An Eastern Orthodox Theology Of The Lord's Supper

Although Eastern Orthodox theology insists as firmly as Roman Catholics in the West that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, Orthodox theologians have not attempted the theological and philosophical explanations of how this happens that are characteristic of Catholic and Protestant controversies in the West. According to Orthodox theology, the eucharistic assembly is the essence of what it means to be the church. Worthy participants enter on the path of transformation by grace into becoming a new creature and partaking of the divine nature.

The Eucharistic Action Since ancient times, Orthodox Christians have made no effort to explain the Holy Communion beyond the words of the Holy Scriptures. Paul wrote, " Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16). Christ said, "Take and eat; this is my body," and "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt. 26:26–27) when he instituted the Eucharist. For this reason, the Orthodox church teaches that the bread and wine are not ordinary bread and wine, but that they become the body and blood of Christ. However, the Orthodox church has always considered the sacrament a mystery beyond the comprehension of the human mind. Thus, Orthodox theologians make no effort to use rational or scientific terms to explain the change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Accordingly, Orthodox Christians reject Roman Catholic and Protestant efforts to understand the Eucharist as attempts to explain a mystery that cannot be explained. Thus the doctrines of transubstantiation, consubstantiation, the Real Presence, or symbolic interpretations of the sacrament find no place in Orthodoxy, because they fail to properly appreciate the mystical nature of Holy Communion. Orthodox and Roman Catholic eucharistic piety and theology differ in several ways. The Orthodox church has always treated the consecrated bread and wine with great reverence, but has never developed the cult of the sacrament found in Roman Catholicism. The Orthodox church reserves the sacrament for the Communion of the sick, but has no equivalent to the Roman Catholic benediction of the blessed sacrament or the exposition. Orthodox theologians also reject the Roman Catholic teaching that the repetition of the words of Christ at the Last Supper transform the bread and wine into his body and blood. Instead, they consider the invocation of the Holy Spirit, the epiklesis, the climax of the change that begins when the priest prepares the bread and wine at the beginning of the service. Orthodox Christians view the Eucharist as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Paul wrote, "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Cor. 11:26). Thus the Orthodox church also considers the Eucharist a commemoration of the life-giving death and resurrection of Christ. However, it has never developed the medieval Roman Catholic doctrine of the sacrifice of the Mass. Corporate and Personal Transformation Holy Communion is so central to Orthodoxy that Orthodox theologians define the church as a eucharistic assembly. For the Orthodox, the Lord's Supper or the divine liturgy is not simply another service, but the essence of what is to be the church. Echoing the words of Paul, "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor. 10:17), Orthodox Christians believe that the Eucharist unites separate individuals into one body, the body of Christ, the church. The priest prays not only for the Holy Spirit to descend on the bread and wine, but also to descend on the assembly of believers, which becomes the body of Christ through participation in the divine liturgy. The Eucharist is not merely an earthly event for Orthodox Christians, but an ascent to join the company of heaven as they worship before the throne of God. Many aspects of salvation are found in the divine liturgy. The faithful hear the proclamation of the gospel through the readings from the Scriptures and the sermon. They profess their faith in the risen Lord. They also enter into an intimate relationship with the saving Christ, who feeds them with his own body and blood. In his eucharistic discourse in the Gospel of John, Christ said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him" (John 6:56). Consequently, the Orthodox believe that those who partake worthily enter into an intimate personal relationship with Christ, an essential part of salvation. Orthodox Christians believe that salvation is more than the forgiveness of sins or eternal life; instead salvation is deification, the transformation of the believer through grace into a new creature and partaker of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Thus, Orthodox Christians believe that forgiveness of sins, and the gift of eternal life, are fruits of the sacrament. They also believe that Holy Communion is not only the transformation of bread and wine, but also the transformation of the believer through communion with Christ. Orthodox Christians take very seriously Paul's warning: "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27). At times, they have so exaggerated the sacred nature of the Eucharist that many Orthodox Christians received Holy Communion only a few times a year. Today, most Orthodox authorities encourage frequent Communion. However, those who participate in the sacrament carefully prepare themselves with prayer, fasting, and regular sacramental confession. Thus, Holy Communion is central to Eastern Orthodoxy. The Eastern Orthodox church teaches that the Holy Spirit transforms the bread and wine into the real body and blood of Christ. However, they consider the change a mystery that must be approached through faith, not through human reason. They so emphasize the sacrament that they define the church as a eucharistic assembly. The worship of the divine liturgy defines the church, which receives its very being through communion with the risen Lord. Orthodox Christians consider Holy Communion an important part of the mystery of salvation—the union with Christ, which transforms the believer into the image and likeness of God and into a partaker of the divine nature. Finally, Orthodox consider Holy Communion sacred. Thus, they only approach the sacrament through repentance, prayer, and fasting.