An excellent
explanation of the Eucharist by the Coptic Church.
I thought it is well worth putting this article up on
this site to show once again that the Eucharist is not
something unique to the Catholic church. In fact the
Coptic Church, which is the ancient church of Egypt,
still holds the age old doctrine of the Real Body and
Blood of Jesus Christ being present in the Holy
Eucharist. Although, as their article says, we are not as
Catholics in full communion with them, we do acknowledge
the fact that they hold valid sacraments, and hold to
many of the same teachings as the Catholic Church. Please
visit their website for great articles. Matthew
Bellisario.
Link at The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the
Southern United States
The
text below is from the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the
Southern United States.
“You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”
(Ps 23:5)
E
Lecture XI: The Sacrament of The Eucharist
E
In the Sacrament of the
Eucharist, believers eat Lord Jesus Christ’s Holy Body
and drink His
precious
Blood under the physical appearance of bread and wine.
This Sacrament is called the Sacrament of
all Sacraments and/or the crown
of the Sacraments. In the Coptic Orthodox Church, no
Sacrament is to be
administered (on the same day)
after the person has partaken from Holy Communion.
E
Institution of the Sacrament:
Our Lord instituted this
Sacrament on Covenant Thursday, just a few hours before
His arrest and
trial. After He had washed the
feet of the disciples as a sign of their repentance and
preparation, “He took
bread, blessed it and broke it,
and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this
is My body.’ Then He took
the cup, and gave thanks, and
gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it all of you. For
this is My blood of the
new covenant, which is shed for
many for the remission of sins’”
(Mt 26:26-28)
St. Paul
said, “The Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was
betrayed took bread; and when He
had given thanks, He broke it
and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for
you; do this in
remembrance of Me.’ In the same
manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This
cup is the new
covenant in My blood. This do,
as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as
often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you
proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes”
(1 Cor 11:23-26)
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Symbols of the Eucharist in the Old Testament:
• The offering of Melchizedek
(bread & wine) was a symbol of this Holy Sacrament,
“Melchizedek king of
Salem brought out bread and
wine; he was the priest of God Most High”
(Gen
14:18). This
is the first
verse in Holy
Scripture where the word “priest” was used and it is
interesting to notice the connection
between the priesthood of
Melchizedek and the offering of bread and wine.
Therefore, it was said about
our Lord, “You are a priest
forever according to the order of Melchizedek”
(Ps 110:4; Heb 5:6)
• The Passover lamb that the
children of Israel offered on the night of their exodus
from Egypt, and which
they used to offer every year
thereafter was a symbol of this Sacrament “For indeed
Christ, our Passover,
was sacrificed for us”
(1 Cor 5:7)
•
The manna that the
children of Israel ate in the wilderness of Sinai for
forty years was a symbol of the
Sacrament of Eucharist. Our Lord
said, “This is the bread which came down from heaven –
not as your
fathers ate
the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live
forever”
(Jn 6:58) – “I am the living
bread which came down from
heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live
forever and the bread that
I shall give is My flesh”
(Jn 6:51)
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The Question of the Real Presence:
Our Lord spoke about this
Sacrament openly to the Jews but they “quarreled among
themselves
saying, ‘How
can this Man give us His flesh to eat?’”
(Jn 6:52). Moreover,
many of the
disciples protested
saying, “This is a hard saying;
who can understand it?”
(Jn 6:60). When Lord Jesus explicitly
emphasized
His real
presence in the Sacrament, it was written, “many of His
disciples went back and walked with Him
no more”
(Jn 6:66)
‡
‡ The
question of the real presence is of considerable
importance in relation to the differences,
which have emerged within
Christianity since the time of the so-called
‘Reformation’. A particularly
important witness to the early
Christian understanding of this Sacrament is provided by
the ‘Catechetical
lectures’ of St. Cyril of
Jerusalem. This series of 24 lectures of instruction on
the beliefs and practices of the
Christian Church, given at some
point around 350 to those preparing for baptism, are an
important witness to
the ideas that prevailed in the
Jerusalem Church around this point. It is clear that St.
