Communion of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ. About the sacrament of communion
In the Sacrament Eucharist Christians gain the opportunity for real communion with God through participation in the bloodless Sacrifice of the Lord Christ, which they perform according to His commandment. By eating, under the guise of bread and wine, the true Body and true Blood of Christ, in which He is invisibly but really present in the fullness of His Divinity and Humanity, believers commune with Him, strengthening their union with Him. Thus, the Eucharist represents the final stage of Christian initiation, which, nevertheless, continues throughout the subsequent life of a Christian in the Church - due to the repetition of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which the Lord called upon those who believe in Him to perform constantly in memory of Him.
The sacrament of the Eucharist is celebrated primarily during Divine Liturgy (Mass), the most important element of which is consecration of the Gifts - bread and wine, which become the Body and Blood of Christ. Consecration occurs when pronouncing secret formula, which represents Establishing (or Secretly establishing words Lord Jesus Christ at the Last Supper: Over bread: Accept and taste everything from it: for this is My Body, which will be given up for you. Above the bowl: Take and drink from it all: for this is the cup of My Blood, the New and Eternal Testament, which will be shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. Do this in memory of To me.
Another important element of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is Participle(or Communion) - the acceptance of the Body and Blood of Christ, which can occur both at the Divine Liturgy and outside it. (In a word Participle designated as acceptance Holy Sacrament- i.e. Eucharistic Body and Blood of Christ [or even one called Eucharistic species ], - so are the Holy Gifts themselves; Holy Sacrament are also called Holy Mysteries).
When it comes to Communion, the verb used to refer to a minister is teach [Holy Sacrament] or verb give communion(the same one who receives the Holy Gifts - takes communion: he is called communicant).
FreshEucharistic bread, used when celebrating the Divine Liturgy in Western rites (in particular Latin), is also called host. Host It happens sanctified And unconsecrated exists great host(which the priest raises above during consecration and with which he himself partakes) and small hosts(with which he gives communion to the laity).
(We should not, however, call the hosts “wafers.” The word wafer can be used in relation to non-sacramental Christmas bread, broken and eaten in some Catholic countries on the occasion of Christmas).
The Eucharistic Bread (whether it is the small Host or parts of the large Host) given to the communicant is called particle or communicator In its turn, particle maybe like sanctified, so unsanctified.
Eucharistic Bread reserved for Communion outside of Mass is called spare gifts.
As already mentioned, one of the most important elements of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is Communion.
Communicant accepts (eats) Body of Christ; he also accepts (drinks) Blood of Christ. (Both can be expressed by the verb “ take communion”, moreover, with both the genitive and dative cases: “takes communion Bodies Christ" or (less often) "takes communion body Christ."
In the context of Communion we are talking about accepting eucharistic types(Body and Blood of the Lord: Eucharistic Bread And Eucharistic Wine, consecrated bread And blessed wine). In the ancient Church, following the commandment of the Savior (“drink from it, all of you”), all Christians - both clergy and laity - received communion under two types, i.e. accepted both the Body and Blood of Christ. However, in the Middle Ages, significant changes in Eucharistic practice took place in the Western Church: only serving priests began to receive communion under two types, and all others began to receive communion under one type, only Body of Christ. This state of affairs remained in the Catholic Church until recent decades, and in the most conservative communities it continues to this day. Of course, even under one of the two Eucharistic species, believers receive the whole Christ and the true Sacrament; therefore, he who receives communion under only one species receives the fruits of this Sacrament and is in no way deprived of the grace necessary for salvation. However, after the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church came to realize the need to revive the ancient practice Communions under two types, since it is in this way that the Eucharist most fully realizes its meaning as a Meal (do not forget that one of the names of the Eucharist is Lord's Table), which precedes the feast of the Kingdom of God, and the Divine will is more clearly expressed that the New and Eternal Covenant should be established in the Blood of the Lord. Therefore, in many communities Communion of the laity is gradually beginning to be introduced under two types. In a number of regions it has already become universal among Catholics. Nevertheless, in this matter the Church tends to be especially sensitive to the traditional piety of both clergy and laity; she does not impose this on anyone, and therefore in many parishes where Communion is given under two types, there are many believers who still receive communion under only one type - the Body of Christ.
There are two ways to teach the Body of Christ to a communicant. Until recently, only one of them was practiced, traditional, although of rather late origin - by mouth. Recently, the most ancient method has been revived - in your hands, so that the communicant then eats the Body of Christ from his own hands. In most regions, the right to choose the method of receiving the Body of Christ remains with the faithful (however, the granting of this right to the faithful is within the competence of each country's Episcopal Conference, and in the most conservative regions the hierarchy still refuses to allow the laity to administer the Body of Christ into the hands).
There are several methods of Communion under two types (their difference concerns mainly the method of receiving the Blood of Christ). The most common (and most ancient) is the Communion of the Blood of the Lord directly from the Chalice. One of the ministers (priest, deacon or even layman), called “ servant of the Chalice”, holds the Cup and gives it to those laity who have already tasted the Body of Christ. Having accepted the Chalice from the hands of the minister, the communicant drinks from it a little of the Blood of Christ.
Another method of Communion under two types, the most convenient technically, is through immersion The Body of Christ into the Blood of Christ. The priest dips the edge of a particle of consecrated Bread into the Chalice and places it in the mouth of the communicant.
