What is the role of this banquet in the lives of those who partake of it?

First: Openness towards others . As the believer enjoys this banquet, he in turn desires to invite others to it. St. Jacob of Sarug says, “The King’s bride went out on the paths of the world to gather all peoples in order to delight them … She stood in the marketplaces and the corners of the earth to invite the assemblies and the crowds to the banquet.”¹⁴⁹²

He also says, “Who is capable of sacrificing the Son before His Father, if He had not offered Himself from before His sufferings? Our Lord is the High Priest and the perfect sacrifice and therefore, He offered Himself before His Father … He died, but while being dead, He was alive. He is the Priest and the Sacrifice. Comprehending this mystery is beyond debate. He taught them to drink from the Cup of His blood and to make the nations, countries and the world drink from it … He sealed with His blood the new covenant, which He instituted for the remission of sins for the whole world.”¹⁴⁹³

Second: Caring for the poor . St. John Chrysostom says, “These words let us also listen to, all of us, as many as in this place approach with the poor to this holy Table, but when we

1491 St. Ambrose of Milan, The Sacraments 4.6.28 (FOTC 44:306; PL 16:446).

1492 St. Jacob of Sarug, see mimrō 95 “On the Partaking of the Holy Mysteries—for the Week of White,” in Homiliae selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis , ed., Paul Bedjan (Paris-Leipzig 1905, 2nd ed. Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2006).

1493 St. Jacob of Sarug, Homily 52, On Our Savior’s Sufferings, Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection (Coptic).

go out, do not seem even to have seen them, but are both drunken and pass heedlessly by the hungry; the very things whereof the Corinthians were accused.”¹⁴⁹⁴

Third: Walking in the spirit of unity and love . St. John Chrysostom says, “And what do they become who partake of it? The Body of Christ: not many bodies, but one body. For as the bread consisting of many grains is made one, so that the grains nowhere appear; they exist indeed, but their difference is not seen by reason of their conjunction; so are we conjoined both with each other and with Christ … Wherefore also he adds, ‘for we all partake of that one bread’ (1 Cor. 10:17) … why do we not also show forth the same love, and become also in this respect one?”¹⁴⁹⁵

St. Augustine also says, “In this loaf of bread you are given clearly to understand how much you should love unity. I mean, was that loaf made from one grain? Were there not many grains of wheat? But before they came into the loaf they were all separate; they were joined together by means of water after a certain amount of pounding and crushing. Unless wheat is ground, after all, and moistened with water, it cannot possibly get into this shape which is called bread. In the same way you too were being ground and pounded, as it were, by the humiliation of fasting and the sacrament of exorcism. Then came baptism, and you were, in a manner of speaking, moistened with water in order to be shaped into bread. But it is not yet bread without fire to bake it.”¹⁴⁹⁶

Fourth: Not to participate in the tables of the wicked. St. John the Chrysostom says, “Do not then run to the contrary things. For neither if you were a king’s son, and having the privilege of your father’s table, should leave it and choose to partake of the table of the condemned and the prisoners in the dungeon, would your father permit it, but with great vehemence he would withdraw you; not as though the table could harm you, but because it disgraces your nobility and the royal table.”¹⁴⁹⁷

Fifth: Walking in the spirit of strength. St. John Chrysostom says, “Let us then return from that table like lions breathing fire, having become terrible to the devil; thinking on our Head, and on the love which He has shown for us … (Our Lord says) I have willed to become your Brother, for your sake I shared in flesh and blood, and in turn I give out to you the flesh and the blood by which I became your kinsman. This blood causes the image of our King to be fresh within us, produces beauty unspeakable, permits not the nobleness of our souls to waste away, watering it continually, and nourishing it … This blood, if rightly taken, drives away devils, and keeps them afar off from us, while it calls to us Angels and the Lord of

1494 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 27.7 (NPNF I/12:162).

1495 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 24.4 (NPNF I/12:140).

