2. Eucharistie Texts
Body'. He did likewise with the cup, which is part of the creation to which we ourselves belong, declaring it to be his blood1, and [so] he taught the new offeringof the new covenant. This is the offering which the church received from the apostles and which it offers throughout the whole world, to God who provides us with nourishment, the first-fruits of divine gifts in this new covenant.2
Of this offering, among the prophets, Malachi had spoken beforehand in these terms: 'I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord almighty, and I will not accept sacrifice from your hands. For from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name is glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord almighty [Mai. 1,10-11]3'. By these words, he shows in the plainest manner that the former people shall cease to make offering to God, but that in every place sacrifice shall be offered to God, one that is pure, and that God's name is glorified among the nations.
17.6: But what is the name which is glorified among the nations, if not that of our
Lord, through whom the Father is glorified, and humankind is glorified?4 And because it is the name of the Father's own Son, and was made by the Father, he calls it his own.5 Just as a king, if he himself paints a portrait of his son, is right in calling this likeness his own, for both these reasons, that is, because it is of his own son and because he himself made it, so also the Father acknowledges that the name of Jesus Christ, which is glorified in the church, throughout the world, is his own, both because it is the name of his Son, and because he himself
' There are different interpretations of this sentence, indicating differences in understanding oftheeucharistic action. Some think that it is the blood (and thus also the body) of Christ which is offered, this being the first-fruits of the new creation. A more likely interpretation is that for Irenaeus it is indeed bread and wine, First-fruits of the earth, whicn are offered, but they are offered with thanksgiving and invocation of the name of Christ, and so, through this offering/thanksgiving, become the body and blood ot
Christ. This offering with commemorative thanksgiving would then be the new offering of the new covenant.
2 Irenaeus here seems to be playing with the image of first-fruits. In this case, the first-fruits of the new creation which are God's gift to human beings for their nourishment are the sustenance of the body and blood of Christ. Thus, when humans offer bread and wine, the first-fruits of creation, with thanksgiving in the name of Christ, they receive as nourishment the first-fruits of the new creation, which are the body and blood of Christ.
'This text is already used of theeucharist in Didache 14,1-2 and by Justin, Dial 116.3:11 7.2.
It is used by Christian writers both to underline the purity of heart and the praise of God's name with which the New Testament sacrifice is offered, and as a polemic against the Jews, who with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem had ceased to offer sacrifices. This polemic is less intense in Irenaeus than in other writers.
4 This is a typical theme for Irenaeus, that in humankind's glorification there lies the glory of God.
5 The name intended here is probably the name of Lord, which God gave to Jesus Christ, the Son. It is the name of the Son, and a name which the Father made in raising him up from the dead. What is also included is the idea that Jesus Christ is the image of the Father, so that in his name the name of the Father is made manifest.
Irenaeus of Lyons on Baptism and Eucharist
inscribed it, giving it for the salvation of humankind [cf. Acts 4.12], Since therefore the name of the Son belongs properly to the Father, and since the church makes offering through Jesus Christ to God almighty1, Malachi says well on both grounds 'and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice'. Now John declares in the Apocalypse that the incense is the prayer of the saints [Rev 5.8], 18.1: The oblation of the church, therefore, which the Lord taught should be offered throughout the world, is accounted with God a pure sacrifice. It is acceptable, not because God needs sacrifice from us, but because those who offer sacrifice are themselves glorified in what they offer, if the gift be accepted. For it is through a gift that honour and affection are shown to a king, and this is indeed the gift of which the Lord, wishing us to offer in all simplicity and innocence, says: 'When therefore you offer your gift at the altar, you remember that your brother or sister has anything against you,leave your gift at the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then returning you shall offer your gift [Matt. 5.2 3 -24] '.2 It is necessary therefore to offer the first-fruits of creation to God, as Moses said: 'You shall not appear empty-handed in the sight of the Lord your God [Deut. 16.16], Showing gratitude in those things by which they are themselves gratified, human beings receive that honour which comes from God'.3
18.2: And oblations as a class of action have not been done away with: for there were oblations there, just as there are oblations here, sacrifices among the people as there are sacrifices in the church. It is only the kind of oblation which is changed, inasmuch as it is not anymore offered by slaves but by the free.4 For the Lord is one and the same5, but the character of a servile oblation is peculiar to 1 The Latin here has 'in almighty God, but translators usually prefer 'to'as more in keeping with the sense of the passage. The eucharistic ritual here described is the offering of bread and wine with thanksgiving, through the invocation of the name of Jesus as Saviour and Lord. To offer in this name is to honour it, and to honour it is to honour and make sacrifice to the Father, who gave him this name. It is by the same token the glorification of those human beings who make the offering, ana invoke the name in which they are saved.
