Participating in divine fire...

"The words of Christ, since they are divine, are efficacious, and can produce 
nothing other than what they command.  For they are eternal. 
Heaven and earth shall pass, but My words shall not pass." - St Paschasius

 

“The bread and the wine are not merely figures of the body and blood of Christ (God forbid!) but the deified body of the Lord itself:  for the Lord has said, “This is My body,” not, this is a figure of My body: and “My blood,” not, a figure of My blood.  ...

Wherefore with all fear and a pure conscience and certain faith let us draw near and it will assuredly be to us as we believe, doubting nothing.  …

Let us draw near to it with ardent desire, and with our hands held in the form of the cross let us receive the body of the Crucified One: and let us apply our eyes and lips and brows and partake of the divine coal, in order that the fire of the longing that is in us, with the additional heat, derived from the coal may utterly consume our sins and illumine our hearts, and that we may be inflamed and deified by the participation in the divine fire.”

St John Damascene

aka St John of Damascus
Syria ~ 676 - 749
DOCTOR of the CHURCH
Monk, prolific writer, poet
Defender of icons/images
Feast Day - Dec 4

Image title:  The Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist is like a consuming fire, 2003 - Artist: Elizabeth Wang

"Show me the icons that you venerate, that I may 
be able to understand your faith." - St John of Damascus

 Click here: St. John of Damascus - YouTube (2 mins) 
Click here: St. John of Damascus (Holy Repentance) - YouTube (4 mins)

St John Damascene, pray for us!