Q. Did the Church Fathers believe that the bread in the Lord's supper ceased to be bread?
Irenæus, Bishop of Lugdunum [Lyon] (c. 130 - 202 A.D.): More Here
And therefore the oblation [προσφορα, offering] of the Eucharist is not a carnal one, but a spiritual; and in this respect it is pure. …in order that the receivers of these antitypes [ἀντιτύπων] may obtain remission of sins and life eternal. Those persons, then, who perform these oblations [προσφορα, offering] in remembrance of the Lord, do not fall in with Jewish views, but, performing the service after a spiritual manner, they shall be called sons of wisdom.
(Philip Schaff, ANF, Vol. I, Irenæus, Fragments, XXXVII). Here
Clement, of Alexandria (c. 150 - 215 A.D.): More Here
For rest assured, He Himself also partook of wine; for He, too, was man. And He blessed the wine, saying, “Take, drink: this is my blood”—the blood of the vine. He figuratively [αλληγορει] calls the Word “shed for many, for the remission of sins”—the holy stream of gladness. …And that it was wine which was the thing blessed, He showed again, when He said to His disciples, “I will not drink of the fruit of this vine, till I drink it with you in the kingdom of my Father.” But that it was wine which was drunk by the Lord, He tells us again, when He spake concerning Himself, reproaching the Jews for their hardness of heart…
(Philip Schaff, ANF, Vol. II. Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, II.II.). Here
Hippolytus, of Rome (c. 170 - 235A.D.): More Here
And then the offering is immediately brought by the deacons to the bishop, and by thanksgiving, he shall make the bread into an image [The Latin adds "In Greek antitypum."] of the body of Christ, and the cup of wine mixed with water according to the likeness [The Latin adds "In Greek similitudinem."] of the blood, which is shed for all who believe in him.
(The Apostolic Traditions of Hippolytus, 23) see (The Apostolic Traditions of Hippolytus, Trans. Burton Scott Easton, [Cambridge University Press, 1934], Reprinted (1962), p. 48). Here
Tertullian, of Carthage (c. 155 - 240 A.D.): More Here
…and because, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so was He not to open His mouth,” that He so profoundly wished to accomplish the symbol of His own redeeming blood? …“Then, having taken the bread and given it to His disciples, He made it His own body, by saying, “This is my body,” that is, the figure of my body. A figure, however, there could not have been, unless there were first a veritable body.
(Phillip Schaff, ANF, Vol III, Tertullian, The Five Books Against Marcion, Bk. IV, Ch. XL). Here
But if you maintain that a transfiguration and a conversion amounts to the annihilation of any substance, then it follows that “Saul, when changed into another man,” passed away from his own bodily substance; and that Satan himself, when “transformed into an angel of light,” loses his own proper character. Such is not my opinion.
(Philip Schaff, ANF, Vol III, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, LV). Here
Origen, of Alexandria (c. 184 - 253 A.D.): More Here
So also the bread is the word of Christ made of that corn of wheat which falling into the ground yields much fruit. For not that visible bread which He held in His hands did God the Word call His body, but the word in the mystery of which that bread was to be broken. Nor did He call that visible drink His blood, but the word in the mystery of which that drink was to be poured out.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1862], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus XIII, Origenis in Matthæum Commentariorum Series, § 85, Col. 1734-1735). Here Trans. (Darwell Stone, A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist, [1909], Volume I, pp. 27-28). Here
Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (c. 200 - 258 A.D.): More Here
For who is more a priest of the most high God than our Lord Jesus Christ, who offered a sacrifice to God the Father, and offered that very same thing which Melchizedek had offered, that is, bread and wine, to wit, His body and blood? ...I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day in which I shall drink new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.” In which portion we find that the cup which the Lord offered was mixed, and that that was wine which He called His blood. Whence it appears that the blood of Christ is not offered if there be no wine in the cup...