Cyril regarded the bread
and wine as becoming the real
body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ:
171
• “[Jesus Christ], by his own
will, once changed water into wine at Cana of Galilee. So
why should we not
believe that he can change wine
into blood? … We should therefore have full assurance
that we are
sharing in
the body and blood of Christ. For in the type of bread,
his body is given to you, and in the type
of wine, his blood is given to
you, so that by partaking of the body and blood of Christ
you may become
of one body and one blood with
Him.” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)
St. John of Damascus wrote the
following about the question of
how this
transformation of the bread
and wine takes place:
• “And now you ask how the bread
becomes the body of Christ, and the wine and the water
become the
blood of
Christ. I shall tell you. The Holy Spirit comes upon
them, and achieves things which surpass
every word and thought … Let it
be enough for you to understand that this takes place by
the Holy
Spirit” (St.
John of Damascus).
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Benefits of the Sacrament:
•
Abiding in Lord Jesus Christ: “He who eats My flesh and drinks
My blood abides in Me, and I in him”
(Jn
6:56). Consequently we bear the fruits
of the spirit, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears
much
fruit; for
without Me you can do nothing”
(Jn 15:5)
•
Obtaining Eternal Life: “Whoever eats My flesh and
drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise
him up at the last day… He who
eats this bread will live forever”
(Jn 6:54,58)
•
Growth & Maintenance of Our Spiritual Life:
“Unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink
His blood, you have no life in
you… For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink
indeed… he
who feeds on
Me will live because of Me”
(Jn 6:53,55,57)
•
Salvation & Remission of Sins: “This is My blood of the new
covenant, which is shed for many for the
remission of sins”
(Mt 26:28)
•
Unification of Believers: “For we, being many, are one
bread and one body; for we all partake of that
one bread”
(1 Cor 10:17)
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Consequences of Unworthy Communion:
• St. Paul said, “Whoever eats
this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be
guilty of the body and blood of
the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him
eat of that bread
and drink of that cup. For he
who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks
judgment to
himself, not
discerning (recognizing clearly) the Lord’s body. For
this reason many are weak and sick
among you, and many sleep (die).
For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be
judged.”
(1 Cor
11:27-31)
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The Meaning of Worthiness:
•
Orthodox Faith: The person who approaches the
Eucharist must be an Orthodox Christian having no
doubt concerning the bread &
wine being the true body and precious blood of Lord Jesus
Christ.
•
Repentance & Confession: The person must be practicing
the Sacrament of Repentance and Confession
on regular basis as St. Paul
said, “let a man examine himself”
(1 Cor 11:28)
•
Reconciliation With Others: Lord Jesus Christ said, “If you
bring your gift to the altar, and there
remember that your brother has
something against you, leave your gift there before the
altar, and go your
way. First be reconciled to your
brother, and then come offer your gift”
(Mt 5:23-24)
•
True Worthiness is Feeling Unworthy: St. Paul, the meek and humble
apostle said, “I know nothing
against myself, yet I am not
justified by this”
(1 Cor 4:4)
•
Obeying The Church Rules: concerning food abstinence
before communion, physical cleanliness, and
early attendance of the
liturgy.
172
E
The Eucharist as a Sacrifice:
The Orthodox Church believes and
confesses that the Eucharist is a sacrifice and an
offering to God
in addition to being a
Sacrament. The following supports this belief:
• The words of Lord Jesus Christ
Himself, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is
shed for
many”
(Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24) – “This cup is the new covenant in
My blood, which is shed for you”
(Lk
22:20)
– “This is My
body which is broken for you”
(1 Cor 11:24) – “This is My body which is
given
for
you”
(Lk 22:19). Undoubtedly, the terms “broken
body” and “shed blood” refer to a sacrifice.
• The presence of an altar in the
Church confirms that the Eucharist is a sacrifice. St.
Paul said, “We have
an altar from which those who
serve the tabernacle (Jews) have no right to eat”
(Heb 13:10). Isaiah the
Prophet said, “In that day there
will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of
Egypt”
(Is 19:19),
this is a
specific prophecy about the Coptic (Egyptian) Church
which proves the presence of altars in the
Christian era and consequently
the presence of a sacrifice (the Eucharist).
• Malachi the Prophet prophesied
about the New Testament offering saying, “I have no
pleasure in you,
says the Lord of hosts, nor will
I accept an offering from your hands. For from the rising
of the sun even
to its going down, My name shall
be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall
be offered to
My
name,
and a pure offering; For My name shall be great
among the nations, says the Lord of hosts”
(Mal
1:10-11).