1496 St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 227 (FOTC 38:196).

1497 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 24.5 (NPNF I/12:141) amended.

Angels. For wherever they see the Lord’s blood, devils flee, and Angels run together … this blood was poured forth and made heaven accessible.”¹⁴⁹⁸

St. Cyprian says, “as the Eucharist is appointed for this very purpose that it may be a safeguard to the receivers, it is needful that we may arm those whom we wish to be safe against the adversary with the protection of the Lord’s abundance.”¹⁴⁹⁹

St. Ephrem the Syrian says, “The Angel could not touch the live coal with his fingers but brought it close to Isaiah’s mouth. The Angel did not hold it, and Isaiah did not eat it, but our Lord allowed us to do both this and that.”

Sixth: The emergence of rivers of living water. St. John Chrysostom says, “Awesome in truth are the Mysteries of the Church, awesome in truth is the Altar. A fountain went up out of Paradise sending forth material rivers, from this table springs up a fountain which sends forth rivers spiritual.”¹⁵⁰⁰

Seventh: Embracing our Savior. St. John Chrysostom says, “He has given to those who desire Him not only to see Him, but even to touch, and eat Him, and fix their teeth in His flesh, and to embrace Him, and satisfy all their love.”¹⁵⁰¹

Eighth: Attainment of the heavenly kingdom. St. John Chrysostom says, “So that they (the Lord’s body and blood) may be for those who partake of them for vigilance of soul, remission of sins, communion of Your Holy Spirit, fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven, boldness before You, not for judgment or condemnation.”¹⁵⁰²

Ninth: Fellowship in the praise of the heavenly. John Chrysostom says, “It is as though man is taken up to heaven itself to stand before the throne of glory, to fly with the Seraphim and to sing the holy song.”

Tenth: Transforming the heart into Bethlehem. St. Ambrose says, “Thus, every soul which receives the bread which comes down from heaven is a house of bread, the bread of Christ, being nourished and having its heart strengthened by the support of that heavenly bread which dwells within it. Hence, Paul says: ‘We are all one bread’ (1 Cor. 10:17). Every faithful soul is Bethlehem, just as that is called Jerusalem which has the peace and tranquility of the Jerusalem on high which is in heaven.”¹⁵⁰³

Eleventh: Challenging corruption and death . St. Cyril the Great says, “For the food of manna (says He) having for a very little time supplied the need of the body, and driven away the hurt of want, was again powerless, and did not engraft eternal life in those who had

1498 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on John 46.3 (NPNF I/14:164).

1499 St. Cyprian of Carthage, The Epistles of Cyprian 53.2 (ANF 5:337).

1500 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on John 46.4 (NPNF I/14:165).

1501 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on John 46.3 (NPNF I/14:164) amended. 1502 The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Prayer of the Epiclesis.

1503 St. Ambrose of Milan, Letters 1–91 45 (FOTC 26:236).

eaten of it. That was not the true Food , then, and Bread from heaven, that is; only the Holy Body of Christ, Which nourishes to immortality and life everlasting, is verily the true Food . ‘Yes and they drank water also from the rock.’ ‘And what then’ (He says) ‘or what was the profit to those who drank? For they have died.’ That too then was not true drink ; but true Drink in truth is found to be the Precious Blood of Christ, Which uproots all corruption from the roots, and dislodges death which dwelt in the flesh of man.”¹⁵⁰⁴

St. Cyril the Great comments on the Last Supper, saying, “In what manner therefore can man upon earth, clothed as he is with mortality, return to incorruption? I answer that this dying flesh must be made partaker of the life-giving power which comes from God. But the life-giving power of God the Father is the Only-begotten Word: and Him He sent to us as a Savior and Deliverer. And how He sent Him, the blessed John the Evangelist clearly tells us, saying, ‘And the Word became flesh, and dwelt in us’ … When we partake of the Holy Body of Christ, our Savior, and drink His precious blood, we receive life in us, for we become one in Him; we dwell in Him and He reigns in us … And do not doubt that this is true, since Himself plainly says, ‘This is My body,’ ‘This is My blood,’ but rather receive in faith the Savior’s word; for He, being the Truth, cannot lie.”¹⁵⁰⁵