(Philip Schaff, ANF, Vol. V, Cyprian, Epistle LXII.4, 9 [Oxford ed.: Ep. lxiii]). Here
Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea (c. 260/65 - 339/40 A.D.): More Here
For with the wine which was indeed the symbol of His blood, …He gave to His disciples, when He said, "Take, drink; this is my blood that is shed for you for the remission of sins: this do in remembrance of me." And, "His teeth are white as milk," show the brightness and purity of the sacramental food. For again, He gave Himself the symbols of His divine dispensation to His disciples, when He bade them make the likeness of His own Body. For since He no more was to take pleasure in bloody sacrifices, or those ordained by Moses in the slaughter of animals of various kinds, and was to give them bread to use as the symbol of His Body, He taught the purity and brightness of such food by saying, “And his teeth are white as milk.”
(The Proof of the Gospel being the Demonstratio Evangelica of Eusebius of Cæsarea, Vol. II, Translation by W.J. Ferrar, [1920], Bk. 8, Ch. 1, pp. 114-115). Here
Adamantius [Pseudo-Origen] (c. 4th Century A.D.): More Here
If, as these say, he was fleshless and bloodless, of what flesh and of what body, and of what blood, did He giving the images [εἰκόνας], both bread and cup, enjoin upon the disciples to make through these the memorial of him?
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1857], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus XI, Adamantii Dialogus De Recta In Deum Fide, Sect. IV, Col. 1840). Here Trans. (Lucius Waterman, The Primitive Tradition of the Eucharistic Body and Blood, [1919.], p. 96). Here
Serapion of Thmuis (fl. c. 330 - 360 A.D.): More Here
To Thee we have offered this bread, the likeness [τό ὁμοίωμα] of the body of the Only-begotten. This bread is the likeness [ὁμοίωμα] of the holy body, because the Lord Jesus Christ in the night in which He was betrayed took bread and brake and gave to His disciples saying, ‘Take and eat, this is My body which is being broken for you for the remission of sins’. Wherefore we also making the likeness [τό ὁμοίωμα] of the death have offered the bread. ...We have offered also the cup, the likeness [τό ὁμοίωμα] of the blood, because the Lord Jesus Christ, taking a cup after supper, said to His own disciples, ‘Take, drink, this is the new covenant, which is My blood which is being poured out for you for the remission of trespasses’. Wherefore we also have offered the cup, presenting a likeness [ὁμοίωμα] of the blood.
(Prayers of Serapion, §.1) see (Darwell Stone, A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist, [1909], Volume I, p. 63). Here
Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306 - 373 A.D.): More Here
And when the brethren approached to take the holy bread, the body was extended to them; and when they invoked God, saying: Amen, bread was in their hands. …And when I said, I believe, O Lord, lo, while I said Amen, the body which was seen in my hand was bread, and I praised God and took the holy bread.
(Serm. 2, de oblat.) Here see also (J. P. Minge, Encyclopédie Théologique, [1855], Tome Douziéme, S. Ephrem, de sacr. oblatione, t. III, Col. 147). Here Trans (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 175). Here
Fire even has not one nature, but a double one, for it consists of wood and flame. In the same manner the bread consists not of one paneous nature, but also of a divine one. For the body, (namely of Christ) which is of one nature with the divine, rejoices not in one nature, but in a double nature.
