John of Damascus: "This is my body"

"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."

~St. John of Damascus: "Exposition of the Orthodox Faith," 4, 13.

 

Artwork: The Institution of the Eucharist, by Joos van Wassenhove.

Oil on wood, 1473-75;  Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino.