In
his second letter to Timothy, St. Paul writes, “For I am already on the point
of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come” (2 Timothy 4:6; cf. Philippians
2:7). Generally, the term used for sacrifice
in Greek is “thusia;” however, St. Paul uses the first person singular passive
verb “spendomai,” which translated means “to pour out,” as in a libation or drink-offering.
This expression is an allusion to the Jewish ritual of pouring wine into the
altar after the sacrificial animal had been burnt (cf. Numbers 28:7). St. Paul
employs this metaphor to cast his own martyrdom in a liturgical light. Thus,
his death becomes a public act of worship, whereby he offers himself both
bodily and spiritually to God, much in the same way that Christ offered himself
on the cross.
The
Eucharistic overtones of the Greek verb are more clearly seen in the writings
of St. Ignatius of Antioch, who in his letter to the Romans, writes, “Do not
seek to confer any greater favor upon me than that I be sacrificed to God while
the altar is still prepared.”[1]
Here, St. Ignatius picks up on the apostle’s metaphor, even employing the same Greek
verb (spendomai). However, he expands on the sacrificial metaphor by referring
to himself as the bread and wheat of Christ in the same letter. He writes,
Allow me to become food for the
wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to
God. I
am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild
beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild
beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body; so that
when I have fallen asleep, I may be no trouble to any one. Then shall I truly
be a disciple of Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body.[2]
(emphasis mine)
The Letter to the Romans contains three
essential elements of the Mass: an altar, an allusion to wine, and two explicit
references to the Eucharist. St. Ignatius not only identifies himself with the
Eucharist, but also parallels his martyrdom which the Eucharistic sacrifice,
which is offered upon the altar of God.
We also find Eucharistic allusions
in three of Ignatius’ other letters.[3] Here,
I will only cite his letters to the Philadelphians and Smyrnaeans. In his Letter to the Philadelphians, St.
Ignatius compares the bread and wine to the flesh and blood of Christ which he
says are offered upon the altar. He writes,
Take heed, then, to have but
one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to
[show forth ] the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along
with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants: that so, whatsoever you
do, you may do it according to [the will of] God.[4]
….
I flee to the Gospel as to the
flesh of Jesus, and to the apostles as to the presbytery of the Church.[5]
However,
the most explicit statement in support of Eucharistic realism is found in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans. Ignatius
writes,
They
abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the
Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which suffered for our
sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again.[6]
St.
Ignatius says that the Eucharist is the self-same flesh of Christ which suffered
and which the Father, of his goodness, raised up again. The article in Greek is
neuter, so it's not merely that Jesus was raised, but that his flesh was
raised. The flesh *which* suffered, and the flesh *which* was raised for our
salvation. In essence, by emphasizing the literalism of the bodily resurrection,
he is also emphasizing a particular view of the Eucharist, namely, the Real Presence
(as opposed to a purely symbolic or pneumatological understanding of the
Eucharist). The Real Presence of the Eucharist is also reaffirmed by the
sufferings of the martyrs. St. Ignatius writes in the same letter,
But if these things were done
by our Lord only in appearance, then am I also only in appearance bound? And
why have I also surrendered myself to death, to fire, to the sword, to the wild
beasts? But he who is near to the sword is near to God; he that is among the
wild beasts is in company with God; provided only he be so in the name of Jesus
Christ. I undergo all these things that I may suffer together with Him, He who
became a perfect man inwardly strengthening me.[7]
Here, Ignatius is writing in opposition
to the Docetists (a Gnostic sect). The Docetists rejected the bodily sufferings
of Christ because they denied he possessed a physical body. However, Ignatius
argues that the physical sufferings of the martyrs would be rendered meaningless
if Christ did not suffer bodily also. He incorporates the Eucharist into his
argument in chapter 7 by suggesting that their refusal to participate in the Eucharist
reflects their disbelief in the bodily sufferings and resurrection of Christ. By
connecting the Eucharist to the bodily sufferings of Christ, Ignatius is not
only emphasizing Eucharistic realism, but also the sacrificial nature of the
Mass itself. The martyrs, through their sufferings and death, are not only united
to Christ on the cross, but also the Eucharistic sacrifice itself, as Ignatius
implies in his letter to the Romans. As Catholic theologian, Servais Pinckaers,
writes
Just as Christ truly suffered
in his body, so Ignatius suffers in his own body to the point of shedding
blood, and it is also the body and blood of Jesus that Christians receive in
the Eucharist, as fortifying nourishment. It is for this reason that the
Docetists, denying the reality of the Passion, did not participate in the
celebration of the Eucharist and rendered the sufferings of the martyrs
pointless.[8]
[1] Ignatius, Letter
to the Romans, 2.
[2] Ibid., chapter
4.
[3] Letter to the
Ephesians 5 & 20; Letter to the Philadelphians 4 & 5; Letter to the Smyrnaeans
7.
[4] Letter to the Philadelphians
4
[5] Ibid., chapter
5.
[6] Letter to the Smyrnaeans
7
[7] Letter to the Smyrnaeans
4
[8] Servais
Pinckaers, “The Spirituality of Martyrdom
... to the Limits of Love,” trans. Patrick M. Clark and Annie Hounsokou (Washington,
DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2016).
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