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Holy Catechism

Nikolaos Voulgaris, tr. Daniel, 1893

Of the Consecration of the Mysteries

Chrysostom

Moreover we offer Thee this reasonable and unbloody service, and beseech and entreat and supplicate, send down Thy Holy Spirit upon us, and upon these outspread gifts, &c.¹

O Lord, Who didst send Thy All-holy Spirit, &c.

And make this Bread the precious Body of Thy Christ.

Deacon. Amen.

And what is in this Cup the precious Blood of Thy Christ.

Deacon. Amen.

Changing them by Thy Holy Spirit.

Deacon. Amen, Amen, Amen.

And the Priest continues praying.

So that they may be to those who partake for awakening of soul, for remission of sins, for communion of the Holy Ghost, for fulfilment of the kingdom of heaven, for boldness toward Thee, not for judgment or for condemnation.

Basil

Therefore, O All-holy Master, even we sinners and Thy unworthy servants who are admitted to minister at Thy holy Altar not for our righteousness, for we have done nothing good upon earth, but for Thy mercies and Thy compassion, which Thou didst pour forth richly on us, take courage and approach Thy holy Altar, and presenting the emblems of the Holy Body and Blood of Thy Christ, we entreat Thee, we beseech Thee, O Holy of holies, by the pleasure of Thy goodness, that Thy Holy Spirit may come upon us and upon these presented gifts, and may bless them, and sanctify them and exhibit this Bread to be verily the precious Body of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Deacon. Amen.

And this Cup to be verily the precious Blood of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Deacon. Amen.

Which was shed for the life of the world.

Deacon. Amen.

Changing it by Thy Holy Spirit.

Deacon. Amen, Amen, Amen.²

Then the Priest continues praying,

And all of us who partake of the one Bread and the Cup, that Thou wouldst unite³ to one another in the communion of the one Holy Ghost; and let none of us partake of the holy Body and Blood of Thy Christ unto judgment or condemnation; but that we may find mercy and grace with all the Saints, &c.

James

Have mercy on us, O God Almighty; have mercy on us, O God our Saviour; have mercy on us, O God, after Thy great mercy; and send forth on us and upon these presented gifts Thy All-holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, sitting on the throne with Thee the God and Father, and with Thine only-begotten Son, reigning with Thee, of one substance and co-eternal: Who spake in the Law and the Prophets and Thy new covenant: Who descended in the form of a dove upon our Lord Jesus Christ in the river Jordan, and abode upon Him; Who descended on Thine Apostles in likeness of fiery tongues in the upper chamber of the holy glorious Sion, on the day of Pentecost; send down Thy All-holy Spirit Himself, O Master, upon us and upon these presented holy gifts.

Aloud and devoutly.

That coming with His holy, good and glorious presence He may sanctify and make this Bread the holy Body of Thy Christ.

People. Amen.

And this Cup the precious Blood of Thy Christ.

People. Amen.

That it may be to all who partake therefrom for remission of sins and for eternal life, for sanctification of souls and bodies, for fruitfulness in good works, for establishment of Thy holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, which Thou didst found on the rock of Faith, that the gates of Hades prevail not against it, delivering it from every heresy and from scandals and all that works iniquity, maintaining it unto the end of the world.

Saint Clement

Calling to mind therefore His passion, and death and the Resurrection from the dead, and the return to heaven, and His second future coming, wherein He comes with glory and power to judge the quick and the dead, and to render to each one according to his works; we offer to Thee, the King and God, according to His institution this Bread and this Cup, giving thanks to Thee through Him for that Thou hast vouchsafed us to stand before Thee and to minister to Thee; and we pray Thee to look propitiously upon these gifts presented before Thee, O Thou God Who hast no lack, and to be pleased with them for the honour of Thy Christ; and to send down Thy Holy Ghost upon this sacrifice, the witness of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, that He may declare

This Bread to be the Body of Thy Christ,

And this Cup to be the Blood of Thy Christ;

That those who partake thereof may be confirmed unto piety, may obtain remission of sins, be delivered from the devil and his deceit, be filled with the Holy Ghost, be worthy of Thy Christ, obtain eternal life, when Thou, Almighty Master, art reconciled to them.

