He Does Not Send Us away Hungry
If heaven and earth, water and fire, and air and the whole universe of these were made perfect by the Word of the Lord, and this much-famed living being, too, which is man; if by his will God the Word himself became man and…caused the pure and undefiled blood of the blessed ever-Virgin to form a body for himself—if all this, then can he not make the bread his body and the wine and water his blood?
In the beginning he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and even until now, when the rain falls, the earth brings forth its own shoots under the influence and power of the divine command. God said: This is my body, and This is my blood, and This do in commemoration of me, and by his almighty command it is done…. And through the invocation the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit becomes a rainfall for this new cultivation. For, just as all things whatsoever God made he made by the operation of the Holy Spirit, so also it is by the operation of the Spirit that these things are done which surpass nature and cannot be discerned except by faith alone. How shall this be done to me, asked the blessed Virgin, because I know not man? The Archangel Gabriel answered, The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. And now you ask how the bread becomes the Body of Christ and the wine and water the Blood of Christ. And I tell you that the Holy Spirit comes down and works these things which are beyond description and understanding….
This is the body which is truly united to the Godhead, the same which is from the blessed Virgin. This is not because that body which was taken up to heaven comes down from heaven, but because the very bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of God…. Wherefore, in all fear and with a pure conscience and undoubting faith let us approach…and let us honor it with all purity of body and soul…. Let us approach it with burning desire.
Saint John Damascene
Saint John Damascene (c. † 749) was the last of the Greek Fathers of the Church.
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