Teologia Praktyczna 20(2019)

doi: 10.14746/tp.2019.20.03
ORCID: 0000-0003-0787-4395

PAWEŁ KIEJKOWSKI

The Eucharist – the Mystery of a Gathering,

the Kingdom and Unity.
Around Alexander Schmemann’s Theology of the Eucharist

The Eucharist is the source and summit of all Christian life, a summary
and a round-up of all our faith (cf. CCC 1324, 1327). The cult of the Holy Sac-
rifice is the centre of the Church’s life, which is realized in the Eucharist and,
at the same time, around this “the Sacrament of sacraments”(cf. CCC 1330) it
concentrates all its salvific activities (cf. Kiernikowski 2000). This truth ap-
plies equally to both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. Polish Or-
thodox theologian Father Henryk Paprocki in his unique work Mystery of the
Eucharist emphasizes that what distinguishes the spirituality of the Orthodox
Church is its liturgical character (cf. Paprocki 2010, p. 7). In the understanding
of Orthodox theology, all nature participates in the cosmic liturgy, in which
every creature fulfills its proper function, praising the Creator with their be-
ing. Only man was called, as a rational and free person, the king and the priest
of all creation, to give to God a sacrifice of praise and glory (cf. Kiejkowski
2016, p. 219-222). A special place in this cosmic liturgy is taken up by the
Eucharist. The whole created world was sanctified by the Paschal Mystery of
Jesus Christ. Then the eternal Triune God revealed Himself to the world, sanc-
tifying the entire cosmos. Holy is also the time of the Eucharist, when Jesus
Christ returns in the Eucharistic parousia and heaven becomes physically pre-
sent in the place where the Lord’s Supper is celebrated (cf. 1 Cor. 11:24). Each
Eucharist is an anticipation of the joy of eternal life (cf. Paprocki 2010, p. 8).
Only those who participate in the Eucharistic mystery and accept Christ’s
invitation: “Come and see” (John 1:46) can understand what the Church is.
A Christian is a man waiting in hope for the gift of eternal life, for the newness
38 PAWEŁ KIEJKOWSKI

of the Kingdom of God, for the gift of unity and communion with the Triune
God and in Him with brothers and sisters. These gifts come with the Risen
One, in the incarnate Son who is present and active in the Holy Liturgy. The
Eucharist is a salvific event that has the character of a certain “dramatization”
(cf. Evdokimov 2003, p. 259-260). It is a mysterious action and drama that
takes place on the sacred scene of an Orthodox temple and engages through
its action a gathering of believers (cf. Dalmais 2010, p. 5.5). For the Orthodox
Church, the Eucharist is the mystery of the coming Kingdom of God and the
sacrament of unity – this was emphasized by an outstanding Orthodox theo-
logian Alexander Schmemann, whose chosen eucharistic themes this text is
devoted to.

I. Alexander Schmemann – theologian and priest

Alexsander Schmemann is one of the most important contemporary Ortho-

dox thinkers active in exile in France and the United States1. He was born on
13 September 1921 in Reval (now Tallinn) in Estonia to a family of Russian
émigrés. In 1928 he moved with the whole family to Paris. The Russian milieu
in France in the twenties and thirties was quite hermetic. It consisted of intel-
lectuals, artists, thinkers, clergymen and aristocrats deprived of their wealth.
These people kept in their memory the image of pre-Bolshevik Russia and
tried to preserve their traditions, living in accordance with the rhythm of Or-
thodox Church holidays. They missed their beloved Saint Petersburg or Mos-
cow, and at the same time they enjoyed the beauty of Paris, living in a world
marked by the ideas of Voltaire, Proust, Hugo. It was there that Alexander dis-
covered in the Orthodox Church the context of his life, serving first as an altar
boy, subdeacon and then as a priest. The church-liturgical experience left an
indelible imprint on his entire life. He always felt Russian at heart, loved Rus-
sian literature, dreamed and worked on the spiritual rebirth of his homeland.
After studying literature at the Sorbonne, A. Schmemann went on to read
theology at St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris, which at that
time enjoyed the presence of prominent figures such as Father Sergius Bul-
gakov, Bishop Kiprian Kern and Nikolai Afanasyev. In 1944, A. Schmemann
embraced the position of assistant at the Institute. He conducted highly-rated
classes on the history of the Eastern Church. At the same time, he was more
and more interested in the problem of the presence of the Church in the mo-
dern world. He was inspired by Nikolai Afanasyev’s ecclesiology. He obtained

