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writes that ‘unfortunately, this vivid sense for Christ’s coming to bring the
blessings of the kingdom no longer informs our liturgical celebrations as it
3
once did’. Wainwright considers the problem to partly lie in theologians
having looked back too much to the past of the Lord’s death than towards the
4
future of his coming. Naturally, the common criticism against the West in
having been overly absorbed by questions concerning consecration is made,
and also thought to explain the apparent neglect of eschatology in Western
5
eucharistic liturgies. However, Schmemann also observes the shortcomings of
the East, even in this respect. Some of the problem must also surely lie in
6
West’s evidently under-developed doctrine of the Holy Spirit, particularly in its
relation to the Eucharist. This is especially the case when we consider the role
of the Holy Spirit as revealing and fulfilling the eschatological nature of the
7
sacrament itself, which Schmemann outlined very well. Certainly, Rausch
8
observes that ‘too often in Western theology, the work of the Spirit is ignored’.
An under-developed theology of the Holy Spirit brings other consequences
too. It limits our capacity to consider how the Holy Spirit is present and active
now, and consequently, our capacity to conceive of the whole economy of God.
It is also often thought that the eschatological hope of the early
Christians faded as it became obvious Christ was not returning in their
lifetime. As a result, the Eucharist gradually became more commemorative and
historical, and to some extent, a re-enactment of the last supper. Gregory Dix
was a proponent of this view, and it is surprising how much he influenced the
thought of scholars in this respect, and how much this view lingers still. Brian
Daley, refreshingly, presents the case otherwise and points to the nature of the
9
Christian hope itself, a hope that transcends history. Indeed, this certainly
makes more explicit the sense that, through faith, newness of life has already
begun and the nearness of God is both given in the present and remains a
promise to be fulfilled, or, rather, to be consummated. In essence, a number of
reasons abound for the apparent loss or weakened expression of the
eschatological hope in Western Eucharistic rites, and it is not the purpose of
this study to examine these in any detail. Certainly, recent work in theology

3 Rausch, Eschatology, Liturgy, and Christology, p. 4.
4 Wainwright, Eucharist and Eschatology, p. 2.
5 See Schmemann, The Eucharist, p. 28 and Rausch, Eschatology, Liturgy, and Christology, p. 5.
6 Schmemann, Liturgy and Tradition, pp. 101-106.
7 See Schmemann, The Eucharist, p. 36.
8 Rausch, Eschatology, Liturgy, and Christology, p. 71.
9 Daley, The Hope of the Early Church, p. 3.

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