In some regions, two more methods of Communion from the Chalice, known to the liturgical practice of the ancient Church, have been revived: using a straw(for this, silver tubes are prepared according to the number of communicants, who take turns drinking from the Chalice through such a tube) and using a spoon(with it the priest teaches the Blood of the Lord to every believer).
If after the Communion of the clergy and laity there are consecrated particles (hosts), the priest adds them to spare Gifts. However, crumbs of consecrated Bread often remain in sacred vessels, and a small amount (even a few drops) of the Blood of Christ remains in the chalice. These remnants of the Holy Gifts do not cease to be a shrine. Therefore, at the end of the Mass, there must be consumption of the Holy Gifts. Priest or other minister (deacon or even layman) consumes the Holy Gifts, that is, he collects and eats all the remnants of the Eucharistic types in the liturgical vessels (and outside them, if for some reason they ended up there), and then performs cleansing of the Eucharistic vessels, washing the cup with wine (or water), which he then drinks, and carefully wiping the vessels purifier(with a special fee).
The veneration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist in traditional Catholic piety is not always directly related to the Mass and Communion. Since the living Christ is always fully present in the Blessed Sacrament, there are various forms of worship of the Lord who is in the Blessed Sacrament. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament It can take place both individually and in the form of public worship, both in reverent silence and with complex and magnificent rituals. For this Worship it is customary to perform display of the Holy Sacrament: it can be either simple display of the Holy Gifts in the tabernacle(when the tabernacle door opens and ciborium- a vessel in which the spare Holy Gifts are located - appears to the eyes of believers), or ceremonial display of the Holy Gifts V monstrance(when a large host is placed in a monstrance installed in a prominent elevated place, so that it can be seen through the glass window of the monstrance). During the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament it is often performed Blessing with the Holy Sacrament, when the priest blesses the faithful with the monstrance or ciborium.
There is also a custom to arrange for the celebration of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ procession with the Holy Sacrament- in the temple or outside it.
Is it right to call on the blood of Jesus on everything that surrounds us? Many people call for a car, themselves, or some other things, this is not washing powder)) Thanks for the answer. (Milka)
Answers Alexander Sh., messianic teacher:
Shalom Milka.
Yes, you noted correctly, Yeshua’s blood is not washing powder or some kind of magical amulet that must be used in difficult circumstances or for good luck. We know that God has always taken blood quite seriously. It was forbidden to eat blood in any form and under any pretext. This decree applied not only to the Jewish people, but to all people, regardless of whether they were believers or not. For the first time God speaks about this to Noah after the flood:
3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; I give you everything like green herbs; 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life or its blood; (Gen.9:3,4)
And later he reminded the Israeli people of this again:
17 This is a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwellings; You shall not eat any fat or any blood. (Lev.3:17)
23 Just be strictly careful not to eat blood, because blood is soul: do not eat soul along with meat; 24 Do not eat it; pour it out on the ground like water; 25 Do not eat it, so that it may be good for you and your children after you, if you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. (Deut. 12:23-25)
And we know that the Jewish community was very attentive to this ban. Therefore, any talk about the so-called “blood libel” has absolutely no reasonable basis.
We also know from the Scriptures that serving God was often accompanied by sacrifices, and they were not always blood sacrifices. However, blood was also treated very carefully.
10 If anyone from the house of Israel or from the strangers who live among you eats any blood, I will set my face against the soul of him who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people, 11 for the life of the body is in the blood. and I have appointed it for you on the altar to atone for your souls, for this blood makes atonement for the soul; 12 Therefore I said to the children of Israel, “Not one soul among you shall eat blood, nor shall the stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.” 13 If anyone of the children of Israel or of the strangers living among you catches an animal or a bird that can be eaten while fishing, then he must let its blood flow out and cover it with earth, 14 for the soul of every body [is] its blood, it is the soul his; Therefore I said to the children of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any body, for the life of every body is its blood: whoever eats it will be cut off. (Lev.17:10-14)
Blood was shed for the redemption of man. And here it is important for us to understand something - through sacrifice, a person approached God. Sacrifice was a means of getting closer to God. A person who sinned had to pay for his sin with his life.
4 For behold, all souls are Mine: both the soul of the father and the soul of the son are Mine: the soul that sins shall die. (Ezek.18:4)
And the same principle is reflected in Brit Hadasha:
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom.6:23)
Punishment was a consequence of God's holiness and His justice. But the mercy of the Lord exalts over his judgment, and therefore He provided the possibility of a substitutionary sacrifice for man. The blood of the sacrifice was either anointed on the horns of the altar, sprinkled on the altar, or poured at its foot.
9 And he will sprinkle the blood of this sin offering on the wall of the altar, and pour out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar: this is the sin offering; 10 And the other he will use for a burnt offering according to the ordinance; and so the priest will cleanse him from the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven. (Lev.5:9,10)
Nowhere do we find a description of priests walking around the camp of Israel and sprinkling the property of the children of Israel. The blood of the sacrifice was used to cleanse a person and to bring him closer to God.
4 And he will lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and he will receive favor, for the atonement of his sins; 5 And he will kill the bull before the Lord; The sons of Aaron, the priests, will bring the blood and sprinkle the blood on all sides on the altar, which is at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting; (Lev.1:4,5)
When making a sacrifice, the sinner laid his hand on the head of the victim, thereby showing that it was he who had to die, and not the victim, but by the grace of God the death of the victim atoned for his sins.