1
Cf. I collected biographical information based on: Przesmycki (2006, p. 308-320); Kiejkowski
(2017, p. 182-184); Matreńczyk (2017).
 THE EUCHARIST – THE MYSTERY OF A GATHERING, THE KINGDOM AND UNITY… 39
a doctorate in theology in 1958 on the basis of a thesis devoted to liturgical
theology. He followed the way from historical to theological and liturgical
studies. This intellectual path inscribed itself in reformative trends in the Ro-
man Catholic Church inspired by the terms “return to the source” and “litur-
gical movement”. Rediscovering “liturgical theology” or “paschal mystery”
was associated with such great Catholic theologians as Jean Daniélou, Louis
Bouyer, Odo Casel and Romano Gaurdini. These quests had an unquestionable
influence on the Russian theologian.
In 1951, following the suggestion of Father Georges Folorovsky, Alex-
ander Schmemann and his family moved to New York, where he was asked
to run lectures in theology at St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary (currently
Theological Institute of St. Vladimir). At that time, our theologian was heavily
influenced by Folorovsky, who impressed him with his brilliant mind, a bold
vision of the Orthodox mission in the modern world, roots in his own tradi-
tion, and openness to new theological ideas present in the Western Churches.
After some time, the young theologian was followed by other lecturers from
St. Sergius Institute in Paris, inter alia, Sergey Vierchovskoy and then Father
John Meyendorff. Together, they contributed to the development of Vladimir’s
Seminary.
The activity of Father Alexander in America, which lasted thirty years, was
carried out at three complementary levels, as rector of the seminary, a theolo-
gian and an Orthodox activist. He served as rector from 1962 until his death
caused by cancer in 1983. In his time, St. Vladimir’s Seminary was reputed to
be one of the best centres of Orthodox theology in the Western world. Schme-
mann lectured at many American universities, including Columbia University
and New York University. He received the honoris causa doctorate from many
universities (including Butler University, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School
of Theology, Iona College). The main field of his scientific research was the
history of the Church, ecclesiology and liturgical theology. Most of his books
and articles were written in the United States. In the years 1962-1965, Alex-
ander Schmemann participated as an Orthodox observer in the proceedings of
the Second Vatican Council. He also took part in the work of the “Faith and
Order Commission” of the World Council of Churches. For more than twenty
years, he gave weekly conferences broadcast by “Radio Liberty” for Soviet
Russia. He was also actively involved in work in the structures of the Ortho-
dox Church.
A characteristic feature of the Orthodox Church is the close connection
of liturgy, theology, morality and spirituality (cf. Evdokimov, 2012, p. 13-21;
Łosski, 2017, p. 13-27). These four harmoniously cooperating dimensions of
Christian existence arise from the original understanding of Christian theol-
ogy – theology understood as the experience of the mystery of the Triune God,
40 PAWEŁ KIEJKOWSKI

a mystery which, if possible, is expressed through words. When this is not

possible, then theology silently admires the inexpressibility of the mystery of
God (cf. Przesmycki 2006, p. 314; Evdokimov 1996, p. 13-23). Christian the-
ology derives first of all from the life of the Church led by the Holy Spirit. It is
firmly rooted in tradition and liturgy, especially in the Eucharist. This way of
practising theology is found in the Russian thinker’s best-known book entitled
For the Life of the World, which appeared in 1963 in New York. The book
originated as a result of conversations led with students about the place of
Christians in the contemporary, secularized world. It was a time of searching
for the identity and mission of the Church in view of the challenges of modern
times (cf. Schmemann 1988, p. 94).
The last work of our outstanding thinker was a book The Eucharist: Sacra-
ment of the Kingdom completed in November 1983, a month before his death.
The book is testimony to over thirty years of work of this Orthodox priest and
theologian. It is a series of reflections devoted to the Eucharist, showing the
importance of lex orandi – lex credendi – lex vivendi. The author admits that
the Holy Liturgy was the centre of his Christian and priestly life. The question
about its place in the Church and the world had inspired him since his youth.
The Eucharist and reflection on its mystery were a source of joy, but also a sor-
rowful conclusion that the contemporary crisis of Christianity is significantly
connected with the Eucharistic crisis. Similarly, the rebirth of the Church will
come with the rediscovery of the Eucharist, the mystery of the coming King-
dom of God (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 6). In this text we will show three se-
lected themes from his Eucharistic theology. First, the Eucharist is where the
Church is realized as a gathering called in by the Risen Lord. Second, the Holy
Liturgy is the mystery of the Kingdom of God. Third, the Eucharist is the sac-
rament of unity.

