by Chrysostom Koutloumousianos, Hieromonk
Death to the world - The Last True Rebelion (about)
The recent reappearance of the ancient terror of a pandemic has
prompted fertile conversation among theologians and literary people
across the world. Various opinions have been articulated, such as that
disease can be transmitted through the current way of distributing holy
communion, or that the Eucharistic Gifts themselves can be bearers and
transmitters of pathogenic germs. It is said that since the bread and
the wine do not alter their essence and essential properties, it follows
that they are subject to decay and can also spread toxic viruses. This
idea has supposedly found Christological grounds as well in that the
human body of Christ is a carrier of germs which can be harmful to us,
though not to Him; after all, germs themselves are not bad, since there
is nothing bad in creation.
Within this framework the following evidence drawn from the writings of the Fathers might be relevant and useful.
Undoubtedly, there is nothing bad in creation. No form of life, nor
even natural destruction can be considered as bad, because evil is only
that which alienates us from God. However, at the same time one
should not ignore or deny the products of personal sin, such as, for
example, a dangerous laboratory hybrid, as well as the effects of the
ancestral Fall, namely decay and death, to which the human being has
been submitted. Now, God’s incarnation manifested something entirely new
in the world.
Let us open a short parenthesis to delineate the Orthodox belief
regarding the Eucharistic elements. Do we hold that they are merely a
representation of the Lord’s presence in the congregation, as is the
general understanding in Protestantism? In this case, the holy bread
could be offered in sterilized bags and the holy wine in certified
sealed bottles. If, on the other hand, in accord with the Roman Catholic
doctrine of transubstantiation, the holy gifts are Christ with respect
to their essence, then either we must commit ourselves to worshipping
the gifts or fall into unbelief when thinking they can be corrupted.
The Greek Fathers speak neither of transubstantiation nor symbolic
function but of the ‘change’ of the material elements. This ‘change’
signifies a new mode of being, inaugurated through the appearance of God
in the flesh. Here we must consider the patristic distinction between
the logos of nature and the mode of existence, a distinction which is useful for an Orthodox approach to the mystery of Christ.
The Fathers use this distinction as a tool for explaining God’s
miracles in history. When God intervenes to perform a wondrous act, He
does not alter the nature of things — that is, their logos or principle;
instead He innovates the manner in which their nature operates, so as
to fulfill the divine economy. The innovated mode means nature operating
beyond its own ordinance, beyond its limits, translating the human
being “into another form of life”, as for instance when Noah remained
unharmed amid wild animals and holy men would walk upon the waters.
The Incarnation was the climax of all divine interventions. The
incomprehensible mystery that took place in the Logos Incarnate was the
indissoluble union of divine and human nature. Such union meant the
exchange of the natural properties in Christ, in the same way that a
blade becomes fire when thrown into fire while at the same time fire
acquires a sharp edge. Human nature remains intact while its mode of
existence is altered. This is why Christ was born both in a divine and a
human way, that is, carried by a woman, yet without labour pains and
corruption. He was not subjugated to nature; instead, elevating it to
Himself, He made nature “a transcendental mystery” Christ’s human nature
operates in a divine mode, and it operates in a divine mode because it
carries the fullness of divine activity.(1)
This same reality and understanding can be applied to the Eucharistic
mystery. Here also an alteration of the material elements takes place.
Neither is their logos or essence changed, nor their natural properties,
but their condition and conduct, that is, their mode of being. Just as
in Christ everything human has a transcendental mode, since human nature
in Him has the fullness of divinity, so the Eucharistic Gifts receive
and transmit to its participants the same theandric activity of Christ.
We partake, therefore, not of something that is subject to decay and
deterioration, but of God Himself, through matter that has become
life-giving, as the very flesh of Christ is life-giving.
Clearly, authentic communion has to do not only with the presence of
Christ in bread and wine but also with His presence within us. Union and
assimilation with God is not accomplished without the good resolve
(prohairesis) and synergy of man, nor is it exclusively fulfilled in the
Eucharist.(2) We need to follow and wholeheartedly imitate Christ
freely and be born in the Spirit. Divine activity operates in various
inscrutable ways according to the measure of each one’s faith and
longing.