We know of one event during which blood was smeared on the property of the Israelites - this is the Exodus. The blood of a lamb on the doors of Jewish houses served as a sign that in this house there were people who belonged to His people and trusted their lives to God.
13 And the blood will be a sign among you on the houses where you are, and I will see the blood and pass by you, and there will not be a destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)
This was the only time blood was handled in this way. God was completing His plan of deliverance from the slavery of Pharaoh, leading an entire people to freedom for Himself.
As we reflect on this event, we can clearly see God's desire to redeem His people and how He does it. An entire people was enslaved. Moshe appeals to all Jews with a call for freedom. It is interesting to note that not everyone received this call with joy and optimism. Many were afraid of the Egyptians.
6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, and will deliver you from their bondage, and will save you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments; 7 And I will take you as My people, and I will be your God, and you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of Egypt. 8 And I will bring you into the land which I lifted up My hand to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and will give it to you as an inheritance. I am the Lord. 9 Moses told this to the children of Israel; But they did not listen to Moses due to cowardice and the severity of the work.(Ex.6:6-9)
In order for redemption to come into your life, you must believe in God and follow Him. It was necessary to believe that He was stronger than Pharaoh, He could liberate and protect. It was impossible for one person, for example Moshe, to believe for everyone. Everyone himself, personally, consciously decided whether to follow God or not. Moreover, having started this path, it was necessary to follow it to the end, all the way to the promised land, and also while being in this land.
Now a few words about the blood of Yeshua.
By shedding His blood, Yeshua redeemed humanity from the slavery of sin. His life was given for each of us. A spacious road was open for those who wanted to get closer to God. The sacrifice of Christ has become a universal way of approaching God.
18 Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from the futile life handed down to you from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, (1 Peter 1:18,19)
This redemption concerns the whole person. We have taken the right position towards God and received His righteousness. We still have to walk the path of holiness, the path of teshuvah, purifying our lives. But through His blood He made us righteous. This is a conscious choice that we make ourselves. No one can do it for us. Just as we need faith during the Exodus, we need to follow Him to the very end, knowing that He is still faithful.
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22 Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water, 23 let us hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Heb. 10:22,23)
In light of the above, it is difficult to see the idea of calling blood to protect our car, apartment or something else. We are redeemed by God; He calls Himself our Father and us His children. This is enough for Him to take care of both us and all the property that we have. Yeshua's blood became the means of redemption that profoundly changed our very nature, our insides. You need to appreciate this and be grateful to God.
I hope I was able to answer your question.
Sincerely, Alexander Sh.
Sacrament Communions established by the Lord Himself last supper- the last meal with the disciples on Easter night before His capture and crucifixion.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, before administering the Sacrament of Communion, said: “The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). That is, the food that I want to give you is My Flesh, which I want to give for the revitalization of the whole world. This means that Divine Communion for believers is a necessary component of spiritual and Christ-centered life.
If you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you.
In. 6:53
He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him.
In. 6:56
With these words, the Lord pointed out the absolute necessity for all Christians to participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. This was established by the Lord at the Last Supper. “Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying: Take, eat: this is My Body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28). As the Holy Church teaches, a Christian, receiving Holy Communion, is mysteriously united with Christ, for in every particle of the fragmented Lamb the whole Christ is contained. The significance of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is immeasurable, the comprehension of which surpasses our minds. It ignites Christ's love in us, lifts the heart to God, gives rise to virtues in it, restrains the attack of dark forces on us, gives strength against temptations, revives the soul and body, heals them, gives them strength, cultivates virtues - restores that purity of the soul in us , which the first-born Adam had before the Fall.
In his reflections on the Divine Liturgy of St. Seraphim Zvezdinsky, there is a description of the vision of one ascetic elder, which clearly characterizes the meaning for a Christian of communion of the Holy Mysteries. The ascetic saw “a fiery sea, the waves of which rose and seethed, presenting a terrible sight. On the opposite bank there was a beautiful garden. From there you could hear the singing of birds and the scent of flowers. The ascetic hears a voice “Cross this sea!” But there was no way to go. He stood for a long time wondering how to cross, and again he heard the voice: “Take the two wings that the Divine Eucharist gave: one wing is the Divine Flesh of Christ, the second wing is His Life-giving Blood. Without them, no matter how great the feat, it is impossible to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven." Elder Parthenius of Kiev once, in a reverent feeling of fiery love for the Lord, repeated the prayer for a long time: “Lord Jesus, live in me and let me live in You,” and heard a quiet, sweet voice: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I am in him” (John 6:56).
In some spiritual illnesses, the Sacrament of Communion is the most effective cure: for example, when a person is attacked by so-called “blasphemous thoughts,” the spiritual fathers propose to fight them with frequent communion of the Holy Mysteries.
Righteous John of Kronstadt writes about the significance of the Sacrament of the Eucharist in the fight against strong temptations: “If you feel the weight of the struggle and see that you cannot cope with evil alone, run to your spiritual father and ask him to commune you with the Holy Mysteries. This is a great and all-powerful weapon in the fight.” For one mentally ill person, Father John recommended, as a means of recovery, to live at home and partake of the Holy Mysteries more often.