II. The Eucharist as a gathering of the Risen Lord

Alexander Schmemann had an unusual ability to show the most impor-

tant mysteries of Christianity in a simple and existential way2. In our world,
marked with sin, the passover of the Incarnate Word is still happening. Jesus
Christ was and is still being rejected and killed by the world. In killing the
Savior the world died/is dying, for it lost its last chance to participate in what
2
It should be remembered that the most important works of Alexander Schmemann were
created in the 1960s and 1980s, which was a period of discovering the great patristic thought, mutual
opening and learning about the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and therefore transgressing certain
stereotypes and prejudices. The texts of our author are a testimony to this process, both the opening
and the simplifications typical of the Orthodox Church in the understanding of Catholic thought.
 THE EUCHARIST – THE MYSTERY OF A GATHERING, THE KINGDOM AND UNITY… 41
God created it for – that is to live in Paradise. And although people still “be-
lieve in progress”, the possibility of an infinite improvement of the world, the
rejection of Jesus Christ by the world means its end (cf. Schmemann 1988,
p. 8). Unfortunately, as our theologian observes with a tinge of irony, some
modern Christians seem to think that it would be enough today to want or try
more and the crucifixion of the Lord and offending Him and His love would
not be the case. Christians think that they are to engage in this world to make
it more just and human. Yet, the identity of the disciple should be shown by
standing at the Cross. And it still testifies that the world judged itself by killing
the One who is the true “I” of the world (cf. Schmemann 1988, p. 18-19; cf.
John 1:10). Thus, they are witnesses of the end of the world’s self-satisfaction,
the end of utopian optimism3. At the same time, Christianity from the very
beginning has proclaimed the Gospel of the only joy possible in our world, the
one born out of meeting the Risen One. The end at the Cross was transformed
into the beginning of eternal joy. Without the proclamation of this joy, Chris-
tianity does not exist. It is only thanks to this joy that the Church conquered
the world and that is why, when Christians lose joy, the Church also loses the
world to which it was sent (cf. Schmemann 1988, p. 19). This joy is not made
up, it is a free gift received by participating in the Eucharist which is the mys-
tery of joy.
The Eucharistic liturgy is not just one of many services celebrated in the
Orthodox or Catholic Church. It is not to fulfil the religious needs of man, to
“escape” from everyday life, to experience a spiritual-aesthetic emotion, it is
not just a kind of worship in the context of misunderstood sacrality (cf. Schme-
mann 1988, p. 21). Liturgy, in its primary meaning, is above all a joint action
through which a concrete group of people implements its mission, fulfils its
task, becomes the tool and space of God’s action in the world. In this perspec-
tive, the Church appears as a liturgy whose centre is the Eucharist, a joint work
in the service of the world.
The Church is the Eucharist. In it, it realizes its identity in the fullest way. It
is the pilgrim people of God which ascends into heaven, where the Risen Jesus
Christ already remains and took our humanity. Specifically, this ascent begins
when faithful Christians leave their flats and houses to gather in the Church. It
is the Lord Himself that gathers them in the Church so that they may partici-
pate in His work, in His service to the world, and in the liturgy. This gathering,
therefore, also means some separation from the world, in order to, with the
door closed and by “breaking the bread” (cf. Luke 24:30) recognize the Liv-
ing One and be able to witness with joy that: “The Lord is risen indeed” (Luke

3
It is worth recalling that we can find very similar observations with J. Ratzinger, for example
in the book by Ratzinger/Benedict XVI (2005, p. 37-46).
42 PAWEŁ KIEJKOWSKI

24:34). It is precisely the fact of being gathered in order to be able to enter

the coveted homeland of the Kingdom of God that constitutes a fundamental
condition for the Christian mission in the world (cf. Schmemann 1988, p. 22).
Christians do not bring to the world any theory or programme, but the experi-
ence, joy and light of a new life.
In the reality of a gathering (synaksis) convened by the Lord, the reality of
the Church is revealed. One could say that it is good to be called by Jesus Christ
in spite of our diversity, so that in the unity of the community we can celebrate
the Eucharistic Supper, the eucharistic “breaking of bread” (cf. 1 Cor. 11:20).
This experience of the eucharistic gathering is prior to all other attempts to
understand the Eucharist (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 9). Hence, all members of
the liturgical synaksis, each according to their function, concelebrate the Holy
Liturgy. Father Alexander, referring to the terminology of Nikolai Afansiev,
uses the term “concelebration” which refers to all participants in the Lord’s
Supper. This is also indicated by the title of the main celebrant: the chairman,
whose task is to lead the gathering. Similarly, in this perspective, one should
understand the ancient custom of dressing a priest, especially a bishop, in li-
turgical vestments in front of the previously gathered God’s people. The inter-
dependence of the presence and activities of the main celebrant and liturgical
community is indicated by the dialogical character of almost all eucharistic
prayers and the wording in them: accept our prayers, our requests, our praise4.
Each of them is somewhat sealed by the ceremonial “amen” of the whole con-
gregation.
The experience of the congregation that celebrates the Eucharist also em-
phasizes the Christian understanding of the temple. This is above all domus ec-
clesiae, a place and space where the Lord’s disciples gather for “breaking the
bread” (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 13). The shape of the temple, the organization
of its space, the relationship between the presbytery and the nave with the
faithful, the placement of the altar – all this indicates the dialogical and com-
munal character of the Christian liturgy. Hence, not only is the presbytery but
also the whole temple consecrated and devoted to Christian worship. A similar
role, according to our author, is played by iconostasis in the Orthodox Church.
It arose not from the idea of separation (of the clergy and the lay), but on the
contrary, of connecting the divine world with the human one, the heavenly

