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Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty · Catechism · 783

Faith Q&A › Catechism › 20. The Sacrament of the Eucharist

Why did Christ say, “Do this in remembrance (anamnesis) of Me” (Luke 22:19)?

The answer

St. Ephrem the Syrian says (quoting Christ): “I call it My Body, and it is truly so. The smallest part of It is capable of sanctifying thousands of souls, sufficient to grant life to those who partake of it.”1527

The word ἀνάμνησις (anamnēsis) in Greek is not just a memorial or remembering something from the past that is absent from us now. Rather, it means repeating the event or the past action affecting the present in a very real sense. Anamnesis means recalling the crucified Christ who rose from the dead, or recalling His sacrifice not as a past event, but by offering a true and living sacrifice; an active remembrance.1528

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Notes

1527 St. Jacob of Sarug, Memre 4 on the Passion.

1528 Jean Daniélou, The Bible and the Liturgy (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1956): pp. 136–137. Fr. Dix Gives many examples from the Old and New Testaments; see Dom Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy (Bloomsbury, 2005): p. 161.

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Catechism of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Volume 1, Books 1–3. First English Edition, 2023. Published by St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Sporting, Alexandria, and Queen St. Mary & Prince Tadros Coptic Orthodox Church, South Brunswick, NJ. Copyright © 2023. Translation and Editing: Youth of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Arabian Gulf, and Egypt.