Mark the Evangelist

To Thee, O Lord our God, out of Thine own gifts we have offered Thine own before Thee; and beseech Thee and entreat Thee, O good Friend of men, send forth from the height of Thy sanctuary, out of Thy ready habitation, from Thine unbounded bosom, the Very Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, the Holy One, the Lord, the Life-giver, Who spake in Law and Prophets and Apostles, Who is everywhere present, and fills all things, inwardly working of His own prompting not as servant, on whomsoever He will, sanctification by Thy good pleasure, Who is single in nature, abundant in activity, the fount of divine gifts, of one substance with Thee, Who proceedeth from Thee, Who sitteth on the throne of Thy kingdom and of Thy only-begotten Son our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ: as well too on us and on these loaves and on these cups Thy Holy Ghost to sanctify and consecrate them, as the All-powerful God.

And to make the Bread the Body,

And the Cup the Blood of the new covenant of our Lord and God and Saviour and Supreme King Himself Jesus Christ.

That they may be to all of us who partake of them, for faith, for awakening, for healing, for temperance, for sanctification, for renewal of soul, body and spirit, for communion of the blessedness of eternal life, and immortality, for the glorifying of Thine All-holy Name, for the forgiveness of sins; that in this as in everything Thine All-holy, and honourable and glorified Name may be glorified and celebrated and hallowed together with Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.

Observations of the Doctors

According to the Commentary the priest blesses the precious gifts, since we have had it so handed down, that Christ did so. “Having taken the Bread in His holy, unstained, spotless and immortal hands, He looked up to heaven and showed it to God even the Father, He sanctified, blessed, (though we know not the character of that blessing) He filled it with the Holy Spirit and gave it to His holy Disciples and Apostles, saying, Take, eat and drink thereof.” For this reason no Mystery is celebrated without blessing, and without the sign of the Cross. “For all things by it are accomplished in relation to us; if we must be born again, a cross is made: if that mystical food must be changed, if one is to be ordained, or whatever else one has to do, everywhere this symbol of victory is with us,” such is the comment of the great Chrysostom in the 34th homily on S. Matthew’s gospel. We learn that Basil (Ep. 27 to Amphilochius) for this reason named this sign of the Cross The first and most general Sign.

The fans, at these holy moments, the wise Jobius indicates, are used more frequently than at other times. “That they may not suffer those who are engaged in the rites to rest in the visible, but being elevated above everything material with the spiritual eye to pass through things visible to the invisible view and that extraordinary beauty:” thousand thousands ministered to Him and myriad ten thousands stood before Him. We spoke above of these fans as a type of the heavenly powers. S. Clement adduces also another more material use of the fans, because they still use the fans to drive away the flying insects from the holy gifts at the time they stand uncovered. “Let two Deacons, he says, on either side of the Altar hold a fan of thin membranes, or a peacock’s feather or one made of linen, and deftly drive away the small winged animals.”

Concerning the approach of the All-holy consecrating Spirit, we learn from Amphilochius that he used to see with his own eyes, when the great Basil was offering the Liturgy, the Spirit descending on the gifts. And according to the learned Moschus (ch. 150) that pious Bishop once coming to a stop and not concluding the holy Liturgy, on being asked the cause replied, Because I did not see as usual the holy approach of the Holy Ghost. Ch. 27. Another inspired Father always, as often as he offered the Sacrifice, was wont plainly to see the All-holy Spirit Himself overshadowing the gifts, and openly used to say, “When I perceive the approach of the Holy Spirit, then I proceed with the Liturgy.” And as the blessed Proclus narrates about the Apostles, “They expected the approach of the Holy Ghost, that by His holy presence He might declare and manifest the Bread presented for celebration, and the Wine mingled with water to be that very Body and Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Now this Sacrifice is called an unbloody service, since there is no slaying or blood-shedding therein, such as the priests of the Old Law and the Gentiles customarily performed. Still though it is and is called Unbloody, it is not bloodless, since we have in it the Blood of the Lord, that very Blood which flowed from His Side, as he of the golden mouth says, 1 Cor. ix. hom. 24.

