Fr. Edmund Waldstein has posted an excerpt from the writings of Nicholas Cabasilas. Cabasilas was a theologian of the fourteenth century, and wrote an excellent defense of the idea that eucharist truly is the sacrifice of Christ. Here is a snippet:
How then can this be, since Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more? He has suffered once in time; he was offered once to bear the sins of many. Yet if he is sacrificed at every celebration of the mysteries, he dies daily.
ls there an answer to these problems? Yes: the sacrifice is accomplished neither before nor after the consecration of the bread, but at the very moment of consecration itself. It is necessary thus to preserve all the teachings of our faith concerning sacrifice, without overlooking any. What are these teachings? In the first place, that this sacrifice is not a mere figure or symbol but a true sacrifice; secondly, that it is not the bread which is sacrificed, but the very Body of Christ; thirdly, that the Lamb of God was sacrificed once only, for all time.
Read the whole thing at Fr. Waldstein’s blog.
