Why are the bread and wine mixed together in the Holy Eucharist during an Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy?
Upvote:6
The origins of this tradition can be found as early as 120AD in the practice of fermentum, whereby a piece of consecrated bread was broken off and sent to another community in another place for a separate - yet now connected - Eucharistic celebration, thereby expressing the unity of the Church through communion. (The Roots of the Catholic Tradition)
When this practice of traveling leaven was no longer taken up, a piece of the locally consecrated bread was dropped into the chalice and the tradition was explained through various allegory and metaphor, one of which being: this commixture symbolizes the reunion (resurrection) of Christ’s body and soul which were separated at the cross. (The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia)
The actual word commixture and this notion that Christ essentially puts his power “on hold” before the resurrection, we find in The Life Hidden or Veiled by the Sacramental Species from Cardinal Cienfuegos (1657-1739):
This life Christ the Lord Himself as High Priest alone sacrifices and offers inasmuch as by the sway of His human will he suspends or removes the vital actions miraculously produced, and determines not to elicit any further action or to use the instrumental power of producing them according to His will, until by a kind of resurrection in the commemoration of the resurrection in the commixture of the body and the blood He resumes the actual life and free use of instrumental power.
In his book A History of The Doctrine of The Holy Eucharist, Vol. 2, Darwell Stone writes this of Cardnial Cienfuegos proposal:
Upon this opinion he built up a theory that in the Eucharistic sacrifices our Lord offers this life of the senses and suspends these vital actions until the mystical representation of the resurrection in the commixture of consecrated elements at the placing of a fragment of the host in the chalice; and that this suspension constitutes the sacrifice.
As you may have gathered, this tradition is not exclusive to the Orthodox tradition. It is practiced in the Catholic tradition (at least it was when I was an altar boy 45 years ago) and in the Episcopal tradition as well. (4)
More post
- 📝 Who says, "If you are going to Heaven, you will know it"?
- 📝 What traditions hold that Satan is not actually a person?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, does faith or trust in God guarantee protection from poverty?
- 📝 Is there any Biblical prophecy about Damascus?
- 📝 Why was Christ's sacrifice such a big cost?
- 📝 What is the justification for applying God's promises to Israel to modern day Christians?
- 📝 Why do some traditions recite the Lord's Prayer word for word?
- 📝 How has God destroyed the wisdom of the wise?
- 📝 How do Cessationists who believe in modern-day miracles judge the credibility of modern miracle claims?
- 📝 Why does Infant Jesus wear a big crown in pictures?
- 📝 Why is it not enough for Jesus to be human to be the perfect sacrifice, why must he be God?
- 📝 Quote about judging "a man by his post" from the City of God, according to Alain de Botton
- 📝 Which denominations believe in eternal marriage?
- 📝 God created male and female.... What about those who do not fit in the box?
- 📝 Did James brother of Jesus, believe that Jesus is God? if so, why were some Jews in the city offended by his death according to Josephus?
- 📝 According to the LDS Church, what is the purpose or result of proxy baptisms for those who have already died?
- 📝 Do Roman Catholics regard Orthodox sacraments as valid and/or licit?
- 📝 What was Origen's view of Jesus' soul?
- 📝 Why are the wicked resurrected only to be destroyed and sent to the Lake of Fire?
- 📝 If the Sacrament of Confirmation gives the gift of fortitude, why are we still afraid to do the right thing?
- 📝 What would Christians sympathetic to Holy Spirit 'speaking in tongues' today say about such a practice going on in non-Christian religions?
- 📝 What made Jesus question at Mt 21:25 a good example for Christians or was it a bad question because the Jews could not answer?
- 📝 What heresies have required (since the Reformation) 'rejection' after the 'first and second admonition' (Titus 3:10)?
- 📝 If I undergo baptized am I still Catholic?
- 📝 Is there an established concensus meaning of Vicarious Atonement?
- 📝 Natural law, accident
- 📝 In light of the many changes in regulations, what is the purpose of the Roman Catholic altar and is it neccessary for a valid Mass?
- 📝 What did the original Christian writings look like during the 1st century CE?
- 📝 Who are the 144,000?
- 📝 What does the quote from the Old Testament in Luke 2: 23 refer to?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why are the bread and wine mixed together in the Holy Eucharist during an Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy?
- 📝 Why do LDS use water and leavened bread in communion when the Jews used wine and unleavened bread?
- 📝 How are the bread and wine explained by those who forbid images of Jesus?
- 📝 Why do some churches eat leavened bread and wine for the Lord's Supper?
- 📝 In light of the list found in Isaiah 11:1-3, why are there seven gifts of Holy Spirit and not six?
- 📝 In Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Lutheranism, what are the main explanations on the matter of why Jesus Christ needed to be baptized?
- 📝 Are there any compelling reasons to prevent a layperson from administering the bread and wine in accordance with 1 Corinthians 11:17-34?
- 📝 If we receive infinite grace through bread and wine as the Catholic theology say, why does a person still sin against God?
- 📝 Why are Matthew, Mark, and Luke called the synoptic gospels?
- 📝 Why do we use the order "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit"?
- 📝 When does the bread and wine become Body and Blood?
- 📝 What are the major differences between Eastern and Western Orthodox Christianities?
- 📝 What do Protestants who deny transubstantiation do with the remainders of wine and bread after the Eucharist?
- 📝 What are the key differences between the Western and Eastern Christianity?
- 📝 What is the basis for the practice of Intinction (the dipping of the bread into wine during the Eucharist)?
- 📝 Why did Daniel consider the allotment of food and wine to be wrong for him to eat?
- 📝 Why do Protestants say: "In Jesus' name. Amen.", whereas Catholics say: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."?
- 📝 Why did the Western and Eastern churches react to their respective states so differently?
- 📝 Why are the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary such a big deal that all Catholics must believe in them?
- 📝 What are the differences between Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Nestorianism?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus, Father, and Holy Spirit are of the same nature but different personas?
- 📝 Are God, Son (Jesus) and The Holy Spirit Same?
- 📝 Are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit explicitly identified as "persons" in any writings directly associated with the Nicene Creed?
- 📝 Why are there Sibyls and Prophetesses in the Sistine Chapel?
- 📝 Why are the wicked resurrected only to be destroyed and sent to the Lake of Fire?
- 📝 Are there any major Protestant denominations that meet every day and are together all the time like the early church was?
- 📝 How can common believers in the Eastern Orthodox Church be sure that the Church's decisions are correct and not erroneous?
- 📝 What does the Bible say about this question- Why do Jesus and God have two seats in heaven when they are the same God?
- 📝 Why aren't the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Churches in communion with each other?
- 📝 According to Eastern Orthodoxy why did we inherit the sin of Adam and Eve?