4
This is also the structure of the Catholic Eucharistic liturgy: “As we celebrate the memorial of
his Death and Resurrection, we offer you, Lord, the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation, giving
thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you. Humbly we pray
that, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit”.
Eucharistic Prayer II. “Look with favour on your Church’s offering, and see the Victim whose death
has reconciled us to yourself. Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood, may be filled
with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ” (Eucharistic Prayer III).
 THE EUCHARIST – THE MYSTERY OF A GATHERING, THE KINGDOM AND UNITY… 43
world with the earthly one. It arose as a testimony of experiencing the temple
as “heaven on earth”, the experience that “the time has come and the Kingdom
of God is near” (Mark 1:15). Iconostasis, just like an icon, is the consequence
of the incarnation. In the temple, it is, in an analogous way, the embodiment
of the unity of the visible and invisible world, the present symbol of the new,
already divinized creature.
The Holy Liturgy, according to Father Alexander, is the “sacrament of
a gathering” (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 15). For the Son of Man came to “gather
into one the scattered children of God” (John 11:52). The Eucharist is the rev-
elation and updating of the unity of the new People of God, through Christ
and in Christ, who in His flesh on the cross reconciled all people in Himself,
putting to death the hostility (Eph. 2:14-18; cf. Kiernikowski 2000, p. 32-34).
Christians do not go to their individual prayer, they do not come together to
achieve their more or less appropriate own goals. They gather as the Church
to experience their own gathering, the gift of the given and accepted unity
with God and with each other, as the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
When the faithful gather at the Lord’s Supper, they fully realize that through
baptismal immersion they have become members of one Body of Christ
(cf. 1 Cor. 12:27). They go to show and realize their membership, reveal and
testify before God to the mystery of the Kingdom of God, which “has come
in power” (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 15). In this way, people who are different
and distracted by sin become one in the living Resurrected Lord. They become
one flesh and one soul, nourished by the Body and Blood of God’s Son and
filled with the Holy Spirit5. Whoever tastes this will never for trivial reasons
leave the eucharistic gathering and communion in one Body and in one Cup.
He will appreciate above all this choice and the grace of participation in the
gathering of saints.

III. The Eucharist as the mystery of the Kingdom of God

Alexander Schmemann reminds us that at the beginning of the liturgical

drama, thanks to liturgical acclamation, its participants face the pilgrimage
goal: the Kingdom of God. In the language of the Bible and liturgical tradi-
tion, to bless means to proclaim, confess, and gratefully receive God’s gift, the
fruit of His redemptive action (cf. Kiernikowski 2000, p. 119-120). The King-
dom of God expresses everything that Jesus Christ offers to man (cf. Schme-
mann 1997, p. 30-31). His public activity begins with the words of the Gospel:
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Mt 4:17). It is already present

5
Cf. Eucharistic Prayer III Roman Missal.
44 PAWEŁ KIEJKOWSKI

among disciples and the world. When the community of the faithful bless for
the gift of the coming Kingdom of God, it means that they accept it with love
and strive to this kingdom with all their being. The Church is the gathering
of those who, in the Kingdom of God revealed by Christ, discover the mis-
sion and essence of their lives (cf. Schmemann 1988, p. 23). An expression
of the acceptance of the gift of the coming kingdom is the communal “amen”
solemnly uttered by the congregation. This “amen” is also given as a gift by
the Saviour. For only by knowing Him, only in Him, who is the great “Amen”
uttered to God the Father, the fate of humanity and of all creation is settled
(cf. 2 Cor. 1:20).
The proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the corresponding “amen”
is just the beginning. The community of disciples abides in prayer and joyful
waiting for the fulfilment of the promise that is already being realized. They
are waiting to meet the Risen Lord. They are waiting for the sanctifying work
of the Holy Spirit. This is the solemn celebration of the coming salvation. It is
expressed by the beauty of the temple and rituals, gestures and vestments. For
the Church is nothing but love, expectation, joy of the approaching meeting,
heaven on earth. It is the joy of a newly found childhood, its freedom and self-
less love, which is able to transform life (cf. Schmemann 1988, p. 24).
The Kingdom of God is inseparably connected with man’s recovered di-
vine filiation. By grace, man becomes the son of God the Father, son “in the
Son”. It is always the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s activity. Therefore, being gath-
ered as the Body of Christ, coming to the Lord’s altar, participation in the sac-
rifical feast of the kingdom is effected in the power of the Sanctifying Spirit.
The Kingdom of God and everything that this term means is realized only
where the Paraclete is redeemingly present. It is Him that makes the Eucharist
transform the end of the old world into the beginning of a new one, unites into
the Lord’s gathering people separated by sin and hostility. Hence, the life of
every believer, of the whole Church gathered at the Holy Liturgy, is a constant
summoning of the Spirit of Truth, it is a constant epiclesis (cf. Kiejkowski
2014, p. 80-88; Rosato 1998, pp. 17-30). Where the Holy Spirit is, there is the
Kingdom of God.
The Eucharistic liturgy is a symbol of the kingdom because it reveals and
affords participation in the mystery of the Church, which joins in communion
with the Holy Trinity. This is accomplished through Jesus Christ and in the
power of the Holy Spirit, and the community of believers thus reveals what
it is: the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The uniqueness of
Christian liturgy is revealed in this anticipation of parousia. The Lord’s Supper
is the sacrament of the coming of the Resurrected One, meeting and being in
communion with Him at His table in His kingdom (cf. Luke 22:30; cf. Schme-
mann 1997, p. 32). And so, for example, following the gathering of the faith-
 THE EUCHARIST – THE MYSTERY OF A GATHERING, THE KINGDOM AND UNITY… 45
ful, the entrance of the bishop or presbyter reveals and makes the entire Church
enter a new world, from old life to changed life. It is a world in which there
are no more altars and temples, because the altar became Jesus Christ himself,
and His changed humanity is the only true temple. Only in Him humanity is
granted access to the community with the Triune God. Hence, the entrance of
the leader in Orthodox liturgy is accompanied by the angelic singing of Trisa-
gion (cf. Schmemann 1997, p.38). The community of disciples ascends and
stands with angels before the face of God who is absolutely unachievable and
different, and at the same time one that can satisfy the deepest human desires.