2 This text is used to the same effect in Didache 14,1. It shows the importance of a pure conscience, or of obedience to the commandments of the new covenant regarding reconciliation, in those who offer the sacrifice of the eucharist in the church assembly.
3 Following the Armenian version of the text, some translate this differently, introducing a reference to sin and its reparation: 'man, being accounted pleasing to God in those things in which he has been displeasing, receives that honour which comes from God'
In both translations, the text requires an offering of bread and wine as the first-fruits of creation. According to the translation adopted, these stand either for all the gifts in which humans have been blessed by God. or for those gifts which they have abused in sinning.
4 Irenaeus looks upon oblation and sacrifice as so much a part of human nature, that they are found in both testaments. The radical difference in the sacrifice of the new covenant lies in the graced existence of those who offer, for by the grace of Christ they have been freed from sin and freed to do good. sThis is an important point against some of the gnostics, who attributed the Old Testament to one creative principle and the New Testament to another.
Eucharistie Texts
itself, as is also that of the offering of the free, established in order that, even through the oblations, an indication of freedom might be shown. For with God, nothing is without purpose, nothing is without signification or design. And for this reason the people nad indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to the Lord, but those who received freedom set apart all they have for the Lord's purposes, giving joyfully and freely even when they have less1, since they have the hope of greater things, as that poor widow put all her substance into the treasury o f G o d l c f . Lk. 21.1-4], 18.3: For at the beginning2 God looked with favour on the gifts of Abel, because he offered with singlemindedness and righteousness, but God had no regard for the sacrifice of Cain, because through jealousy and malice he harboured division against his brother in his heart. This is what God noted, reproving his hidden thoughts: Though you make offering correctly, yet if you do not share rightly, have you not sinned? Be at rest [cf. Gen. 4.7]3, since God is not appeased by sacrifice. For if some endeavour to offer a sacrifice which is clean, correct and legal according to outward appearances, while not sharing that fellowship with their neighbours which is due, and having no fear of God in their hearts, God is not deceived by that sacrifice which is outwardly correct but hides sin within. Such offering does them no good, but what is wanted is the giving up of the evil conceived within, lest the sin by means of a hypocritical action makes of the giver one's own murderer. Because of this the Lord said: 'Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitened sepulchres. For the sepulchre appears beautiful outside, but within is full of the bones of the dead and of all manner of uncleanness. Even so, you outwardly appear righteous to human eyes, but inside you are full of wickedness and hypocrisy [Matt. 23.27-281. For while they were thought to make offering correctly in outward appearances, within themselves they harboured a jealousy like that of Cain; therefore they slew the Just One, slighting the counsel of the Word, ]ust as Cain had done. 4 To 1 There is some obscurity in the text at this point. Another possible translation is: giving what is little in light of theirgreater hope, where the contrast is between the little that humans can give and the greatness of that for which they hope. I renaeus contrasts the tithing of the Old Testament with the gift of one's whole self made possible by the grace of Christ. In this way, he joins the use of the term sacrifice used in the New Testament to designate the Christian life and Christian actions, with its use for the eucharist. The offering of bread and wine made in invocation of Christ's name and with thanksgiving, truly expresses the oblation of oneself and one's whole life in communion with Jesus Christ.
2 Though the Latin reads ab, the sense seems to be at or in, rather than from the beginning.
5 The reference to Cod's rest here and below as a symbol of innocence and justice, recalls the use of this motif in Hebrews 3 and 4.
4 The comparison of the death of Jesus with the killing of Abel goes back to Hebrews 12.24 and is common in early Christian literature. As in the Roman Canon, it underlines the innocence or justice of Chnst, contrasting this with the sinfulness of those for whom he gave his life.
