat of this, which My word has made holy. 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. One particle
from its crumbs is able to sanctify thousands and thousands, and is sufficient
to afford life to those who eat of it. Take, eat, entertaining no doubt of
faith, because this is My Body, and whoever eats it in belief eats in it
Fire and Spirit. But if any doubter eat of it, for him it will be only bread.
And whoever eats in belief the Bread made holy in My name, if he be pure,
he will be preserved in his purity; and if he be a sinner, he will be forgiven."
But if anyone despise it or reject it or treat it with ignominy, it may be
taken as a certainty that he treats with ignominy the Son, who called it
and actually made it to be His Body.
After the disciples had eaten the new and holy Bread, and when they understood
by faith that they had eaten of Christ's body, Christ went on to explain
and to give them the whole Sacrament. He took and mixed a cup of wine. Then
He blessed it, and signed it, and made it holy, declaring that it was His
own Blood, which was about to be poured out...Christ commanded them to drink,
and He explained to them that the cup which they were drinking was His own
Blood: "This is truly My Blood, which is shed for all of you. Take, all of
you, drink of this, because it is a new covenant in My Blood. As you have
seen Me do, do you also in My memory. Whenever you are gathered together
in My name in Churches everywhere, do what I have done, in memory of Me.
Eat My Body, and drink My Blood, a covenant new and old." (Homilies 4:4;
4:6)
St. Athanasius, ca. A.D. 295-373
You shall see the
Levites bringing loaves and a cup of wine, and placing them on the table.
So long as the prayers of supplication and entreaties have not been made,
there is only bread and wine. But after the great and wonderful prayers have
been completed, then the bread is become the Body, and the wine the Blood,
of our Lord Jesus Christ... Let us approach the celebration of the mysteries.
This bread and this wine, so long as the prayers and supplications have not
taken place, remain simply what they are. But after the great prayers and
holy supplications have been sent forth, the Word comes down into the bread
and wine -- and thus is His Body confected. (Sermon to the Newly Baptized,
from Eutyches)
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, ca. A.D. 350
For just as the
bread and the wine of the Eucharist before the holy invocation of the adorable
Trinity were simple bread and wine, but the invocation having been made,
the bread becomes the Body of Christ and the wine the Blood of Christ...
(Catechetical Lectures 19 [Mystagogic 1], 7)
This one teaching of the blessed Paul is enough to give you complete certainty
about the Divine Mysteries, by your having been deemed worthy of which, you
have become united in body and blood with Christ. For Paul proclaimed clearly
that: "On the night in which He was betrayed, our Lord Jesus Christ, taking
bread and giving thanks, broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying: 'Take,
eat, This is My Body.' And taking the cup and giving thanks, He said, 'Take,
drink, This is My Blood.'" He Himself, therefore, having declared and said
of the Bread, "This is My Body," who will dare any longer to doubt? And when
He Himself has affirmed and said, "This is My Blood," who can ever hesitate
and say it is not His Blood? (22 [Mystagogic 4], 1)
Do not, therefore, regard the Bread and the Wine as simply that; for they
are, according to the Master's declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ.
Even though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm.
Do not judge in this matter by taste, but -- be fully assured by the faith,
not doubting that you have been deemed worthy of the Body and Blood of Christ.
(22 [Mystagogic 4], 6)
Then, having sanctified ourselves by these spiritual songs, we call upon
the benevolent God to send out the Holy Spirit upon the gifts which have
been laid out: that He may make the bread the Body of Christ, and the wine
the Blood of Christ; for whatsoever the Holy Spirit touches, that is sanctified
and changed. (23 [Mystagogic 5], 7)
St. Hilary of Poitiers, ca. A.D. 315 - 368
When we speak of
the reality of Christ's nature being in us, we would be speaking foolishly
and impiously -- had we not learned it from Him. For He Himself says: "My
Flesh is truly Food, and My Blood is truly Drink. He that eats My Flesh and
drinks My Blood will remain in Me and I in Him." As to the reality of His
Flesh and Blood, there is no room left for doubt, because now, both by the
declaration of the Lord Himself and by our own faith, it is truly Flesh and
it is truly Blood. And These Elements bring it about, when taken and consumed,
that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. Is this not true? Let those who
deny that Jesus Christ is true God be free to find these things untrue. But
He Himself is in us through the flesh and we are in Him, while that which
we are with Him is in God. (The Trinity 8:14)
St. Gregory of Nyssa, ca. A.D. 335 - 394
This Body, by the
indwelling of God the Word, has been made over to divine dignity. Rightly
then, do we believe that the bread consecrated by the word of God has been
made over into the Body of God the Word. For that Body was, as to its potency,
bread; but it has been consecrated by the lodging there of the Word, who
pitched His tent in the flesh. From the same cause, therefore, by which the
bread that was made over into that Body is made to change into divine strength,
a similar result now takes place. As in the former case, in which the grace
of the Word made holy that body the substance of which is from bread, and
in a certain manner is itself bread, so in this case too, the bread, as the
Apostle says, "is consecrated by God's word and by prayer"; not through its
being eaten does it advance to become the Body of the Word, but it is made
over immediately into the Body by means of the word, just as was stated by
the Word, "This is My Body!" ...In the plan of His grace He spreads Himself
to every believer by means of that Flesh, the substance of which is from
wine and bread, blending Himself with the bodies of believers, so that by
this union with the Immortal, man, too, may become a participant in incorruption.
St. Augustine
Christ was carried
in his own hands when, referring to his own body, he said, "This is my body"
[Matt. 26:26]. For he carried that body in his hands. (Explanations of the
Psalms 33:1:10).
That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word
of God, is the body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice,
having been sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ. (Sermons
227).
What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report
to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the
body of Christ and the chalice is the blood of Christ. This has been said
very briefly, which may perhaps be sufficient for faith; yet faith does not
desire instruction. (Sermons 272)..
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