In the last issue of this article, I began to share thoughts about the Anaphora, the most solemn part of the Liturgy. It is important to note that the Eastern Church never poses the question: When and at what moment do the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. This is a mystery. The only thing an Eastern Christian dares to say is that when we truly pray to the Father, remember the words of the Son and invoke the Holy Spirit to act, do these gifts become the Body and Blood of Christ. It is the Holy Trinity that truly transforms the gifts and it is not for us to question when.

The only reason why the Western Church has defined when this change occurs is because of a posed hypothetical question: What must be done if a priest should drop dead during the Mass. What should be done if we believe the gifts have been changed! Sacramental theologians argued that you have to know exactly when the gifts are changed so that you can take the appropriate action to deal with the gifts if a priest should die during the Mass.

The Western Church has posited that the bread is changed when the AMEN is said after the words of Jesus about the bread and the wine is changed when the AMEN is said after the words of Jesus about the wine. This is why the words of Jesus are commonly called the Words of Institution!

The Eastern Church never got into considering hypothetical situations. Of course con-celebration was more     common in the Eastern Church and so there were always other priests present who could continue the service. Further, the Eastern Church and its theological approach would never dare to suggest that it knows exactly how God acts and when He acts. This is a much more mystical approach. The same is true when thinking about possible particles of bread that might fall from the bread after it is changed. A very simple answer is given in the Eastern Church: God will have the angels deal with bread particles. In saying this I am not suggesting that any less reverence should be given to the transformed gifts. As priests we do our best not to be slip-shod about the gifts or particles.

As you can tell, our Eastern Church takes a much different approach to sacramental theology, something I will take up after I finish with the Divine Liturgy.

You will note that I only make a profound bow before the gifts after our sequence of prayers to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

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