Catholic Champion
Because the Truth is a matter of life and death.
The Divine
Liturgy: A common reality for true Christian faith.
By: Matthew James Bellisario. 2008
Jesus Christ and His Real Presence in the Eucharist has been a doctrine of Christianity since its inception with Jesus at the last supper almost 2000 years ago. There are many Biblical passages that make reference to this Divine Mystery, a few of them being, Mark 14:22-24, John 6:22-71, Luke :13-35, 1 Cor 5:7-8, 11:26-30, as well as many Early Church Fathers that confirm these passages in this context, some of them being Saints John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianus, Jerome, Augustine, and Ignatius of Antioch. In today's Protestant apologetic circles these Early Church writings are being twisted around to conform to their corrupt interpretations of Sacred Scripture. Unfortunately many today cannot read these Fathers with intellectual honesty, and misinterpret Sacred Scripture along with them.
The misinterpretation of Sacred Scripture has been a problem well before the times of the Reformation. For instance the Eutychianism heresy, (the denial of the two natures of Christ, and the insistence of one united nature human and divine, vs two natures human and divine and one person) was promulgated under a false pretense that the idea of the two natures of Christ must be found explicit in Sacred Scripture. This position was of course refuted by the Church at Chalcedon in 451 with the 'Chalcedonian Definition'. (Quash and Ward 2007) The insistence upon Scripture alone, and the insistence on personal interpretation alone have never been Christian teaching. In fact most of the early heresies were promulgated by usually one of the two heretical mindsets and were refuted and condemned by the Church's interpretation of Scripture by the guidance of apostolic Tradition. In other words, Jesus Christ transmits His Divine Revelation by the Holy Spirit, unchanged, by The Word Himself, in Oral and Written forms, hence the Church has given us Sacred Scripture, and Sacred Tradition as guided by the Holy Spirit through the teaching Magisterium of the Church.
How does this equate with the topic of the Eucharist and the Divine Liturgy? If we do not get this understanding of how the Word of God is given to us in Divine Revelation we will never understand doctrines and dogmas proclaimed by the Church. Mere personal interpretations of Sacred Scripture alone was never intended to be the means by which God transmits His Word to us. Although I hear many Protestants mock the Church by saying that they are smart enough to understand the plain text of Sacred Scripture themselves, I find it astonishing how so any of them can be divided on such topics as salvation, baptism, communion, moral issues, freewill, etc. If the Sacred Scriptures are so easy and plain to understand then why so many serious disagreements by those using this deficient method?
I would like to add a further proof as to the authority of the Church and its method of apostolic Tradition to teach and define doctrine and dogma. This is not a new theological position that the Catholic Church came up with in the middle ages . We can see this mentality in the early Church at the ecumenical councils. For example we can look at the Council of Constantinople II in 553 where apostolic Tradition is referred to as a primary method of passing on the faith. This passage is from the council, and is dealing with a controversy over the three chapters and Nestorianism; note the emphasis of how the faith is passed down and preserved,
“When we met together, therefore, we first of all briefly made a confession of the faith which our lord Jesus Christ true God, handed down to his holy apostles and by means of them to the holy churches, the same faith which those who afterwards were holy fathers and doctors handed down to the people entrusted to them. We confessed that we believe, protect and preach to the holy churches that confession of faith which was set out at greater length by the 318 holy fathers who met in council at Nicaea and handed down the holy doctrine or creed. The 150 who met in council at Constantinople also set out the same faith and made a confession of it and explained it. The 200 holy fathers who met in the first council of Ephesus agreed to the same faith. We follow also the definitions of the 630 who met in council at Chalcedon, regarding the same faith which they both followed and preached. We confessed that we held to be condemned and anathematized all those who had been previously condemned and anathematized by the catholic church and by the aforesaid four councils. When we had made this confession in this way, we made a start on the examination of the three chapters.”
The Council clearly put a high regard on Divine Revelation being entrusted to the Church, the apostles and those chosen, or entrusted to pass it on faithfully. This also shows the importance of Ecumenical Church Councils in the history of the Church. We will discuss the Councils in another article.