Thus, when Christ is offered as bread, He does not alter the nature
of bread but its ‘economy’. Christ’s human nature was passible, yet, one
with the Divinity, and for this reason it could not be seized and
possessed by death. And as His body was dead and risen, since it was
never detached from Divinity, similarly, when we receive this body we
foretaste the resurrection. Just as Christ suffers as a human being, yet
acts as God, in the same way the consecrated elements, though subject
to ‘suffering’ and corruption, act upon us as uncreated divinity. As St
Cyril of Alexandria says,
The body of Christ is holy and has the power to vanquish every
illness. It was and is holy, not merely as flesh with its natural
powers, but as the temple of the indwelling divine Logos, who sanctifies
His flesh with His Spirit. This is why Christ vivifies the daughter of
the leader of the synagogue not only through His omnipotent command but
also with His bodily touch. (Αναστασίου, Doctrina Patrum, σ. 129, 131-32)
Therefore, to those that receive communion with faith and true
repentance the Lord’s body becomes a ‘safeguard’, ‘for strength, healing
and health of soul and body’, maintenance and deification of human
nature.(3)
The consecrated elements operate as the deified body of Jesus.
Through matter God grants life uncorrupted. And although immortality is
an eschatological condition, and we shall all, sooner or later, cross to
the other side of the bank, yet ‘doses’ of incorruption are given in
this mortal life according to the measure of each one’s faith, longing,
godly fear and love.
Source
Post Script Regarding the Spoon
By Fr. Panayiotis Papageorgiou, Ph.D.
Fr. Chrysostomos explains that just as Christ suffers as a human
being, yet acts as God and rises from the dead, in the same way the
consecrated elements (Holy Communion), though subject to ‘suffering’ and
corruption themselves, act upon us as uncreated divinity in order to
transform and perfect our fallen nature, not to change us from being
physically corruptible, but to enable us to become partakers of the
divine nature (2Peter 1:4), even in the here and now.
Therefore, to those who receive Holy Communion with faith and true
repentance the Lord’s body becomes a ‘safeguard’ ‘for strength, healing
and health of soul and body’, maintenance and deification of their
fallen human nature.(3)
The consecrated elements in the Holy Eucharist operate as the deified
body of Jesus. Through corruptible matter, God grants life uncorrupted.
And although immortality is an eschatological condition, and we shall
all, sooner or later, cross to the other side and receive it in its
fullness, yet ‘doses’ of incorruption are given to us in this mortal
life according to the measure of each one’s faith, his/her longing and
godly fear and love.We are transformed into a different mode of existence by the touch of Christ’s Body and Blood.We are sanctified and deified by being united with Him.
The Chalice and Spoon of Holy Communion are also changed as they come into contact with Christ’s Body and Blood. They are transformed to a different mode of existence; they are sanctified. Their nature is not changed, but, rather,
in the same way as a blade becomes fire when thrown into the fire . . .
the Chalice and the Spoon are also changed and sanctified. Their mode of existence is altered so that they may transfer life to us, just as his garment heals the flow of blood in the woman when she touches it, just as the sea is calmed by the touch of Christ for the safety of the disciples, just as the daughter of Jairus and the son of the widow are brought back to life by the touch of Christ.
The Body and Blood of Christ, along with the sacred vessels (the
Chalice and the Spoon) utilized to deliver it to us cannot be a threat
to our bodily health if we approach with the “Fear of God with Faith and
with Love.” On the contrary, they will lead us to healing of soul and
body and eternal life as they deliver to us the healing, salvific touch of Christ.
Hence, as we return to Holy Communion, let us surrender in faith to
God’s Mercy and Forgiveness and ask that He may restore us again in His
good favor, and protect us from disease, calamity and eternal
condemnation.
COVID-19 is a tribulation (δοκιμασία), a test to our faith. The only
way to overcome tribulations is by surrendering to God’s Love and Mercy
completely and unconditionally in faith and trust. Holy Communion is the
place to do that, even as He is offered to us through the shared
Chalice and Spoon.
Source
Notes to First Article
(1) See Maximus the Confessor, PG 91.298-300, 344, 1048-1056, 1273-1276, 1341-1345.
(2) See Chrysostom Koutloumousianos, The One and the Three: Nature, Person and Triadic Monarchy in the Greek and Irish Patristic Tradition, James Clarke, Cambridge 2015, pp. 119-22, 132-34, 150-53.
(3) John of Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 87. Also see Prayer before the Holy Communion, and Gregory of Nyssa, Catechetical Oration, 37.
Please see also
Governments
evicting God – from inside the Christian Chalice? / Is Holy Communion
safe to consume? - A compilation dedicated to answers provided by
medical specialists
Ελληνικά: Είναι ασφαλές να κοινωνούμε;
