Jerusalem,[1] St. John Chrysostom,[2] St. Cyril of Alexandria,[3] St. John Damascene,[4] and indeed almost all the Greek Fathers speak of this mystery at length, use words that can only be translated by "Transubstantiation,"[5] and say that after the words of consecration what is present is the very Body of Christ, that was born of the Virgin, scourged and crucified, the Blood that flowed from his side.[6] The old liturgies express the same faith. As one example for all, in the Coptic Liturgy the priest says: "The Body and Blood of Emmanuel our God this is in truth.—Amen. I believe, I believe, I believe, and I confess unto the last breath that this is the quickening flesh which thine only-begotten Son our Lord and our God and our Saviour Jesus Christ took of the lady of us all the holy Mother of God, St. Mary."[7] The Orthodox liturgies are equally plain.[8]
The East always exceeded the West in the ardour of the reverence it paid to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the Saints, as also in the wealth of language with which it invoked them. The sober Roman mind never produced such ornate prayers to the Saints, or such enthusiastic praises of them as the great Greek Fathers.
Most of all Saints of course was the "All-holy Mother of God" the object of their devotion. Of all the generations that have called her blessed, none have done so with such eloquence as the Eastern Christians.[9] And devotion to our Lady is still a special mark of all these Churches. It seems useless to bring quotations to prove what no one will deny.
The old liturgies, the sermons of the Fathers, are full of the
- ↑ Catech. Myst. 4, 20; M.P.G. xxxiii. 1098, 1123.
- ↑ Hom. 82 (al.83) in Mt. Hom. 45 (46), 42, 17; M.P.G. lxi. 199; lxiii. 131, &c.
- ↑ In Mt. xxvi. 27; M.P.G. lxxiii. 519.
- ↑ De fide orth. M.P.G. xciv. 1146, seq.
- ↑ μεταστοιχειοῦσθαι, μεταβάλλεσθαι, μεταποιεῖσθαι, μετουσίωσις, κ.τ.λ.
- ↑ In the texts referred to. Cf. Pesch: Præl. dogm. vi. prop. lxiv.
- ↑ Brightma: Eastern Liturgies, p. 185.
- ↑ Brightman, p. 387, the Epiklesis of St. John Chrysostom's liturgy: "Make this bread the precious Body of thy Christ," &c.; p. 393, the Manual Acts: "The Lamb of God is broken and divided," &c. All the Epikleses are equally explicit.
- ↑ Hurter: SS. PP. opuscula selecta, xii. and xxxiv. de gloriosa Dei Genitrice Maria.