The Divine Liturgy is the living witness of this Tradition and Sacred Scripture in worship form. Every Church community from the ancient Church celebrated a Divine Liturgy. This Liturgy is still celebrated by the same communities 2000 years later. This Divine Liturgy is not Roman phenomenon promulgated by Constantine or from the direct corruption of paganism from the Roman Empire. The Divine Liturgy spans beyond this boundary and culture. From the catacombs to the house churches the Divine Liturgy has been celebrated since the apostles who brought it forth from the Last Supper where Jesus Himself commanded them to do it. If we are to believe that this understanding of the Eucharistic Real Presence is heretical, then it was heretical from the outset of Christianity, and the whole early Church was in error for 1500 years. In fact there are early pagan sources who thought that the Christians were practicing cannibalism in the early Church because of the teaching of the Bread and Wine becoming the Body and Blood of Christ. (Eusebius V-1 and Wallis 1887) Of course they were mistakenly interpreting this in a mere carnal manner, but the understanding of the present Body and Blood of Jesus was fully realized in these early Christian meeting places. The Church from her foundation held this Eucharistic belief. (See my prior article for an explanation of the Eucharistic Real Presence)
Although the Liturgy developed in its formation over time, it had some basic components from the outset. A reading from the Sacred Scriptures was common, although this was done earlier in the Jewish Synagogues before the Jewish community separated themselves from most Christians. This reading of the Scriptures was then later incorporated into the Christian ritual. There would be readings and instruction in the fist half of the ritual, then only those who were professed and baptized Christians would remain for the supper or meal, now referred to as the Liturgy of the Eucharist. When the Church was able to function openly without persecution, it would develop in more uniformity. Although the Eastern Liturgies would have their own unique characteristics, the Church as whole had a basic Liturgical structure consisting the Pro-Anaphoral and the Anaphoral. The Pro-Anaphoral consists of the Mass of the Catechumans and the Mass of the Faithful. The Anaphoral consists of the Eucharistic prayer, the consecration, the intercessions and the communion. (Neale 2002) These can be further divided up into other functions within each part. All of the early churches had an altar or a table in them to celebrate the Divine Mystery of the Holy Eucharist. Most churches have a separation of the bema and the nave, where the altar and sanctuary are divided from the lay people. If the Protestants were following the “ancient practices” of Christianity, then where is their liturgical framework that all of these communities had, and still have? We can see these characteristics in full within the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
As Christianity radiated throughout the known world the same teachings were passed on, and the same worship practices appear in these different cultures as well. As the Church grew so did the Liturgies. All of these diverse communities adopted liturgical practices as they adopted the faith. Are we to suppose that all of these cultures accepted a deformed understanding of the Eucharistic Real Presence of Christ? Christianity spread from Jerusalem to Damascus, Arabia, Syria, Egypt, into Antioch, Asia Minor, Armenia, Corinth, Thessolonica, North Africa and Rome, yet they all had the same worship practices, the same doctrine, their churches were built in a similar decorative style, they all had altars, yet we are to think that this was all done out of ignorance of the true faith? The Divine Liturgy is a common occurrence in every single ancient Christian community, and it continues to be in every community that still remains within the true faith.
As we view the Divine Liturgy throughout the Church we see an ancient tie that binds them all. The Real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ present in under a sacramental form pervades everyone of these ancient liturgies. The prayers of these liturgies express this core belief of Christianity. For instance we can see the prayers before the consecration during the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil by the priest,
The Priest points to the Bread on the paten, saying:
In order that this Bread, on the one hand, may
become indeed Your holy Body;
The Priest points to the wine in the Cup, saying:
And the mixture, on the other hand, which is in
this cup, indeed Your precious Blood;
And may they become for all of us a partaking,
healing, and salvation of our souls, our bodies,
and our spirits. For You are our God; and glory
is due unto You with Your Good Father and the
Holy Spirit, the Life-Giver; Who is of one
essence with You; Now and at all times and
unto the ages of all ages. Amen.
