Roadmap
Our Roadmap is as follows:
- This vision of an ancient bishop illustrates the reality of Catholic doctrine with respect to worthy reception of the Eucharist. We will show this by:
- Providing a brief summary of Catholic teaching and its biblical basis; then
- Quoting the account of the ancient vision found in Questions and Answers of the Greek Fathers; then
- Summarizing our conclusions about this vision.
Worthy Reception of the Eucharist: A Quick Summary
The essence of Catholic doctrine about worthy reception of the Eucharist consists of one commandment: receive in a state of grace, which conversely means, do not receive in a state of mortal sin.
St. Paul summarizes this doctrine in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11:27-30):
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
The “unworthy manner” referred to by the Apostles is mortal sin. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states (par. 1457):
Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution, unless he has a grave reason for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession
We will see this Catholic theology of worthy reception of the Eucharist on display in this ancient vision.
The Account of the Vision from Questions and Answers of the Greek Fathers
The account of this vision comes from a translation of the works of the Desert Fathers of Egypt called Questions and Answers of the Greek Fathers by Paschasius of Dumium around the year 555. Paschasius was a monk in the kingdom of Gallaecia from Dumium, in modern-day Portugal.
The account from Questions and Answers is as follows (Ch. 23, §1)1:
One of the fathers told a story of a certain bishop to whom it had been reported that two men in his congregation were of very impure character and adulterers. He, accordingly, asked God to reveal to him whether this was so. As each one came forward for communion after the consecration of the host, he would study their faces and their souls. The faces of sinners he saw as black as coal and their eyes filled with blood; the others he saw with bright faces and clothed in white garments.
As they received the Body of the Lord, a light seemed to shine in the faces of some, but in others a flame. In order to learn about those who had been accused before him, he offered them communion, and he saw one of them with a bright honorable face, dressed in white garments, the other wearing black and with a terrible countenance. After they received the grace of the divine mystery, one seemed to be illumined with light, while the other was consumed with flame.
Therefore, the bishop asked God to instruct him in each matter that had been revealed. Whereupon an angel of the Lord stood by him and said: “All that you have heard about them is true, but one still clings to his depravity and his desire to sin and that is why you saw him with a black face and consumed with flame. The other also was similar to him, as you heard, but the reason why you saw his face illumined is that he recalled what he had done before and renounced his evil deeds and with tears and groans asked the mercy of God, promising that if his previous sins should be forgiven, he would never return to them. Therefore, his former sins are wiped out and he has achieved this grace which you have seen.”
As the bishop expressed wonder at the grace of God, that it not only set free of his torments a man of base life, but even honored him so greatly, the angel replied: “Well may you marvel, for you are a man. Our Lord and yours is by nature good and kind to those who cease from their sins and repent at confession, for He not only remits their torments, but even makes them worthy of honor. ‘For God so loved men that he gave his only-begotten Son’ (John 3:16) for sinners and appointed Him to death on their behalf. If He, therefore, though they were His enemies, chose to die for them, how much more shall He pity them when they are His own [Rom. 5:8-9]? This you should know, that no sins of men overcome the goodness of God, if only through repentance each one destroys the sins which he has previously committed. For God is merciful and knows the weakness of the human race and the strength of their passions and the ability and malice of the devil, and when men fall into sin, He is indulgent as if to sons and awaits their conversion; upon the penitent, as if upon those who languish, He has compassion and mercy: He soon dissolves their sins and even allows them the rewards of the just.”
Hearing this, the bishop marveled greatly and glorified God, revealing to all what had happened.
Conclusion
In this account of an ancient bishop’s vision, we see numerous truths of the Catholic Faith on display:
- First, private revelation continues even after the death of the Apostles. Such revelations are not part of the public “deposit of faith” that is binding on all, but can be graciously given to us by God for the sake of some edifying purpose. If they are genuine revelations, they will not contradict the Catholic Faith.
- Second, receiving the Eucharist is not a matter of right, but of privilege, for which we must be rightly disposed by ensuring we have repented of our mortal sins before presuming to receive it. Otherwise, we are, in the words of St. Paul, “profaning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27).
- Third, the account speaks of the “consecration of the host,” meaning, the invocation of the priest over the bread and wine. This exact language continues to be used in the Catholic Church to this day, and reflects the unique authority and power of the priesthood with respect to divine worship, and the Eucharist.
- Fourth, the account straightforwardly refers to the Eucharist as “the Body of the Lord.” This sort of 1:1 language between bread and wine, and the Body and Blood of Christ, is frequent throughout the Church Fathers. It most closely fits the Catholic teaching that at consecration, the bread and wine–while not changing in appearance (their “accidents,” to speak philosophically)–nonetheless change in their substance (the “what” that they are). Hence the Church’s word for this change: transubstantiation.
- Fifth, if one presumes to receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin, you are bringing upon yourself the fires of Hell (“consumed by flame,” as the account says). Whereas if you approach the Eucharist worthily, you receive Christ’s assistance and aid (“illumined with light,” as the account says).
- Sixth and finally, the salvation offered to us in Christ does not merely result in forgiveness, but in our being made truly righteous–presumably as a result of being “illumined with light” upon worthily receiving the Eucharist (among other things). As the angel said about Christ’s posture toward the repentant, “He not only remits their torments, but even makes them worthy of honor.” This being made “worthy of honor” includes receiving “the rewards of the just.” This necessarily means Christ in some sense makes the repentant person just, such that they become worthy of reward. This, in a nutshell, is the Catholic teaching on justification and merit: that we are justified (made righteous) by Christ through no works of our own, and thereby empowered to cooperate with the life of God in our souls to merit eternal reward, none of which would be possible on our own.
