The Mystery of the Eucharist: Part 1

The Mystery of the Eucharist is the crowning mystery of the Church, in which the saving sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ is made present to the faithful. Foreshadowed through the sacrifices of the Old Testament and revealed in the offering of Isaac, it finds its fulfillment in Christ, the true Lamb of God. This Part 1 explores the meaning of the Eucharist and Christ as its true and once-for-all sacrifice.

The Mystery of the Eucharist (ምስጢረ ቁርባን) is one of the five pillars of the Church. The holy fathers, whose faith was pure and who faithfully preserved the true doctrine, proclaimed in the Creed: “We believe in the one holy Church, as declared in the supreme council of the apostles” (ከሁሉ በላይ በምትሆን በሐዋርያት ጉባዔ (ሐዋርያት በሰበሰቧት) በአንዲት ቅድስት ቤተክርስቲያን እናምናለን), because it is within the Holy Church that the Mystery of the Eucharist—the seal of all mysteries (የምሥጢራት ሁሉ ማጽኛ ማኅተም)—is celebrated.

The Mystery of the Eucharist is the crowning and completion (መፈጸሚያ) of all the Church’s mysteries. Through this mystery, humanity receives the grace that leads to salvation (ድኅነት) and eternal life (ዘላለማዊ ሕይወት). Whenever, through human weakness and sin, we lose the freedom granted to us through Christ’s redemption, we are restored by the grace of the Holy Spirit through partaking in Christ’s life-giving sacrifice. Thus, we are strengthened to overcome sin and its darkness and are made worthy to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (መንግስተ ሰማያት).

What Is the Meaning of the Mystery of the Eucharist?

The word Qurban (ቁርባን) is derived from the Syriac qurbāna, meaning a spiritual offering (gift), a sacrifice, or an offering presented to God. In Greek, it is called the Eucharist. The word Eucharist means “giving thanks.” It is also known as “the Lord’s Supper,” “the Mystical Supper,” and “the Mystery of Communion (አንድ የመሆን ምስጢር).”

In its broader sense, the word Qurban, or Eucharist, refers to all offerings that human beings present to God, their Creator. In this article, however, it refers specifically to the true offering—the holy Body and precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Unlike ordinary offerings presented by human beings to God, this is God’s gift to humanity, offered for the salvation of all people and as the means through which He grants eternal life. “ይህ መስዋዕት ከሰው ለእግዚአብሔር የቀረበ ሳይሆን ከእግዚአብሔር ለሰው ሁሉ የተሰጠ የዘላለም ሕይወትን የምንካፈልበት አምላካዊ ጥበብ ነው።” Human beings offer the simple earthly elements used for the sacrifice, but God, seeing their obedience and faith, transforms what passes away into what does not pass away, the earthly into the heavenly, and the temporal into the eternal—ሰው ለመስዋዕት የሚሆነውን ቀላል ነገር ያቀርባል፡፡ እግዚአብሔር ደግሞ የሰውን መታዘዝና እምነት አይቶ የሚያልፈውን ወደማያልፈው፣ ምድራዊውን ወደ ሰማያዊው፣ ጊዜያዊውን ወደዘላለማዊው ይለውጣል፡፡ This sacred transformation is known as the Mystery (Sacrament) of the Eucharist.

The Old Testament saints, beginning with our father Adam, offered animals such as sheep and goats as sacrifices in faith. When sin separated them from God, they offered sacrifices through which they sought reconciliation with Him. God accepted these sacrifices in accordance with His covenant and reconciled them to Himself. All who lived under the law of the heart (ሕገ ልቡና) and the law of the Torah (ሕገ ኦሪት) passed through this sacrificial system.

The offering of Isaac, a type of Christ (የክርስቶስ ምሳሌ), on Mount Moriah reveals the fundamental difference between the sacrifices of the Old and New Testaments. As Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac, Isaac noticed that the sacrificial lamb was missing and asked, “My father…here are the fire and the wood…but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” (“አባቴ ሆይ…እሳቱና እንጨቱ ይኸው…የመሥዋዕቱ በግ ግን ወዴት አለ?”). Abraham understood that Isaac himself was to be offered. Yet, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he replied, “My son, God will provide the lamb for the sacrifice.” (“ልጄ ሆይ የመሥዋዕቱን በግ እግዚአብሔር ያዘጋጃል፡፡”) (Gen. 22:7–8).

At the appointed time, unknown to both Abraham and Isaac, God provided an unblemished ram (ንጹሕ የመሥዋዕት በግ), whose horns were caught in a thicket (a dense bushy plant) (ዕፀ ሳቤቅ). The ram was offered in Isaac’s place as a substitute sacrifice (Gen. 22:13). This unblemished sacrifice is a type (ምሳሌ) of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, who would later offer Himself as the perfect and once-for-all sacrifice for the salvation of humanity (ይህ በይስሐቅ ፈንታ የተሰዋው ንጹሕ በግ የዓለም መድኃኒት የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ምሳሌ ነበር፡፡).

