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eschatological dimension of the Eucharist is expressed in the liturgy.
Importantly, what does it say about our understanding of the present and
whether we are waiting or looking to a ‘future’, or are even shaped and oriented
as an assembly towards the kingdom of God. This study will also consider
whether there is a visible or implied cosmic dimension to the Anglican
Eucharistic rite. This is not intended as a comparison with the Orthodox, for
such would inadequately consider the relation between culture and liturgy, and
how this relation informs the liturgies of different peoples and lands. It is
simply that, from our glimpse into the Orthodox world-view, the cosmic
dimension seems integral to a visible and inclusive eschatology, especially as it
connects everything back to creation itself and so also its purpose, deification.
For practical purposes, only the Eucharistic rite in Common Worship and some
Anglican collects are considered here, though some reference is made to the
Book of Common Prayer.
As an initial overview, we can see that eschatological themes are clearly
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evident throughout the Anglican Eucharistic rite. The Invitation to
Confession points to our hope of everlasting life, ‘to bring us to eternal life’;
the confession itself highlights our service of the Lord in ‘newness of life’; the
Absolution again emphasizes the eternal life; a number of collects look to the
Second Coming, particularly the collects in Advent; The Creed reads that ‘He
will come again in glory / to judge the living and the dead / and his kingdom
will have no end’; some options of Prayers at the Preparation of the Table,
especially six and seven, make explicit reference to the kingdom and ‘bread of
heaven’ and also emphasize the understanding of the Eucharist as a foretaste of
the Messianic banquet; the three Short Prefaces for Sundays before Lent and
after Trinity make reference to the ‘new life’ in Christ, that we are a ‘new
people’ in Christ, or have ‘everlasting life’. The Extended Preface reads that
‘though the night will overtake the day / you summon us to live in endless light,
the never-ceasing Sabbath of the Lord’. This certainly seems an echo of John of
Damascus when he writes on the understanding of the ages: ‘after the
resurrection, time will not be numbered by days and nights at all; rather there
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will be one day without evening’; the Benedictus comprises the ancient verse,
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’, which became the place
where the maranatha of the primitive church was concretely expressed in the

16 See Common Worship, Services and Prayers for the Church of England (London: Church House
Publishing, 2000) – Main Volume, see Holy Communion, Order One.
17 Saint John of Damascus, Orthodox Faith: Book Two, from Writings, p. 204.

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