Eastern Orthodox & The Eucharist

[Eucharisted]

I was reading an aritcle on the Wikipedia about the Eucharist and it said this regarding the Eastern Orthodox (bold is my emphasis):

The Eucharist is at the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Orthodox Christians affirm the Real Presence in the Sacred Mysteries (consecrated bread and wine) which they believe to be the actual Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is normally received in the context of the Divine Liturgy. The bread and wine are believed to become the genuine Body and Blood of the Christ Jesus through the operation of the Holy Spirit. The Eastern Orthodox Church has never described exactly how this occurs, or gone into the detail that the Roman Catholic Church has with the doctrine of transubstantiation. This doctrine was formulated after the Great Schism took place, and the Eastern Orthodox churches have never formally affirmed or denied it, preferring to state simply that it is a “Mystery”,[31] while at the same time using, as in the 1672 Synod of Jerusalem, language that might look similar as to one that is used by the Roman Catholic Church.[32]

Communion is given only to baptized, chrismated Orthodox Christians who have prepared by fasting, prayer, and confession (different rules apply for children, elderly, sick, pregnant, etc. and are determined on case-by-case basis by parish priests). The priest administers the Gifts with a spoon directly into the recipient’s mouth from the chalice.[33] From baptism young infants and children are carried to the chalice to receive Holy Communion.[34]

The holy gifts reserved for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts or communion of the sick are specially consecrated as needed, especially on Holy Thursday. They are kept in an elaborately decorated tabernacle, a container on the altar often in the shape of a church. Generally, Eastern Christians do not adore the consecrated bread outside the Liturgy itself. After the Eucharist has been given to the congregation, the priest or the deacon has to eat and drink everything that is left.

Is this true? Did the Eastern Orthodox Church only start believing in the Eucharistic Presence of Christ after the Great Schism?

 

[wynd]

Is this true? Did the Eastern Orthodox Church only start believing in the Eucharistic Presence of Christ after the Great Schism?

You are equating “Real Presence” with “transubstantiation”; or rather, the “what” with the “how.” The Orthodox Church affirms (and has always affirmed) the former but takes no position on the latter. The Latin understanding of transubstantiation is indeed a post-schism development.

 

[Eucharisted]

You are equating “Real Presence” with “transubstantiation”; or rather, the “what” with the “how.” The Orthodox Church affirms (and has always affirmed) the former but takes no position on the latter. The Latin understanding of transubstantiation is indeed a post-schism development.

Ahh, so I was confusing the what with the how. Okay

And yes, the how is a post-schism development, because the Church had to clarify how the Eucharist takes place against those who blasphemized. But the Church is ever-growing in faith, as the Lord said, “I have much to tell you, but you cannot bear it, yet when the Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truths.”