During the consecration in the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom the priest recites these prayers during the Epiclesis,
Priest (silently): Again we offer to You this spiritual and unbloody sacrifice,
and we implore and pray, and entreat You, send down Your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon these gifts here present. (Blessing the bread) And make this bread
the precious body of Your Christ. (Blessing the chalice) And that which is in this chalice,
the precious blood of your Christ. (Blessing both) Having changed them by Your Holy Spirit:
During the ancient liturgy of Saint Gregory these prayers are recited between the priest and the people after the consecration,
“Priest: And this bread He makes into Your Holy Body. People: I believe.
Priest (inaudibly): Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Given for the remission of sins and eternal life to those who shall partake of Him.
People: Amen. Priest: And this cup also into the precious Blood of Your new covenant.
People: I believe.
Priest: Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, given for the remission of sins and
eternal life to those who shall partake of Him.
These are all ancient Liturgies of the Church. I have mixed and matched here to make a point. They all agree with one another in their belief of the Eucharist being consecrated by the priest, and becoming the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a universal, central Christian doctrine. I could have put the whole liturgy on here for you, but because of space I will refrain from that. I will however put some links up so that you can read each of these ancient Liturgies for yourself. I believe that you will come to the conclusion that millions of other people have. The Divine Liturgy and the true substantial Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is authentic, ancient Christianity. If we were to stop only on this one fundamental doctrine, one would have only two choices as to which church they could go to. The Catholic Church, or the Eastern Orthodox Church. Protestantism is not an option.
Neale, J.m. The Liturgies of Saints. Piscataway: Gorgias P, 2002.
Eusebius, The History of the Church. London: Penguin Books 1965
Quash, Ben and Ward, Michael. Heresies and How to Avoid Them. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers 2007
Minucius Felix, Octavius, R. E. Wallis, trans. in The Ante-Nicene Fathers
Buffalo: The Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887), Vol. 4, pp. 177-178.
The Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom
The Liturgy of Saint Gregory
The Liturgy of Saint Basil
By: Matthew James Bellisario. 2008
Jesus Christ and His Real Presence in the Eucharist has been a doctrine of Christianity since its inception with Jesus at the last supper almost 2000 years ago. There are many Biblical passages that make reference to this Divine Mystery, a few of them being, Mark 14:22-24, John 6:22-71, Luke :13-35, 1 Cor 5:7-8, 11:26-30, as well as many Early Church Fathers that confirm these passages in this context, some of them being Saints John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianus, Jerome, Augustine, and Ignatius of Antioch. In today's Protestant apologetic circles these Early Church writings are being twisted around to conform to their corrupt interpretations of Sacred Scripture. Unfortunately many today cannot read these Fathers with intellectual honesty, and misinterpret Sacred Scripture along with them.
The misinterpretation of Sacred Scripture has been a problem well before the times of the Reformation. For instance the Eutychianism heresy, (the denial of the two natures of Christ, and the insistence of one united nature human and divine, vs two natures human and divine and one person) was promulgated under a false pretense that the idea of the two natures of Christ must be found explicit in Sacred Scripture. This position was of course refuted by the Church at Chalcedon in 451 with the 'Chalcedonian Definition'. (Quash and Ward 2007) The insistence upon Scripture alone, and the insistence on personal interpretation alone have never been Christian teaching. In fact most of the early heresies were promulgated by usually one of the two heretical mindsets and were refuted and condemned by the Church's interpretation of Scripture by the guidance of apostolic Tradition. In other words, Jesus Christ transmits His Divine Revelation by the Holy Spirit, unchanged, by The Word Himself, in Oral and Written forms, hence the Church has given us Sacred Scripture, and Sacred Tradition as guided by the Holy Spirit through the teaching Magisterium of the Church.
