Anglican Eucharist theology is not monolithic; it ranges from near transubstantiation to near memorialism while typically not transgressing either of those boundaries. I find these words from the Second Vatican Council an interesting description of the Eucharist: “the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed … [and] the font from which all her power flows.” I do not know how many Anglicans would describe it the same way, though the Oxford Movement might resonate with that characterization.

I cannot read “summit” without thinking of Calvary to which the Eucharist points. I cannot read “font” without thinking of baptism which unites us with Christ in his death and resurrection. So, yes, summit and font are good words to describe the Eucharist. It is arguable that the Eucharist is the climax — hence, summit — of the Liturgy and is also the font of power in which God’s people are dismissed into the world to do the work we have been given to do, to love and serve with gladness and singleness of heart. Again, summit and font do nicely.

Some Anglicans might argue that Scripture is summit and font. I would not argue the point. That is not to say that I agree, but rather that I have found such arguments useless and lifeless. But, in the Eucharist we feed sacramentally — not symbolically, not memorially, but truly — on the Body and Blood of Christ. I will not and need not specify how that is true; it is, to use the Orthodox word for Sacrament, a mystery. In that sense though, the Eucharist is certainly the most intimate encounter one has with Christ (summit) and the source of spiritual life (font).

Tolkien, himself a devout Roman Catholic, did indeed have a “deep devotion” to the Blessed Sacrament. Anglicans may initially be chary of such devotion, feeling it inches a bit too close to Eucharistic adoration (rf Article XXVIII, BCP 2019, p. 783). It need not do and they need not be. Very few would hesitate to say that they are devoted to Scripture or to prayer. Why then hesitate to express devotion to the Blessed Sacrament? How could anyone who truly believes that it is the Body of Christ that is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper (ibid) express anything less than or other than devotion for the Blessed Sacrament, the summit of our worship and the font of our life?