| Zusammenfassung: | In spite of his reserve with respect to explicit statements about liturgical rites, Origen’s vast oeuvre constitutes one of the most abundant sources for the history of Eucharistic practice and piety in the first three centuries. The Eucharist, which was celebrated on the Lord’s day and probably also on Friday, was presumably preceded by a liturgy of the Word that consisted of reading of Scripture, preaching, prayer, and kiss ; the “mass-type” of Eucharistic celebration appears already to have been established. Origen also mentions thanksgiving and an epiclesis as characteristic components of the Eucharistic Prayer, which by convention was to be directed through Jesus Christ to the Father, and was referred to as the “offering (prosphora)” ; the existence of further elements remains hypothetical. The Eucharistic piety of Origen, which is literally shaped by thanksgiving and praise, is strongly Christocentric : the celebration of the Eucharist is presented quite bluntly as celebrating Passover and the Last Supper with Jesus. At the same time, the Eucharistic action is reflected in analogy to the communication with the Word via the medium of Scripture, and connection is made to the whole Christ-event. Among the effects of the Eucharist specified by Origen, the remission of sin, reconciliation and sanctification are particularly prominent. Given that Origen’s Eucharistic theology draws on sophisticated and subtly differentiated biblical metaphors, the absence of explicitly sacrificial terminology is all the more significant. In sum, Origen appears as an important witness at the threshold of the emerging tradition of what was to become the majority church.
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