Great Thursday; Our Venerable Father Titus the Wonderworker.
Matins – Luke 22:1-39; Vespers with Liturgy – Exodus 19:10-19; Job 38:1-23; 42:1-5; Isaiah 50:4-11; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; Matthew 26:2-20; John 13:3-17; Matthew 26:21-39; Luke 22:43-45; Matthew 26:40-27:2.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-32
There’s an old cartoon of a bearded man holding a sign: “Repent! The end is near.” Behind him, rockets fill the sky. The caption reads, “Have you noticed? No one’s laughing at him anymore.”
That is the fate of most prophets. First dismissed, then ignored, and only later understood. Malachi likely knew that experience. He confronted priests who had grown careless, offering God what was blemished and treating worship as routine. His words would not have made him popular.
Yet in the midst of that corruption, he makes a startling promise: a pure offering, made not in one place, but everywhere among the nations (Malachi 1:11).
Centuries later, St. Paul describes that reality in 1 Corinthians 11. The Eucharist is not treated as a symbol or a casual meal. It is so holy that to receive it unworthily is to profane the Body and Blood of the Lord. That only makes sense if this is the offering Malachi foresaw.
The contrast is striking. The old sacrifices were local and often corrupted. This one is universal and pure. What was once confined to the Temple is now offered throughout the world.
Paul’s words make this even clearer: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” That is sacrificial language. Covenant language. It echoes Exodus and the sealing of God’s covenant with His people.
The thread is direct and unbroken:
Malachi foretells it.
Christ institutes it.
The apostles live it.
And the Church continues it, in every place, among every people, in every time down to this day because of that first Holy Thursday.