# XXXIX explained — Resurrection

> Chapter companion for Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy.

## What happens

Nekhlúdoff observes a prison church service, which is described in detail as a hollow, mechanical ritual. The priest performs the Eucharist, transforming bread and wine into the flesh and blood of God, while the deacon chants incomprehensible prayers. The service includes a special glorification of Jesus, with prisoners bowing and crossing themselves repeatedly. Finally, the convicts kiss the cross, and the service ends, offering no genuine comfort or moral teaching.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy of Religion and Morality

The elaborate, mechanical ritual of the service contrasts sharply with the lack of genuine spiritual comfort or moral guidance for the prisoners.

## Character check-ins

### Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhludoff

Observes the prison church service, reflecting on its emptiness and hypocrisy.

## Key lines

> The essence of the service consisted in the supposition that the bits cut up by the priest and put by him into the wine, when manipulated and prayed over in a certain way, turned into the flesh and blood of God.

The core of the service was the belief that the priest's actions and prayers transformed bread and wine into God's actual flesh and blood.

_Highlights the author's critical view of the Eucharist as a superstitious ritual._

> And thus ended the Christian service, intended for the comfort and the teaching of these strayed brothers.

So concluded the Christian service, which was supposed to comfort and instruct these lost souls.

_Ironic conclusion emphasizing the failure of the service to fulfill its stated purpose._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/resurrection_se/chapters/xxxix
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/resurrection_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/resurrection_se/chapters