Daniel Cardo: The Centrality of the Cross in the Eucharist in Patristic Writings

From the earliest days of Christianity, believers have recognized a connection between the Cross and the Eucharist. The understanding of the relationship between the two has developed over the centuries, always showing, albeit in different ways, the importance of that reality. The teachings of several patristic authors indicate that the Cross enjoyed a prominent place in their understanding of the Eucharist, as an idea expressed in rich theological themes, as the gesture of signing with the Cross, and as an object, particularly a Cross on the Eucharistic altar.
In this paper, after a brief general review of some of the emphases found in Patristic literature about the relation between the Cross and the Eucharist, I will present some relevant testimonies about one of the most important and somewhat unappreciated ways in which the Cross marked the early understanding and practice of the Eucharist: the gesture of signing with the Cross the Eucharistic species. I will argue that this practice, attested by figures such as Ambrose, Augustine, Ephrem, and Cyril of Jerusalem, was more than a devout remembrance of the passion, but rather, a necessary and effective liturgical rite, which ought be rediscovered by Christians today.