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| The Last Supper the Institution of the Holy Eucharist |
The
Bread of Heaven
and
the Cup of Salvation
St. Cyril of Jerusalem 313-386 A.D.
Early Church Father and Doctor of the Church
From the Jerusalem Catecheses
On the night He was
betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when He had given thanks, He
broke it and gave it to His disciples and said: “Take, eat: this is my body.” He took the cup, gave thanks and said: “Take
drink: this is my blood.”
Since Christ Himself has declared the bread to be
His body, who can have any further doubt?
Since He Himself has said quite categorically, This is my blood, who would dare to question it and say that it is
not His blood?
Therefore, it is with complete assurance that we receive the
bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ.
His body is given to us under the symbol of bread, and his blood is
given to us under the symbol of wine, in order to make us by receiving them one
body and blood with Him. Having His
body and blood in our members, we become bearers of Christ and sharers, as
Saint Peter says, in the divine nature.
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| Christ speaking to His Disciples |
Once, when speaking to the Jews, Christ said:
Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood
you shall have no life in you.
This horrified them and they left Him. Not understanding His words in a spiritual
way, they thought the Savior wished them to practice cannibalism.
Under the old covenant there was showbread, but it came to
an end with the old dispensation to which it belonged. Under the new covenant there is bread from
heaven and the cup of salvation. These
sanctify both soul and body, the bread being adapted to the sanctification of
the body, the Word, to the sanctification of the soul.
Do not, then, regard the Eucharistic elements as ordinary
bread and wine: they are in fact the body and blood of the Lord, as He Himself
has declared. Whatever your senses may
tell you, be strong in faith.
You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what
looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the body and the
blood of Christ. You know also how David
referred to this long ago when he sang: Bread
gives strength to man’s heart and makes his face shine with the oil of
gladness. Strengthen your heart,
then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of
your soul.
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| Christ's Body & Blood Present in the Eucharist |
May purity of conscience
remove the veil
from the face of
your soul
so that by contemplating
the glory of the Lord,
as in a mirror,
you
may be transformed
from glory to glory
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
To Him be glory
forever and ever.
Amen.
Taken from the Liturgy of the Hours, Saturday within the Octave of Easter
Read more from the Jerusalem Catecheses
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