¡renaeus of Lyons on Baptism and Eucharist
him G o d had said, 'Beat rest', but he did not consent. Now what else is it to be at rest but to abandon intended violence? And saying similar things to these men, he declares: 'You blind pharisee, cleanse that which is within tne cup, that the outside may be clean also [Matt. 23.26]'. And they did not listen to him. For Jeremiah says, 'Behold, neither your eyes nor your heart are good; but in your covetousness you turn to shedding innocent blood, and to injustice, and to acts of homicide [Jer. 22.17].' And again Isaiah says: 'You have taken counsel, but not with me; you have made covenants, not by my spirit [Isaiah 30] r In order, therefore, that their inner wish and thought, being brought to light, may show that God is without blame and works no evil, God being the one who makes known hidden things but not the one who works evil, when Cain was not in the least at rest, G o d said to him: '(sin) seeks you out, but you must master it [Gen.
4.7]'. In like manner (Jesus) spoke to Pilate: 'You would have no power over me, unless it were given you from above [John 19.11[', thus indicating that God always hands over the just, so that, tested by what they have suffered and endured, they may be approved and accepted2, the evil however are rejected, judged by the actions which they have performed. Sacrifices3, therefore, do not sanctify the human person, but rather it is the dispositions of the offerer which sanctify the sacrifice, if they are pure, and move God to accept it as from a friend.
'But wnen the sinner', God says, 'slays a calf for me. it is as it it were a dog that is slain.'4.
18.4: Since then the church offers with singlemindedness, its gift is rightly reckoned a pure sacrifice by God, as Paul says to the Philippians: 'I am replete, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, an odour of sweetness, an acceptable sacrifice, one pleasing to God [Phil. 4.18]'.5 For it is necessary for us
1 Irenaeus, in going on to speak of the opposition of the leading Pharisees and of Pilate to Jesus, appeals to what is almost a general law, namely, the oppression of the innocent by the unjust. This shows the full extent of Christ's participation in the lot of humankind. Irenaeus is also making the point that evil is from tne hearts of human beings, not the work of a divine creation.
2 This recalls Hebrews 5.8-9: 'Although he was Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered: and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him'. As Irenaeus elaborates the theme ot the suffering of the just at the hands of the wicked, of which the death of Christ is exemplary, he offers a soteriology of compassion. Though the Word of God, Jesus suffered at the hands of the wicked according to the common pattern realized since Abel, and so he brought salvation into the world.
3 From these more fulsome considerations on the suffering of the just and the way of salvation, Irenaeus returns to the dispositions of the one offering sacrifice. Note how sacrifice is the expression of a righteous heart, of one who is the friend of God, not an attempt to win propitiation from one offended. Irenaeus deems the attempt to do this latter a perversion of sacrifice.
4 Though it does not exactly correspond, this may be a reference to Isaiah 66.3. s In ways this is an odd use of a scriptural text, since it puts words used by Paul of himself in God's mouth. Irenaeus's first intention no doubt is to express the joyful acceptance by God of the eucharistic sacrifice. His use of this particular text, odd though it sounds, illustrates further the relation between the sacrifice of good deeds and the sacrifice of the eucharist, since Paul does not hesitate to use this liturgical language of a simple act of charity done by one believer to another.
Eucharistic Texts
to make an offering to God and to be found in all things grateful1 to the Creator, offering the first-fruits of creation to the One who made them, with a pure mind, in faith without hypocrisy, in well-Grounded hope, in fervent love2 Moreover, the church alone offers this pure oblation to the Creator, offering from God's own creation, with thanksgiving. But the Jews no longer make offering, for their hands are full of blood, since they did not accept the Word through whom which offering is made to God3.
Nor do the assemblies of the heretics make offering. For some, by maintaining that there is a Father other than the Creator, when they offer to him what belongs to our created world, they portray him as covetous of another's property and desirous of what is not his own. On the other hand, those who assert that our creation was made from degeneracy, ignorance, and suffering, sin against their
Father when they offer him the fruits of ignorance, suffering and degeneracy; they rather heap insult on him than offer him thanks4. But how can they be sure that the bread over which thanks has been given (which has been eucharistized)5 is the body of their Lord, and the cup his blood, if they do not call him the Son of the Creator of the world, that is, God's Word6, through whom the wood fructifies, and the fountains gush forth, and the earth gives first the blade, then the ear, then the full wheat in the ear (Mk. 4.28],
1 Some translations say 'pleasing'. It fits in more readily with the attempt to find a motif of appeasement for sin in sacrifice.
2 These dispositions of purity of mind, faith, hope and love, sum up all that is said of the disposition of Christians in offering the eucharistic sacrifice.
3 At this point, Irenaeus joins the common bias against the Jews, associating their loss of sacrificial ritual with their alleged guilt.
