Leaves from St. John Chrysostom

by Saint John Chrysostom

I say these things to the Jews since they seem to celebrate a Pasch, since the uncircumcised in heart put forward their unleavened bread with a gross mind. Tell me, O Jew, how do you sacrifice the Pasch? The temple is destroyed, the altar has been taken away, the holy of holies has been trampled under foot, all show of sacrifice has ceased. Wherefore, then, do you venture to carry out practices so illegal? You went out once into Babylon, and there those who had taken you captive said, Sing us a song of Sion, and you would not. And David spoke with the same intent: We sat beside the waters of Babylon and wept; we hung up our organs on the willows in the midst of it, that is, our instruments, harps, lyres, and the rest. Men of old used these things, and thus sung hymns, and when they went into captivity took them so as to have a reminder of their life in their own country, not to use them. For there, he says, they who held us captive asked us for words of songs, and we said, How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land? What! you will not sing the song of the Lord in a strange land, and yet will you celebrate the Pasch of the Lord in a strange land! What ingratitude and iniquity! Because those who constrained them were enemies, they dared not even sing a psalm in a strange land. And now of themselves, whereas no man puts force upon them, they wage war against God. Do you see how their unleavened bread is unclean and their feast illegal? Now there is no Jewish Pasch. There was one then, but it is dissolved now, and the spiritual Pasch came, which was given then by Christ. For as they were eating and drinking, the Evangelist says, taking bread, He broke and said: This is My body, which is broken for you unto the remission of sins. The initiated understand these words. Then, taking the chalice, He said: This is My Blood, which is shed for many unto the remission of sins. And Judas was present as Christ spoke thus. This is the very Body which you have sold for thirty pieces of silver, O Judas; this is the very Blood which you have just shamefully bartered to the unfeeling Pharisees. O loving kindness of Christ! O foolish madness of Judas! On the one hand Judas sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, whilst Christ even after this did not refuse to give that Blood, which had been betrayed, to the traitor for the remission of his sins, if he had so willed. And Judas was there, and he partook of the sacred table. For, as Our Lord had washed his feet, together with the other disciples’, so did he eat with them of the sacred table, in order that he might have no excuse for remaining obdurate. Our Lord did everything in His power, yet Judas persisted in his wickedness.