According to the custom of the Church, the Sacraments of Repentance (confession) and Communion follow directly one after the other. St. Seraphim says that the rebirth of the soul is accomplished through two Sacraments: “through repentance and complete cleansing from all sinful filth by the Most Pure and Life-Giving Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ.”
Repentance alone is not enough to preserve the purity of our hearts and strengthen our spirit in piety and virtues. The Lord said: “When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through dry places, looking for rest, and, not finding it, says: I will return to my house from where I came; and, having arrived, finds it swept and put away; then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and live there, and the last thing for that person is worse than the first” (Luke 11:24-26).
So, if repentance cleanses us from the defilement of our soul, then the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord will fill us with grace and block the return into our soul of the evil spirit expelled by repentance. At the same time, no matter how necessary the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is for us, it cannot take place if repentance does not precede it. The Apostle Paul writes: “…whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let man examine himself, and in this way let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, without considering the Body of the Lord. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying” (1 Cor. 11:27-30). As we see from the words of the Apostle Paul, the Sacrament of Communion will be effective only with proper preparation for it, with previous self-examination and repentance of sins. And if the latter did not exist, then the person is doomed to weakness, illness, and even...
What could serve as an indicator for us that we have prepared properly for the Sacrament of Communion? Here is the opinion of the Venerable Simeon the New Theologian on this matter: “Once, when the divinely inspired words of our holy father Simeon of Studium were read: “Brother, never receive communion without tears...” - the listeners, hearing this - and there were many of them here, not only laymen, but also monks who were famous and renowned for their virtue - they were surprised at this word and, looking at each other, smiling, said unanimously, as if in one voice, “It follows that we will never receive communion, but we must all remain without communion...”. Next, the Monk Simeon examines the features of an active life, full of labors of repentance, that those who go through such a life receive a tender, sensitive heart and tenderness, and for them tears will always accompany communion. Those who spend their lives in self-indulgence, who are lazy, careless, do not repent and do not humble themselves, will always remain with a callous, cruel heart and will not know what tears are like during communion.
As Archbishop Arseny (Chudovskoy) writes, “it is a great thing to receive the Holy Mysteries and the fruits from this are great: the renewal of our hearts by the Holy Spirit, a blissful mood of spirit. And as great as this task is, it requires so much preparation from us. Therefore, if you want to receive the grace of God from Holy Communion, try your best to correct your heart.” However, here we should also remember the words of St. Theophan the Recluse: “The effect of the Sacraments is not always reflected in the feeling, but also acts in secret.”
How often should you receive Holy Communion?
In the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer, we ask for the daily gift of our “daily bread.” According to the interpretation of many Church Fathers, these words should most likely not mean ordinary bread and food, which God gives us in abundance without our asking (see Matt. 6:31-32). Thus, Saint Cyprian writes: “We call Christ our bread, because He is the Bread of those who eat His Body... We ask this bread to be given to us every day, being in the temple and receiving the Eucharist every day as food for salvation, in the sense that no grave sin occurred and we were not forbidden to partake of this Heavenly Bread... That is why we ask you to give us our Bread, that is, Christ, every day, so that we, who are in Christ, may never retreat from the sanctification of His Body.”
Saint John Cassian the Roman writes on the same issue: “Give us this day our daily bread.” “Essential”, i.e. “super-essential” - the highest of all essences, which can only be the Bread that came down from heaven. When it is said “today,” it is shown that eating it yesterday is not enough if it is not also taught to us now, in convincing us of the daily need to pour out this prayer at all times, since there is no day on which it would not be necessary to strengthen the heart of our inner man by accepting and eating this bread.” And here is the opinion of St. Basil the Great about this. In a letter to Caesarea, he writes: “It is good and useful to commune and receive the Holy Body and Blood of Christ every day. We receive communion four times a week: on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, as well as on those days when there is a memory of a saint.” The Monk Nil of Sorsky received Holy Communion daily and said that this “apparently supports the strength of the soul and body.” Saint Ambrose of Milan thought the same. In the book on the Sacraments, he writes: “If the Blood is shed many times, which is poured out for the remission of our sins, then we must always accept it so that my sins are forgiven; and if I always sin, then I always need healing... Take every day what can heal you. Live so that you will always be worthy of this acceptance (i.e., communion).”
Saint Theophan the Recluse also blessed one of his spiritual children to receive communion from the reserve Holy Gifts every day. Righteous John of Kronstadt pointed to the forgotten apostolic rule to excommunicate those who have not received Holy Communion for three weeks.
The Monk Seraphim of Sarov commanded the Diveyevo sisters to “unacceptably confess and partake of all and, in addition, the twelfth and major holidays: the more often, the better, without tormenting yourself with the thought that you are unworthy; and one should not miss the opportunity to use the grace bestowed by communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ as often as possible. The grace bestowed by communion is so great that no matter how unworthy and no matter how sinful a person may be, if only in the humble consciousness of his great sinfulness he approaches the Lord, who redeems us all, even if covered from head to toe with the sores of sins, then there will be to be purified by the grace of Christ, becomes more and more bright, will become completely enlightened and will be saved.”
Of course, it is very good to take communion on your name day and birthday, and for spouses on their wedding day. Reverend Alexy Zosimovsky recommended that his spiritual children also take communion on the memorable days of their deceased loved ones - on the days of their death and name day. This contributes to the unity in Christ of the living and those who have departed to another world.