4 Irenaeus is here arguing against the gnostics by way of demonstrating the contradiction between doctrine and practice. What exact eucharistic rites were retained by these assemblies we do not know, since there is no direct testimony. We have seen the description which Irenaeus gives of the rites of the Marcosians. It is likely that some groups retained more of the catholic vocabulary of Father and Son, even while professing creation through intermediaries. Irenaeus here takes two kinds of such teaching into account. On the one hand, he says that if creation is in fact the work of one other than the Father, then it makes him covetous to require that created things be offered to him. On the other hand, if material creation emanates from a principle of evil, offering created things to the Father is an insult and an injury. Behind such argumentation is his own teaching of the rule of faith, that the Father creates all things through his only Word, that material things are essentially good, and so rightly included in the eucharistic offering.
5 As above, the sense here is that thanksgiving or 'euchamtia makes the bread the body and the wine the blood of Christ.
61 renaeus sees no sense in the claim to possess a sacramental body and blood of any being other than the Word and Son. He argues against the gnostic contention of sacramental communion with heavenly intermediaries, to whom they would allow some lordship or dominion over them in their quest for truth.
Irenaeus of Lyons on Baptism and Eucharist
18.51: T h e n again, h o w can they say that the flesh goes to corruption and docs n o t partake of life, w h e n it is n o u r i s h e d by the Lord's b o d y a n d blood? 2
T h e r e f o r e , either let t h e m c h a n g e their o p i n i o n or refrain f r o m offering the things just m e n t i o n e d . But o u r o p i n i o n agrees with t h e e u c h a n s t , a n d t h e eucharist in t u r n c o n f i r m s o u r opinion. For we offer to G o d those things which b e l o n g to G o d , proclaiming fittingly the c o m m u n i o n and u n i t y of t h e flesh and the spirit. For as t h e bread, w h i c h is p r o d u c e d f r o m t h e earth, w h e n it receives t h e invocation 3 of G o d is n o longer c o m m o n bread, b u t the eucharist 4, consisting of t w o realities, t h e earthly a n d the heavenly 5, so also o u r bodies, w h e n they receive t h e eucharist, are n o longer corruptible, b u t have the h o p e of resurrection.
18.66: N o w w e m a k e offering to G o d , n o t as t h o u g h to o n e w h o s t a n d s in need of it, b u t giving t h a n k s for G o d ' s gift 7 a n d sanctifying w h a t has been created. For even as G o d has n o need of w h a t is ours, so w e need to offer s o m e t h i n g to G o d , as S o l o m o n says.- ' W h o e v e r has pity on t h e p o o r lends to G o d [Prov. 19.171'. For G o d , w h o stands in n e e d of nothing, accepts o u r g o o d actions so that t h r o u g h t h e m w e m a y have t h e r e c o m p e n s e of G o d ' s g o o d things, as o u r Lord says:
' C o m e , blessed of m y Father, receive the k i n g d o m prepared for you. For I was
1 For this paragraph, a fragment of the original Greek is found in John Damascene. Sacra
Parallela.
2 Arguing from the eucharist. Irenaeus is further contesting the idea of a dual creation, especially when it holds for the evil of the material. More important is his own (Joetrine of the resurrection of the flesh, which he sees confirmed by the eucharistic nourishment of the body with the body and blood of Christ.
3 The Greek word is epklesis. In this context, the word may well stand for the entire eucharistic prayer. This would be in keeping with the idea,expressed earlier, that the eucharist is the invocation and glorification of the name of Jesus Christ, Word of the Father.
4 The substantive, eucharist, is here used to designate that over which euchanst has been pronounced. At this point, it is' no longer common bread'
5 Irenaeus is looking for a way to express the change which comes about in the cuchanstized bread. The union of the earthly and heavenly elements may simply mean the bread and wine, which are of earth, and the word, which is the word of the Word of God. It seems, however, that he is implying something further, that is, a union in the eucharist between the risen Lord and the bread, like the union of the earthly and heavenly in the Word made flesh himself. We have to remember that no clear formulation of eucharistic change had yet been worked out and Irenaeus is here simply offering what could be called an analogy of faith. The important thing is that the risen
Lord is now present as nourishment for the faithful in this visible and earthly reality of bread, and that this nourishment gives them the assurance and hope of their own resurrection.
