“In accordance with everything and for the reason of everything” in the St. Nicholas Cabasilas's theology of the eucharist: clarifying the meaning

This article examines the theological meaning of the final words of Anamnesis “in accordance with everything and for the reason of everything” in the context of the teachings of St. Nicholas Cabasilas on the Eucharist as a Sacrifice. The article is preceded by a brief review of the article by Priest Mikhail Asmus “”In accordance with everything and for the reason of everything” in anaphora; clarification of meaning”, in which for the first time in Russian theological science a set of problems related to the theological understanding of the literal translation of the words “in accordance with everything and for the reason of everything” (κατὰ πάντα καὶ διὰ πάντα). Based on a detailed analysis of selected fragments from the “Explanation of the Divine Liturgy” by St. Nicholas Cabasilas, in which the theological meaning of the words “in accordance with everything and for the reason of everything” is revealed in one way or another, the following conclusions have been drawn. The concept of “πάντα” (everything) in relation to “διὰ” point at all those benefits that were revealed by God towards all mankind, but in particular, it point at the Economy of salvation accomplished by Christ. The concept of “πάντα” (everything) in relation to “κατὰ” means everything that Christ did at the Last Supper. It was found that on the basis of the interpretation of St. Nicholas of the words “κατὰ πάντα”, the understanding of which causes the greatest difficulty, is his doctrine of the Last Supper as the prototype of the Eucharistic Sacrifice performed by the Church. Thus, according to St. Nicholas, the Church makes an offering of gifts (bread and wine) during the Eucharistic Sacrifice in accordance with (κατὰ πάντα), as Christ did at the Last Supper, and for the reason of (διὰ πάντα) gratitude to God for all His benefits and for the Economy of salvation accomplished by Him. It was also found out that the idea of the accordance of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Last Supper exhaustively applies to anaphora and St. St. John Chrysostom, and St. Basil of Caesarea.