Eucharist: the sacrament of communion in Orthodoxy, what is the Eucharist, the sacrament of communion

The Eucharist in Christianity is a Sacrament in which Christian believers are united with God in Christ

The Eucharist (translation from Greek εὐ-χᾰριστία - “thanksgiving, gratitude, gratitude” from εὖ “good, good” + χάρις “veneration, honor, respect”) is also called Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper; The Lord's Table; The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. In Christianity it means sacrament, sacred rite.

This opinion is held by all historical churches. The sacrament of communion consists of the consecration of bread and wine in a special way and their subsequent consumption. Thus, it is also a type of Christian service performed only by a priest.

The Eucharist allows the Christian to unite with God.

The Orthodox Encyclopedia says that the essence of Holy Communion is the opportunity for a Christian to “unite with God in Christ.” In Orthodoxy and other Christian denominations, regular participation in the Eucharist is necessary for a person “for salvation and eternal life.”

According to the Apostle Paul, in this case Christians “partake of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 10:16, 1 Cor. 11:23-25). In late Protestant movements, it is usually interpreted as a symbolic action, expressing the unity of the believer with Christ, but not directly realizing it.

In any case, every Christian must know what the Eucharist is, because this is the main Sacrament of Christianity.

Eucharist, fresco, XIV century. monastery church of St. George, Staro Nagorichane, North Macedonia. The Eucharist or Holy Communion provides the opportunity for the Christian to “be united with God in Christ.” Photo: upload.wikimedia.org

In the Orthodox, Catholic, Ancient Eastern, Lutheran, Anglican and some other denominations, it forms the basis of the main Christian service, the Divine Liturgy (or Mass).

The term "Eucharist" is used in Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Anglicanism. In Protestantism, the names “Lord’s Supper” or “Breaking of Bread” are accepted.

It is an image of the Last Supper and therefore, during the celebration of the Eucharist, the bread and wine of the offering are transformed by the Holy Spirit into the true Body and true Blood of the Lord Jesus. Thus, this sacrament consists of two separate points:

the transformation, or transubstantiation, of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord;
the communion of these Holy Gifts and the descent of the Holy Spirit on them.

EUCHARIST. PART II

The most important contribution to the development of Orthodoxy. teachings about E. in the 2nd half. XIV - beginning XV century 2 Byzantines were made. interpreters of divine services - St. Nicholas Kabasila († after 1392; see: SC. 4 bis; Biedermann M. Die Lehre von der Eucharistie bei Nikolaos Kabasilas // ÖS. 1954. Bd. 3. S. 29-41; Bornert. 1966. P. 215- 244; ? ρίου εἰς τιμήν…τοῦ ὁσίου πατρός ἡμῶν Νικολάου Καβάσιλα. , 1984. Σ. 157-172; Habelea C. Die Erklärung der göttlichen Liturgie nach Nikolaos Kabasilas // ÖS. 2002. Bd. 51. S. 249-293; TByz. 2002. Vol. 2. P. 315-410) and St. Simeon, Archbishop Thessalonian († 1429; see: PG. 155; Simeon of Thessalonica. Works; Bornert. 1966. P. 245-262; ?? σσαλονίκης. ᾿Αθήνα, 2003 Σ. 77-89). Both authors continue the tradition of symbolic interpretation of the Divine Liturgy, but are not limited to this approach, revealing the theological significance of various parts of the liturgy (which is their main meaning, while they can only be called symbols of various stages of the economy of salvation) and offer dogmatic solutions to certain issues of theology E .- both raised during the disputes of the 11th-12th centuries, and those that arose only in the 14th century.

Air. Byzantium. Con. XIII - beginning XIV century (Benaki Museum, Athens) Air. Byzantium. Con. XIII - beginning XIV century (Benaki Museum, Athens) In this era, one of the most relevant in Byzantium. antilat. The previously undiscussed question of the time of the consecration of the Gifts became controversial.

Traditional in the East there has always been t.zr. about the need for epiclesis - the invocation of the Holy Spirit (or, in some early monuments, the Logos) - for the consecration of the Gifts (although some holy fathers emphasized with particular force the meaning of the establishing words, and in some hagiographic texts, as well as in Patriarch Nicholas III of Poland Grammar (PG. 114. Col. 1113) there is an idea about the consecration of the Gifts at the moment of their raising by the priest during the exclamation Τὰ ἅγια τοῖς ἁγίοις ( - see: Taft. Precommunion. P. 227-229) as the opening represents the communion of the clergy and laity and at the same time concluding that part of the liturgy, which refers to the consecration of the Gifts). In the West, the doctrine of the consecration of the Gifts by the power of establishing words dominated: on the one hand, it was a continuation of the usual for Lat. patristics of tradition; with others - became part of the created lat. the scholastics of the system of sacramental theology, in which the opinion about the necessity of form for each sacrament was one of the fundamental ones. Therefore, according to Catholics. authors, after the establishing words, the Gifts are already fully consecrated - on this basis they criticized Byzantium. liturgical tradition, in the anaphoras of which the establishing words are followed by an explicit request for the consecration of the Gifts.