This “pure offering” is nothing but the Eucharistic
offering that Christians offer on their
altars, for at which point in
history did the Gentiles “in every place” offer an
offering to the Lord?
• St. Paul said, “Observe Israel
after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices
partakers of the altar?
What am I saying then? That an
idol is anything, or what is offered to idol is anything
(else)? Rather, that
the things which the Gentiles
sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I
do not want you to
have fellowship with demons. You
cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons;
you cannot
partake of
the Lord’s table and the table of demons”
(1 Cor 10:18-21). The apostle is comparing
the
table (altar)
of the Lord to the altar of the pagans upon which
unacceptable demonic sacrifices were
offered, which proves that the
Eucharist that is offered on the Christian altar is
indeed a sacrifice.
E
The Sacrifice of the Cross & the Sacrifice of the
Eucharist:
•
The Cross: -The Holy Body & Precious
Blood were offered visibly.
•
The Eucharist: -The Holy Body & Precious
Blood are offered Sacramentaly as bread &
wine.
•
The Cross: -Offered by Lord Jesus Christ as
the Chief High Priest.
•
The Eucharist: -Offered by the New Testament
Priests (according to the order of Melchizedek)
•
The Cross: -The lamb (Lord Jesus Christ)
was slain, His blood was shed, and He died.
•
The Eucharist: -No shedding of blood and no
death. Hence is called “bloodless sacrifice.”
•
The Cross: -Offered once on Good
Friday.
•
The Eucharist: -Offered several times from it’s
institution till the second coming of the Lord.
E
FAQ:
Q1:
Why don’t we allow Protestants to take communion in our
Churches?
A1:
The Didache or “the
teaching of the 12 apostles” is a manuscript, which was
used by 2nd century bishops
and priests for the instruction
of the catechumens. Many early Church Fathers have
referenced it making this
document relatively easy to
date. It states: “Let no one eat or drink of your
Eucharist but those baptized in
the name of the Lord; to this,
too the saying of the Lord is applicable, ‘Do not give
what is holy to the dogs’”
(Mt
7:6). St.
Paul forbade the Jews from taking communion, “We have an
altar from which those who serve
the tabernacle have no right to
eat”
(Heb 13:10). The Church is actually
protecting those groups from the
judgment of taking communion in
an unworthy manner. How can the Church allow a
protestant, who denies
the real presence of the Lord in
the Eucharist, to take communion?
173
Q2:
Why don’t we allow Roman Catholics to take communion in
our Churches?
A2:
There are many
theological and dogmatic differences between us and the
Roman Catholic Church and
we are not in full communion
with them until these issues are resolved. Allowing a
Roman Catholic to
receive the Eucharist would
imply a oneness which does not yet exist and for which we
must all pray.
Moreover, this person has access
to the Holy Body and Precious Blood in his/her Roman
Catholic Church.
Q3:
Why doesn’t the Church allow us to take communion in a
Protestant service?
A3:
Believe it or not,
Protestants are heretics. St. Paul explained that the
devil is the author of all heresies, he
said, “For such are false
apostles [heretics], deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into apostles of
Christ. And no wonder! For Satan
himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great
thing if his ministers [the
heretics] transform themselves into ministers of
righteousness, whose end will be
according to their works”
(2 Cor 11:13-15). He also called the
heresies
“doctrines of demons”
(1 Tim 4:1)
Now, with
this in mind, “you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and
the cup of demons; you cannot partake of
the Lord’s table and of the
table of demons.”
(1 Cor 10:21)
Q4:
Are we repeating the sacrifice of the cross during the
Eucharist?
A4:
Absolutely not. The
sacrifice of the cross cannot be repeated, “Christ was
offered
once to bear
the sins
of
many”
(Heb 9:28). Therefore, we said that in the
Eucharist there is no death and hence it is called
“bloodless sacrifice”. We do not
repeat the sacrifice of the cross but we
recall it.
The Eucharist takes us
through the time to Calvary
where we actually come in contact with the true body that
was offered and
precious blood that was shed on
our behalf, it is
the same
sacrifice not a repetition. In fact this is the
meaning of the Lord’s words, “Do
this in remembrance of Me”. For example, the children of
Israel
celebrated
the Passover every year but the exodus from Egypt took
place once; they did not repeat the
exodus but rather recalled
it.
* This lecture is adapted from
‘The
Church Sacraments’ by Archdeacon Habib
Guirgess.