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When we approach the Eucharist, says St. Athanasius, we should remember that we’re joining the angels in the feast.
Let us not act like people who keep the feast on earth. Let us act as if we knew we were celebrating it with angels. Let us glorify the Lord by temperance, righteousness, and all the other virtues. And let us rejoice in the Lord, not in ourselves, so that we may also inherit with the saints.
Let us keep the feast as Moses did. Let us be wakeful like David, who got up seven times, and in the middle of the night gave thanks for the righteous judgments of God. Let us be early: as he said, “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you, and watch” (Ps. 5:3). Let us fast like Daniel; let us pray without ceasing, as Paul told us to do. Let us all recognize the season of prayer—but especially those who are honorably married, so that when these things witness for us, and we keep the feast by them, we may be able to enter into the joy of our Lord in the kingdom of Heaven. –St. Athanasius, Festal Epistle 6
IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .
How do I normally prepare for the Eucharist? How would my preparation be different if I expected to meet angels at the table?
CLOSING PRAYER
Lord, let your angel touch my heart, as the angel touched the lips of Isaiah the prophet.
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