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Saint Cyprian and the Mixed Chalice

EPISTLE LXIII of St Cyprian, which was written to his friend Caecilius in the autumn of 253, is entirely concerned with the mingling of wine and water in the chalice of the Lord's Eucharist, and is directed against the eccentricities of certain people who used no wine in the chalice, but water only. St Cyprian does not state who these people were, or where they officiated, but it is reasonable to guess that they were members of some cranky sect, such as the Aquarians in later times, who were abstainers from wine. Cyprian condemns these eccentrics for not following the normal Christian tradition of mixing wine and water in the chalice, and for rebelling against the authority of Christ in the Church.' It is our duty, Cyprian asserts, to see that our practice follows that of Christ, or else the validity of the sacraments is called into question; and this tradition includes the use of wine in the chalice.' In the mixed chalice the wine is the symbol of the Lord's atoning death, because he said of the wine, 'This is my Blood of the new Covenant'. The wine signifies Christ and his Passion. This was prefigured by the story that, after the Flood had subsided, Noah planted a vineyard when he came to land, and became drunk with the wine which it produced." The sacrament was also prefigured by Melchisedech, who 'brought forth bread and wine'." Christ, we are told, offered the same sacrifice as Melchisedech, namely, bread and wine.' The Roman Canon has asserted, at least since the time of St Leo the Great (440-461), that Melchisedech offered a sacrifice to God,6 and it is quite possible, indeed even likely, that the African rite in the days of St Cyprian already mentioned the sacrifice of Melchisedech, together with Abel and Abraham. But it is important to remember that Genesis does not say explicitly that the bread and wine brought forth by Melchisedech were, in fact, offered as a sacrifice. The Hebrew original of the Latin protulit is a non-sacrificial word meaning simply 'produced, brought forth', and several of the Fathers, including St Jerome, regarded the bread and wine as refreshments for Abraham's troops after their laborious battle and victory. In fact, Cypian in the West and Clement of Alexandria in the East are the first to identify the bread and wine as a prototype of Christ's eucharistic gifts. Melchisedech is stated by Genesis to