Greco-Christian stream·The Imitation of Christ·Book IV — Of the Sacrament of the Altar·A Devout Exhortation To The Holy Communion
Devout Exhortation to the Holy Communion
The opening exhortation that frames Book IV. The Christ-voice calls the faithful soul to the altar: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. The voice of the Eucharistic Christ inviting the soul to the great Banquet of his body and blood.
Source context
- Theme
- urgent summons to worthy reception of holy communion as encounter with Christ
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
- GA 68b, 1905-12-09Steiner places the Imitation of Christ nearly on par with the New Testament as a document of the soul's inner language, implying its sacramental chapters carry genuine initiatory weight.
- GA 53, 1905-03-16Steiner recommends the Imitation of Christ alongside the Gospel of John and the Bhagavad Gita as texts in which patient immersion yields spiritual development, which situates this exhortation to communion within a sequence of soul-transforming encounters.
Cross-tradition
- Neoplatonic theurgy (Iamblichus, Proclus)The demand for inner purification before ritual participation mirrors Neoplatonic theurgical doctrine, in which the soul must be sufficiently ordered to receive divine influx through sacred rites.
- Eastern Orthodox hesychasmThe chapter's insistence on self-examination and contrition before approaching the Eucharist shows cross-tradition congruence with hesychast preparation disciplines, which require the soul's kenotic quieting prior to divine union.
A Devout Exhortation To The Holy Communion
OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
The Voice of Christ
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you,(1) saith the Lord. The bread that I will give is My flesh which I give for the life of the world.(2) Take, eat: this is My Body, which is given for you; this do in remembrance of Me.(3) He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me and I in him. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.(4)
(1) Matthew xi. 28 (2) John vi. 51. (3) Matthew xxi. 26; Luke xxii. 19. (4) John vi. 51, 63.
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