But it is now time for us to approach that tremendous table. Let us, therefore, all go to it with becoming sobriety and watchfulness. Let there be no Judas here, no guilty man, no one infected with poison, no man with one thing in his mouth and another in his mind. The same Christ is now here Who prepared that table. And He it is Who is now preparing it. For it is not a man who makes the offerings become the Body and Blood of Christ, but the very Christ for us crucified.[21] Fulfilling what he represents, the priest stands there, speaking those words; the power and grace of them are God’s. This is My Body, he says, and this word transforms what lies before him;[22] and just as the words, Increase and multiply and fill the earth, were once spoken and endue our nature through all time with fruitfulness, so those other words once spoken from that time till to-day and until His coming, make the sacrifice over each table in the churches complete. Therefore, let no hypocrite approach, no one filled with sin, no one with poison in his mind, that he may not receive judgment to himself, for then, too, Judas had partaken of the oblation when the devil leapt into him; not that the devil despised the Lord’s Body, but Judas for his shameful conduct. This was to teach you that the devil continually attacks and assails those who unworthily partake of the divine mysteries, as he did Judas. For honourable things profit the good, but inflict a greater punishment on those who abuse the use of them. I say this not to terrify but to fortify you. Let there be no Judas, then; let no one enter in poisoned with evil. For the sacrifice is spiritual food; and just as bodily food, when received by a stomach which has bad humours, strengthens disease, not from its own nature but because of that stomach’s weakness, so does it usually happen with the spiritual mysteries. They, too, when received by a soul full of wickedness, wither it up and corrupt it the more, not by their own nature, but through the weakness of the participating soul. Let no one, therefore, indulge in bad thoughts; let us rather cleanse our mind, for we are approaching an immaculate sacrifice; let us make our souls holy. This may be done even in one day. How? If you have anything against an enemy cast out your anger, cure your wound, give up your enmity, in order that you may receive a healing from that table, for you are approaching a tremendous and all-holy sacrifice. Reverence the reason which prompts this offering. Christ lies slain before you. Why was He slain, and on what account? That He might bring about peace between the things of heaven and the things of earth; that He might make you the friend of angels, and reconcile you to the God of all; and that, whereas you were a foe and an enemy, He might transform you into His friend. He gave up His own life for those who hated Him. You continue in enmity with your fellow-servant, and how will you be able to approach the table of peace? He did not refuse even to die for you. Will you not put away for your own sake your anger against your fellow-servant? What excuse has this conduct? ‘He has treated me badly,’ you say, ‘and has been most grasping.’ What is this? It was a sheer money loss, but he was far from wounding you as Judas did Our Lord. Yet He gave that very blood which poured from Him for the salvation of those who shed it. What have you to put against this? If you do not forgive your enemy you have wounded not him but yourself. You have often done him some harm in this life, but you have prepared for yourself a relentless sentence in the enduring day of eternity. For nothing is so hateful to God as a revengeful man, an unforgiving heart, and an angered mind. Listen to what He says: When thou offerest thy gift at the altar, and as thou standest there, rememberest that thy brother hath anything against thee, take thy gift from the altar, and going away, be reconciled to thy brother, and then offer thy gift. What? Do you tell me that I must forgive? ‘I do, indeed,’ He says; ‘this sacrifice was instituted in order that you and your brother should be at peace.’ If, therefore, it was instituted that you might be at peace with your brother, and you do not enjoy peace, it is idle for you to take part in the sacrifice, and it has been instituted in vain as far as you are concerned. Do, then, in the first place, that for which the sacrifice is offered, and then you will enjoy its full benefit. The Son of God came down from heaven that He might reconcile our nature to its Lord, and on this account not only did He come, but wished also to make us who should do the same things participators of His Name. Blessed are the peacemakers, He says, for they shall be called the sons of God. That which the only begotten Son of God did, do you also according to your human power, by becoming a bond of peace to yourself and to others. This is why He calls you who are a peacemaker a son of God; this is why, in the time of sacrifice, He is mindful of no other commandment than that of reconciliation with a brother, showing that it is the greatest of all. Would that I could go on with the argument, but what I have said is sufficient for those who are here present, if they will lay it to heart. Let us always be mindful of these words, beloved brethren, and of the holy kiss of peace, and of the most sacred embrace which we give to each other. For this it is which holds our minds together, and makes us all one body, since we all partake of one Body. Let us then blend ourselves into one body, not mixing our bodies, but uniting our souls in the bond of charity; thus we shall be able to enjoy the table set before us with confidence. For even if we should be righteous a thousand times over, and yet have revengeful spirits, all is vanity and deception, and we shall be powerless to gain fruits of salvation here. Recognising this, let us put off all anger, and, purifying our conscience, let us with all meekness and humility approach the table of Christ, to Whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all glory, honour, and power, now and for ever! Amen.

The Union of the Holy Eucharist.
(Homilies on St. Matthew, lxxxii., vol. ii., p. 468.)

