The Cross and the Eucharist in Early Christianity
A Theological and Liturgical Investigation

An investigation on ancient sources (patristic and liturgical) on the Cross and the Eucharist that sheds light on contemporary discussions.

Daniel Cardó (Author)

9781108483230, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 January 2019

202 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 1.5 cm, 0.43 kg

'It has always been a remarkable feature of Christianity that it is in love with the cross. In love with an instrument of torture - how can it be? Cardó's deep study answers the question … This book is one of the few fine examples of lex orandi grounding theological understanding. It undertakes an analysis of textual primary sources in order to offer insights in the field of sacramental theology … The scholar will appreciate the thorough footnotes, but of even more value for every reader is the fact that this book works on our symbolic imagination as well as on our historical faculties. From the richness of liturgical actions and texts, Cardó offers us the cross as a hermeneutical key for the Eucharist for our spiritual enrichment.' David W. Fagerberg, University of Notre Dame, Indiana

The Cross was present at the Eucharist in early Christianity as an idea, a gesture, and an object. Over time, these different actualizations of the quintessential symbol of Christianity have generated important questions about their meaning and function, among them: is the Eucharist a meal and/or a sacrifice? Can the sign of the Cross illuminate the absence of a Roman epiclesis? Is it pertinent -historically and theologically - to use an altar Cross? In this study, Daniel Cardó explores the relation between the Cross and the Eucharist. Offering a thorough and fresh reading of patristic and Roman liturgical texts, he identifies their emphases and common themes on the Cross and the Eucharist, and demonstrates their significance for the liturgical debates of recent decades.

Part I. The Cross and the Eucharist in Patristic Sources: 1. The continuity from the Cross to the Eucharist
2. The Cross as origin of the Eucharist
3. The identity of the Eucharistic flesh and blood of Christ with the flesh and blood on the Cross
4. The sacrifice of the Cross
5. The Cross at the Eucharist: gesture and object
Part II. The Cross and the Eucharist in Roman Liturgical Sources: 6. The early Roman Sacramentaries
7. The Roman Canon
8. The Ordines Romani
Part III. Contributions to Contemporary Debates: 9. The unity of the Last Supper and the Cross and the discussion of the Eucharist as meal
10. The sign of the Cross and the problem of the Roman epiclesis
11. The history and importance of the altar Cross.

Subject Areas: Christian theology [HRCM], Church history [HRCC2], The Early Church [HRCC1], Christian Churches & denominations [HRCC], Christianity [HRC], Religion & beliefs [HR], Humanities [H]