And St. Nicholas Kavasila, and St. Simeon of Thessaloniki came out in defense of the Orthodox Church. position, substantiating in detail the need for epiclesis (see: Mellis L. Die eucharistische Epiklese in den Werken des Nikolaos Kabasilas und des Symeon von Thessaloniki: Diss. R., 1977). This was not a denial of the meaning of the establishing words - for example, Simeon called them “sacred words that the Savior Himself spoke during the sacred ceremony” (Sym. Thessal. Expositio de divino templo. 86 // PG. 155. Col. 732), and St. Nicholas wrote: “Having uttered the (establishing) words themselves, [the priest] then falls down and prays, and asks [the Father] to apply (ἐφαρμόσαι) those divine sayings of His only begotten Son... both to the gifts that are presented and, revealing His All-Holy and Almighty Spirit, to transform (μεταβληθῆναι) the bread into His most honest and holy (Christ. - Author) Body, and the wine into His most pure and holy Blood. When this is said in prayer and pronounced, everything related to the sacred act is fulfilled and completed, and the Gifts are consecrated, and the Sacrifice (θυσία) is offered, and the great Sacrifice (θῦμα) and the Lamb (ἱερεῖον), slain for the sins of the world, is contemplated lying on the sacred meal" (Nicol. Cabas. Expl. Div. liturg. 27). Thus, according to St. Nicholas, the words spoken by the Savior serve as the basis for the prayer of invoking the Holy Spirit, but the “power” (δύναμις) that accomplishes the transformation is the Holy Spirit (Ibid. 28).

At the same time, St. Nicholas sought to smooth out the contradictions between the lat. and Greek traditions, showing that in Rome. The Mass contains an epiclesis - he saw an implicit prayer for the consecration of the Gifts in one of the final sections of the canon of the Mass, “Supplices te rogamus” (Ibid. 30). However, in Rome. The canon also contains an explicit request for the consecration of the Gifts - section. “Quam oblationem”, located in the center of the canon, even before the establishing words - and it was precisely this section that those Catholics pointed to. theologians who, during the era of the Council of Trent, tried to prove that for the consecration of the Gifts, the epiclesis, and not the establishing words, is of central importance. It can be assumed that St. Nikolai saw lat. an analogue of the epiclesis not in “Quam oblationem”, but in “Supplices te rogamus” for the reason that he considered it necessary that the establishing words be pronounced first and only then the epiclesis; but rome the canon is not the only example of the Eucharistic prayer, where the prayer for the consecration of the Gifts is located not after, but before the establishing words (for example, anaphors of the Alexandrian type have an epiclesis before the story of the Last Supper).

St. Simeon drew attention to the fact that with t.zr. content of the Eucharistic prayer, and so on. of the sacred rites performed during it, the time of consecration of the Gifts is the invocation of the Holy Spirit, emphasizing that it cannot be interpreted in the sense that the sacrament is performed by a person and not by God: “The priest does not mark the Gifts [with a cross] when he says: “Take, eat” and “Drink from it, all of you”... And after these [words] the great Basil calls the Gifts “in place of images” (ἀντίτυπα). But after [the priest] brings the Gifts and says: “Thine is from Thine,” and calls (ἐπικαλέσασθαι) the grace of the Spirit, it is then that he believes in its presence through priestly prayer [and], straightening up, marks the divine Gifts and, saying: “ Make this bread, therefore, the honorable Body of Thy Christ,” and signifying the bread, [and also:] “And in this cup, the honorable Blood of Thy Christ,” and signifying the cup, signifying them together for the third time, and saying: “Translating by Thy Holy Spirit.” , adds “Amen,” confirming the sacrament and boldly confessing that the [Gifts] presented are the Body and Blood of Christ, according to His power, both the Father and the Spirit, and there is nothing human here, but everything is accomplished by divine grace” (Sym. Thessal. Expositio de divino templo. 86 // PG. 155. Col. 737). Thus, the interpretation of the term “instead of images” in the anaphora of St. adopted by the VII Ecumenical Council. Basil the Great was used by St. Simeon to prove that even after the establishing words the Gifts had not yet become the Body and Blood of Christ.

Communion of the Apostles. Service of the saints father. Painting of the apse c. Our Lady Hodegetria, Patriarchate of Peć, Kosovo and Metohija. OK. 1337