If you want to receive communion even more often (maybe even every day), you need to follow this instruction of St. Simeon the New Theologian: “Whoever does not reveal the secrets of his heart every day, who does not bring due repentance for them and for the things he has done out of ignorance, who does not go around crying and always complaining and does not carefully pass what was said before, he is truly unworthy [of daily communion]. And whoever does all this and carries out the course of his life with sighs and tears is very worthy to be a partaker of the Divine Mysteries, and not only on holidays, but also every day, and even - although I will boldly say - from the very beginning of his repentance and conversion.” .
As Archbishop Arseny (Chudovskoy) writes, “constant communion should be the ideal of all Christians. But the enemy of the human race immediately realized what power the Lord had given us in the Holy Mysteries. And he began the work of turning Christians away from Holy Communion. From the history of Christianity we know that at first Christians received communion daily, then four times a week, then on Sundays and holidays, and then on all of them, that is, four times a year, finally barely once a year, and others even less often." “A Christian must always be ready for both death and communion,” said one of the spiritual fathers. So, it is up to us to frequently participate in the Last Supper of Christ and to receive at it the great grace of the Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ. And if the heart lives entirely in God - both in deeds, in words, and in thoughts, if a Christian cries in his soul for every sin and has the goal of his life to please God and to acquire the Holy Spirit of God, then he has no obstacles to daily communion of the Holy Mysteries , as Christians of the first centuries did and as Simeon the New Theologian writes about this. One of the wise modern shepherds, Fr. Valentin Sventsitsky writes: “Spiritual life is not abstract theology, but real and most undoubted life in Christ. But how can it begin if you do not accept the fullness of the Spirit of Christ in this terrible and great Sacrament? How, without accepting the Flesh and Blood of Christ, will you be in Him? And here, as if in repentance, the enemy will not leave you without attacks. And here he will plot all sorts of intrigues for you. He will erect many external and internal barriers. Either you will have no time, then you will feel unhealthy, or you will want to. set aside for a while “to prepare better.” Do not listen. Go. Confess. Take communion. You don’t know when the Lord will call you.”
Let every soul listen sensitively in its heart and be afraid to hear the hand of the Distinguished Guest knocking on its door; let her be afraid that her hearing will become coarse from the vanity of the world and will not be able to hear the quiet and gentle calls coming from the Kingdom of Light. Let the soul be afraid of replacing the experience of heavenly joy of unity with the Lord with the muddy entertainments of the world or the base consolations of bodily nature. And when she is able to tear herself away from the world and everything sensory, when she yearns for the light of the heavenly world and reaches out to the Lord, let her dare to unite with Him in the great Sacrament, while dressing herself in the spiritual clothes of sincere repentance and the deepest humility and the unchanging fullness of spiritual poverty. Let also not the soul be embarrassed because, despite all its repentance, it is still unworthy of communion. The righteous Alexy Mechev says about this: “Take communion more often and do not say that you are unworthy. If you talk like that, you will never receive communion, because you will never be worthy. Do you think that there is at least one person on earth worthy of receiving the Holy Mysteries? No one deserves this, and if we do receive communion, it is only by the special mercy of God. We are not created for Communion, but Communion is for us. It is we - sinners, unworthy, weak - who more than anyone need this saving source.”
Why don’t we still receive the blessings of our spiritual fathers for more frequent communion? Only because of our hardness of heart and negligence, because with our sinful life and lack of constant repentance and sobriety, we would begin to accept the Body and Blood of the Lord unworthily.
If Christians of the first centuries tried to approach the Holy Chalice every day, then in the 19th century many Christians in Russia considered the sacrament a dying parting word. In our time, the desire to receive communion frequently has been revived. However, knowing that the Chalice must be started after careful preparation - fasting, many cannot find the strength and time for fasting (which thereby turns into an end in itself).
The basis for deciding the question of how often we need to receive communion is the degree of preparedness of the soul, its zeal, its love for the Lord, its power of repentance. Therefore, the Church leaves this issue to priests and spiritual fathers to decide. It is with the spiritual father that one must agree on how often to take communion, for how long and how strictly to fast before it. Different priests bless in different ways, but to each according to his ability. For people seeking to churchize their lives, many modern pastors recommend taking communion one to two times a month. Sometimes priests bless more frequent communion, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Of course, you cannot take communion “for show,” for the sake of fulfilling certain quantitative norms. The sacrament of the Eucharist should become for an Orthodox Christian a need of the soul, without which it is impossible to live.
About preparation for Communion of the Holy Mysteries
Anyone who wishes to worthily receive communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ must prayerfully prepare himself for this in two or three days: pray at home in the morning and evening, attend church services. Before the day of communion, you must be at the evening service. To the home evening prayers is added (from the prayer book) the rule for Holy Communion. Its size is determined by the spiritual father. Usually it includes the canons: repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ, prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos, Guardian Angel, as well as the Follow-up to Holy Communion.