6 This paragraph is noteworthy in that it incorporates the ethical notion ot sacrifice, or the offering of good actions, into the understanding of the eucharist. In the early church, the understanding of eucharistas sacrifice developed in parallel with the use of sacrificial terms to explain the Christian life. Ultimately, it is the Christian people which in its union with Christ is itself the sacrifice and the priesthood in which God's glory is manifested and proclaimed.
7 The Armenian text has 'by means of God's gift Eucharistie Texts
hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; 1 was a stranger, and you took me in; I was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; in prison, and you came to me [Matt. 25.34-36]'. As, therefore, standing in no need of these things, God desires that we should do them, for our benefit lest we be unfruitful, thus the Word, though not in need of them, gave to the people that very precept, to make offerings, that they might learn to serve
God. Thus the Word wills that we too should offer a gift at the altar, frequently and without interruption1.
There is, therefore, an altar in heaven, for towards that place are our prayers and offerings directed. There is also a temple, as John says in the Apocalypse:
And the temple of God was opened [Rev. 11.19]', as there is a tabernacle, 'For behold', he says, 'the tabernacle in which God will dwell with human beings
[Rev. 21.3]'2.
5.2.2-3: I N C A R N A T I O N , E U C H A R I S T , R E S L R R E C H O N 1
5.2.2. Altogether senseless are they who hold God's entire economy in contempt and deny the salvation o f the flesh and spurn its regeneration, saying that it is not capable of incorruptibility. Now if this flesh is not saved, neither did the Lord redeem us with his blood, nor is the cup of the eucharist communion in his blood, nor is the bread which we break communion in his body [cf. 1 Cor. 10.6],
For blood comes only from veins and from flesh, and from the rest of human nature, which however the Word truly became, and redeemed us by his blood.
Thus the apostle says: 'In whom we have redemption through his blood, and the remission of sins [Col. 1.14]'. And4 we are his members and are nourished
1 Many images run together in this passage, not clearly or logically sorted out, yet showing how all things in the divine economy belong together. To the image of eternal life as gift through eucharistic nourishment there is joined that of eternal life as recompense for deeds of mercy. To the image of human dependency, there is joined the imagery of fruitfulness in the things commanded by God. To the offering of bread and wine in the eucharist, there is joined the offering of deeds of service by observance of the commandment ofthe new covenant. Irenaeus also points to the unity of the two testaments, by pointing to the Word as the author of both.
The 'frequendy and without interruption' probably refers directly to the eucharistic action, but no doubt connotes the offering of good deeds.
2 The eschatological quality of the eucharist and of the Christian life is here brought out.
All sacrifices, works and prayers offered in Christ lead to the end of all sacrifice, which is eternal communion with God in Christ. Cul tic terminology can still be employed of heaven, for in this communion there lies the ultimate realization of God's glory through the work of creation.
3 In this passage, Irenaeus argues for the resurrection of the flesh from the reality of the eucharist. His argument depends on the coherence of the entire economy of creation and redemption. The doctrine of the one creator of all things, material as well as spiritual, the doctrine of the incarnation of the Word, the doctrine that the eucharist is indeed the body and blood of Christ, and the doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh, are interdependent. If one is denied, then the coherence of the whole economy falls apart.
4 For the rest of the paragraph and for 5.2.3, the Greek text is found in a quotation in John
Damascene, Parallela.
Irenaeus of Lyons on Baptism and Eucharist
through creatures, for God furnishes us with what has been created, making the sun to rise and the rain to fall as God wills. [In keeping with this dispensation, he declares]1 that the cup which is of this creation is his blood, from which he gives increase to our blood, and that the bread which is of this creation is his body, from which he gives increase to our bodies.2
5.2.3: When, therefore, both the cup that has been mixed3 and the bread that has been made, receive the word of God 4 and become the eucharist of Christ's body and blood5, from which the substance of our flesh is increased and made consistent, how can they deny that flesh is capable of receiving the gift of God which is eternal life, [since) it is nourished by Christ's body and blood and is his member?