(Serm. de sanct. et vivific. Christ. Sacram.) Here See Also: (J. P. Minge, Encyclopédie Théologique, [1855], Tome Treiziéme, S. Ephrem, de sacrament., serm. 1, t. III, Col. 1121). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 175). Here
Gregory Nazianzen, Archbishop of Constantinople (c. 329 - 390 A.D.): More Here
Will they keep us from the altars? But I know of another altar, of which those things which now are seen are the types, to which no axe or hand went up, on which no iron was heard, nor any work of the craftsmen or men of skill, but all is accomplished by the mind, and the ascent is by means of contemplation. At this will I stand, at this will I offer acceptable gifts, sacrifice, and offering, and burnt offerings, better than those which are now offered, as the reality is better than the shadow. (Orat. xxvi.16) ...We will partake of the Passover, still now after the fashion of a type, yet more plainly than under the ancient law. (Orat. XLV.23)
(Darwell Stone, A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist, [1909], Volume I, p. 116). Here
Say to him relying on the Seal, “I am myself the Image of God; I have not yet been cast down from the heavenly Glory, as thou wast through thy pride; I have put on Christ; I have been transformed into Christ by Baptism…
(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. VII, Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen, Oration XL.x). Here
Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa (c. 335 - 395 A.D.): More Here
For this holy altar, too, by which I stand, is stone, ordinary in its nature, nowise different from the other slabs of stone that build our houses and adorn our pavements; but seeing that it was consecrated to the service of God, and received the benediction, it is a holy table, an altar undefiled, no longer touched by the hands of all, but of the priests alone, and that with reverence. The bread again is at first common bread, but when the sacramental action consecrates it, it is called, and becomes, the Body of Christ. So with the sacramental oil; so with the wine: though before the benediction they are of little value, each of them, after the sanctification bestowed by the Spirit, has its several operation. The same power of the word, again, also makes the priest venerable and honourable, separated, by the new blessing bestowed upon him, from his community with the mass of men. While but yesterday he was one of the mass, one of the people, he is suddenly rendered a guide, a president, a teacher of righteousness, an instructor in hidden mysteries; and this he does without being at all changed in body or in form; but, while continuing to be in all appearance the man he was before, being, by some unseen power and grace, transformed in respect of his unseen soul to the higher condition.
(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. V, Oratorical Works., On the Baptism of Christ). Here
Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem (c. 313 - 386 A.D.): More Here
But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is mere bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so to say) common, after invocation, but it is Christ’s gift of grace, and, by the advent of the Holy Ghost, is made fit to impart His Divine Nature. Which ointment is symbolically applied to thy forehead and thy other senses; and while thy body is anointed with the visible ointment, thy soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit.
(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. VII, Cyril, Catechetical Lectures, XXI.3). Here
Either the ointment is transubstantiated by consecration into the spirit and grace of Christ, or the bread and wine are not transubstantiated by consecration into the body and blood of Christ. Therefore as the ointment retains still its substance, and yet is not called a mere or common ointment, but the charism, or grace of Christ; so the bread and wine remaining so, as to their substance, yet are not said to be only bread and wine common and ordinary, but also the body and blood of Christ.
(John Cosin, The History of Popish Transubstantiation, edited by John Sherren Brewer, [1840], p. 92). Here
Macarius of Egypt (c. 300 - 391 A.D.): More Here
…and that in the church bread and wine should be offered, the symbol [ἀντίτυπον] of His flesh and blood, and that those who partake of the visible bread eat spiritually the flesh of the Lord, and that the apostles' and Christians receive the Paraclete, and are endued with power from on high, and are filled with the Godhead, and their souls mingled with the Holy Ghost.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1860], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus XXXIV, S. Marcarii Ægyptii, Homiliæ. Hom. XXVII, Col. 705). Here Trans. (Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian, Trans. Arthur James Mason, [London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921], p. 209). Here
Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (c. 340 - 397 A.D.): More Here
But perhaps thou sayest, “I do not see the appearance of blood.” But it has the likeness; for as thou hast taken the likeness [similitudinem] of the death, so also thou drinkest the likeness [similitudinem] of the precious blood, that there may be no shrinking from actual blood, and yet the price of redemption may effect its work. Thou hast learnt, therefore, that what thou receivest is the body of Christ.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1843], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XVI, De Sacramentis, Lib. IV, Caput IV, § 20, Col. 443). Here See (Ambrose, On the Mysteries and the Treatise on the Sacraments, trans. T. Thompson, B.D., ed. James Herbert Strawley, [1919], Bk. IV, Ch. IV, § 20 p. 113). Here
Alternate Translation:
But perhaps you say, I do not see the substance of blood. Yet it has a likeness: for as you received the likeness of His death, so also you drink the likeness of His precious blood, that there may be no horror at blood, and yet the price of our redemption might work. You have learnt, therefore, that what you receive is the body of Christ.