Communion of the Apostles. Service of the saints father. Painting of the apse c. Our Lady Hodegetria, Patriarchate of Peć, Kosovo and Metohija. OK. 1337 St. Nicholas also rejected any symbolic understanding of the Gifts - including the Eucharistic terminology of the iconoclasts: “The bread of the Body of the Lord (ἄρτος τοῦ Κυριακοῦ σώματος) is no longer a prototype (τύπος), not a gift having [only ] image (εἰκόνα) of the true Gift or representing, as if in a picture, a certain outline of the saving Passion, but the true Gift itself, the very holy Body of the Lord, which truly received all those reproaches, reproaches, wounds, crucified, perforated... endured strangulations, beatings, spitting, tasted bile. Likewise, Wine is the Blood itself, flowing from the perforated Body. This Body and this Blood are formed by the Holy Spirit, born of the blessed Virgin, buried, raised on the third day, ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father” (Nicol. Cabas. Expl. Div. liturg. 27). In addition to the teachings of the iconoclasts, St. Nicholas also rejected the opinions of Sotirikh Pantevgen and Mikhail Glika (without mentioning their names): 1st - saying that in E. the gaze of the faithful appears not “a certain outline of the saving Passion,” but the victimized Body itself, since E. is “not a prototype of the Sacrifice and not the image of the Blood, but truly the Slaughter and the Sacrifice” (Ibid. 32; indirectly, St. Nicholas also touched upon the topic of polemics of the mid-12th century in his reasoning about why the Eucharistic prayer is addressed not to the Son, but to the Father: Ibid. 31 ); 2nd - affirming the identity of the consecrated Gifts with the historical Body of Christ, so that bread and wine become in E. not some soulless flesh “in the state before the resurrection,” but that very Body, which has already accepted suffering, has risen and is seated at the right hand of the Father. At the same time, St. Nicholas professed extreme Eucharistic realism regarding the relationship between the sensory qualities of the Body of Christ and the Holy Gifts, which was followed by St. John Chrysostom, St. Anastasia Sinaita and the usual Byzantine. authors of the 9th-13th centuries, starting with St. Nikephoros, tradition: “Not only did the Lord send us the Holy Spirit to abide with us, but [the Lord] Himself promised to abide with us until the end of the age. But the Comforter is with us invisibly, because He does not wear a body, but the Lord [Jesus Christ] is accessible to sight and allows Himself to be touched through the terrible and sacred Mysteries - because He has taken on our nature and bears [it] forever” (Ibid. 28). For Mikhail Glicka, extreme Eucharistic realism directly meant that the Gifts are identical to the corruptible Body, since the incorruptible Body cannot be broken with hands or crushed with teeth - this led Glicka to pose the question of the relationship between the corruptible and the incorruptible in Evangelism. St. Nicholas Cabasilas, responding to this with the assertion that from the identity of the Eucharistic Body with the historical it follows that in Communion the faithful partake of the resurrected Body, however, did not use the term ἄφθαρτος (incorruptible) in his interpretation of the Divine Liturgy (although, for example, in the op. “ About life in Christ” it appears many times); in Communion, according to St. Nicholas, “a person who has been combined with corruption eats a pure Body” (Ibid. 42; the word φθορά - corruption, here is contrasted not with the term ἄφθαρτος, but ἀκήρατος - pure, unharmed).

The assertion that E. is the true Sacrifice serves St. Nicholas as the basis of the reasoning that resolved the call in the 12th century. disputes about the relationship between Golgotha and the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Coming to this discussion, St. Nicholas asks: when is the Sacrifice performed - before or after the consecration of the Gifts? If we assume that before consecration, then bread is sacrificed, but the bread itself cannot be called a sacrifice, and the sacrament of E. consists in the contemplation not of “slain bread, but of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world by slaughter” (Ibid. 32 ). To say that the Sacrifice is offered after consecration is “all the more impossible,” because the Body of the Savior, which after the resurrection became “unharmed (ἀκήρατον) and immortal (ἀθάνατον)” (Ibidem), cannot in any way be slain again, and also because , even if it could become so again, in this case the clergy are no different from the torturers and crucifiers of Christ. Besides this, St. Nikolai rejects, citing the apostle. Paul (Heb. 9.28), even the thought of the possibility of repeating the Sacrifice (Nicol. Cabas. Expl. Div. liturg. 32). Therefore, there is only one way out - to admit that “The sacrifice is made neither before the consecration of the bread, nor after the consecration, but in the consecration itself... What is the sacrifice of a sheep - the transformation (μεταβολή - “transformation.” - Author) from not at all slain to slaughtered, - this is also [what] happens here. For the unsacrificial bread (ἄθυτος ὤν) then turns into what was offered as a Sacrifice, since it truly turns (μεταβάλλει) from bread not slain into the very slain Body of the Lord... This sacrifice does not take place during the slaughter of the Lamb, but during the transfiguration of the bread into the slain Lamb" ( Ibidem). Thus, the repeated performance of E. does not result in the repetition of the Calvary sacrifice at each liturgy, contrary to the conclusions of Sotirich Pantevgen regarding the teaching of E. as a Sacrifice and contrary to the opinions of Mikhail Glika and his supporters: “Since this Sacrifice occurs during the breaking of bread into the Lamb of the slain, obviously there is a transformation, while the slaughter does not occur, and thus, the offered - many times, and the alteration - often, but nothing prevents that into which it is converted from being one and the same. And just as the Body is one, so the slaughter of the Body is one” (Ibidem).

