The Liturgy as Salvation
In the Liturgy the Church becomes Church,
At each Eucharist the chosen people, the New Zion, gather together triumphantly on the banks of the Red Sea opposite those of Pharaoh and glorify God for the salvation already granted and simultaneously await the final victory. On the difficult and dangerous road to the Land of Promise, from Sunday to Sunday, and from day to day, one may fall into the hands of Satan and be cut off from the body of Christ. At each gathering "epi to auto" by means of each Eucharist, the body of Christ, the Church this side of death, is in the process of formation - the Word made flesh is being formed in the faithful by the Holy Spirit (I John 3:23-24), and thus the Church, although already the body of Christ, is continuously becoming what she is. -Romanides
In the Liturgy all that Christ is, has offered us, and has done for us, is made present to us.
The Primary and supreme mystery of our faith, which according to the Apostle Paul is Christ, the Incarnation and the divine economy of the Word, is seen by the Byzantine mystic (Kavasilas) as refracted in such a way that it becomes concrete and active within time through the mysteries…there is an inner identity between the historical body of Christ and the Church, between the energies [uncreated] of the actual body of the Lord and the Mysteries. The Mysteries extend the function of that body in a real way and make available its life in actuality. The Church is represented in the Mysteries not as in symbols, but as the members are in the heart, as the branches of plant are in the root, and, as the Lord has said, as the branches are in the vine… (Panagiotis Nellas)
In the Liturgy we experience Salvation as forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
By His own blood he redeemed us, as also His apostle declares, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins.” And as we are His members, we are also nourished by means of the creation (and He Himself grants the creation to us, for He causes His sun to rise, and sends rain when He wills). He has acknowledged the cup (which is a part of the creation) as His own blood, from which He bedews our blood; and the bread (also a part of the creation) He has established as His own body, from which He gives increase to our bodies.
When, therefore, the mingled cup and the manufactured bread receives the Word of God, and the Eucharist of the blood and the body of Christ is made, from which things the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they affirm that the flesh is incapable of receiving the gift of God, which is life eternal, which [flesh] is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord, and is a member of Him? (St. Iraneaos)
Through the Liturgy creation is redeemed, healed, and fulfills its purpose by being grafted into the Church.
“…salvation cannot happen unless the created realities of our world are grafted onto the Church, to be transfigured into the body of Christ, which is the only incorruptible, infinite, and eternal element in the world. This is what in the Biblical and Patristic traditions is known as salvation.” This is possible because: “the life of the Church is uncreated. But the material out of which the Church is constructed, her body, is created material of every period. The uncreated life reconstructs, reanimates, and enlarges created being to infinity, in other words deifies it…” The Church possesses uncreated life because she is the “extension of the Incarnation, is brought into being by the hypostasizing of creation in Christ.” (Nellas Creation, History, Church, the Faithful. Synaxis)
We also see this cosmic dimension of the Eucharist in the following exhortation of St. Kosmas Aitolos. At the same time the Saint doesn’t end with the affect of the liturgy on the world but he also includes how the liturgy is able to, “transfigure all the actual structural elements in people’s relationships.”(Nellas)
Priests should celebrate the Liturgy each day so that Christ will bless the people and guard their land from every illness and every abuse; so that God will bless your land, your fields, your vineyards, your place, and all the work of your hands. You should all, young and old, pray that the elders of your village live a long time, that God blesses them so they will take care of you well, for an elder is like a father. You should honor your priests and your betters. Wives, honor husbands; husbands, love your wives and your mothers. Daughters-in-law, honor your fathers-in-law and your mothers-in-law. Sons-in-laws, love your in-laws also and with this respect you will, prosper bodily and spiritually and you win partake of all the good things of the earth. And as long as you live on this earth, this temporary and brief life, you will gain all the blessings of paradise in the eternal life.
The following quote shows how the Eucharistic ethos relates to faith, an issue important to any conversation on salvation, particularly one taking place in a protestant milieu.
But our faith is in accordance with the Eucharist,
and the Eucharist in turn establishes our faith.
-Saint Iraneaos
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