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Let us then trust in God under all circumstances, and never gainsay Him, even when what He says seems contrary to our reasonings and to our sight; but let His word be more powerful than our reasoning and our sight. So let us act in regard to the mysteries, not seeing only that which is before us, but also embracing His words. His word is not to be set aside, whereas our senses are easily deceived. It has never failed, but our senses have erred over and over again. Since, then, the word is, This is My Body, let us trust and believe in it, and gaze at it with our mind’s eyes. For Christ delivered to us nothing that is the object of sense, but objects all of the mind, yet dealing with sensible things. Thus, too, in baptism, the gift is made through an object of sense—the water, and that which is accomplished, is an object of mind, viz., birth and renewal. For, if you were bodiless, He would have given you bodiless gifts in their nakedness; but, since the soul is encompassed by the body, He gives you objects of mind, under the appearance of sensible things. How many men say, ‘I should like to see His form and features, His garments and His shoes? Well, you see Him, and touch Him, and eat Him. You desire to see what He wore, and He gives you Himself, not to see only, but to touch, and to eat, and to receive within you. Therefore, let no man approach with disgust or carelessness, but all with fire, and zeal, and watchfulness. For, if the Jews ate their Pasch in haste, standing, and holding their sandals and staffs in their hands, how much more should you be wary. They were about to go out to Palestine, and so they had the outward signs of travellers, and you are going forth to heaven. Hence we must be ever on the watch, for not a small punishment is reserved to those who eat unworthily. Think what your anger is against the traitor, and those who crucified Him, and see if you are not yourself guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ. They slaughtered the all-holy Body, and you receive it with a foul soul after so many loving benefits. He deemed it not sufficient to become man, to be scourged, and put to death, He also blends Himself with us, not by faith only, but in very deed makes us His Body. What, then, should be the purity of him who partakes of this sacrifice? How spotlessly white should not the hand be which divides this Flesh, or the mouth which is filled with spiritual fire, or the tongue which is purpled with that tremendous Blood? Consider what honour has been shown to you, and what that feast is which you enjoy. The angels gaze and tremble, and dare not look back again, because of the lightning which flashes from it; and this is what we feed upon, this is blended with us, and we ourselves become one body and one flesh with Christ. Who shall declare the powers of the Lord? Who shall set forth all His praises? Where is the shepherd who feeds his sheep with his own members? And why do I talk of a shepherd? There are many mothers who, after the pains of childbirth, give up their children to be nursed by others. This He would not suffer, but He Himself feeds us with His own Blood, and in everything unites us to Himself. For consider: He was born of our substance. ‘Not for all men,’ you say. Yes, for all. For, if He came to our nature, it is evident that He came to all, and if He came to all, then He came to each one of us. And why is it, you ask, that all men have not profited by this gift? This was not the fault of Him Who took that nature for all, but of those who had not the will. He unites Himself to each one of the faithful, through the mysteries, and those whom He brought forth He rears through Himself, and gives Himself to no other, persuading you again thereby that it was that very flesh of yours which He took. Therefore, let us not grow negligent who have been made worthy of so great charity and honour. Do you not see how eagerly babies grasp their mother’s breast, and how they press their lips upon it. Just so let us approach this table and the breast of spiritual drink; or rather, with much more impatience, let us draw near to the kindness of the Spirit, as children to their mother’s breast, and let us know one only pain, that of not participating in this food. That which lies before us is no work of human power. He Who did these things at that supper is He Who is now doing them. Our part is to furnish the ranks of servers. He Who sanctifies and prepares these gifts is Himself. Therefore let there be no Judas, no money-lover. If a man be not a disciple, let him withdraw: this table is not prepared for such as he. I will eat the Pasch, He says, with My disciples. This is that same table, and it offers no less. It was not that Christ instituted the one and a man the other, but He instituted both one and the other. This is that upper chamber in which they were assembled; thence they went forth into the Garden of Olives. Let us also go forth to minister to the poor, for this is our mountain of olives. The multitude of the poor, who are planted in God’s house, are olives, dropping upon us the oil that is to be useful to us, which the five virgins had, and the five who did not take it perished for want of it. Possessing it, let us go in, that we may all meet the Bridegroom, with bright lamps: with it, let us go forth from this world.

Bone of our Bone, Flesh of our Flesh.
(Homilies on First Epistle to Corinthians, xxiv., vol. ii., pp. 287, 295.)

