Foreshadowing: For Sunday

St. Matthew 14:14-22 (8/10) Gospel for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Foreshadowing: St. Matthew 14:14-22, especially vs. 19: "...And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes." Notice how closely the description of the feeding of the multitude parallels Christ's words of institution in the Divine Liturgy. Two factors account for the parallelism: 1) our Lord followed the traditional forms of His People for blessings before meals, and, 2) at the same time, He placed His own unique signature upon the traditional prayers and actions of blessing (Lk. 24:30,31). Thus we have foreshadowing the Divine Liturgy. Jewish prayers of blessings consistently bless only God, never things. For example, in the common prayer for the blessing of bread in Jewish homes, the father of the family lays his hands on the bread, elevates it and says, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe Who hast brought forth bread from the earth." Notice how he does not bless the bread but only God. This pattern of only blessing God has been carried over to many, though not all, of our Christian prayers of blessing. The pattern is strikingly apparent in the opening lines of the Anaphora, the great prayer of blessing in the Divine Liturgy: "It is meet and right to hymn Thee, to bless Thee, to praise Thee, to give thanks unto Thee...." Another facet of the Lord Jesus' feeding of the multitude transfers into the Divine Liturgy in the ritual actions, straightforward in themselves. These are marked by four verbs: "took, blessed, broke, and gave." Unquestionably, Christ's command at the Last Supper to "do" these actions in "remembrance" of Him (Lk. 22:19) set the pattern in the deep underlying structure of all historic Christian Liturgies, including our four traditional Orthodox Eucharistic Liturgies. The pattern also is present in the two Western-rite Liturgies used within the Antiochian Patriarchate and under girds the Liturgies of many non-Orthodox Churches, as well. In conformity with the actions received from the Lord Jesus - as in the feeding of the multitude, or at the Last Supper - the elements of bread and wine to be consecrated as the Holy Gifts are taken onto the Holy Table prior to the great prayer of blessing (Mt. 14:17-19). In all Liturgies, these elements are understood to be the gifts of the people - offerings of themselves. In the Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and of St. Basil, the "bringing, taking and placing" occur with extensive ceremony. These include the Prothesis, during which the "Lamb" is set apart on the diskos and the wine and water are mixed in the chalice; the Great Entrance, in which the bread and wine are brought to the Altar with prayers and the singing of the Cherubic Hymn; and the Prayer of the Prothesis in which the gifts brought forward are presented to God. The Eucharistic Prayer of Blessing, called the Anaphora in Orthodox practice, begins with the bidding "...stand aright,...stand with fear...attend, that we may offer the Holy Oblation in peace." The prayer, following our Lord's practice, blesses the Holy Trinity, acknowledges His unchanging and ineffable nature, recalls the mighty acts of God for our Salvation, includes Christ's words instituting the Liturgy, calls down the Holy Spirit to transform the Bread and Wine, petitions God for the living and the dead, and concludes with the Lord's Prayer. The breaking of the Bread, rarely obvious to the Orthodox Faithful, occurs when the Priest "...breaks the Holy Bread into four parts with great reverence and care saying, 'Divided and distributed is the Lamb of God Who is divided, yet not disunited....'" Then, with great care after this, the Holy Gifts are "given" to the people as the Priest says, "With fear of God, and faith and love, draw near." Behold, Beloved, we are among all the multitudes who receive Him! Of Thy mystic supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a communicant!