IV. The Eucharist as the sacrament of unity

Alexander Schmemann also calls the Eucharist a mystery of unity (cf.

Schmemann 1997, p. 109). Unity affects the very essence of being a partici-
pant in the mystery of salvation in the lives of individual Christians and, at the
same time, the saving presence of the Church in the world. The Eucharist is
the food for eternal life (cf. John 6:53-54). Man is a thirsty being, thirsty for
real food. He ultimately craves God (cf. Schmemann 1988, p.10; Ratzinger/
Benedykt XVI 2011, p. 40-43; 52). God who is the Unity of the Three Loving
Persons. And he will be satisfied when immersed in such divine love, he will
love in its likeness6. Our author notes that the sign of peace precedes the con-
fession of the Symbol of faith (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 102). Ancient Christian
testimonies, including Narsai, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Saint Augustine,
confirm the historicity of the real “kiss of peace” made by the entire liturgical
congregation (Eucharystia pierwszych chrześcijan 1987, p. 384-391). The kiss
of peace often accompanies Christian liturgy, for example during the sacra-
ment of adults’ baptism or during the ordination of the presbyterate and the
episcopate. It was retained in the ancient practices of Nestorians, Copts and
Armenians7. Schmemann points out, however, that in contemporary Orthodox
practice (let us add that it is often a similar case in our Catholic parish liturgies)
there has been a significant change – the transition from the actual sign to the
call. Moreover, in his opinion, the content of the acclamation was changed, the
current wording of which “let us love each other” invites more to an undefined
mental attitude towards the other participant of the liturgy rather than to real
action. There is a very serious problem here. It is about the expression “Chris-
tian love”, which is widely accepted in the Christian environment and in fact

6
Cf. Benedict XVI, Spe salvi, 11.
7
The call: “Let us offer each other the sign of peace” can also be found in a renewed Roman
liturgy.
46 PAWEŁ KIEJKOWSKI

