Yes, prior to the Reformation, the Christian Church (both in the East and West) consistently interpreted Malachi 1:11 as a literal prophecy fulfilled in Christian worship — specifically, the use of literal incense alongside the “pure offering” understood as the Eucharistic sacrifice.
This understanding appears very early and remains uniform across the patristic period (roughly 2nd–5th centuries) and into the medieval era, with no major dissenting voices until the 16th-century Reformation introduced spiritualized interpretations that largely rejected literal incense and the sacrificial character of the Eucharist.
Early Church Fathers (2nd–5th Centuries)
From the mid-2nd century onward, Church Fathers explicitly linked Malachi 1:11 to the Christian liturgy:
St. Justin Martyr (c. 155 AD) in his Dialogue with Trypho (chapter 41) quotes the verse almost verbatim to argue that the old Jewish sacrifices were being replaced by a new, pure offering among the Gentiles, fulfilled in the Eucharist. He presents it as a prophecy already in the process of fulfillment through Christian worship worldwide.
St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180 AD) in Against Heresies (4:17:5) uses the passage to show that the Eucharist is the “pure sacrifice” foretold, offered “in every place” as the old sacrifices cease.
Later Fathers such as Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, Augustine, and others echo this: the “pure offering” (minchah in Hebrew, often a grain/flour offering) is the Eucharist, and incense is taken literally as part of the reverent, multisensory worship that accompanies it (drawing on biblical imagery like Psalm 141:2 and Revelation 8:3–4, where incense symbolizes prayer, but applied to actual liturgical use).
The early Church saw the verse as describing both elements literally in the new covenant worship:Incense offered in every place (fulfilled by the growing use of incense in Christian liturgies from at least the 3rd–4th centuries onward, as seen in ancient liturgies like the Liturgy of St. James).
The pure offering as the unbloody, worldwide sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood.
This interpretation is so consistent that modern scholars (even non-Catholic ones) acknowledge it was the near-unanimous patristic view.Liturgical Practice and Medieval ContinuationIncense use became standard in both Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) rites by the 4th–6th centuries, explicitly connected to Malachi’s prophecy in liturgical theology.
Medieval Catholic and Orthodox theologians continued this reading without significant challenge. The verse was frequently cited in defenses of the Mass/Divine Liturgy as a true sacrifice.
Shift at the Reformation
Protestant Reformers (e.g., Luther, Calvin) largely reinterpreted the “incense” as spiritual (prayers of the saints) and the “pure offering” as praise, faith, or good works — rejecting the idea of a propitiatory Eucharistic sacrifice and thus downplaying or eliminating literal incense in most traditions. This marked a clear break from the pre-Reformation consensus.
In summary, before the Reformation, the undivided Church regarded Malachi 1:11 as a literal prophecy of incense (and the pure Eucharistic offering) continuing in Christian worship “from the rising of the sun to its setting.” This was not a medieval innovation but a very ancient, widespread belief rooted in the earliest Christian writings.
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