(J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 190). Here confer Cf.
If, therefore, there is such power in the word of the Lord Jesus, that the things which were not began to be, how much more is it effective, that things previously existing should, without ceasing to exist, be changed into something else [ut sint quae erant et in aliud commutentur]?
(Ambrose, On the Mysteries and the Treatise on the Sacraments, trans. T. Thompson, ed. James Herbert Strawley, [1919], Bk. IV, Ch. IV, § 15, p. 110). Here
John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople (c. 349 - 407 A.D.): More Here
This alter thou dost reverence, because the body of Christ therein is set before thee: but him that is the body of Christ indeed thou dost spitefully entreat, and dost neglect him ready to perish.
(S. Chrysost. Hom. XX. in Epist. see ad Corinth. ad fin.) see (Edmund Grindal, The Remains of Edmund Grindal, Edited for the Parker Society by Rev. William Nicholson, Winchester. [Cambridge: Printed at the University Press M.DCCC.XLIII.], p. 67). Here
Alternate Translation:
But thou honorest indeed this altar, because it receiveth Christ’s body; but him that is himself the body of Christ thou treatest with contumely, and when perishing, neglectest.
(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. XII, Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Corinthians, Homily XX). Here
As then in the case of the Jews, so here also He hath bound up the memorial of the benefit with the mystery, by this again stopping the mouths of heretics. For when they say, Whence is it manifest that Christ was sacrificed? together with the other arguments we stop their mouths from the mysteries also. For if Jesus did not die, of what are the rites the symbols? …Then, when He had delivered it, He saith, “I will not drink of the fruit of this wine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. X, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Homily LXXXII. On Matthew XXVI. 26-28. § 1, 2). Here
Anonymous Letter to Monk Cæsarius Against the Apollinarian Heresy (c. 5th Century A.D.): More Here
For as (in the eucharist) before the bread is consecrated we call it bread, but when the grace of God, by the priest, has consecrated it, it is no longer called bread, but is esteemed worthy to be called the Lord's body, although the nature of bread still remains in it; and we do not say there be two bodies, but one body of the Son; so here the divine nature being joined with the body, they both make up but one Son, one person. But yet they must be confessed to remain without confusion, after an invisible manner, not in one nature only, but in two perfect natures.
(Epist. ad Cæsarium Monachum) see (Charles Elliott, Delineation of Roman Catholicism, [New York: George Lane, 1841], p. 273). Here See Also: (J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1862], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LII, Ad Cæsarium Monachum, Col 758). Here
Anonymous Commentary on Matthew (Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum) (c. 5th Century A.D.): More Here
If it be so perilous a matter to translate these sanctified vessels unto private uses , in the which not the true body of Christ, but a mystery of the body of Christ is contained, how much more then these vessels of our body?
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1859], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LVI, Opus Imperfectum in Matthæum, Homil. XI, Col. 691). Here [on the note see Here] Trans. (Edmund Grindal, The Remains of Edmund Grindal, Edited for the Parker Society by Rev. William Nicholson, Winchester. [Cambridge: Printed at the University Press M.DCCC.XLIII.], p. 67). Here
A portion of this text [in quibus non est verum corpus Christi, send mysterium corporis ejus continetur] does not appear in all manuscripts.
The editions of Antwerp 1537, Paris 1543 and 1557, omit this passage, though it exists in more ancient editions, one of which is as old as 1487. The object in corrupting this passage is obvious.