The true sacrifice to which Abraham and Isaac unknowingly bore witness, through the Holy Spirit, was Jesus Christ. John the Baptist, the last of the prophets and the first herald of the New Testament, proclaimed this truth: “… ዮሐንስ ኢየሱስን ወደ እርሱ ሲመጣ አይቶ እንዲህ አለ፦ እነሆ የዓለምን ኃጢአት የሚያስወግድ የእግዚአብሔር በግ። አንድ ሰው ከእኔ በኋላ ይመጣል፥ ከእኔም በፊት ነበርና ከእኔ ይልቅ የከበረ ሆኖአል ብዬ ስለ እርሱ ያልሁት ይህ ነው።” (John 1:29–30).

Therefore, the true sacrifice of the New Testament is Jesus Christ. Like the ram offered in Isaac’s place, Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice—not for one person or a few, but for the salvation of the whole world. Unlike the repeated sacrifices of the Old Testament, His sacrifice was offered once and for all. He Himself—the incarnate God—is the sacrifice, the offerer, the recipient, and the unique High Priest (መሥዋዕቱም፣ መሥዋዕት አቅራቢውም፣ መሥዋዕት ተቀባዩም እርሱ ራሱ ሰው የሆነ አምላክ፣ ልዩ ሊቀ ካህናት ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ነው፡፡)

The sacrament of the Eucharist is the crown of all the graces that Christ bestowed upon His Church. Through it, we partake of the holy Body and precious Blood of Jesus Christ, who was offered once for all as the ransom sacrifice for the whole world (አንድ ጊዜ ስለ ዓለም ሁሉ ቤዛ መሥዋዕት ከሆነ ከኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ቅዱስ ሥጋና ክቡር ደም አካሉ እንሆን ዘንድ የምንካፈልበት፣ ከክርስቶስ ለቤተክርስቲያን የተሰጠ የጸጋዎች ሁሉ አክሊል ነው፡፡).

Abba Hiriyakos, in the Liturgy of Saint Mary, beautifully expresses this mystery:

“Today, on this day, I stand before this mystery in wonderful love and humility. I stand before this table and this sacrifice. It is the true sacrifice, from which those who have defiled their souls cannot partake. It is not a sacrifice like the blood of lambs, calves, and oxen, as in the time of the ancient fathers; rather, it is fire. It is a saving fire for those who have purified their hearts and do His will, but a consuming fire for those who deny His name.”

“ዛሬ በዚህች ቀን በፍቅርና በትሕትና ግሩም በሚሆን በዚህ ምሥጢር ፊት እቆማለሁ፡፡ በዚህም ማዕድና ቁርባን ፊት፡፡ መንፈሳቸውን ያረከሱ ሰዎች ከኣርሱ ሊቀምሱ የማይቻላቸው በእውነት ቁርባን ነው፡፡ በበግ በጊደርና በላም ደም እንደ ነበረው እንደ ቀደሙት አባቶች መሥዋዕት አይደለም፤ እሳት ነው እንጂ፡፡ ፈቃዱን ለሚሠሩ ልቡናቸውን ላቀኑ ሰዎች የሚያድን እሳት ነው፡፡ ስሙን ለሚክዱ ለዓመፀኞች ሰዎች የሚባላ እሳት ነው፡፡” (Liturgy of St. Mary, ቅዳሴ ማርያም, 5–7).

Believers who confess the oneness and Threeness of God (the mystery of the Holy Trinity), who have also been redeemed by the blood of Christ (በክርስቶስ ደም የተዋጁ), and who have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit partake of the sacrament of the Eucharist by receiving the holy Body and precious Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As the Lord declared, “ሥጋዬን የሚበላ ደሜንም የሚጠጣ የዘላለም ሕይወት አለው።” (John 6:54), those who receive His holy Body and precious Blood have eternal life. Likewise, as Saint Paul warned, “ሳይገባው ይህንን እንጀራ የበላ ወይም የጌታን ጽዋ የጠጣ ሁሉ የጌታ ሥጋና ደም ዕዳ አለበት” (1 Cor. 11:27), everyone who partakes of this sacred mystery should understand its meaning, significance, and proper celebration.

Conclusion

The Mystery of the Eucharist is the true sacrifice of the New Testament, fulfilled once and for all in Jesus Christ, the incarnate God and High Priest. Through this sacred mystery, the faithful partake of His holy Body and precious Blood and receive the grace of eternal life. Therefore, the Holy Eucharist calls us to approach Christ’s sacrifice with faith, reverence, purity of heart, and a life worthy of this great mystery.