Thursday, May 5 : Saint Cyril of Alexandria

How could man, who remained riveted to the earth and subject to death, gain entry to immortality once more? His flesh had to become assimilated to the life-giving force in God. Now, God the Father’s life-giving force is his Word, his only Son, and so it was he whom God sent to us as Savior and Redeemer… If you put a breadcrumb into oil, water or wine, it at once soaks up their properties. If you place iron into contact with fire, it will shortly become full of its energy and, even though by nature it is only iron, will take on the appearance of fire. In the same way, then, God’s life-giving Word, by uniting himself to the flesh he assumed, caused it to become life giving. Did he not say: “Whoever believes in me has eternal life. I am the bread of life.” And again: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh… Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” So then, by eating the flesh of Christ, the Savior of us all, and drinking his blood we have life in ourselves, we become one with him, we remain in him and he in us. Il fallait donc qu’il vienne en nous de la manière qui convient à Dieu, par l’Esprit Saint, et qu’il se mêle en quelque sorte à nos corps par sa sainte chair et par son sang précieux que nous recevons en bénédiction vivifiante comme dans du pain et du vin. En effet…, Dieu a usé de condescendance envers notre faiblesse et a mis toute la puissance de sa vie dans les éléments du pain et du vin qui sont ainsi dotés de l’énergie de sa propre vie. N’hésite donc pas à le croire, puisque le Seigneur lui-même a dit clairement : “ Ceci est mon corps ” et “ Ceci est mon sang ”.
Therefore it is for him to enter within us in a way fitting to God, by the Holy Spirit, and to mingle with our body, after a fashion, through the holy flesh and precious blood we receive as life-giving blessing as if in bread and wine. Indeed…, God has exercised his condescension towards our weakness and placed all his life-force into the elements of bread and wine, which are thus endowed with the spirit of his own life. So don’t hesitate to believe in it for our Lord himself has clearly said: “This is my body” and “This is my blood”.
maronite readings – rosary,team