Letter 184
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Peter
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on those who approach the Eucharist without sincerity — receiving the body of Christ while plotting wickedness.
I have watched how the communion is administered, and I am troubled. Some approach it with eagerness while harboring malice in their hearts. They receive the body of the Lord as Judas received him — present at the table and already planning the betrayal.
This is not a small matter. To approach the sacred mysteries without the preparation of a clean conscience is not merely inadequate — it is dangerous. Paul was not being rhetorical when he wrote that those who eat and drink unworthily "eat and drink judgment against themselves" [1 Corinthians 11:29]. He was describing something that actually happens.
The remedy is not to stay away from communion — that would be worse. The remedy is to arrive at it prepared.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Peter
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on those who approach the Eucharist without sincerity — receiving the body of Christ while plotting wickedness.
I have watched how the communion is administered, and I am troubled. Some approach it with eagerness while harboring malice in their hearts. They receive the body of the Lord as Judas received him — present at the table and already planning the betrayal.
This is not a small matter. To approach the sacred mysteries without the preparation of a clean conscience is not merely inadequate — it is dangerous. Paul was not being rhetorical when he wrote that those who eat and drink unworthily "eat and drink judgment against themselves" [1 Corinthians 11:29]. He was describing something that actually happens.
The remedy is not to stay away from communion — that would be worse. The remedy is to arrive at it prepared.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.