(J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], pp. 177-178). Here
Pseudo-Dionysius, the Areopagite (c. 5th Century A.D.): More Here
And sacredly observe this, that the divine Symbols [συμβόλων] placed upon the holy altar, by which Christ is signified [σημαίνεται] and partaken of, etc.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1857], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus III, S. Dionysii Aeropagitæ, De Ecclesiastica Hierarchia, Cap. III, § IX, Col. 437). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 226). Here
Gaudentius, Bishop of Brescia (c. ? - 410 A.D.): More Here
Then as is is necessary for bread, which is of many grains of wheat reduced to flour, to be made by water, and finished by fire: very reasonably in it is received a figure [figura] of the body of Christ, etc.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1845], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XX, Sermo II. De Exodi Lectione Secundus, Col. 860). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 225). Here
For a figure [figura] is not the truth, but an imitation of the truth. [Figura etenim non est veritas, sed imitatio veritatis.]
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1845], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XX, Sermo II. De Exodi Lectione Secundus, Col. 855). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], pp. 218). Here
Jerome, of Stridon (c. 347 - 420 A.D.): More Here
But the blood of Christ and the flesh of Christ are to be understood in two ways. There is that spiritual and divine flesh and blood of which He said, 'My flesh is truly food, and my blood is truely drink,' and Except ye shall have eaten my flesh and drunk my blood, ye shall not have eternal life.' There is also the flesh which was crucified and the blood which flowed forth from the wound made by the soldiers lance. According to this distinction a difference of blood and flesh is understood also in the case of His saints, so that there is one flesh which will see the salvation of God, and there is another flesh and blood which cannot possess the kingdom of God.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1845], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XXVI, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Ephesios, Lib. I, Cap
I, Vers. 7, Col. 451). Here Trans. (Darwell Stone, A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist, [1909], Volume I, pp. 97-98). Here
Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia (c. 350 - 428 A.D.): More Here
It does not do this by its own nature but by the Spirit who is dwelling in it, as the body of our Lord, of which this one is the symbol, received immortality by the power of the Spirit, and imparted this immortality to others, while in no way possessing it by nature.
(Alphonse Mingana, Woodbrooke Studies: Christian Documents in Syriac, Arabic, and Garshūni, Volume 6, [W. Heffer & Sons Limited, 1933], Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on the Lord's Prayer, Baptism and the Eucharist, Ch. 5, p. 77). Here and Online Here
Nilus of Sinai (c. ? - 430 A.D.): More Here
Paper made of the papyrus and glue, is called common paper; but when it has received the signature of the Emperor, everyone knows that it is called a sacra. So also consider the divine mysteries: before the invocation of the priest and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the things which are displayed are mere bread and common wine; but after these dreadful invocations, and the coming of the adorable, and vivifying and good spirit, the things which are displayed upon the holy table are no longer mere bread and common wine, but the precious and immaculate body and blood of Christ, the God of all.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1865], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LXXIX, S. Nili, Epistolarum Lib. I, Caput XLIV - Philippo Scholastico, Col. 104). Here Trans. (John Harvey Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 182). Here
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (c. 354 - 430 A.D.): More Here
What you see passes away, but what is invisibly symbolized does not pass away. It perdures. The visible is received, eaten, and digested. But can the body of Christ be digested? Can the church of Christ be digested? Can Christ's limbs be digested? Of course not.
[Augustine, Sermon 227] Trans. (Gary Wills, Why Priests?, [Penguin Books, 2013], p. 16). Here
If the sentence is one of command, either forbidding a crime or vice, or enjoining an act of prudence or benevolence, it is not figurative. If, however, it seems to enjoin a crime or vice, or to forbid an act of prudence or benevolence, it is figurative. 'Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,’ says Christ, ‘and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.’ This seems to enjoin a crime or a vice; it is therefore a figure, enjoining that we should have a share in the sufferings of our Lord, and that we should retain a sweet and profitable memory of the fact that His flesh was wounded and crucified for us.