At the same time, we must take into account the following instructions of the righteous John of Kronstadt: “some put all their well-being and service before God in reading all the prescribed prayers, not paying attention to the readiness of the heart for God - to their internal correction; for example, many read the rule for Communion this way. Meanwhile, here, first of all, we must look at the correction of our life and the readiness of the heart to receive the Holy Mysteries. If your heart has become right in your womb, by the grace of God, if it is ready to meet the Bridegroom, then thank God, although you did not have time to read all the prayers. The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20). It is good to obey the Mother Church in everything, but with prudence; and, if possible, “he who is able to accommodate” the long prayer “may he accommodate.” But “not all can bear this word” (Matthew 19:11; see also v. 12); if prolonged prayer is incompatible with fervor of the spirit, it is better to say a short but fervent prayer. Remember that one word of the publican, spoken from a warm heart, justified him. God does not look at the multitude of words, but at the disposition of the heart. The main thing is the living faith of the heart and the warmth of repentance for sins.” Prayer is combined with abstinence from fast food - meat, eggs, milk and dairy products, and from fish. The rest of your food should be kept in moderation.
Those who wish to receive communion must, preferably the day before, before or after the evening service, bring sincere repentance of their sins to the priest, sincerely revealing their soul and not hiding a single sin. Before confession, you must certainly reconcile both with your offenders and with those whom you have offended. During confession, it is better not to wait for the priest’s questions, but to express to him everything that is on your conscience, without justifying yourself in anything and without shifting the blame to others. Under no circumstances should you condemn someone or talk about the sins of others during confession. If it is not possible to confess in the evening, you need to do this before the start of the liturgy, or, in extreme cases, before the Cherubic Song. Without confession, no one, except infants under seven years of age, can be admitted to Holy Communion. After midnight, it is forbidden to eat or drink; you must come to Communion strictly on an empty stomach. Children should also be taught to abstain from food and drink before Holy Communion.
How to approach the Holy Chalice?
Each communicant needs to know well how to approach the Holy Chalice so that communion occurs orderly and without fuss.
- These are the rules.
- Before the Chalice one must bow to the ground. If there are many communicants, then in order not to disturb others, you need to bow in advance.
- When the royal doors open, you must cross yourself and fold your hands crosswise on your chest, your right hand on top of your left, and with this folding of your hands you must receive communion; you need to move away from the Chalice without taking your hands off
- You must approach from the right side of the temple, and leave the left free.
- The altar servers receive communion first, then the monks, the children, and only then everyone else. You need to give way to your neighbors, and under no circumstances push.
- Women need to wipe off their lipstick before communion.
- Approaching the Chalice, you should loudly and clearly call your name, accept the Holy Gifts, chew them (if necessary) and immediately swallow them, and kiss the lower edge of the Chalice like the rib of Christ.
- You cannot touch the Chalice with your hands and kiss the priest’s hand.
- It is forbidden to be baptized at the Chalice! Raising your hand to make the sign of the cross, you can accidentally push the priest and spill the Holy Gifts.
- Having gone to the table with a drink, you need to eat the antidor and drink the warmth. Only after this can you venerate the icons and talk.
- If the Holy Gifts are given from several Chalice, they can only be received from one. You cannot receive communion twice a day.
- On the day of Communion, it is not customary to kneel, with the exception of bows during reading, bows before the Shroud of Christ on Holy Saturday and kneeling prayers on the day of the Holy Trinity.
- Arriving home, you should first of all read prayers of thanksgiving for Holy Communion; if they are read in church at the end of the service, you need to listen to the prayers there. After communion, you should also not spit out anything or rinse your mouth until the morning. Participants should try to protect themselves from idle talk, especially from condemnation, and to avoid idle talk, they must read the Gospel, the Jesus Prayer, akathists, and Holy Scripture.
Communion to the Sick
This observance is a special type of teaching the Sacrament of the Eucharist to people who, due to serious illness, cannot be in church when the Sacrament is celebrated at the full liturgy and cannot participate in its reception. In this case, the ancient Church, forbearing the infirmities of the sick and looking at the Sacrament as the best and most faithful healing of soul and body, sent the Holy Gifts to the faithful at home. The Church does the same now. According to the custom of the Orthodox Church, the Holy Gifts for the sick are prepared on Holy Thursday, but they can be prepared at any other time during the full liturgy. For this purpose, a second lamb is prepared, and in those churches where the liturgy is celebrated daily, only part of the liturgical lamb is set aside. A whole lamb or part of a lamb is prepared for teaching to the sick in the same way as for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, as directed by the teaching message.
The very sequence of communion for the sick has the following order: The priest takes part of the Holy Mysteries, puts it into the chalice and pours in as much wine as the sick person can comfortably take. After the usual beginning, they read: “Come, let us worship” three times, the Symbol of Faith and prayer for Holy Communion. Then the patient prepared in this way confesses and receives absolution from sins, if he has not been confessed, and otherwise directly receives communion. After communion they read: Now do you let us go, the Trisagion, Our Father, the troparion of the day, the Theotokos and the dismissal of the present day.
Following to Holy Communion
Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of truth, Who is everywhere and fulfills everything, Treasure of good things and Giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth, and save, O Good One, our souls.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Three times)
Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse our sins; Master, forgive our iniquities; Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name's sake.
Lord have mercy. (Thrice)
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Lord have mercy. (12 times)
Come, let us worship our King God. (Bow)
Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King God. (Bow)
Come, let us bow and fall down to Christ Himself, the King and our God. (Bow)
The Eucharist (literally "thanksgiving") is the greatest Christian sacrament in which bread and wine are transformed by the Holy Spirit into the true Body and true Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then believers partake of them for the closest union with Christ and eternal life.This sacrament is called the Eucharist; Lord's Supper; The Lord's Table; The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Body and Blood of Christ in this sacrament are called the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Life, or the Cup of Salvation; holy mysteries; bloodless Sacrifice.