has become commonplace and lost its essential primary meaning. Its evangeli-
cal novelty has been lost, which is expressed, among other things, in love for
enemies (cf. Matthew 5:43-48). They were drowned out by various excuses
and comments (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 103-104). Meanwhile, Christian love
is not only a confirmation, a strengthening of natural love, flowing from the
bond of blood or the nation (cf. Matthew 10:37; Luke 14:26), but is fundamen-
tally different from it and infinitely exceeds it. It is a new love which an old
man is not capable of without rebirth through Jesus Christ. You can not work it
out by acts of your will, self-knowledge, asceticism, and training. Christianity
is not so much the commandment of love, which ultimately exceeds the natu-
ral possibilities of man, but above all it is revelation and gift (cf. Schmemann
1997, p. 104) of this love. Before this love was commanded to Christians, it
was/is first revealed and given. The shocking newness of Christianity is the
truth that only “God is love”, who through the event of incarnation, the mys-
tery of human-divine nature gives Himself to humanity.
Father Alexander reminds us that to live in the Saviour as the “vine” and
in His love it means to be and to live in the Church, the Body of Christ. For
Christ’s love is the beginning, content, quality and purpose of the Church’s
life (cf. John 13-35). This love is the essence of the holiness of the new Peo-
ple of God, and also the source of its apostolate and unity (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1-3).
Christ’s love not only binds individual Christians in the experience of a new
unity but also through it wants to manifest and give itself to the whole fallen
world. This world is marked by the separation of all from all, which cannot be
overcome by purely human love, contaminated with the fear of death and the
fruit of sin (cf. Kiernikowski 2000, p. 35-40). The essence of the Church then
is to show and nurture in the world the existence of love as life and life as love
(cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 105).
The Church is a community which is the fruit of Christ’s love for the other,
the stranger, the enemy. Contrary to such unity is the pure human “feeling” of
kindness, which would most gladly get rid of the presence of others, a crowd
that disturbs spiritual peace and being focused on prayer. In this perspective,
as it is strongly emphasized by our Orthodox priest, the meaning of the kiss of
peace is manifested. It is not an expression of human kindness, but a sign of im-
mersion in God’s love, making unity through strength and in the image of Cru-
cified Jesus’love. It is about the miracle of a new love that makes the stranger/
enemy become our brother. And it is independent of whether he/she changes
according to our expectations and sensitivity. In a Christian, in this particular
Christian congregation, fearful alienation is overcome which God’s and man’s
enemy introduced into the human world for its destruction (cf. Heb. 2:14; Eph.
2:14-18; cf. Kiernikowski 2000, p. 309-315). In liturgy, there is a real unity,
the action of the Triune God for the sake of unity, which makes itself present
 THE EUCHARIST – THE MYSTERY OF A GATHERING, THE KINGDOM AND UNITY… 47
through the liturgical mystery and which is accepted and taken by the gathered
believers in freedom. The sign of peace expresses being filled with the love
of Christ, which, according to human categories, sometimes makes strangers
and hostile people become brothers in Christ. This means that those who are
in conflict with each other are to reconcile and forgive each other, and actions
leading to unity are undertaken. Christians gather during the Liturgy not to
experience consolation and spiritual comfort, but to wait for the gift, the fire of
the Holy Spirit, who will enable them to effect unity, even at the price of their
lack of peace and commitment to reconciliation in the image of crucified love.
After the kiss of peace in Orthodox liturgy, there is singing or recitation of
the Symbol of faith. Originally, Credo was connected with baptismal initiation.
In the Eucharistic celebration, it appeared relatively late – at the beginning
of the 6th century in the context of great dogmatic disputes (cf. Müller 2007,
p. 89-93). It was a kind of border (hόros), which separated the Church from
heresy, and at the same time a sign of the unity of the professed faith and the
actual gift of unity which the baptised gathered at the Eucharist experienced.
In this way, our author emphasizes, confessing the Symbol of faith after the
sign of peace became commonplace, being nothing but confirmation of the
obvious, organic and inseparable bond between, on the one hand, the unity of
the Church’s faith and its fulfilment in the Eucharist, and on the other – as the
essence of experience in the life of the Church (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 108).
According to the Orthodox theologian, this original, obvious bond between
the sign of peace and Credo, although it was preserved in the liturgical rite,
was lost in the experience of most Christians and also theologians8. For many
of them, the Eucharist ceased to be the mystery of the people gathered by the
Lord, the sacrament of accepting and building real unity. It rather appears as
a place of personal sanctification, of experiencing subjective spiritual experi-
ences. He calls this process very emphatically as degeneration of the original
Eucharistic experience (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 109). He believes that this
extremely subjective experience was sanctioned in Orthodox thought under the
influence of Western theology. This is particularly about the artificial and erro-
neous separation of theological treaties, which is motivated by methodological
reasons, which discuss the reality of faith, the Church and the Eucharist. Con-
sequently, the unity that is fundamental to Christianity disappears – as a new
quality of life from the faith lived in the Church, which is given and accepted
as a unity in the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 110).
The separation of faith and real commitment to unity reveals the loss of
something very important in the very sense of faith. Christian faith is first of

8
A. Schmemann, in writing these words, meant the Orthodox participants of the liturgy. I think
that these words can also be justified in referring to Catholics, our parishioners.
48 PAWEŁ KIEJKOWSKI

all a relationship with someone else, it is a meeting of Jesus Christ, it is a re-

ception and a focus on Him, it is love and desire of unity with the Saviour so
much that “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20; cf. Ratzinger
1996, p. 237-248; cf. Kiernikowski 2011, p. 398-421). Faith is a way out of
oneself, it is entrusting oneself to God the Father through the mediation of Je-
sus, it is a relationship and ecstasy, it is an adoption (cf. Kiejkowski 2013,
p. 117-130)9. It is a reference to the objective Truth (cf. Ratzinger 1996, p. 56-
-69; Kiejkowski 2010, p. 27-29). Meanwhile, “religious emotionality” is based
on oneself and directed towards oneself, towards one’s own self-satisfaction
(cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 111). Such emotional religiosity is attached to cus-
toms, traditions, rituals, external forms of liturgical and ecclesiastical life. It is
a conservatism that has lost the experience of faith, the novelty of the Gospel.
In fact, it hides the old man and his egoism behind the mask of external cus-
toms in order to hide from the mortal judgment of faith.
Meanwhile, the eternal newness of life and the power of uniting in Christi-
anity are rooted in faith that transforms and fills the old forms with new content,
based on the Truth which is Jesus Christ. Emotional religiosity is not interested
in Truth/truth. It is an agnostic being. It is completely focused on itself, on its
own fulfilment and contentment, it wants to be self-sufficient and independent.
Therefore, it is indifferent to learning the truths of faith, to the mystery of reve-
lation recorded in Credo. It is not interested nor is it moved by the mystery of
the Holy Trinity, the person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God and His
Passover, the work of the Holy Spirit, faith that conquered the world. Articles
of faith are not needed to satisfy spiritual and religious feelings. And the unity
that it expects and waits for is ultimately alien to faith. This is no longer the
unity that Jesus Christ brings and to which He calls us through the eucharistic
celebration, but it is a defence of natural unity, created by man, it becomes
a form and sanction of the Gospel of world unity unchanged by the newness
(cf. Kiernikowski 2000, p. 35-46). The Church, which is called to make the
unity of the Triune God present in the world, sometimes becomes the guardian
of unity built on the foundations of an old selfish man. The Church, which was
supposed to be a sign of heavenly unity, became a sign of earthly unity. It is the
betrayal, as our author puts it, of its vocation (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 113).
The author of For the life of the world was convinced that there is no more
important task for the Church, and especially for Orthodox theology, than
a profound distinction between heavenly unity, related to the very essence of
the Church’s identity and its saving mission in the world, from the present
and proposed world unity, understood as the reality of the world and the un-
saved man (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 114). Referring to the ancient intuitions