As the blessed apostle says in his letter to the Ephesians: 'For we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones."6 He does not say this of some spiritual and invisible being, for a spirit has neither flesh nor bones |cf. Lk. 24.39), but of that arrangement which is true human nature, consisting of flesh and nerves and bones, and which is nourished from the cup, which is his blood, and gains increase from the bread, which is his body. Just as a cutting of wood from the vine planted in the ground fructifies in its season, or as a grain of wheat falling into the earth and decomposing, rises with manifest increase by the Spirit of God, who contains all things |cf. Wis. 1.7], and then, through the wisdom of God serves human use, and having received the word of God becomes the eucharist, which is Christ's body and blood, so also our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth, and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at the appointed time, the Word of God granting them resurrection to the glory of God
1 The words in parentheses are not actually in the text but seem to he required by the flow of the argument.
2 Dogmaticians have often pointed to the almost Capharnaitic realism of these words, as though there were a material nourishment of human flesh and blood with the flesh and blood of Christ. The words however ought not to be taken too literally, but seen as a strong way of insisting that the eucharistized bread and wine do indeed become the body and blood of Christ and nourishment of the whole person, body and spirit. The manner of presence and communion has obviously to be in keeping with the reality of Christ's risen state. Irenaeus had no clear vocabulary whereby to express the specificnature of sacramental presence.
3 This may well refer to the mixing of water with the wine.
4 The word of God is most likely theeucharistic prayer. It might be argued that such a turn of phrase implies that the prayer incorporates the supper words of Jesus, but given present knowledge of early prayers this is not necessarily implied. It is also possible that Irenaeus implicitly associates the words spoken and the Word in whose name they are invoked.
5 This is the way the Latin reads. The Greek in Damascene and the Armenian read:'the eucharist becomes Christ's body and blood'. The sense is not affected, since in both cases what is designated is that which has been blessed and through thanksgiving become the body and blood of Christ.
6 The reference is probably to Eph. 5.29-30.
Eucharistk Texts
the Father, w h o freely gives to this mortal immortality, to this corruptible incorruptibility, because the strength o f G o d is m a d e perfect in weakness 1, lest we should ever b e c o m e puffed up, as t h o u g h we had life f r o m ourselves, or exalt ourselves against G o d , o u r minds b e c o m i n g ungrateful . . .
1 In this rather complicated sentence, Irenaeus is clearly resorting to a number of biblical images to stress the reality of the resurrection of the flesh, of which not even death should allow us doubt. Thus he illustrates the resurrection of the flesh, nourished by the body and blood of Christ, and yet buried in the ground at death, by the example of the plant or the grain of wheat which planted in the earth and decomposing bring forth fruit. In other words, decomposition of the body is no argument against the resurrection. It will be given resurrection at the appointed time just as surely as, by divine disposition, the decomposed grain produces the ear of wheat.
He also shows the unity of God's economy through his metaphor. God creates the grain and the vine, which through death produce fruit; causes this fruit to become the body and blood in which the Word made flesh died and rose; and nourishes with it our human flesh which, though it must die, is saved by this food and drink from corruption and given immortality.
Irenaeus of Lyons on Baptism and Eucharist
Conclusion What emerges for a student of liturgy from a reading of these texts of Irenaeus may be summed up under three headings: (a) Baptism: rite and doctrine; (b)
Eucharist: rite and doctrine; (c) worship and the rule of faith.
B A P T I S M
1. The Rite of Baptism The principal point for the liturgy of baptism is its connection with the rule of faith. The creed, as handed down by the apostolic tradition, is proclaimed in the baptismal rite. As known by Irenaeus, this proclamation seems to have consisted in the invocation of the names of Father, Son and Spirit over the candidate. Prebaptismal catechesis followed the structure of this proclamation, fitted into the context of the history of salvation. If the Proof of the Apostolic Teaching does indeed serve as guideline for pre-baptismal catechesis, it is of interest that this did not exclude some direct discussion of baptismal rites.
Though anointing was practised in some churches at the time, this does not seem to have been done in the rites practised at Lyons. When Irenaeus mentions the mystical anointings of the gnostics associated with the redemption of the perfect, he has nothing to say about catholic anointings.
The candidates for baptism may be of any age and can include infants and children. This is one of the earliest clear testimonies to the practice of pedobaptism.
2. The Doctrine of Baptism While Irenaeus enunciates the catholic doctrine of baptism, he does so in response to the exaggerations of the gnostics.
The most fundamental point is that baptism is not only for the remission of sins, but for regeneration into divine life. As such it includes the gift of the Spirit, which is the imprint of the images of the Father and the Son. The Spirit unifies the baptized in the unity of the one church into which baptism incorporates them, so that they are both a spiritual and a bodily communion. As seal of eternal life, baptism carries the guarantee of the resurrection of the flesh.