Preparation of the Sacrifice. Painting c. Pantocrator of the Decani Monastery, Kosovo and Metohija. 1335–1348

The appearance of the Sacrifice serves in the consecration of the Gifts, according to St. Nicholas, a solid basis for the commemoration of the dead and the living, which follow the epiclesis: “The priest, when the Sacrifice is completed, contemplating the pledge of God’s love for mankind - His Lamb, already accepting Him as a Mediator, having with him the Comforter, expresses his petitions to God, he pours out his prayer with considerable and firm hope and prays that those whom he remembered while kneading the bread, and for whom he offered preliminary prayers [when] he brought the Gifts and prayed for their acceptance, would actually be fulfilled. . What are these [needs]? Common to both the living and the deceased - so that instead of the Gifts accepted by God, grace would be sent down: in particular, to the deceased - the repose of souls and the inheritance of the Kingdom with the departed saints, and to the living - Communion [from] the sacred meal and consecration, and so that no one would receive communion in judgment or condemnation, remission of sins, peace, prosperity, obtaining what is necessary, [and so that] in the end they will be shown by God worthy of the Kingdom” (Ibid. 33). And in these words, and in other places of the liturgical commentary of St. Nicholas can see the close connection that he saw between the rite of proskomedia (interpreted in detail by him: Ibid. 2-11) and the Eucharistic anaphora. He points out not only their connection, but also their general similarity: both in the proskomedia and in the anaphora, thanksgiving and petition are combined together (Ibid. 10, 27, 33). At the same time, petitions as part of the anaphora itself, following the epiclesis and including the elevation of the names of saints and the commemoration of the dead and living, St. Nicholas proposed to understand them as also consisting of thanksgiving and petition: thanksgiving for the gift of saints to us and petitions for the other faithful (Ibid. 33). The idea that the commemoration of the saints in anaphora is not thanksgiving, but a petition for them, St. Nicholas called it “obvious blasphemy” (Ibid. 49), since such a petition should be understood either as an empty formality, or as a blasphemy both against the saints and against God who glorified them, because in such a case a prayer would be offered for the saints, “as for not yet sanctified” (Ibidem); on the contrary, this commemoration is an “offering of gifts of thanks” for them to God (Ibid. 48). In general, various aspects of commemorations during the liturgy and their connection with the consecration of the Gifts are revealed by St. Nicholas is extremely detailed - having given an interpretation of the entire liturgy from beginning to end, he again returns to these topics, devoting several times to them. lengthy chapters (Ibid. 42-50); From this we can conclude that for the Greeks in the 14th century. the aspect of the liturgy as a service for the living and the dead was especially important.

According to St. Nicholas, commemoration during the liturgy in itself conveys grace to both the dead and the living (Ibid. 33), since the Eucharistic Sacrifice mediates between God and people: “This divine and sacred service is sanctifying in a twofold way. The first way is mediation, for the Gifts offered, by the offering itself, sanctify those who offer and those for whom they are offered, and appease God towards them. And the second is Communion, for it is made food and drink for us, according to the true word of the Lord. Of these methods, the first is common to both the living and the dead, for the Sacrifice is made for both [these] categories [of people]. The second is accessible only to the living, for the dead can no longer eat or drink” (Ibid. 42). But the deceased can also in some way partake of Christ in E.: “[Is it] because of this (the physical impossibility of tasting the Body and Blood - Author) that the dead are not sanctified by this sanctification from Communion and have less in this than the living? In no case. For Christ teaches Himself to them [in such a way] as is known to Him” (Ibidem). This possibility, as St. Nicholas, it follows from the fact that the physical partaking of the Holy Gifts in itself does not yet assimilate the fruits of the sacrament to the communicants - those who partake unworthily serve as an example of this. To assimilate these fruits, “purity of the soul, love of God, faith, desire for the sacrament, zeal for Communion, ardent zeal and approach with thirst” (Ibidem), that is, only spiritual, but not physical qualities, are necessary, so that the one who possesses them - even if his soul has already been separated from his body - nothing can prevent him from uniting with Christ in the sacrament. These arguments are reminiscent of those found in Lat. interpretations of the mass of the XIII-XIV centuries. the idea of “spiritual Communion”, which occurs in addition to the physical partaking of the Holy Gifts (its appearance and development was associated with the spread in the Catholic Church in this era of the practice of worshiping the Gifts and contemplating them; by the 18th century, the idea of “spiritual Communion” - but out of connection with the practice of worshiping the Gifts - penetrated from the works of Catholic authors into Orthodox literature: see, for example, Chapter 4, Part 2 of “The Invisible Warfare” by St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain). Indeed, St. Nicholas wrote that those who “wandered through deserts and mountains, through caves and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11.38), “for whom it was impossible to see the priest and the altar,” were nevertheless sanctified by the sacrament of E., since “they had life in themselves,” and without E. this is impossible, according to the word John 6.53 (Nicol. Cabas. Expl. Div. liturg. 42). However, the thought of St. Nicholas is far from the idea of “spiritual Communion” as an ordinary spiritual practice; he writes that communion with Christ, in addition to physical participation in E., is available only to those who really do not have the opportunity to attend the divine service: “If someone, having the opportunity, does not begin the meal, it is completely impossible for him to receive from them (St. Gifts. - Author) sanctification - not because he simply does not begin, but because he does not begin, having [such] opportunity, and therefore it is obvious that his soul is empty [in relation to] those good qualities that are needed for [ acceptance] Mysteries” (Ibidem). Moreover, those ascetics, mentioned above, accepted E. not only spiritually, but also physically - the Lord “sent angels with Gifts to many of these saints” (Ibidem).

