Source: http://canonlawsocietyindia.org/CanonicalStudiesYearwise/Year2010CS_page_8.aspx
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 16:29:13+00:00

Document:
1. WATER WORTHY, Council of Trent, cxxxiv. The official canon of the council is a little modified one. We quote this draft just to show the mind of the Church.
celebrated, that by the food and blood of the Lord’s body the whole brotherhood may be joined together. In any community of the altar, under the sacred ministry of the bishop, there is exhibited a symbol of that charity and ‘unity of the mystical Body, without which there can be no salvation.’ In these communities, though frequently small and poor, or living in the Diaspora, Christ is present, and in virtue of His presence there is brought together one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. For ‘the partaking of the body and blood of Christ does nothing other than make us be transformed into that which we consume” (LG. 26). “Therefore all should hold in great esteem the liturgical life of the diocese centered around the bishop, especially in his cathedral church; they must be convinced that the pre-eminent manifestation of the Church consists in the full active participation of all God’s holy people in these liturgical celebrations, especially in the same Eucharist, in a single prayer, at one altar, at which there presides the bishop surrounded by his college of priests and by his ministers.” ( (SC. 41). We, therefore, can say with full confidence, that the local church that celebrates the Eucharist is an authentic manifestation of the Church of Christ. And the people of God gathered around the altar of Christ in fact “becomes the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church in this celebration.”2 The Oriental Code which came into force on October 1, 1991 has its own Eucharistic spirituality.
1.1 The Sources of the Salvific Nature of the Eucharist.
7. BEKES, “The Eucharist makes the Church”, 353.
of Christ on the cross is essentially and explicitly salvific. The canons of the Church, which deal with the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, therefore, essentially communicate this salvific character.
9. See HUELS, “Spirituality”, 111.
10. Some ancient Oriental Sources of Monastic Life give witness to the Eucharist-centered spiritual life of the Monks. Thus goes the rule 9 of some anonymous monastic rules of early 4th century: “It is not lawful for a monk of stand outside and narrate vanities at the time of the prayer of the community of the Eucharist: if he is a partaker he shall go in and weep over his sins or else he shall not go as the one not guilty”, VOOBUS, Syriac and Arabic Documents Regarding Legislation, 73. See also, Rules of Rabbula for the Clergy and Qeiama (5th Century), Rules: 31, 33, 49, 52, 59 in VOOBUS, Syriac and Arabic Documents Regarding Legislation, 44 – 50.
Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom’ or ‘the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil’13. The Syriac word Qurbono / Qurbana, which is used to mean the Eucharist, has this sense of divinity. Thus Eucharist always has the nature of a divine mystery that brings about the real presence of the Body of Christ.
The code exhorts Christian faithful in CCEO. 881 § 1-4 (CIC 1247 – 1248) to hold the Eucharist in highest honour. All the Christian faithful are bound to participate in it every Sunday and Holy Day of obligation. The Code encourages the seminarians (CCEO. 346 §1, CIC 246 § 1), the clerics (CCEO, 377, CIC 276), the members of the religious and secular institutes (CCEO, 538 § 1-3, CIC 663 §2) to participate in the daily Eucharistic celebration. Again the code suggests that the reception of Holy Eucharist is to be considered as that much essential and important so that it can be received frequently and especially in some special occasions, such as in danger of death (CCEO. 713§ 1-3, 708, CIC 918, 920 – 921).14. The code also suggests the directives to be observed in giving communion to the non-Catholic Christians (CCEO, 671§1-5, CIC, 844).15 Here the Oriental Code understands Eucharist as a symbol of unity among the Christians. Thus the Code gives directives for a Eucharist-centered Christian life and spirituality.
13. See De Divina Eucharistia, Nuntia, 4, 34-35. See also, SALACHAS, “Divine Worship , Especially the Sacraments”, 511 – 512 and SALACHAS, “De Divina Eucharistica”, 585.