9
Cf. Benedict XVI, Spe salvi, 4-9.
 THE EUCHARIST – THE MYSTERY OF A GATHERING, THE KINGDOM AND UNITY… 49
of Christian writers, he points out that the devil does not create new words, but
gives a new, false meaning to old words. Therefore, words need to be precisely
defined, purified, exorcised (cf. Clément 2010, p. 70-75). This also applies to
words such as: God, unity, faith, piety, love (cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 114).
The concept of “unity” which interests us in Christianity is primarily re-
lated to God’s original plan for human life and the highest quality of this life.
Man created in the image of God is called to unity in the image of this com-
munion, which is in the Holy Trinity. It is a divine unity thanks to grace. The
Triune God is the source and beginning of all life, which is unity in diversity
(cf. Greshake 2001, p. 47-59). An unattainable icon of such unity is Rublev’s
Trinity (cf. Špidlik and Rupnik 2001, p. 21-35; Bielawski 2015, p. 125-130).
Christianity is knowledge, getting to know God in His Triunity. In the light of
the Holy Trinity, everything becomes understandable: creation and man, fall
and salvation. In Its perspective, salvation is seen as regaining communion
with God, and in Him with all creation. In unity is the essence of the new and
eternal life of the already given and announced Kingdom of God: “that they
may be one, as we are one” (John 17:22; cf. Schmemann 1997, p. 116). In the
restored, renewed, Divine unity, the essence and content of faith is expressed.
Faith is participation in unity that descends from heaven. The Church, on the
other hand, is a place where the heavenly unity becomes a gift, is made present
and actually fulfilled. The Church celebrating the Liturgy is the actualization
of a new life, unity thanks to faith. Therefore, there is no Christian faith be-
yond the heavenly unity of the Bride of Christ. In the Church, everyone, even
a hermit abiding in desolation, lives and cares for such unity. The whole vis-
ible sacramentality of the Body of Christ serves this purpose.
Only through getting to know heavenly unity can one recognize and dis-
tinguish the unity proposed by the fallen world, touched by the mystery of sin,
permeated with fear of dissolution and death (cf. 1 Cor. 7:31; Heb. 2:14). The
devil could tear a man, and with him all creation, away from God. He could
soak the fallen world with the consequences of sin, but he cannot change the
very nature of life as a calling to deified unity, because only the Triune God is
the Creator and Giver of all life, whose unlosable right is unity. All creatures,
especially man, long for heavenly unity, crave it and tend towards it. Satan’s
victory, however, is the separation of unity from its Divine source and making
it a kind of idol. For those who have been hit by the lie of sin, it has become an
end in itself which wants to be achieved independently of God. Consequently,
unity appears as an ambivalent reality. On the one hand, the desire for true
unity continues to penetrate various areas of a human created in God’s image:
family life, acts of mercy, art. On the other hand, to the extent that it broke
away from God, unity becomes an end in itself, being a source of new divi-
sions, evil, hatred, love of oneself and equal counterparts. Unity which became
50 PAWEŁ KIEJKOWSKI