(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. II, On Christian Doctrine, 3.16.24). Here
Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria (c. 378 - 444 A.D.): More Here
Therefore he who asserts that that visible one is a certain other Son and Christ besides the word from God, to whom alone he also attributes the office of the mission, does he not make our mystery the eating of a man, wickedly forcing the minds of the faithful into gross thoughts, and endeavor to subject to human reasonings, that which is received by pure faith only?
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1863], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LXXVI, S. Cyrilli Alexandrini Archiep., Apologeticus Pro XII Capitibus Contra Orientales, Col. 373, 376). Here Trans. (John Harvey Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 203). Here
For a thing to be made, does by no means signify a change of nature.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1863], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LXXV, S. Cyrilli Alexandrini Archiep., Thesaurus., Aliud, ex eodem syllogismo illaium, Solutio objectionis, Col. 340). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 170). Here
Proclus, Bishop of Constantinople (c. ? - 446 A.D.): More Here
Instead of the manger let us venerate the altar. Instead of the Infant, let us embrace the bread that is blessed by the Infant.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1864], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LXV, S. Procli Cp. Episcopi, Oratio In Laudem S. Stephani, Oratio XVII [Lauditio Sancti Protomartyris Stephani], § II, Col. 809). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 194). Here
Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople (c. 386 - 450 A.D.): More Here
How is it that, when He said over the bread ‘This is My body,’ He did not say that the bread was not bread and His body not body? But He said ‘bread’ and ‘body’ as showing what it is in ousia. But we are aware that the bread is bread in nature and in ousia. Yet Cyril [That is, St. Cyril of Alexandria] wishes to persuade us to believe that the bread is His body by faith and not by nature: that what it is not as to ousia, this it becomes by faith.
(Bazaar of Heraclides, p. 326, in [Bethune Baker, Nestorius and his Teaching, [Cambridge: At The University Press, 1908], p. 146.]). Here See also: (Darwell Stone, A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist, [1909], Volume I, pp. 98-99). Here
See Also:
For example, [in] what he says of the bread: 'It is my body,' he says not that the bread is not bread and that his body is not a body, but he has said demonstrably bread and body, which is in the ousia. But we are persuaded that the bread is bread in nature and in ousia. Yet in believing that the bread is his body / by faith and not by nature, he seeks to persuade us to believe in that which exists not in ousia in such wise that it becomes this by faith and not in ousia. If it is [a question of the] ousia, what is the faith worth? For he has not said: 'Believe that the bread is bread,' because every one who sees the bread itself knows that it is bread, nor further does he make it be believed that the body is body; for it is seen and known of every one. But in that which it is not he requires us to believe that this is [so], in such wise that it becomes this by faith to them that believe.
(Nestorius, The Bazaar of Heracleides, trans. G. R. Driver, Leonard Hodgson, [Oxford, 1925., reprinted: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2002], pp. 327-328). Here and Online Here
Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus (c. 393 - 458/66 A.D.): More Here
Eran.—As, then, the symbols of the Lord’s body and blood are one thing before the priestly invocation, and after the invocation are changed and become another thing; so the Lord’s body after the assumption is changed into the divine substance.
Orth. — You are caught in the net you have woven yourself. For even after the consecration the mystic symbols [σύμβολα] are not deprived of their own nature [φύσεως]; they remain in their former substance [ουσίας] figure and form [σχήματος και του είδους]; they are visible and tangible as they were before.
(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. III, Theodoret, Dialogue II.—The Unconfounded. Orthodoxos and Eranistes). Here
For He, we know, who spoke of his natural body as corn and bread, and, again, called Himself a vine, dignified the visible symbols by the appellation of the body and blood, not because He had changed their nature, but because to their nature He had added grace.
(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. III, Theodoret, Dialogue I.—The Immutable. Orthodoxos and Eranistes). Here
Gelasius I, Bishop of Rome (c. ? - 496 A.D.): More Here
[2] Certainly the sacraments of the body and blood of Christ, which we receive, is a divine thing. On account of this and through the same 'we are made partakers of the divine nature.' And yet the substance or nature [substantia vel natura] of the bread and wine does not cease to exist.