15. See WIJLENS, Sharing the Eucharist, 311-312, See also, CHEMPAKASSERY, Memory and Presence, 5-7.
are asked to take example from that which they deal, and inasmuch as they celebrate the mystery of the Lord’s death they should keep their bodies free of wantonness and lusts. In the mystery of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, in which priests fulfill their greatest task, the work of our redemption is being constantly carried on; and hence the daily celebration of Mass is strongly urged, since even if there cannot be present a number of the faithful, it is still an act of Christ and of the Church. Thus when priests join in the act of Christ the Priest, they offer themselves entirely to God, and when they are nourished with the body of Christ they profoundly share in the love of him who gives himself as food to the faithful.” (PO. 13), CCEO. 378 (CIC. 276 § 2/2) goes as follows, “In accord with the norm of particular law, clerics are to celebrate the Divine Liturgy frequently, especially on Sundays and holy days of obligation; indeed daily celebration is strongly encouraged.” In CCEO. 704 (CIC. 931) we read, “The Divine Liturgy can be praiseworthily celebrated on any day except those tht are excluded according to the prescripts of the liturgical books of the Church sui iuris in which the priest is ascribed/” Bishop Salachas comments on these canons, “Since the celebration of the Divine Liturgy is an act of Christ and the Church, in which the work of redemption is continuously exercised, the canon recommends its daily celebration as praiseworthy, without imposing it as a juridical duty. Indeed, a priest’s spiritual life must be nourished by drawing upon the sacred scripture and the Holy Eucharist.”17. Thus according to Oriental Code Holy Eucharist is the core of the spiritual life of the priest.
17. SALACHAS, “Divine Worship, Especially the Sacraments”, 514. “Poiche la celebrazione della Divina Liturgia e un atto di Cristo e della Chiesa in cui e initerrottamente l’opera della redenzione, il canone raccomanda la celebrazione quotidiana, azione lodevole, senza imporre un obbligo giuridico, L’evangelo e l’Eucharistico sono il centro della vita Cristiana: nell’eparchia, nella parrochia, nel seminario, nei monasteri e dei conventi religiosi (cf. cann. 177 § 1, 289 § 2, 346 § 1, 473 § 1, 538 § 1). Tra i doveri dei chierici, il CCEO al can. 378 prescrive, che <<i chierici celebrino frequentemente la Divina Liturgia a norma del diritto particolare, specialmente nei giorni di domenica e nelle feste di precetto, anzi e vivamente raccomandata la celebrazione quotidiana… La vita spirituale del sacerdote deve essere alimentata attingendo dalla fonte della Sacra Scrittura e dalla Divina Eucharistica. “SALACHAS, “De Divina Eucharistica”. 591.
1.3 Eucharist the Bread of Life.
18. Council of Trent, Sess. 23, Cap. 2 in TANNER, Decrees, Vol. 2, 694.
From the view point of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church through Eucharistic Christian faithful participate in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “In sacramentalizing God’s giving of eternal life and human reception of it, the Eucharist sacramentalizes Christ: he is the full, definitive giving of divine life to humanity and its perfect reception by humanity. It sacramentalizes Christ in his resurrection, by which his body was made fully alive and life giving by God. It does so by sacramentalizing him in the death by which he gave his earthly life in witness to his acceptance that eternal life comes only from God who is his Father: it was because of the way he died that he became totally open to receive that life from his Father at the resurrection. In sacramentalizing the Father’s gift of life through, with and in Christ, the Eucharist sacramentalizes the Holy Spirit, who is given from the risen Lord as the transforming pledge of eternal life in the midst of the world. It is as a Spirit-filled meal that the Eucharist does its sacramentalizing:”23 Thus Eucharist is the bread of life through which the Christian faithful partake in the life of Christ and it is a foretaste of the eternal heavenly banquet.