And doubtless after the Consecration and the transcendent Transubstantiation of these spotless most awful Mysteries, at this holy and supercelestial Altar, there is found on the holy Table no longer mere Bread or mere Wine, no type and semblance of the Body and Blood of Christ, or figure, as the definitions of the Seventh holy Œcumenical Council say: not the Incarnate Jesus by grace operating in the Bread and Wine, and imparted to the Faithful, (away with the blasphemy!) but truly, actually, and substantially our true God and true Man Himself; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the spotless womb of the ever-virgin Mother of God; Who without seed was born of her; the very One Who was crucified and buried, and rose in glory, and was received up into heaven; Who sitteth on the right hand of God, even the Father, though the accidents of Bread and Wine (the Schoolmen called them Species) are alone seen, and nothing else. I believe, O Lord, and confess, proclaims the Catholic Church, that Thou art truly the Christ, the Son and Word of the living God.

“He Himself said” (I quote from the most holy Germanus,) “This is My Body, This is My Blood. He Himself gave command also to His Apostles, and through them to the whole Church to do this; for He says, Do this in remembrance of Me. He would not have commanded to do this, unless He meant to confer power to be able to do this. And what is the power? the Holy Spirit, the power which equipped the Apostles from on high, according to what was said to them by the Lord: Sit ye in the city Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. This is the result of that arrival; for having once arrived, He has not quitted us, but is with us, and will be with us to all eternity.”

And as “through the throat, food and drink descend into the stomach, (explains Samonas of Gaza, in his Dispute with Achmed the Saracen,) and what is dense passes downwards, but what is light turns into juice and keeps above; and as the liver being warm and spongy, draws up and makes blood, and as it were by channels waters the whole body through the veins, distributing the food which has been made into juice and blood in the stomach, as it is supplied to each several organ, whatever its nature is, bone to bones, marrow to marrow, muscle to muscles, eyes to eyes, hair to hairs, skin to skin, nail to nails, and thus growth takes place from childhood to manhood, the bread and drink becoming to the individual body and blood; in the same way I would have you understand our Mystery takes place; for the priest places on the holy Table the Bread and likewise the Wine, and when he prays at the holy invocation, the Holy Ghost comes down and approaches the presented elements, and with the fire of His Godhead changes the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, no less than the liver changes the food. Or dost thou not allow that the All-holy Spirit can effect what thy liver is able to accomplish?”⁴

And John Damascene (Orthodox Faith, iv. 86) writes: “God said in the beginning, Let the earth bring forth herb of grass; and till this day, when there has been rain, it produces its proper growths, compelled and enabled by the Divine command. God said, This is My Body and This is My Blood, and Do this in remembrance of Me; and by His Almighty command, this happens until He comes; for so He said, until He should come. And through invocation, the overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost becomes rain to the new husbandry. For as all things which God did, He did by the operation of the Holy Spirit, so now too the operation of the Holy Spirit accomplishes what is beyond nature,” and so forth.⁵

Chiefly calling to mind the All-holy spotless Virgin.

After the priest has besought our All-merciful Master and God that the holy gifts may be for sanctification and salvation of those who worthily partake of them, which is the principal end of the Mystery, he makes mention at once of those who have gone to their rest in faith, Ancestors, Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Heralds, Evangelists, Martyrs, Confessors, Ascetics, and every spirit made perfect in faith. And if you should say, What is the use of the priest mentioning them and entreating for the saints, if they themselves entreat God for us, and have no need of our prayer?1 Nicolas Cabasilas gives you the answer: “In these words there is not contained a single supplication to God for the Saints, nor does the Priest pray for them any of the customary things; but having remembered the rest of the faithful who are laid to sleep, he at once adds the prayer for them: Give them rest, he says, where the light of Thy countenance surveys them; but in the case of the Saints quite the reverse; for he makes no intercession on their behalf; but rather urges them to be intercessors; for when he has spoken of them and numbered the Saints, he proceeds: By whose intercessions look on us, O God.” And certainly the Saints need not anything from us; yet as we said in passing, in the interpretation of the Great Collect, they are mentioned for three reasons in the Liturgy; because they mediate for us with God, that we in turn may give them the honour and glory which are due to them; and that we may imitate them; and that we may have a share, so far as is possible, in their sanctification.

But specially prominent in intercession we mention the direct Mediator with God, exalted above all creation, and our most public Patron; and not mystically, but aloud and specially, not only because of the activity of her mediation, but also because of the veneration of hyperdouleia which duly belongs to her, as Queen of all Saints, and higher than the very Cherubim. The words are said aloud, Specially remembering the All-holy, spotless, most highly blessed One, our glorious Lady, Mother of God, and ever Virgin Mary. And the people magnify her distinguished excellence, and most majestic name.

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