[3] And certainly the image and likeness of the body and blood of Christ are celebrated in the action of the mysteries.
[4] Therefore it is shown clearly enough to us that we ought to think about Christ the Lord himself what we confess, celebrate and receive in his image:
[5] that just as they pass over into this, namely, into the divine substance by the working of the Holy Spirit, yet remaining in the peculiarity of their nature;
[6] so they demonstrate, by remaining in the proper sense those things which they are, that the principal mystery itself, whose efficacy and power they truly represent to us, remains the one Christ, integral and true.
(Gelasius, Tractate 3 De duabus naturis in Christo adversus Eutychem et Nestorium 14) see (Edward J. Kilmartin S.J., The Eucharist in the West: History and Theology. [United States, Liturgical Press, 2004.], p. 41). Here
Victor of Antioch (c. 5th Century A.D.): More Here
By His saying, This is My body, and this is My blood, it was proper that they should call the bread set forth His body, after giving thanks, and partake of it, and, account the cup in place of His blood, about which the Passion took place for the common salvation of all, and the remission of their sins.
(Catenæ In Evangelia S. Matthæi Et S. Marci, Edidit. John Anthony Cramer, Volume 1 of Catenæ Græcorum Patrum In Novum Testamentum, [E Typographeo Academico, 1840], Marc. 14:22-24, pp. 422-423). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 193). Here See also: (J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1860], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LXXXVI, S. Petri Laodiceni, Commentarius In IV Evangelia., Marc. XIV.22, Col. 3325). Here
Procopius of Gaza (Procopius Gazaeus) (c. 465 - 528 A.D.): More Here
For He gave to His disciples the image or figure, or type of His own body, no longer admitting and receiving the bloody sacrifices of the Law. By the whiteness of the teeth, therefore, he denoted the purity of the mystical bread by which we are nourished.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1865], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LXXXVII (Pars Prima.), Procopii Gazæi, Commentarii In Genesin, Cap. XLIX, Vers. 12, Col. 501, 502). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 227). Here
Leontius of Byzantium (c. 485 - 543 A.D.): More Here
The supernatural leads up and elevates the natural, and empowers it for more perfect actions, such as it could not accomplish if it remained within the limits of the natural. The supernatural therefore does not destroy the natural but educes and stimulates it both in its capacity for actions of its own and in its receiving power for those things which are beyond this capacity.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1860], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LXXXVI, Leontii Byzantini, Contra Nestor. Et Eutych, Col. 1333). Here Trans. (Darwell Stone, A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist, [1909], Volume I, p. 135). Here
Facundus of Hermia (c. Sixth Century): More Here
The sacrament of adoption may be called adoption itself, as we term the sacrament of his body and blood, which is in the bread and the consecrated cup, his body and blood; not that the bread is properly [proprie] his body and the cup his blood, but because they contain within them the mystery of his body and blood.
(Defense of the Council of Chalcedon, Bk. 9, Ch. 5) see (J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1848], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus LXVII, Pro Defensione Trium Capitul., Lib. IX, Caput. V, Col. 762-763). Here Trans. (John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, 'Facundus,' [New York: Harper & Brothers, 1876.], p. 449). Here
Ephraim, Bishop of Antioch (c. 6th Century A.D.): More Here
So also the Body of Christ, Which believers receive, neither departs from the sensible substance [αίσθητῆς οὐσίας], nor is divided from the intelligible grace; and spiritual baptism, which becometh and is one whole, preserves the property of the sensible substance [αίσθητῆς οὐσίας], the water I mean, yet loses not that which it is become.
(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1860], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus CIII, Photii, Bibliotheca, Cod. CCXXIX, Col. 980). Here Trans. (Herbert Thorndike, The Theological Works of Herbert Thorndike, Sometime Prebendary of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, Westminster, Vol. IV., [Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1852], p. 86). Here
~ Soli Deo Gloria
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