“Ὁ Χριστὸς, μυστικῶς ἱερουργούμενος ἐν ταῖς ἁγίαις σκηναῖς” – Fr. Dumitru Staniloae and the Rediscovering and Reinterpreting St. Cyril of Alexandria’s Teaching About the State of Perpetual Sacrifice of Jesus Christ

Abstract

Abstract Father Dumitru Staniloae’s complex and integral vision on the Holy Liturgy comprises all the dimensions of life in the church; it constitutes the object of this study, which intends to re-interpret, systematize, and evaluate the teaching of St. Cyril of Alexandria concerning the importance of the Eucharistic Synaxis in the life of the Church. The Eucharistic celebration is only the visible dimension of the eternal Liturgy of love within the Holy Trinity, whose Altar, Oblation and High Priest is Jesus Christ, the slain Lamb, who lives in a state of permanent sacrifice, who was incarnate, who died and arose again, and sent His Holy Spirit in the Church, so as to radiate among those who open up to Him in faith, and thus saturate them with the dynamism of His own surrender to the Father.