St. Nicholas Cabasilas also touched upon other themes of E. theology: the place of the sacrament in the spiritual life of a Christian and in his ascetic work (this issue is discussed in detail in his work “On Life in Christ”, see: SC. 355, 361); ecclesiological aspect of the sacrament, since liturgy is the work of the Church (Nicol. Cabas. Expl. Div. liturg. 15, 49, etc.; St. Nicholas reveals in detail the idea that the Holy Mysteries also mean the Church itself ( Ibid. 38), the same idea is found in St. Augustine and many other Latin authors of the 12th-14th centuries); he also gave a theological, and not just a symbolic, justification for the significance of the liturgy of the catechumens for the celebration of the sacrament of E. (Ibid. 12-23), but at the same time, speaking in detail about the various parts of the liturgy, he did not touch on the topic of unleavened bread.

Last Supper. Painting c. Vmch. St. George the Victorious in Staro Nagorichino, Macedonia. 1317–1318

St. Simeon of Thessaloniki, on the contrary, specifically noted the wrongness of the Latins and Armenians who performed E. on unleavened bread. In E. the bread must be “animate (ἔμψυχος)”, “truly perfect (ἀληθῶς ἄρτιος)”, in order to point to the reality of the Incarnation, in which “The Word of God became flesh” without change and abided with the verbal and rational soul, having received the true human [nature],” and also that Christ is “perfect God and perfect man.” Moreover, according to St. Simeon, leavened bread consisting of 3 elements - flour with leaven, water and salt - depicts the Most Holy. Trinity, tripartiteness of the human soul, etc. (Sym. Thessal. De sacra liturgia. 86 // PG. 155. Col. 265). St. Simeon emphasized that, unlike the Latins who used a round wafer, the bread was Orthodox. The liturgy is four-part, in commemoration of the fact that “God accepted the whole perfect man, [consisting] of the soul and 4 elements, and also because the whole world is four-part, and the Word Himself is the Creator of the world.” Moreover, “the very shape of this [bread] forms the Cross.” At the same time, St. Simeon noted that the roundness of unleavened bread is an image of the infinity of the Divine, which the Orthodox also have - in the seal of the prosphora, the edges are round. As with his predecessors, the use of “dead and soulless” unleavened bread was for St. Simeon with the renewal of Jewish practice, a return to the Old Testament, which received its completion in the Incarnation: “Stick to Orthodoxy, do not offer dead and soulless [unleavened bread], do not resume Jewish [rites], do not introduce the Law, do not celebrate on unleavened bread” ( Ibid. 87-88 // PG. 155. Col. 265, 268). Thus, in the polemic against unleavened bread, St. Simeon turned primarily to symbolic argumentation, and partly to reproaches for imitating the Jews. The Thessalonian saint also denounced the Arm. the practice of serving with undiluted wine (Ibid. 93 // PG. 155. Col. 276-280).

St. Simeon criticized the culture established in the West by the 13th century. the custom of not giving communion to young children during the liturgy on the grounds that children “cannot know what [they] are being made partakers of,” showing that this is contrary to the tradition of the Universal Church (Idem. De sacr. 69 // PG. 155. Col. 236 -237). For adults St. Simeon advised communion “on Lent” (i.e., during Lent and the Nativity Fast), and for those “who have enough strength and attention,” even every Sunday (Idem. De ordine sepulturae. 360 // PG. 155. Col. 672).

Significant influence on the subsequent liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church. The Church was helped by what St. Simeon’s symbolic understanding of the funeral particles taken from the prosphora at the proskomedia (historically, the particles most likely replaced the service of the many Lambs, practiced until the 11th century - see: Bernatsky M. M., Zheltov M., deacon. Questions answered by Metropolitan Elijah Kritsky: Testimony about the peculiarities of the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at the beginning of the 12th century // Vestn. PSTGU. Ser. 1: Theology and Philosophy: [Proceedings of the Department of Liturgical Theology]. 2005. Issue 14. pp. 23-53). According to St. Simeon, during the anaphora, particles are not transformed into the Body of Christ: “Particles (μερίδες) are instead of saints and are offered in memory and honor of them and, through them, for our salvation. For they too (that is, the saints - Author) partake of this terrible sacrament, as those who fought for Christ... and they reconcile and unite us with Him - especially at the time when we remember them. However, the particles are not transformed into the Body of the Master, nor into the bodies of saints, but are only gifts and offerings, and sacrifices made of bread, in imitation of the Master, and are offered to Him in their name, and [during] the sacred rite of the Mysteries they are consecrated through union and communion [ Mysteries] and bring down consecration on those for whom they are [offered], and through [particles] for the saints - [and] on us, just as it happens through prayers, when we remember them, or when we offer something to churches, to their relics or icons" (Sym. Thessal. De sacra liturgia. 94 // PG. 155. Col. 281).

