Today we celebrate the Institution of the central and most sacred act of our Holy Orthodox Christian Faith – the Mystical Supper of the Holy Eucharist. Everything that we do in our Church relates to this foundational Mystery that our Lord Jesus Christ gave to us on the night, in which He gave Himself up for the life of the world.
The Bread and the Wine, the Offering of Them as His Body and Blood, and the Foot-Washing afterwards, are new elements that constitute a new relationship with God – what we call “The New Covenant,” or “The New Testament.” What was enacted in the Bread and Wine is relational, and is the way the Lord chooses to continue His Presence among us, who are His followers, His survivors – if you will – in our own generation.
What we commemorate today is that First Divine Liturgy, which in many ways is the only Divine Liturgy, as every Eucharist participates in It through Grace and the Divine Energy of God. What we present here today is our Sacred Ritual, developed over the centuries, to re-present that First Mystical Supper.
In doing so, we honor with our most solemn prayers and liturgical symbols, the Institution of our Most Holy and Most Sacred Ritual, the living and lively Divine Liturgy, where we participate in the Body and Blood of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, unto the forgiveness of our sins, and life everlasting.
Icon: Mystical Supper, Theophanes the Cretan, 1545, Stavronikita Monastery, Mt. Athos, Greece, Chapel of St. Nicholas.