How does this equate with the topic of the Eucharist and the Divine Liturgy? If we do not get this understanding of how the Word of God is given to us in Divine Revelation we will never understand doctrines and dogmas proclaimed by the Church. Mere personal interpretations of Sacred Scripture alone was never intended to be the means by which God transmits His Word to us. Although I hear many Protestants mock the Church by saying that they are smart enough to understand the plain text of Sacred Scripture themselves, I find it astonishing how so any of them can be divided on such topics as salvation, baptism, communion, moral issues, freewill, etc. If the Sacred Scriptures are so easy and plain to understand then why so many serious disagreements by those using this deficient method?
I would like to add a further proof as to the authority of the Church and its method of apostolic Tradition to teach and define doctrine and dogma. This is not a new theological position that the Catholic Church came up with in the middle ages . We can see this mentality in the early Church at the ecumenical councils. For example we can look at the Council of Constantinople II in 553 where apostolic Tradition is referred to as a primary method of passing on the faith. This passage is from the council, and is dealing with a controversy over the three chapters and Nestorianism; note the emphasis of how the faith is passed down and preserved,
“When we met together, therefore, we first of all briefly made a confession of the faith which our lord Jesus Christ true God, handed down to his holy apostles and by means of them to the holy churches, the same faith which those who afterwards were holy fathers and doctors handed down to the people entrusted to them. We confessed that we believe, protect and preach to the holy churches that confession of faith which was set out at greater length by the 318 holy fathers who met in council at Nicaea and handed down the holy doctrine or creed. The 150 who met in council at Constantinople also set out the same faith and made a confession of it and explained it. The 200 holy fathers who met in the first council of Ephesus agreed to the same faith. We follow also the definitions of the 630 who met in council at Chalcedon, regarding the same faith which they both followed and preached. We confessed that we held to be condemned and anathematized all those who had been previously condemned and anathematized by the catholic church and by the aforesaid four councils. When we had made this confession in this way, we made a start on the examination of the three chapters.”
The Council clearly put a high regard on Divine Revelation being entrusted to the Church, the apostles and those chosen, or entrusted to pass it on faithfully. This also shows the importance of Ecumenical Church Councils in the history of the Church. We will discuss the Councils in another article.
The Divine Liturgy is the living witness of this Tradition and Sacred Scripture in worship form. Every Church community from the ancient Church celebrated a Divine Liturgy. This Liturgy is still celebrated by the same communities 2000 years later. This Divine Liturgy is not Roman phenomenon promulgated by Constantine or from the direct corruption of paganism from the Roman Empire. The Divine Liturgy spans beyond this boundary and culture. From the catacombs to the house churches the Divine Liturgy has been celebrated since the apostles who brought it forth from the Last Supper where Jesus Himself commanded them to do it. If we are to believe that this understanding of the Eucharistic Real Presence is heretical, then it was heretical from the outset of Christianity, and the whole early Church was in error for 1500 years. In fact there are early pagan sources who thought that the Christians were practicing cannibalism in the early Church because of the teaching of the Bread and Wine becoming the Body and Blood of Christ. (Eusebius V-1 and Wallis 1887) Of course they were mistakenly interpreting this in a mere carnal manner, but the understanding of the present Body and Blood of Jesus was fully realized in these early Christian meeting places. The Church from her foundation held this Eucharistic belief. (See my prior article for an explanation of the Eucharistic Real Presence)
Although the Liturgy developed in its formation over time, it had some basic components from the outset. A reading from the Sacred Scriptures was common, although this was done earlier in the Jewish Synagogues before the Jewish community separated themselves from most Christians. This reading of the Scriptures was then later incorporated into the Christian ritual. There would be readings and instruction in the fist half of the ritual, then only those who were professed and baptized Christians would remain for the supper or meal, now referred to as the Liturgy of the Eucharist. When the Church was able to function openly without persecution, it would develop in more uniformity. Although the Eastern Liturgies would have their own unique characteristics, the Church as whole had a basic Liturgical structure consisting the Pro-Anaphoral and the Anaphoral. The Pro-Anaphoral consists of the Mass of the Catechumans and the Mass of the Faithful. The Anaphoral consists of the Eucharistic prayer, the consecration, the intercessions and the communion. (Neale 2002) These can be further divided up into other functions within each part. All of the early churches had an altar or a table in them to celebrate the Divine Mystery of the Holy Eucharist. Most churches have a separation of the bema and the nave, where the altar and sanctuary are divided from the lay people. If the Protestants were following the “ancient practices” of Christianity, then where is their liturgical framework that all of these communities had, and still have? We can see these characteristics in full within the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