From the denial of the transformation of particles follows the remark of St. Simeon about the undesirability of using particles for communion of the faithful - contrary to the texts of the liturgical diataxes of that time, which prescribed pouring particles into the chalice along with parts of the Lamb even before the communion of the laity (this instruction is still preserved in Greek, but not in Russian, editions of liturgical books). St. Simeon wrote: “You need to know that when communing the most terrible Mysteries, the priest must be attentive and take not from particles, but from the Flesh of the Lord and give communion to those who come. For, although through the union with the all-holy Blood everything became one, and the communion of the Master’s Blood occurs even if someone partakes in a particle, however, since every believer must partake of both the Body and Blood of Christ, the priest must, taking a spoon along with the Blood and the Body of the Lady, to teach the sacrament to the one who comes” (Ibid. // PG. 155. Col. 284-285). Afterwards The question of the transformation of particles was discussed in Greco-Lat. and Russian disputes of the XVI-XVII centuries.

Communion of the Apostles. Fragment of painting c. Vmch. George in Staro Nagorichino, Macedonia. 1317–1318

On the issue of transmuting the wine poured into the Chalice into the Blood of Christ during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the Thessalonian saint adhered to tradition. the opinion of the ancient Church that wine becomes the Blood of Christ through connection with a part of the Presanctified Lamb (especially since by the 15th century the practice of preserving the Presanctified Lambs not under the guise of Bread alone, but having previously soaked them in the Holy Blood, had already become generally accepted; see: Karabinov 1915). During the Presanctified Liturgy (created, according to St. Simeon, by the apostles themselves - Sym. Thessal. Respons. 55 // PG. 155. Col. 904) “The Presanctified Most Holy Gifts do not receive anything from subsequent [at the Liturgy of the Presanctified] prayers, because that these are perfect Gifts... Wine and water are poured into the sacred chalice without reading any prayer, so that after the divine Bread is crushed and its upper part is placed into the chalice according to order, what is in the chalice is consecrated through the sacrament (τῇ μετοχῇ), and so that the priest can partake according to the rite of the [full] liturgy - both from the Bread and from the Chalice - and also give it to those who need to receive communion: either to the clergy inside [the altar] according to custom, or to the laity by means of a spoon... So, what is in the chalice is consecrated at the Presanctified Liturgy not by invoking the Holy Spirit and the sign of the cross, but through communion and union with the life-giving Bread, which truly is the Body of Christ and united with the Blood” (Ibid. 57 // PG. 155. Col. 909 ).

By the 14th century to Byzantium. Tradition spread the practice of bowing at the great entrance (see Art. Entrance) of the liturgy: people fell prostrate before the priest, wanting him to touch them with the cup. This practice was also touched upon in his writings by St. Nicholas Kavasila, and St. Simeon of Thessaloniki. From the commentary of St. Nicholas, it is clear that many worshiped the Gifts, mistakenly considering them already consecrated. He did not reject this manifestation of piety, but sought to give the already existing practice a theological justification, pointing out that those making prostrations should have an intention, not to worship the unconsecrated Gifts, but to appeal to the priest with a request for commemoration: “At this time it is necessary fall at the feet of the priest, asking him to remember us in those prayers, for there is no other way of petition that would have such great power and give us such strong hopes as [the method provided] through this terrible Sacrifice... And if some of those falling the priest entering with the Gifts is worshiped and addressed to the borne Gifts as the Body and Blood of Christ, then they confuse [this entrance] with the entrance of the Presanctified Gifts, not knowing the difference between this and that sacred rite. This [sacred rite] has in this [great] entrance the Gifts not yet sacrificed and imperfect, otherwise perfect and sanctified, the Body and Blood of Christ” (Nicol. Cabas. Expl. Div. liturg. 24). Proposed by St. Nicholas’s interpretation was then reflected in the headings of certain manuscripts of the Euchologia of the 16th-18th centuries, which instruct the priest to pray during the Great Entrance for the sick prostrate on the floor, but not to touch them (see: Taft. Great Entrance. P. 213-214) .

