8.

 What is meant by referring to the Church as a Eucharistic Society?

            St. Ignatius saw the Church in both its hierarchical and sacramental aspects, and he laid special stress on the place of the bishop in the Church, and upon the bishop's primary and distinctive task of celebrating the Holy Eucharist. For Ignatius, the Church was primarily a Eucaristic Society — that is, one which realizes its proper function when celebrating and receiving the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments). He emphasized that the Eucharist is something that can happen only locally in each individual community gathered around its bishop, and that the whole Christ is present at each individual Eucharist celebration. Thus the Church exists in all its fullness in each local community in the celebration of the Eucharist.

            St. Ignatius’ teaching occupies a permanent place in the tradition of the Church. Orthodoxy views the Church foremost as a Eucharist Society, for the Body and Blood of Christ are the inner life and soul of the Orthodox Church, and they are the heart and center of all Church life. The Church's lifeblood flows from the Eucharist that is celebrated at every Liturgy. To partake of this Mystery is the most important act of worship in the Orthodox Church, and to be united with it is to be united with the Head and Founder of the Church, Jesus Christ. Without Christ's divine presence in this Mystery, the Church could not achieve its earthly mission. It is in the Eucharist that the Orthodox Church has the living presence of God.

            Moreover, Orthodoxy emphasizes the importance of the local community in the Church, something obvious to anyone who observes a Pontifical Liturgy in which the bishop is in the center of the Church, surrounded by his flock. To this day, Orthodoxy still retains the catholicity of the early Church, where the focus of unity is the bishop.

            Concerning the word Mysteries (Greek Mysteria) that often comes up in this book, it is generally used in the Orthodox East for Sacraments. The word Sacraments (Latin Sacramenta) is the term used in the Latin West. Since the latter term originated when Rome was still fully united with Orthodoxy — that is, before the Great Schism of 1054, there is nothing wrong with its usage, especially since few Westerners are familiar with the word Mysteries. However, among themselves, Orthodox tend to use the latter word.