In elaborating this doctrine against the gnostics, Irenaeus teaches the one creation by the one God, the goodness of material creation, the incarnation of the Word in the birth of Jesus and so the identity of Jesus and Christ from the beginning rather than the descent of Christ on the man Jesus, and regeneration given to all at baptism.
Conclusion
E L C i l A R I S I 1. Eucharistic Rites The eucharist is celebrated according to the mandate of Christ at the Last
Supper. It is celebrated in bread and wine, the latter mixed with water. It is celebrated with thanksgiving and invocation of the name of Christ over the bread and wine. The rite culminates in the eating and drinking of the eucharistized bread and wine.
The format of the eucharistic prayer is not clarified and invocation (epiclesis) may refer either to the whole prayer as done in the name of Christ, or to a section of the prayer which is invocation by way of distinction from that part which is thanksgiving.
What is learned from Irenaeus about the rites of the Marcosians may show ways in which they kept elements of early christian practice after they had been dropped by the orthodox. This would include a blessing prayer which is a prayer of invocation rather than of thanksgiving, and women's participation in such prayers.
While it is not included by Irenaeus in a eucharistic prayer, some of his expressions of the mystery of redemption influenced the prayer of the Apostolic
Tradition. The image of Christ's conflict with death and the powers of the abode of death, and of the overcoming of darkness by light, may well have been taken from Irenaeus, who in turn reflects the paschal homiletic tradition.
2. The Doctrine of the Eucharist The principal points of Irenaeus's teaching on the eucharist have to do with the sacramental reality of Christ's body and blood and with sacrifice.
The eucharist is celebrated according to the mandate of Christ given to the apostles and passed down by the elders. It commemorates his death and nourishes the faithful. The prayer of blessing or thanksgiving is rendered in invocation of the name of the Word made flesh. It is this which offers the bread and wine to God. It is the prayer, rather than the sole words of institution, which transforms the bread and wine offered into the body and blood of Christ.
In the sacrament, the blessed bread and wine are no longer common bread and wine, but the body and blood of Christ. These are nourishment not only for the spirit but also for the body, that is the whole person. They effect a union with the risen Christ and are guarantee of the resurrection of the flesh.
Irenaeus of Lyons on Baptism and Eucharist
Irenaeus is emphatic that what is blessed is indeed the body and blood of the risen Lord, so that his flesh and blood mingle with that of the communicants, t Itstrains for explanations of how this may be understood. The most simple statement is that they are no longer common brread and wine. He also speaks of the mixture of the heavenly and the earthly, seeming to offer some analogy between the union of the human and divine in the incarnation and the union of the risen
Christ with the elements in the eucharist.
Irenaeus offers an early testimony to the doctrinee that the eucharist is a sacrifice. This belongas to the period of the transfer of Old Testament cultic terms to Christian realities. Several factors are included in his application of sacrifice to the eucharist. First, it involves an offering of the earthly realities of bread and wine, meet offering to the Creator since they are symbolically first-fruits of the earth. This offering is done with thanksgiving in the name of Christ, so that the thanksgiving over the elements is itself the sacrifice of the new covenant, offered by the church and transforming the elements into Christ's body and blood. The value of such offering by the faithful, in the communion of the church, is naught if it does not include the sacrifice or offering of a good Christian life, lived in obedience to the gospel. That such offering is possible, being the offering of the free, comes from redemption in Christ. Hence it is not an offering for sin, but one done by those redeemed from sin in order to express their gratitude and their union with God. Their capacity to offer sacrifice is one of the gifts of redemption, for in it they act as friends of God in making a gift in response to the gifts which they have received, both in creation and in redemption.
W O R S H I P A N D T H E R U L E O F F A I T H
For Ireenaeus, the norm of orthodox teaching is that it is according to the rule of faith handed down from the elders, and it is to this that he appeals against the gnostics.
The rule of faith is embodied in liturgical rites, which thus stand as proof of the faith. This is especially true of baptism, the context for the profession and proclamation of the faith. One may thus appeal to this profession against heretics. It is also embodied in more symbolic form in the water rite of baptism and the blessing of the bread and wine in the eucharist. The water rite is a washing of the body and shows that the body is included in regeneration into God. Since the eucharist is in bread and wine which nourish the body, Irenaeus in teaching the resurrection of the flesh can say that the eucharist confirms this teaching as the teaching confirms the eucharist.
This bodily element in liturgical rites is also testimony to the truth of the goodness of creation and to the truth of the incarnation. If the one God had not created the material as well as the spiritual, and had the Word of God not Conclusion