St. Simeon of Thessaloniki, on the contrary, did not deny the possibility of worshiping the Gifts themselves at the Great Entrance. According to him, the faithful fall before the priests during the procession, on the one hand, asking for prayers for themselves and remembrance during the sacred rite (in this the Thessalonian saint follows St. Nicholas Cabasiles), on the other hand, honoring the Gifts, which, although and were not consecrated, but offered to God during the proskomedia, when a prayer was read over them with a request to be accepted into the “heavenly altar,” so that through this they had already become “instead of the Sovereign Body and Blood.” Thus, St. Simeon rethought the Eucharistic term “instead of images” - if the authors of the ancient Church could apply it in relation to the Holy Gifts, and St. John of Damascus and the fathers of the VII Ecumenical Council, on the contrary, retained the possibility of its application only in relation to bread and wine that had not yet been consecrated (St. Simeon himself builds his refutation of the doctrine of establishing words as secretly fulfilling on this), then here St. Simeon understands this term as indicating the special status of the offered Gifts, which have not yet been transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but have already received preliminary consecration during the proskomedia. In other words, the Gifts can be compared to icons - but in no case after their transformation into the true Body and Blood, but only during the previous part of the liturgy. Therefore St. Simeon refuted the accusations (probably coming from the Latins) of idolatry (that is, of the worship of the Gifts at the moment of the great entrance), arguing that those who call the Gifts offered to God “idols” (εἴδωλα) are worse than the wicked iconoclasts: “After all, divine icons are holy in virtue of the fact that they are images of true [things] (μορφώματα τῶν ἀληθινῶν), and the Gifts offered to God are [holy], since they were offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ. Therefore, if we must give honor and worship to sacred icons, then much more [we must worship] the Gifts themselves, which are instead of images, as the great Basil says, and were brought in order to become Body and Blood” (Sym. Thessal. Expositio de divino templo 78 // PG. 155. Col. 728-729). St. Simeon pointed out another reason for making bows at the great entrance - veneration of divine vessels, even if some of them are empty (the custom of making the great entrance on holidays using, among other things, empty paten and chalices was widespread in Byzantine practice. XIV - early XV centuries, and in Rus' in the cathedrals of the largest cities it was preserved until the mid-17th century; Great Entrance. P. 206-209), since the vessels receive sanctification from the divine Gifts sacred in them, therefore all those who contemplate or approach them are also sanctified (Sym. Thessal. Expositio de divino templo. 78 // PG. 155 Col. 729).

M. M. Bernatsky, deacon. Mikhail Zheltov

The Eucharist was established by the Lord Jesus Christ himself

The Body and Blood of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist are called the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Life, or the Cup of Salvation; holy mysteries; bloodless Sacrifice. The Eucharist is the greatest Christian sacrament.

The first Eucharist was celebrated by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. According to the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20) and the First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11:24-25) of the Apostle Paul, it was established by Jesus Christ himself in the time of the Last Supper shortly before His death on the cross.

Communion of the Apostles, icon 1422-1428. The gate canopy of the Annunciation Church in the village of Blagoveshchenskoye near Sergiev Posad. Icon of Andrei Rublev's school. The Eucharist was instituted by Jesus Christ Himself at the Last Supper. Photo: drevo-info.ru

“On the first day of unleavened bread (Matt. 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:7) Jesus sent two disciples (Mark 14:13), Peter and John (Luke 22:8), into the city ( Matthew 26:18, Mark 14:13, Luke 22:10), that is, to Jerusalem, to prepare the Passover (Paschal meal), and they prepared it (Matthew 26:19, Mark 14:16, Luke 22 :13).

In the evening (Matthew 26:20, Mark 14:17) Jesus reclined with the twelve disciples (Matthew 26:20, Mark 14:17-18, Luke 22:14) for a meal.” According to the Gospel of John, the Eucharist took place on the thirteenth day, i.e. one day before the fourteenth day of Easter (John 13:1) and (John 19:14).

Emperor Justinian I proposed adding warm water during the Eucharist - a symbol of the Logos.

During the Last Supper, Jesus gave his own explanation of the symbolism of the traditional dishes of the Jewish Passover dinner. Thus, the Gospel of Mark says:

And while they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take, eat, this is My Body.” And he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them: and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many.”

(Mark 14:22-24)

The Gospel of Luke (22:19) and 1 Corinthians (11:24–26) continue Jesus’ words: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” The Last Supper, therefore, is a prototype of modern liturgy, as is spoken of in the pages of the New Testament.

Flavius Peter Sabbatius Justinian I, Emperor of Byzantium. Emperor Justinian I proposed adding warm water to the wine at the Eucharist as a symbol of the Logos. Photo: upload.wikimedia.org

Ancient Christians celebrated the Eucharist during agape - the supper of love. This is a ritual dinner, where excerpts of the Holy Scriptures were read, which were immediately interpreted by preachers, Old Testament psalms and Christian hymns were sung, and the needy were fed.

Early Christians were persecuted by the authorities of the Roman Empire due to some similarities between the rite of the Eucharist and ritual cannibalism.

To avoid analogies with this, Emperor Justinian I proposed adding the symbol of the Logos - warm water - to wine, which is preserved in Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

“Do this in remembrance of Me.” On the establishment of the Eucharist and participation in it

The Apostle Paul sets out the immediate establishment of the Eucharist in the following words: For I received from the Lord Himself what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night on which he was betrayed took bread [ἄρτος - “leavened bread”] and, giving thanks (εὐχαριστήσας ), broke it and said: “Take, eat, this is My Body, broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” He also took the cup after supper, and said: “This cup is the new covenant in My Blood; Do this whenever you drink, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes (1 Cor. 11:23-26). As we see, the words of the establishment of the Eucharist by the Apostle Paul most closely correspond to the text of the Gospel of Luke, since the latter was Paul’s companion and disciple. According to the teaching of the Church, the Holy Eucharist is a Sacrament in which bread and wine, through the action of the Holy Spirit, are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. A participant in the Eucharist enters into real, real communion with Christ, becomes a participant in His redemptive feat, and if he receives communion worthily, then also a participant in His Glorious Resurrection. Communion of the sacrificial Blood of Christ makes the communicant a participant in the New Testament.