The Sacrament of Holy Communion was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself during the Last Last Supper, on the eve of His suffering and death (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-24; 1 Cor. 11, 23-25).
Having included the disciples, the Lord commanded: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). This sacrifice must be performed until He comes (1 Cor. 11:26), as the apostle instructs. Pavel, i.e. until the second coming of the Lord.
In the sacrament of the Eucharist - at the very time when the clergyman, calling on the Holy Spirit for the offered gifts - bread and wine are actually transformed (transubstantiated) into the Body and Blood by the influx of the Holy Spirit, as the Savior said: “My flesh is truly food, and blood Mine truly is drink” (John 6:55). After this moment, although our eyes see bread and wine on St. meal, but in the very essence, invisible to sensory eyes, this is the true Body and true Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, only under the “forms” of bread and wine.
This teaching about the holy sacrament of Communion is contained in all the Holy Fathers, starting from the most ancient.
Although bread and wine are transformed in the sacrament into the Body and Blood of the Lord, He is in this sacrament with His whole being, i.e. His soul and His very Divinity, which is inseparable from His humanity.
Although, further, the Body and Blood of the Lord are crushed in the sacrament of Communion and separated, we believe that in every part - and in the smallest particle - St. The Mystery is received by those who partake of the whole Christ according to His essence, i.e. with soul and divinity, as perfect God and perfect Man.
Since the God-Man Christ is due one indivisible Divine worship both in Divinity and humanity, due to their inseparable union, then the holy mysteries of the Eucharist should be given the same honor and worship that we owe to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
The Eucharistic sacrifice is not a repetition of the Savior’s sacrifice on the cross, but is the offering of the sacrificial Body and Blood, once lifted up by our Redeemer on the cross. These sacrifices are inseparable: they are one and the same grace-filled tree of life, planted by God on Calvary. But they also differ: the sacrifice offered in the Eucharist is called bloodless and passionless, since it takes place after the resurrection of the Savior, who, having risen from the dead, no longer dies: death no longer has power over Him (Rom. 6:9); it is offered without suffering, without shedding blood, without death, although it is performed in remembrance of the suffering and death of the Divine Lamb.
The Eucharist is also a propitiatory sacrifice for all members of the Church. From the beginning of Christianity, a bloodless sacrifice was made in memory and remission of sins of both the living and the dead.
The Divine Eucharist is the foundation of the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church of Christ, and it is also the foundation of the spiritual life of every Orthodox person. It is impossible to be a member of the Church without partaking of the Blood and Body of Christ.
Our spiritual life is inseparable from the Eucharist, for the Eucharist is the surest path to salvation. To partake of the Body and Blood of the Lord is an essential, necessary, saving and comforting duty of every Christian. This is clear from the words of the Savior: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you” (John 6:53-54).
The Eucharist makes us partakers of the Resurrection of Christ and heirs of eternal life.
Saving fruits or actions of the sacrament of the Eucharist, with worthy inclusion, the following:
It most closely connects us with the Lord: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56).
It nourishes our soul and body and contributes to our strengthening, elevation, and growth in spiritual life: “Whoever eats Me will live by Me” (John 6:57).
It serves for us as a guarantee of future resurrection and eternally blessed life: “Whoever eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:58).
St. Ignatius of Antioch calls the Body and Blood of Christ “the medicine of immortality, the antidote so as not to die.”
Saint Philaret, the Metropolitan of Moscow wrote about the grace-filled effect of the Eucharist:
“By the manifold power of Divine Food and Drink, by the manifold wisdom and goodness of the Divine Nourisher, the tangible fruit of partaking of the Lord’s Table appears to the believer as indescribable joy in the heart, now as sweet silence in the soul, now as serenity in the mind, now as deep peace in the conscience, now as a calming of the overwhelmed temptations, then the cessation of mental and physical suffering, and sometimes complete healing, then a lively feeling of love for the Lord or an increase in zeal and strength for spiritual exploits and virtues. But whatever our own experiences in this Mystery may be, I will say with Saint Chrysostom: “Let the word of our Lord be truer both in our thoughts and in our vision.” After He said: He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him; whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood will have eternal life (John 6:56, 54) - how we dare, even though we are unworthy partakers of His Flesh and Blood, how we dare to deny that He is in us, and we in Him, and that in Him we “have eternal life,” unless we ourselves depart from Him, unless we plunge ourselves again into the death of sin?”
The prayers compiled by the holy fathers deeply reveal the saving significance of this great sacrament. Follow-up to Holy Communion And thanksgiving prayers, reading which, every Christian asks:
“May Thy Most Pure Body and Divine Blood be with me for the forgiveness of sins, the communion of the Holy Spirit, and for eternal life, Lover of mankind, and alienation from passions and sorrows.
May I be sanctified in soul and body, Master, may I be enlightened, may I be saved, may Thy house be the Communion of the sacred Mysteries, having You living within me with the Father and the Spirit, O Great Benefactor.”
