Vigils Reading

THE FOOD OF THE SPIRIT

From a commentary by St Cyril of Alexandria

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We shall think of the manna as a figure foreshadowing the teaching and

the spiritual gifts of Christ. These also are from heaven, and have nothing

earthly about them. They produce no physical nausea, and are real food not only

of men but of angels as well.

In his own person the Son has revealed the Father to us, and through the

Son we have come to believe the teaching about the holy and consubstantial

Trinity, and have been well and truly guided into all the paths of virtue. The

orthodox and unadulterated knowledge of these things is the food of the spirit.

To the people of old the manna was given at dawn, as the light began to

shine, because the wealth of Christ’s teaching would be distributed so to speak

by daylight The day has dawned upon us who believe, as Scripture says; the

morning star has risen in all our hearts, and the Sun of Righteousness, Christ,

the giver of spiritual manna, has appeared.

From his own words to the Jews we can be certain that Christ himself is

the true manna, and the material manna was but an image: Your ancestors ate

manna in the desert and they died. This is the bread that comes down from

heaven so that anyone who eats it may never die. I am the living bread come

down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. The bread I shall

give is my flesh which I shall give for the life of the world.

Our Lord Jesus Christ nourishes us for eternal life both by his commands,

which teach us how to live holy lives, and by the Eucharist. In himself, therefore,

he is truly the divine, life-giving manna. Anyone who eats it will be exempt from

corruption and will escape death, unlike those who ate the material manna. The

type had no power to save, but was merely an imitation of the reality.

God sent down manna like rain from above, and ordered everyone to

gather as much as necessary, those who shared a tent gathering together if they

wished. Gather it, each of you, he said, with those who share your tent. Let

none of it be left over till the morning. That is to say, we must fill ourselves

with the divine teaching of the Gospel.