In one of his letters to Nestorius, he wrote, “Proclaiming the death according to the flesh of the only begotten Son of God, that is, Jesus Christ, and confessing His resurrection from the dead and ascent into Heaven, we celebrate the bloodless sacrifice in our churches; and thus approach the mystic blessings and are sanctified by partaking of the holy flesh and the precious blood of Christ the Savior of us all. And we receive it, not as common flesh (God forbid), nor as the flesh of a man sanctified and associated with the Word according to the unity of merit, or as having a divine indwelling, but as a really the life-giving and very flesh of the Word Himself.”

St. Clement of Alexandria says, “He says: ‘Take, eat, this is My body … this is My blood’ (Matt. 26:26, 28). Such is the suitable food which the Lord ministers, and He offers His flesh and pours forth His blood, and nothing is wanting for the children’s growth. O amazing mystery! We are enjoined to cast off the old and carnal corruption, as also the old nutriment, receiving in exchange another new regimen, that of Christ, receiving Him if we can, to hide Him within; and that, enshrining the Savior in our souls, we may correct the affections of our flesh.”¹⁵⁰⁶

Twelfth: Living for Him who died for us and rose again. St. Basil the Great says, “Learn then in what manner you ought to eat the Body of Christ, namely, in remembrance of

1504 St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Volume 1 On John 6:55 (LFHCC 43:421– 422) amended.

1505 St. Cyril of Alexandria, A Commentary upon the Gospel According to St. Luke: Part II , trans. R. Payne Smith (Oxford University Press, 1859) 142: pp. 666–668, amended.

1506 St. Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor or Christ the Educator 1.6 (ANF 2:220).

Christ’s obedience even to death, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”¹⁵⁰⁷

Thirteen: The declaration of Himself. St. Augustine says, “Ah yes, brothers and sisters, but where did the Lord wish to be recognized? In the breaking of bread. We’re all right, nothing to worry about; we break bread, and we recognize the Lord. It was for our sakes that he didn’t want to be recognized anywhere but there, because we weren’t going to see him in the flesh, and yet we were going to eat his flesh. So if you’re a believer, any of you, if you’re not called a Christian for nothing, if you don’t come to church pointlessly, if you listen to the word of God in fear and hope, you may take comfort in the breaking of bread.”¹⁵⁰⁸

Theophylact of Bulgaria says, “The eyes of those who receive the holy bread are opened to know Christ, for within the Body of the Lord is His great incomprehensible power.”

Fourteenth: Acknowledging the mystery of the Christian Passover. St. Melito of Sardis says, “But the mystery of the Lord … through the body which was able to suffer … For, he himself led as a lamb and slain as a sheep, he ransomed us from the world’s service as from the land of Egypt, and freed us from the devil’s slavery as from the hand of Pharaoh; and he marked our souls with his own Spirit and the members of our body with his own blood.”¹⁵⁰⁹

The mystery of the Passover has been completed in the body of the Lord. For He who was led away as a lamb, and who was sacrificed as a sheep, by himself delivered us from servitude to the world as from the land of Egypt, and released us from bondage to the devil as from the hand of Pharaoh, and sealed our souls by his own spirit and the members of our bodies by his own blood.

Fifteenth: Continuous spiritual growth. St. Cyril the Great says, “The acquisition of a spiritual life through the Eucharist requires regular participation in the sacrament. The believer retains his spiritual life and grows in the Spirit as long as he is attached to Christ, not only spiritually but also by regularly participating in the communion of the body and blood of Christ. But irregular participation in the Eucharist deprives the believer of eternal life.”