As Christianity radiated throughout the known world the same teachings were passed on, and the same worship practices appear in these different cultures as well. As the Church grew so did the Liturgies. All of these diverse communities adopted liturgical practices as they adopted the faith. Are we to suppose that all of these cultures accepted a deformed understanding of the Eucharistic Real Presence of Christ? Christianity spread from Jerusalem to Damascus, Arabia, Syria, Egypt, into Antioch, Asia Minor, Armenia, Corinth, Thessolonica, North Africa and Rome, yet they all had the same worship practices, the same doctrine, their churches were built in a similar decorative style, they all had altars, yet we are to think that this was all done out of ignorance of the true faith? The Divine Liturgy is a common occurrence in every single ancient Christian community, and it continues to be in every community that still remains within the true faith.
As we view the Divine Liturgy throughout the Church we see an ancient tie that binds them all. The Real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ present in under a sacramental form pervades everyone of these ancient liturgies. The prayers of these liturgies express this core belief of Christianity. For instance we can see the prayers before the consecration during the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil by the priest,
The Priest points to the Bread on the paten, saying:
In order that this Bread, on the one hand, may
become indeed Your holy Body;
The Priest points to the wine in the Cup, saying:
And the mixture, on the other hand, which is in
this cup, indeed Your precious Blood;
And may they become for all of us a partaking,
healing, and salvation of our souls, our bodies,
and our spirits. For You are our God; and glory
is due unto You with Your Good Father and the
Holy Spirit, the Life-Giver; Who is of one
essence with You; Now and at all times and
unto the ages of all ages. Amen.
During the consecration in the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom the priest recites these prayers during the Epiclesis,
Priest (silently): Again we offer to You this spiritual and unbloody sacrifice,
and we implore and pray, and entreat You, send down Your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon these gifts here present. (Blessing the bread) And make this bread
the precious body of Your Christ. (Blessing the chalice) And that which is in this chalice,
the precious blood of your Christ. (Blessing both) Having changed them by Your Holy Spirit:
During the ancient liturgy of Saint Gregory these prayers are recited between the priest and the people after the consecration,
“Priest: And this bread He makes into Your Holy Body. People: I believe.
Priest (inaudibly): Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Given for the remission of sins and eternal life to those who shall partake of Him.
People: Amen. Priest: And this cup also into the precious Blood of Your new covenant.
People: I believe.
Priest: Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, given for the remission of sins and
eternal life to those who shall partake of Him.
These are all ancient Liturgies of the Church. I have mixed and matched here to make a point. They all agree with one another in their belief of the Eucharist being consecrated by the priest, and becoming the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a universal, central Christian doctrine. I could have put the whole liturgy on here for you, but because of space I will refrain from that. I will however put some links up so that you can read each of these ancient Liturgies for yourself. I believe that you will come to the conclusion that millions of other people have. The Divine Liturgy and the true substantial Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is authentic, ancient Christianity. If we were to stop only on this one fundamental doctrine, one would have only two choices as to which church they could go to. The Catholic Church, or the Eastern Orthodox Church. Protestantism is not an option.
Neale, J.m. The Liturgies of Saints. Piscataway: Gorgias P, 2002.
Eusebius, The History of the Church. London: Penguin Books 1965
Quash, Ben and Ward, Michael. Heresies and How to Avoid Them. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers 2007
Minucius Felix, Octavius, R. E. Wallis, trans. in The Ante-Nicene Fathers
Buffalo: The Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887), Vol. 4, pp. 177-178.
The Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom
The Liturgy of Saint Gregory
The Liturgy of Saint Basil