an idol dehumanizes, stands at the beginning of all modern and contempo-

rary utopias and bloody ideologies: left-wing and right-wing (cf. Schmemann
1997, p. 118). The Gospel proclaimed by the Savior and then by the Church
will denounce all manifestations of false unity, will introduce a redemptive,
definitive separation and not peace, but a “sword” (cf. Matt. 10:34). For the
beauty and hope of heavenly unity to be revealed, it is necessary to see and
know all the ugliness and hopelessness of idolatrous unity. As during baptis-
mal liturgy, the catechumen renounces the devil and his affairs, so in his eve-
ryday Christian existence he must renounce the lies of false unity in order to
receive the gift of a community of life with the Holy Trinity and Its unity. It is
the paschal unity that comes through the mystery of the wisdom of the Cross
(cf. Gal. 6:14) and destroys the barrier raised by the devil, the father of ly-
ing and separation (cf. Eph. 2:14-22). Christians are all the time called to be
vigilant and ascetic in order to recognize the temptations of blessing, religious
sanctioning of various human types of unity: political, national or ideologi-
cal. The unity by which Christians live and celebrate is another name for the
received and experienced faith. Hence, the professed Credo and the kiss, the
sign of unity and peace are so close to each other, they are an experience of
heavenly unity, eternal life already on earth. As it is expressed in the Epistle to
Diognetus: “They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven”10.
The Eucharist is revealed and realized as the gift of a gathering (synaksis),
which is convened by the Risen Lord. In the Holy Liturgy, believers become
participants in the mystery of unity and the Kingdom of God. These aspects of
Alexander Schmemann’s Eucharistic theology seem particularly valuable in the
context of our Catholic practice of experiencing this sacrament. Undoubtedly,
we still need to deepen our awareness that the Eucharist is a great gift of a recov-
ered unity with God and between each other and in a very concrete existential
context. It is about fulfilling our identity and being called as people – we are cre-
ated in the image and likeness of God, so that through love we can be in a unity
as great as the one we see in the Holy Trinity. Such a unity, which we call eternal
life (cf. Luke 10:25-28; John 17:1-26) is possible only because we participate in
one Body and in one Cup (cf. John 6:53-59). The same goes for the identity and
mission of the Church. As we read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a commun-
ion brought about by the “convocation” of men in Christ, and this “convocation”
is the Church. The Church is the goal of all things, and God permitted such pain-
ful upheavals as the angels’ fall and man’s sin only as occasions and means for
displaying all the power of his arm and the whole measure of the love he wanted
to give the world (CCC 760).
10
List do Diogneta, 5,9. http://opusdei.org/pl-pl/article/list-do-diogneta/ [dostęp: 6.03.2018].
 THE EUCHARIST – THE MYSTERY OF A GATHERING, THE KINGDOM AND UNITY… 51
The Eucharist is a sacrament in which the great miracle of God’s love, which
is the work of reconciliation, of gathering into one people, is manifested and is
still being carried out. Biblical and liturgical tradition uses the term “Kingdom
of God” here. It is important and valuable to mould our believers mystagogi-
cally so that they may more and more experience the Paschal joy of meeting,
in a personal and communal dimension, the Resurrected Lord, the newness of
a united life, the changed world. So that after having received the “bread” bro-
ken for them by the Saviour, they could witness with the disciples that the Lord
had actually risen from the dead and appeared to them (cf. Luke 24:34).

EUCHARYSTIA – ZGROMADZENIE, KRÓLESTWO BOŻE, JEDNOŚĆ.

WOKÓŁ TEOLOGII EUCHARYSTII ALEKSANDRA SCHMEMANNA

STRESZCZENIE

Aleksander Schmemann (1921-1983) należy do najważniejszych współczesnych

myślicieli prawosławnych, którzy tworzyli na emigracji we Francji oraz w Stanach
Zjednoczonych. Eucharystia: misterium Kościoła to ostatnie dzieło tego wybitnego
myśliciela. Stanowi ciąg rozmyślań poświęconych Eucharystii, będących świadec-
twem i owocem ponad trzydziestoletniej pracy tego prawosławnego duchownego jako
duszpasterza, wykładowcy, pisarza. Niniejszy tekst podejmuje wybrane wątki z jego
teologii eucharystycznej. Po pierwsze, w Eucharystii urzeczywistnia się Kościół jako
zgromadzenie zwołane przez Zmartwychwstałego Pana. Po drugie, Święta Liturgia
jest misterium królestwa Bożego. Po trzecie, Eucharystia jest sakramentem jedności.

Słowa kluczowe: Aleksander Schmemann; Eucharystia; Kościół; jedność

S U M M A RY

Alexander Schmemann (1921-1983) is one of the most important contemporary

Orthodox thinkers active in exile in France and the United States. The Eucharist: Sac-
rament of the Kingdom is the last work of this outstanding thinker. It is a series of
reflections devoted to the Eucharist, which are a testimony and the fruit of over thirty
years of his work as a priest, lecturer, and writer. This text takes up selected themes
from his eucharistic theology. Firstly, the Eucharist is where the Church is realized as
a gathering called together by the Risen Lord. Secondly, the Holy Liturgy is the mys-
tery of the Kingdom of God. Thirdly, the Eucharist is the sacrament of unity.

Keywords: Alexander Schmemann; Eucharist; Church; unity

52 PAWEŁ KIEJKOWSKI

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P K  : ks. dr hab., profesor nadzwyczajny w Zakładzie Teologii

Systematycznej Wydziału Teologicznego Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza
w Poznaniu; e-mail: [email protected].