April 26, 2017
Lenten Devotions – Paschasius Radbertus

Paschasius Radbertus died on this date April 26, 856 at Corbie, France. He is celebrated as the first person to write a book exclusively on the Eucharist in 831. The book was called On the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Paschasius (785-865) was a Carolingian theologian, and the abbot of Corbie, a monastery in Picardy founded in 657 or 660. “His book, On the Body and Blood of the Lord was originally written as an instructional manual for the monks under his care at Corbie, and is the first lengthy treatise on the sacrament of the Eucharist in the Western world. In it, Paschasius agrees with Ambrose (better known in English as Saint Ambrose – he was bishop of Milan circa 374) in affirming that the Eucharist contains the true, historical body of Jesus Christ. According to Paschasius, God is truth itself, and therefore, his words and actions must be true. Christ’s proclamation at the Last Supper that the bread and wine were his body and blood must be taken literally, since God is truth. He believes that transubstantiation (the Catholic teaching of how the bread and wine of communion become the body and blood of Christ) of the bread and wine to be used at the Eucharist occurs literally. Only if the Eucharist is the actual body and blood of Christ can a Christian know it is salvific.” (wikipedia and christianity.com, Paschachius Wrote on Christ’s Body & Blood)

“But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part, I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may have become evident among you. Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God, and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:17-26

To write a book on the way and the manner that the bread and wine of communion becomes the body and blood of Christ, you must first have an honest appreciation of the “real presence of Jesus” in the elements. As Lutherans, we believe that Jesus is truly present in, under and through the bread and wine, but you will not find a book that explains how. Luther believed that when the Word of Christ is joined with the elements of bread and wine, then Christ is truly present “in, under and through” – there is no need for a fancy explanation like the Catholic “Transubstantiation”. We trust the promise, and rest on the Word of G-d.

This week please collect bottles of house cleaner for Trinity’s Table.

Pastor Dave