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The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? What do you say, blessed Paul? Wishing to engage your hearers’ attention and commemorating the tremendous mysteries, do you call that awful and most tremendous chalice a chalice of benediction? ‘Yes,’ he says, ‘since what I have said is no slight thing. For when I speak of benediction I speak of the Eucharist, and when I speak of the Eucharist I unfold all the treasure of God’s munificence and commemorate His greatest gifts.’ And we, recounting over the chalice the unspeakable benefits of God and what mercies we have enjoyed, thus worship Him and hold communion with Him, giving thanks that He has freed the human race from error, that whereas we were far off from Him He drew us near, that when we were without hope and without God in the world He made us His brethren and co-heirs. Thus, in thanking Him for these and all His gifts, we approach Him. How, then, O Corinthians, are you not doing the opposite to this when praising God for turning you away from idols you hasten back to their tables? Is not the chalice of benediction which we bless the communion of the Blood of Christ? He spoke these words with an awful assurance. For this is what he says: that which is in the chalice is what flowed from His side, and of that we partake. But He called it a chalice of thanksgiving, since we, holding it in our hands, thus praise Him, wondering and being overwhelmed with this ineffable gift, magnifying Him for pouring out this very Blood of His that we might not remain in error, and not only that He poured it out, but that He has given to each one of us to partake of it. So, He says, if you desire blood, do not dye the altar of idols with the slaughter of unreasoning animals, but dye My altar with My Blood.[23] Tell me what is more tremendous, what is tenderer than this? For this is what lovers do: when they see the loved ones longing for what others have and despising what they themselves have, they give their own gifts, and so induce the beloved to turn away from the things of others. But lovers show this affection of theirs by money, and clothes, and chattels, no one of them ever by his blood; yet Christ gave us even this proof of His solicitude and His burning love for us. Thus, in the old Law, as men were in an imperfect state and offered blood to idols, it remained for Him to receive this (the chalice of the Pasch) that He might turn them away from idols, which, again, was an ineffable tenderness. But here He led them up to a far more awful and magnificent worship of God, and changed the sacrifice itself, and instead of the slaughtering of unreasoning animals, He commanded them to offer up Himself. Is not the bread which we break the communion of the Body of Christ? Why did he not say a participation? Because he wished to set forth something more and to show the closeness of that union. For we communicate not only by receiving and participating, but by being made one with Him. For just as that body is united to Christ, so are we made one with Him through this bread. Why did he add, which we break? This is seen to take place in the case of the Eucharist, though not at the Cross, but the contrary. Not a bone of Him shall be broken, the Scripture says. That which He did not suffer on the cross He suffers in the Eucharist for your sake, and He endures being broken that He may fill all.

Then after saying the communion of the body—for that which communicates is something distinct from the thing communicated—he removed even this seemingly slight difference. For in the words communion of the body he sought to say something closer, and therefore added, That we, being many, are one bread and one body. ‘Why do I speak of communion?’ he says; ‘we are that very Body itself. For what is the bread? The Body of Christ. What do partakers of it become? The Body of Christ: not many bodies, but one body.’ Just as bread is composed of many grains of wheat which are nowhere apparent in it, but still there, presenting no difference by reason of the kneading, so are we joined together with each other and with Christ. You are not nourished by one body and another man by another, but all by the same; therefore he added, ‘We are all participators of the same bread’. But if we are of the same, and become the same, why do we not all show forth the same charity and become one in this respect also? For this was so formerly in our progenitors. There was one heart and one mind in the gathering of the faithful. This is not the case now, but very much the reverse. Dissensions are many and various and well-nigh everywhere, and we show ourselves fiercer than wild beasts towards our members. Christ united you to Himself when you were so distant, and you will not deign to be united with your brother as you ought to be, but thrust yourself away from him, whilst enjoying so great a love and life from your Master. It was not for no purpose that He gave His Body, but as the first human nature, which was made from the earth, became by sin subject to death and to be deprived of life, He introduced, as we might say, another bread and leaven—His own Flesh—in nature, indeed the same, but free from sin and full of life; and He gave to all men to eat of it, that, nourished by it and putting off the old dead nature, we may at this table be blended with the living and immortal nature.

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