1.4 Priest and the Eucharist.
work of Christ is continuously exercised, the canon recommends its daily celebration as praiseworthy, without imposing it as a juridical duty. Indeed, priest’s spiritual life must be nourished by drawing upon the sacred scripture and the Holy Eucharist.”24. Again Can. 711 of CCEO (CIC. 916) reads thus, “With a grave sin on one’s conscience, no one is to celebrate the Divine Liturgy or receive the Divine Eucharist, unless there is a serious reason and there is no opportunity to receive the sacrament of penance. In this case one should make an act of perfect contrition, which comprises the intention of approaching this sacrament as soon as possible.” Full reconciliation with God and the Church is an indispensable condition for celebrating and participating in the Eucharist. In the liturgies of St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil and St. James the priest recites, ‘No one who is a slave to carnal desires and passions is worthy to present himself, draw near or offer sacrifice to you, King of glory, since serving you is a great and tremendous thing even for the same celestial powers.’25 But CCEO also asserts that the purity of the celebrant’s conscience is trustworthy. The celebration of the Eucharist is to be considered as a source of power for the day-to-day priestly life. It ultimately leads the priest in the path of salvation. Here by the path of salvation we mean the salvation of both the priest and the souls entrusted to his pastoral care.
manifests the apostolic charity among the priests.26 The Oriental Code, therefore, holds that the Holy Eucharist has a salvific dimension in the life of an priest in both the personal and communitarian realms.
1.5 The Healing Dimension of the Eucharist.
26. ee SALACHAS, “Divine Worship, Especially the Sacraments”, 513 and SALACHAS, “De Divina Eucharistica”, 588.
27. Council of Trent, Sess. 23, Can. 7 in TANNER, Decrees, Vol. 2, 698..
28. ST. IGNATIUS, Epistles, 36-37.
make the Paschal Mystery of our Saviour Jesus Christ become spiritually present to the faithful. This is what we learned from our own founding missionary Constant Lievens. More recently, the much loved Pope John Paul II of happy memory, and blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata, also underlined this reality of participation in the Eucharist. Our Christian tribals today have full confidence that Jesus’ saving death and resurrection has stripped the sovereignties and ruling forces of the universe and destroyed their power (Col.2, 14-15). In this faith experience of our people, the Eucharist has brought about a paradigm shift from their former blood-sacrifices with which they tried to placate so called ‘evil spirits’ and reoriented them to the new and eternal covenant established in Jesus Christ.”32 The participation in the Eucharist gives a soothing touch of the divine and it is therefore a salvific intervention through the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Here we understand salvation as something, which is concerned with the whole person. Therefore, through the Holy Eucharist, the Church is carrying out a salvific action or a healing ministry too.
1.6 Holiness: The Purpose of the Eucharist Sacrifice.
34. See, BENEDICT XIV, De synodo diocesana, 6. cap.8, n.10; Council of Hippo (393) can. 28 in MANSI, 3, 923; Council of Carthage (397), III, 29 in MANSI, 3, 885; St. Augustine Ep. 54, Ad Jan., cap 6 in MIGNE, PL., 33, 203 and all these references are quoted in PIUS XII, Apost. Const.
The Eucharistic Fast, 25. See, also MORIARTY, “New Regulations on the Eucharistic Fast”, 1-31: SCHO, Instruction on the Eucharistic Fast. 47-51.
faith and the repentant heart of the communicant.37. Through the sacrament of Holy Eucharist the Christian faithful are sanctified in their heart.
The memorial celebration of liberation in the history of Israel and the Last Supper of Jesus Christ are the sources of the Eucharistic spirituality of the Oriental Code. The spirituality of the Code is centered on the Holy Eucharist. The Code upholds Eucharist-centered spirituality for all groups of Christian faithful. The Code further defines the Holy Eucharist as the Bread of lift. Then the Eucharist is presented as a sacrament of healing. And finally the Code sees holiness and salvation as the ultimate purpose of the Divine Eucharistic celebration. The Eucharistic spirituality of the Oriental Code thus reveals an explicit salvific character of the Code. And here we can see the character of the Oriental Code which has a profound foundation on theology. Thus the Code is free from the so called traditional legalism by a true emphasis on salvation.
37. The eastern code admits only ferendae sententiae penalties, that is, imposed penalties. Accordingly, CCEO asks to impose a confessor who has directly violated the seal of confession or who has absolved an accomplice in a sin against chastity with major excommunication (c. 1456 § 1; c. 1457). Similarly, one who procured abortion effectively is to be punished with a major excommunication. But the hierarch may use the discretion whether to proceed with the process of inflicting penalties in above stated cases if permission to absolve from those sins has been obtained from the competent authority.

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