(Canon of Follow-up to Holy Communion)
“But may the coal of Your Most Holy Body, and Your honorable Blood, be for me, for the sanctification and enlightenment and health of my humble soul and body, for the relief of the burden of many of my sins, for the protection from every devilish action, for the driving away and prohibition of my evil and evil custom , for the mortification of passions, for the supply of Thy commandments, for the application of Thy Divine grace, and the appropriation of Thy Kingdom."
(Prayer 2, St. John Chrysostom)
“Master Lord Jesus Christ, our God... grant me without condemnation to partake of Your Divine, and glorious, and most pure, and life-giving Mysteries, not in heaviness, nor in torment, nor in the addition of sins, but in the purification, and sanctification, and betrothal of the future Life and kingdoms, for the wall and help, and for the objection of those who resist, for the destruction of many of my sins."
(Prayer 4, St. John of Damascus)
Message of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Church on the Orthodox Faith (1723):
“We believe that the all-holy sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which we have placed fourth among the sacraments above, is mysteriously commanded by the Lord on that night on which He gave himself for the life of the world. For, having taken bread and blessed, He gave it to His disciples and Apostles, saying : “Take, eat, this is My body.” And, taking the cup, giving praise, he said: “Drink of it, all of you: this is My blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sins.”
We believe that in Our Lord Jesus Christ is present at this sacred rite not symbolically, not figuratively (tipikos, eikonikos), not by an excess of grace, as in other sacraments, not by influx alone, as some Fathers spoke of baptism, and not through the penetration of bread (kat Enartismon - per impanationem), so that the Divinity of the Word included in the bread offered for the Eucharist, essentially (ipostatikos), as the followers of Luther rather ineptly and unworthily explain; but truly and truly, so that after the consecration of bread and wine, the bread is broken, transubstantiated, transformed, transformed into the very true body of the Lord, which was born in Bethlehem of the Ever-Virgin, baptized in the Jordan, suffered, buried, resurrected, ascended, sits at the right hand of God the Father, has to appear on the clouds of heaven; and the wine is transformed and transubstantiated into the very true blood of the Lord, which during His suffering on the cross was shed for the life of the world.
We also believe that after the consecration of bread and wine, what remains is not the bread and wine itself, but the very body and blood of the Lord under the form and image of bread and wine.
We also believe that this most pure body and blood of the Lord is distributed and enters the mouths and bellies of those who partake, both pious and ungodly. Only to the pious and those who accept it worthily are they granted remission of sins and eternal life, but to the wicked and those who accept it unworthily are they prepared for condemnation and eternal torment.
We also believe that although the body and blood of the Lord are separated and fragmented, this happens in the sacrament of communion only with the types of bread and wine, in which they can be both visible and tangible, but in themselves they are completely whole and inseparable. Why does the Universal Church say: “He who is fragmented and divided is fragmented, but not divided, always poisoned and never consumed, but communing (of course, worthily) sanctifying.”
We also believe that in each part, down to the smallest particle of the bread and wine offered, there is not any separate part of the body and blood of the Lord, but the body of Christ, always whole and in all parts one, and the Lord Jesus Christ is present in His essence, then is with soul and Divinity, or perfect God and perfect man. Therefore, although at the same time there are many sacred rites in the universe, there are not many bodies of Christ, but one and the same Christ is truly and truly present, one His body and one blood in all the individual Churches of the faithful. And this is not because the body of the Lord, which is in heaven, descends on the altars, but because the showbread, which is prepared separately in all churches and, after consecration, is translated and transmuted, is done in the same way with the body that is in heaven. For the Lord always has one body, and not many in many places. Therefore, this sacrament, according to the general opinion, is the most wonderful, comprehended by faith alone, and not by the speculations of human wisdom, by which this holy and divinely appointed sacrifice for us rejects vanity and insane sophistication regarding Divine things.”
We must, therefore, remember that the Eucharist brings these saving fruits only to those who approach them with faith and repentance; unworthy partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ will bring even greater condemnation: “Whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, without considering the Body of the Lord. This is why many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying” (1 Cor. 11:29-30).
Venerable John of Damascus:
“The body and blood of Christ enter into the composition of our soul and body, not being exhausted, not decaying and not being thrown out (let it not be!), but (enter) into our essence to protect, reflect (from us) all harm, cleanse all filth ; if they find (in us) counterfeit gold, then they cleanse (it) with the fire of judgment, “lest we be condemned with the world" in the next century. They cleanse us with illnesses and all kinds of disasters, as the divine Apostle says: “If we had reasoned with ourselves, we would not "We were condemned. We are judged, we are punished by the Lord, lest we be condemned with the world" (1 Cor. 11:31 - 32). And this is what it means that he says: he who partakes of the body and blood of the Lord “eats and drinks judgment unworthily.” (1 Cor. 11:29) Purifying ourselves through this, we are united with the body of the Lord and with His Spirit and become the body of Christ.”
Christians must prepare themselves for the sacrament of Holy Communion by fasting which consists of fasting, prayer, reconciliation with everyone, and then confession, that is, cleansing one’s conscience in the sacrament of repentance.
The Sacrament of Communion is performed during the liturgy.
The first Christians took communion every Sunday, but now not everyone has such purity of life to take communion so often. In the 19th and 20th centuries, St. The Church commanded us to take communion every Lent and no less than once a year. Currently, the Church leaves the issue of the frequency of Communion to priests and spiritual fathers to decide. It is with the spiritual father that one must agree on how often to take communion, for how long and how strictly to fast before it.
