About the sacrement of the #Eucharist
Beloved and respected members who follow the orthodox education and spiritual service that we convey on John's Repentance page, we send you this writing about the sacrement of the Eucharist so that you read, understand and participate in this foundational mystery of the Church.
👉 Institution of the Sacrament
Our Lord instituted this Sacrament on Covenant Thursday, just a few hours before His arrest and trial. After He had washed the feet of the disciples as a sign of their repentance and preparation, “He took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins’” (Mt 26:26-28) St. Paul said, “The Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Cor 11:23-26)
👉 Symbols of the Eucharist in the Old Testament
The offering of Melchizedek (bread & wine) was a symbol of this Holy Sacrament, “Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High” (Gen 14:18). This is the first verse in Holy Scripture where the word “priest” was used and it is interesting to notice the connection between the priesthood of Melchizedek and the offering of bread and wine. Therefore, it was said about our Lord, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4; Heb 5:6)
The Passover lamb that the children of Israel offered on the night of their exodus from Egypt, and which they used to offer every year thereafter was a symbol of this Sacrament “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor 5:7)
The manna that the children of Israel ate in the wilderness of Sinai for forty years was a symbol of the Sacrament of Eucharist. Our Lord said, “This is the bread which came down from heaven – not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever” (Jn 6:58) – “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever and the bread that I shall give is My flesh” (Jn 6:51)
👉 The Question of the Real Presence
Our Lord spoke about this Sacrament openly to the Jews but they “quarreled among themselves saying, ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?’” (Jn 6:52).
Moreover, many of the disciples protested saying, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” (Jn 6:60). When Lord Jesus explicitly emphasized His real presence in the Sacrament, it was written, “many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (Jn 6:66)
The question of the real presence is of considerable importance in relation to the differences, which have emerged within Christianity since the time of the so-called ‘Reformation’. A particularly important witness to the early Christian understanding of this Sacrament is provided by the ‘Catechetical lectures’ of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. This series of 24 lectures of instruction on the beliefs and practices of the Christian Church, given at some point around 350 AD to those preparing for baptism, are an important witness to the ideas that prevailed in the Jerusalem Church around this point. It is clear that St. Cyril regarded the bread and wine as becoming the real body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ:
The feast of #Saint #Gabriel the Archangel
Beloved and respected, all our members who follow the orthodox education that we convey on John Repentance page; As mentioned in the title, we have sent you the following important lesson about the monthly commemoration of the Archangel Gabriel, which is celebrated today, so we entrust you all to read and learn from it.
St. Gabriel is the 2nd ranked angel power after St. Michael among the 7 archangels. He is described in the scriptures equally as the Archangel Michael in his intercession and mediation. Gabriel means servant and messenger of God. He is given this mysterious name because it is often revealed in the form of a human being and conveys God's message or God's will to mankind. In the place where the angels were created, when God, who created them, disappeared from their eyes in an instant to ensure the stability of their religion. Then question arose in the society of angels: 'Who created us?', 'Where did we come from?' At this time, the father of destruction, the devil, boldly and defiantly said, "I have created you." But the angel Saint Gabriel calmed down the association of countless holy angels by saying that we should stand firm where we are. Because of this, as it is written on John 1:14, 'The Word became flesh', he was chosen to announce to the Virgin that the Son of God will come down from heaven and be born as a man from the Virgin Mary. The angel Gabriel said to the her, "Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus. He is great. He will be called the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:31). Now that we have learned something about the Archangel, we will proceed with today's feast.
This is the miracle he performed on December 28th (annual commemoration day) : Saint Gabriel saved the three men named Ananya, Azaria, and Misael (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) from the furnace fire. If you ask how this happened, when they were living in captivity in Persian Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar made Daniel the fourth and placed them in the palace to learn wisdom from Babylon. Meldar, their steward, offered them meat and wine in goblets. They said, "We will not eat this. Give us some grain and good water." He said to them, "If the king sees your weight loss, he will be angry." They said give us a date. He gave them 10 days. They ate grains and drank water, and they were more handsome and bright than those who ate meat and drank wine. While they were learning, the Lord revealed his wisdom to them and they became wise, especially Daniel who enterpreted the king's vision. Then because of this, the king appointed them in three states. But the Babylonians were jealous of this and thought of a reason to quarrel with the king. They said to the king, make a picture of yourself so you can distinguish between your friend and your enemy. He made a gold statue 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide and placed it in the field of Aduran and proclaimed that those who do not bow to it will be punished. When everybody bowed down, they (Ananya, Azariah, and Mishael) said, "We will not bow down." And the Babylonians went and told the king. The king then ordered they be brought before him for questioning. He asked them 'Do you say that we should not worship?' They said yes. 'Who will save you?' They said to him "the God that created us will save us." He kindled a fire, and the flame became 49 cubits.
After this, he selected the mighty ones and threw the three into the fire. The soldiers who pushed them to fire were burned but for the three (Ananya, Azariah, Misael) the angel Gabriel came down and touched the fire with his rod, it turned into water. When the Babylonians saw that the fire was extinguished, they added more fire to it and activated the burn. But they (Ananya, Azariah, Mishael) spent the night singing praises to God without being burned.