On the Sacrament of the Supper of our Lord

The Sunday called Septuagesima

O LORD, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of thy people; that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epiphany of our Lord

O GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully grant, that we, who know thee now by faith, may be led onward through this earthly life, until we see the vision of thy heavenly glory; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Sacrament of the Supper of our Lord, also known as the Eucharist is one of the sacraments which comes from the Gospel of Christ. The words of institution, the words by which Christ introduced his disciples to the sacrament at the last supper, are recorded four places in the Bible. Someone unfamiliar with this would guess the four Gospels, however, Christ’s words in this case are in fact recorded in only the three synoptic Gospels, and then referred to by St Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians, showing that even within the Apostolic Age, the sacrament of the Eucharist had already formed, in tandem with Baptism, the core sacramental life of the early Christian community.

It is a sacrament of many names. In the Book of Common Prayer alone, it is referred to as the Supper of our Lord, the Holy Eucharist, the Holy communion, the Sacrament of the Body and Blood, the heavenly feast and the holy mysteries. Each of these names emphasizes a different aspect of the sacrament.

The Supper of our Lord highlights both the last supper at which the sacrament was given to the disciples by Christ, and also is a reminder that through this sacrament we are being fed by him. The same is true when we speak to the heavenly feast, though perhaps with more emphasis on the reminder that the food and drink that we eat and drink are not simply bread and wine, but are a heavenly gift of Christ’s Body and Blood.

Eucharist comes from Greek and means thanksgiving; when we refer to the sacrament as the Eucharist, we are referring to giving thanks for the means by which we receive his spiritual nourishment.

Holy Communion refers to the Greek word κοινωνία which is generally transliterated as koinonia. In his Epistle to the Corinthians, St Paul uses it when he describes the Eucharist:

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation [koinonia] in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation [koinonia] in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Cor 10. 16-17).

In Speaking of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood, it emphasizes again how, as St Paul says, the cup of blessing which we bless is a participation in the Blood of Christ, and the bread we break is a participation in his Body. It is again a reminder that the sacrament is not mere symbol, but a sacramental sign; a grace given by God and in this case a participation in his sacrifice.

Finally, when it is acknowledged as a holy mystery, there is a reminder that Anglicanism rejects the Scholasticism of the Roman Catholic Church which sought to demystify and explain in human terms some of the holy mysteries. This drive towards scholasticism is what led to the Roman Catholic definition of transubstantiation at the Council of Trent in the 16th century. Anglicanism, much like Eastern Christianity, was perfectly happy to accept that God acts through holy mysteries that cannot always be understood or explained, nor do they need to be to have faith. Applying human understanding to God’s mysteries and miracles seeks to have limited humanity explain an unlimited God, which can lead to theological error.

This rejection of Roman doctrine can be seen in the 39 Articles of Religion, which provides in Article XXVIII that:

The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ.
Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.
The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is Faith.
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.

It should be noted here that the Article does not, for instance, suggest absolutely that Transubstantiation is wrong. It merely says first that it cannot be proved through the Holy Scriptures, and that a plain reading does not clearly spell out the doctrine of transubstantiation in respect of substance and elements and the metaphysical terms used to describe what it retains as a holy mystery.

The Article goes on to declare that Anglicans view the Real Presence through a spiritual rather than carnal or physical sense, and that it is consumed by faith. This doctrine stands in opposition both to the doctrine of Transubstantiation upheld by the Roman Catholic Church and the doctrines held by Lutheran Protestants. For a clearer explanation of the Anglican view, Richard Hooker wrote in his Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie:

The real presence of Christ’s most blessed body and blood is not therefore to be sought for in the sacrament, but in the worthy receiver of the sacrament…  I see not which way it should be gathered by the words of Christ [Mk 14. 22-24], when and where the bread is His body or the cup His blood, but only in the very heart and soul of him which receiveth them. As for the sacraments, they really exhibit, but for aught we can gather out of that which is written of them, they are not really nor do really contain in themselves that grace which with them or by them it pleaseth God to bestow.

Here, Hooker phrases his commentary in sacramental terms. Where is the grace? In the person who receives it. Therefore his Body and Blood are similarly to be found in the person who receives the sacrament, and not in the elements of the sacrament itself. Elsewhere, Hooker explores the necessity of regular nourishment in the new life in Christ received through Baptism.

In his An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles: Historical and Doctrinal, Edward Herald Browne writes:

The doctrine of a real, spiritual presence is the doctrine of the English Church… It teaches that Christ is really received by faithful communicants in the Lord’s Supper; but that there is no gross or carnal, but only a spiritual and heavenly presence there; not the less real, however, for being spiritual. It teaches, therefore, that the bread and the wine are received naturally; but the Body and Blood of Christ are received spiritually.

More than any other point, Hooker sums up an orthodox Anglican view of the sacrament when he says, “All things considered and compared with that success which truth hath hitherto had by so bitter conflicts with errors in this point, shall I wish that men would more give themselves to meditate with silence what we have by the sacrament, and less to dispute of the manner how?” More plainly put, it is more beneficial to contemplate what grace we receive through the Eucharist, and far less important to debate how the mystery of this sacrament works.