The Real Presence

Διηγήσατο ὁ ἀββᾶς Δανιὴλ ὁ Φαρανίτης, ὅτι εἶπεν ὁ Πατὴρ ἡμῶν ἀββᾶς Ἀρσένιος περί τινος Σκητιώτου, ὅτι ἧν πρακτικὸς μέγας, ἀφελὴς δὲ εἰς τὴν πίστιν· καὶ ἐσφὰλλετο διὰ ἰδιωτείαν· καὶ ἔλεγεν· Οὐκ ἔστι φύσει ὁ ἄρτος ὄν λαμβάνομεν σῶμα Χριστοῦ, ἀλλ' ἀντίτυπον. Καὶ ἤκουσαν δύο γέροντες ὅτι λέγει τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, καὶ γινώσκοντες μέγαν αὐτὸν ὄντα τῷ Βιῳ, ἐλογίσαντο ὅτι ἐν ἀκακίᾳ καὶ ἀφελότητι λέγει, καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῳ· Ἀββᾶ, λόγον ἠκούσαμεν περὶ τινὸς ἄπιστον, ὅτι λέγει ὅτι ὁ ἄρτος ὄν μεταλαμβάνομεν, οὐκ ἔστι φύσει σῶμα Χριστοῦ, ἀλλ' ἀντίτυπόν ἐστι. Λέγει ὁ γέρων· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ τοῦτο λέγων. Οἱ δὲ παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν λέγοντες· Μὴ οὕτως κρατήσῃς, ἀββᾶ, ἀλλ' ὡς παρέδωκεν ἡ καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία. Ἡμεῖς γὰρ πιστεύομεν, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ ἄρτος σῶμα ἐστι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τὸ ποτήριον αὐτό ἐστι τὸ αἶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ ἀλήθειαν, καὶ οὐ κατ' ἀντίτυπον. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐν ἀρχῇ χοῦν λαβὼν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἔπλασε τὸν ἀνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐδεὶς δύναται εἰπεῖν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν εἰκὼν Θεοῦ, εἰ καὶ ἀκατάληπτος· οὕτως πιστεύομεν ὅτι κατὰ ἀλήθειαν σῶμα ἐστι Χριστοῦ. Ὁ δὲ γέρων ἔφη· Ἐὰν μὴ πεισθῶ ἀπὸ πράγματος, οὐ πληροφοροῦμαι. Οἱ δὲ εἴπον πρὸς αὐτόν· Δεηθῶμεν τοῠ Θεοῦ τὴν ἑβδομαδα ταύτην περὶ τοῦ μυστηρίου τούτου, καὶ πιστεύομεν ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἀποκαλύπτει ἡμῖν. Ὁ δὲ γέρων μετὰ χαρᾶς ἐδέξατο τὸν λόγον· καὶ ἐδέετο τοῦ Θεοῦ, λέγων· Κύριε, σὺ γινώσκεις ὅτι οὐ κατὰ κακίαν ἀπιστῶ· ἀλλ' ὅπως μὴ ἐν ἀγνωσίᾳ πλανηθῶ, ἀποκάλυψόν μοι, Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ. Ἀπελθόντεσς δὲ οἱ γέροντες εἰς τὰ κελλία ἑαυτῶν, παρεκάλουν τὸν Θεὸν καὶ αὐτοὶ, λέγοντες· Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, ἀποκάλυψον τῷ γέροντι τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο, ἵνα πιστεύσῃ, καὶ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν κόπον αὐτοῦ. Καὶ εἰσήκουσεν ὁ Θεὸς ἀμφοτέρων. Καὶ πληρωθείσης τῆς ἑβδομάδος, ἦλθον τῇ Κυριακῇ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ ἔστησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ οἱ τρεῖς μόνοις ὡς παιδίον. Καὶ ὡς ἐξέτεινεν ὁ πρεσβύτερος τὴν χεῖρα κλάσαι τὸν ἄρτον, ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος Κυρίου κατῆλθεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἔχων μάχαιραν, καὶ ἔθυσε τὸ παιδίον, καὶ ἐκένωσε  τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ ποτήριον. Ὡς δὲ ἔκλασεν ὁ πρεσβύτερος εἰς μικρὰ μέρη τὸν ἄρτον, καὶ ὁ ἀγγελος ἔκοπτεν ἐκ τοῦ παιδίου μικρὰ μέρη. Καὶ ὡς προσῆλθον λαβεῖν ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων, ἐδόθη τῷ γέροντι μόνῳ κρέας ἡματωμένον· καὶ ἔκραξε λέγων· Πιστεύω, Κύριε, ὁτι ὁ ἄρτος σῶμα σού ἐστι, καὶ τὸ ποτήριον αἷμά σού ἐστι. Καὶ εὐθέως ἐγένετο τὸ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ κρέας, ἄρτος κατὰ τὸ μυστήριον· καὶ μετέλαβεν εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ. Καὶ λέγουσιν αύτῷ οἱ γέροντες· Ὁ Θεὸς οἶδε τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν, ὅτι οὐ δύναται φαγεῖν κρέα ὠμὰ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μετεποίησε τὸ σῶμα εἰς ἄρτον, καὶ τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ εἰς οἶνον, τοῖς πίστει δεχομένοις. Καὶ ηὐχαρίστησαν τῷ Θεῷ περὶ τοῦ γεροντος, ὅτι οὐκ ἀφῆκεν ἀπολέσθαι τοὺς κόπους αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπῆλθον οἱ τρεῖς μετὰ χαρᾶς εἰς τὰ κελλία αὐτῶν. ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Father Daniel the Pharanite said, 'Our Father Arsenius told us of a man of Scetis, one of great deeds and simple faith, and yet on account of his naivete he was deceived, for he said, 'The bread is not really the body of Christ, but a symbol.’ Two elders hearing he had said this and aware that he was upright in his way of life reasoned that he had not spoken this through malice but through simplicity, and they came to him and said to him, 'Father, we have heard a faithless proposition from someone who says that the bread which we receive is not really the body of Christ, but a symbol.' The old man said, 'It is I who said that.' And the old men exhorted him saying, 'Do not hold to this, Father, but rather to what the Catholic Church hands down. We believe that the bread itself is the body of Christ and that the cup itself is the blood of Christ, that is it real and not a symbol. For as in the beginning He took dust from the earth and formed man in His image, no one being able to say that it is not the image of God, even if it is incomprehensible, thus we believe the bread is really the body of Christ.' The old man said, 'If i am not been persuaded by the deed, I shall not be fully assured.' So they said to him, 'Let us pray to God about this mystery throughout the whole of this week and we believe that God will reveal it to us.' The old man received this saying with joy and he prayed to God saying, 'Lord, you know that this is not on account of malice, so that I may not err through ignorance, reveal it to me, Lord Jesus Christ.' The old men went away to their own cells and they also called on God, saying, 'Lord Jesus Christ, reveal the mystery to the old man, that he may believe and not lose his labours.' And God heard the prayers of both. At the end of the week, on Sunday, they came to church and they there appeared to these three alone, as it were, a little child. And when the priest stretched out his hand to break the bread, behold an angel of the Lord came down from heaven with a sword and pierced the child and poured the child’s blood into the chalice. And when the priest broke the bread into small pieces, the angel also cut the little child into pieces. When they approached to receive the sacraments, to the old man only was given the bloody flesh, and he cried out saying, ' I believe, Lord, that this bread is your body and this cup is your blood.' Immediately the flesh which was in his hand became bread, according to the mystery, and he took it, giving thanks to God. The old men said to him, 'God knows human nature, that man cannot eat raw flesh and that is why he has changed his body into bread and his blood into wine, for those who receive it in faith.' And they gave thanks to God for the old man, because he had not been allowed to lose his labours, and the three went away with joy to their own cells.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia