Eucharist Archives - Page 11 of 12

The Forgotten Connection between Liturgy and Theology (Part III)

10/02/2013

By Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris In our sacraments we emphasize the use of matter precisely because of this Orthodox stress on the incarnation, the resurrection and the resulting theological affirmation of the goodness of matter because Christ took on a material body and in the resurrection our material bodies so that they may participate in the glory of the Kingdom. Therefore matter as created by God is good (“And God saw everything that He had

The Great and Holy Thursday

05/02/2013

The Institution of the Eucharist At the Mystical Supper in the Upper Room Jesus gave a radically new meaning to the food and drink of the sacred meal. He identified Himself with the bread and wine: “Take, eat; this is my Body. Drink of it all of you; for this is my Blood of the New Covenant” (Matthew 26:26-28). We have learned to equate food with life because it sustains our earthly existence. In the

THE TWO MEANINGS OF FASTING (Part II)

04/18/2013

Quite different [from the total fast] are the spiritual connotations of the second type of fasting which we defined as ascetical. Here the purpose for fasting is to liberate man from the unlawful tyranny of the flesh, of that surrender of the spirit to the body and its appetites which is the tragic result of sin and the original fall of man. It is only by a slow and patient effort that man discovers that

THE TWO MEANINGS OF FASTING (Part I)

04/17/2013

At this point, the next question arises: if Eucharist is incompatible with fasting, why then is its celebration still prescribed on Saturdays and Sundays of Lent, and this without “breaking” the fast? The canons of the Church seem here to contradict one another. While some of them forbid fasting on Sundays, some others forbid the breaking of the fast on any of the forty days. This contradiction, however, is only apparent, because the two rules

THE TWO MEANINGS OF COMMUNION DURING LENT (Part I)

04/15/2013

Of all liturgical rules pertaining to Lent, one is of crucial importance for its understanding, and being peculiar to Orthodoxy, is in many ways a key to its liturgical tradition. It is the rule which forbids the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on weekdays of Lent. The rubrics are clear: under no circumstances can the Divine Liturgy be celebrated in Lent Monday through Friday, with one exception— the Feast of the Annunciation, if it falls

“. . . BUT BY PRAYER AND FASTING” (Part III)

03/26/2013

[Fasting] should be practiced on two levels: first, as ascetical fast; and second, as total fast. The ascetical fast consists of a drastic reduction of food so that the permanent state of a certain hunger might be lived as a reminder of God and a constant effort to keep our mind on Him. Everyone who has practiced it—be it only a little—knows that this ascetical fast rather than weakening us makes us light, concentrated, sober,

Eucharist as Touchstone

02/25/2013

The hiding place of God, the revelation place of God, is the material world. You don’t have to put spirit and matter together; they have been together ever since the Big Bang, 14.6 billion years ago (see Genesis 1:1-2 and John 1:1-5). You have to get on your knees and recognize this momentous truth as already and always so. The Eucharist offers microcosmic moments of belief, and love of what is cosmically true. It will

Persons in Communion: Blood and Fire

09/05/2012

In Christ, God has reunified humanity. From henceforth and without limit of time or space, it is nothing other than the Body of God. That is what Cabasilas meant when he said that people are more truly related to each other in Christ than they are according to the flesh. Carnal kinship leads to death, kinship in Christ to eternity. The blood that springs from the pierced side of Christ, the wine of the Eucharist,

Surrender and Gratitude

07/16/2012

The great commandment is not “Thou shalt be right.” Instead, the great commandment is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Just stay inside of the Great Compassion, the Great Stream, the Great River of Divine Love. Don’t push that river, just stay in it. You are already there! All that is needed is surrender and gratitude. Our job is simply to thank God for being part of it all and allow it to happen.

Persons in Communion: The Justification of the Good

07/10/2012

But sin turns this diverse unity into a hostile multiplicity, so that space becomes a separator, time a murderer, and language good only for expressing juxtaposition or possession. Whence the slogan of May 1968, ‘Love one another’; this is facile blasphemy, because the erotic encounter itself is given us as a symbol, a foretaste of personal communion. In the universe of sin solitary individuals devour one another. There is a besetting tendency today, when faced

Archive

The Forgotten Connection between Liturgy and Theology (Part III)

The Great and Holy Thursday

THE TWO MEANINGS OF FASTING (Part II)

THE TWO MEANINGS OF FASTING (Part I)

THE TWO MEANINGS OF COMMUNION DURING LENT (Part I)

“. . . BUT BY PRAYER AND FASTING” (Part III)

Eucharist as Touchstone

Persons in Communion: Blood and Fire

Surrender and Gratitude

Persons in Communion: The Justification of the Good

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