The Pledge of Future Glory

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • St. Josaphat Formation Center, Phoenix, AZ

“O Sacrum Convivium” or, in English, “O Holy Banquet” is a short Eucharistic antiphon I like to recite or sometimes chant after Holy Communion at private Masses with family, friends or community members. It is a very small but meaningful part of the solemn Liturgy of Corpus Christi written by St. Thomas Aquinas that includes the Mass, hymns for adoration and the office of the day. The whole Liturgy, as well as this small portion, is truly a work of poetry and theology wondrously woven together by a saintly genius. The Antiphon is itself like the small wafer we receive at Holy Communion – so simple in itself yet so abounding in reality and mystery to fill the mind and heart. 

O sacrum convivium!
in quo Christus sumitur:
recolitur memoria passionis eius:
mens impletur gratia:
et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur.

O holy Banquet
In which Christ is received
The memory of his Passion is renewed
The Soul is filled with grace
And the Pledge of Future Glory is given to us.

The antiphon is a compendium of the Eucharistic mystery in a few verses, marvelously balancing the realities of this great gift of Christ at the Last Supper. The Holy Eucharist is a Banquet, a sacred meal in which Christ Himself is consumed. The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrifice of Christ renewed as St. John Paul II insisted in his Eucharistic catechesis over and again. The Holy Eucharist bridges the past and the future: the Passion of Christ and His Glory – the Book of Exodus and the Book of Revelation. The Holy Eucharist contains the sacrifices of His Passion and the joys of His Resurrection. The Holy Eucharist is Christ Himself! The Holy Eucharist is Christ who gives Himself and Christ Himself who is received. 

Holy Thursday begins the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection – the very heart of our life as Christians! The Holy Eucharist is the perpetual memorial of that Mystery, not only recalling it to mind, but making it present again: “Do this in memory of Me”. It was Christ’s intention that we memorialize His new and eternal Convenant by this sacrament – immortalizing His love for us in the death on the Cross and the glory of the resurrection. The Holy Eucharist is our intimate connection with Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Holy Eucharist fills the recipient’s soul with grace, and the Holy Eucharist is Christ’s promise to take us with Him into Glory enjoying communion with Him at Mass and later with Him in Heaven, all summed up in one marvelous antiphon. 

Happy Easter to all our readers, friends and benefactors!