Letter 671

To Cyriacus the Monk. Let us not approach the mystical bread as though it were mere common bread; for it is the flesh of God, flesh that is precious, and to be worshipped, and life-giving. For it gives life to those who have been made dead in their transgressions; but ordinary flesh could not give life to a soul. And this very thing Christ the Lord declared in the Gospel, that the flesh, that is to say, the common and bare flesh, profits nothing [John 6:63]. Partaking, therefore, with blessing and with longing of the flesh and the blood of God the Word, we inherit eternal life. For he who eats and drinks with an upright heart is called blessed.

Μὴ ὡς ψιλῷ ἄρτῳ προσερχώμεθα τῷ ἄρτῳ τῷ μυστικῷ· σὰρξ γὰρ ὑπάρχει Θεοῦ, σὰρξ τιμία, καὶ προσκυνητή, καὶ ζωοποιός. Ζωοποιεῖ γὰρ τοὺς νεκρωθέντας ἀνθρώπους ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασι· σὰρξ δὲ κοινὴ οὐκ ἂν δυνηθείη ζωοποιῆσαι ψυχήν. Καὶ τοῦτο Χριστὸς ὁ Κύριος εἴρηκε ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ, ὅτι ἡ σάρξ, τουτέστιν, ἡ κοινὴ καὶ ψιλή, οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν. Τῆς σαρκὸς τοίνυν, καὶ τοῦ αἵματος μεταλαμβάνοντες τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου, μετ᾿ εὐλογίας καὶ πόθου ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομοῦμεν. Ὁ γὰρ τρώγων καὶ πίνων μετ᾿ εὐθείας καρδίας μακαρίζεται.