Note 298 — Chapter III
Neil Buchanan translation
Footnote 298:
(return)
The conception of the Supper as viaticum mortis (fixed by the 13th canon of Nicæa: περι δε των εξοδευοντων 'ο παλαιος και κανονικος νομος φυλαχθησεται και νυν, 'ωστε ειτις εξοδευοι, του τελευταιου και αναγκαιοτατου εφοδιου μη αποστερεισθαι), a conception which is genuinely Hellenic and which was strengthened by the idea that the Supper was φαρμακον αθανασιας, the practice of benediction, and much else in theory and practice connected with the Eucharist reveal the influence of antiquity. See the relative articles in Smith and Cheetham's Dictionary of Christian Antiquities.