Protestants do not recognize the authenticity of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, but consider them only symbols of the Body and Blood. They refer to the prohibition for Jews to eat blood, because it is the bearer of life, which belongs to God alone. They argue that the verb "is" (ἐστὶν) is translated as "means, represents." Contemporary Baptist exegete William Barclay explains the establishing words of the Eucharist this way: “This is my body,” He said of the bread. One simple fact prevents us from understanding this in the literal sense of the word. When Jesus said this, He was still in the flesh: it was quite clear that at that moment His Body and bread were not identical. He also did not want to simply say: “it symbolizes My Body.” But to some extent this is true. The broken bread symbolizes the Body of Christ in Communion; but he means more. For those who take it with faith and love, it is not only a means of remembering Jesus Christ, but also a way of establishing direct contact with Him. To the unbeliever it means nothing; for the lover of Christ this is the way into His presence.” In a similar way, he talks about the cup of wine, which in the Sacrament, according to the word of Christ, is the new covenant in His Blood (11:25): “A person who eats and drinks unworthily does not realize the meaning of these symbols, that he eats and drinks without all reverence, not understanding what a symbol of great love is what he eats and drinks.” But this is an arbitrary interpretation that runs counter to the original church understanding of the meaning of the Last Supper.

The expression “do this” means: do truly the same thing that the Lord did that night, namely, the teaching of the true Body and Blood of the Lord under the guise of bread and wine. The Eucharist, according to the Apostle Paul, represents Christ for the church meeting, for the Church in general, and reveals His presence in our reality. It forms, one might say, a connection between His First and Second Coming.

Christ still comes to believers in this great Sacrament of thanksgiving, but at the end of time, at the Second Coming, He will come openly and clearly for the whole world.

The apostle cited the words of the establishment of the Sacrament in order to show that disorder at the Lord's table is a neglect of the Sacrament itself and a sin against the Body and Blood of the Lord: Whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord (v. 27 ). “Having partaken of such a meal, you should have become more humble than everyone else and become like the Angels, but you have become more hard-hearted than everyone else; you have tasted the Blood of the Master and do not recognize your brother: are you worthy of forgiveness after this? Even if you did not know him before, then after this meal you would have to recognize him; and you dishonor the meal itself, considering the one who has been honored to be a partaker of it unworthy of your dishes.”

From these words it is clear that the Eucharist preceded the Lord's Supper, agape, just as in modern times the fraternal meal is always held after the Liturgy. It is also generally accepted that in apostolic times, Eucharistic meetings took place in the evening, in the image of the Last Supper, and were combined with agape, the common meal of the community.

There is also the opinion of scientists that agapes preceded the Eucharist. So, in the Explanatory Bible A.P. Lopukhin we read: “In the Apostolic Church, in the evenings, Christians gathered in some room and dined together here... <...> These dinners, at the end of which the Sacrament of the Eucharist was performed, were called suppers of love, or, in short, agapes.” As has been said, disorder occurred at these evening meetings when the rich bringers neglected the poor, who could not bring anything, rushed to eat their own, and the poor remained hungry. This situation destroyed the very idea of meals of love and insulted the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Therefore, quite soon it was established to celebrate the Eucharist before the supper of love, so as not to give the incontinent people a reason to begin to partake of the Sacrament, having eaten and drunk, and even sinned by humiliating the poor brothers.

The Apostle Paul points out that in order to receive Communion worthily, a deep confession is necessary: Let a man examine himself (v. 28), let him “judge himself” (v. 31), and then let him eat of this bread and drink from this cup (v. 28). For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment upon himself, not considering the Body of the Lord (v. 29). “Just as those who pierced the Lord did not pierce in order to drink, but to shed His Blood, so does the one who partakes unworthily.” What is given “for the remission of sins” can become their multiplication if a person does not “discuss about the Body of the Lord,” that is, does not take into account the greatness of the gift of Christ and his own unworthiness, if he does not have a repentant mood. “Condemnation” from God for the sin of neglecting the Sacrament leads to frequent illness and even death (v. 30). However, it is better to be punished here (“we are punished” - παιδευόμεθα from Greek means: “we are taught,” “educated,” “educated”) from the Lord, so as not to be condemned with the world (v. 32), because temporary punishments and suffering,

endured with repentance, free from sins, eternal torment and punishment awaiting the world at the Last Judgment.

From the book of Archpriest Stefan Zyla “The Epistles of the Apostle Paul. A Guide to Study and Interpretation"

BUY A BOOK

The Eucharist can only be celebrated by a priest and only in church

The purpose of the Eucharist: to be the center and pinnacle of a Christian’s entire life. Therefore, the Eucharist combines all Christian sacraments and rituals: baptism, confirmation, repentance, wedding, ordination, unction, monastic tonsure, funeral service and others.

However, only at the Liturgy of the Catechumens could everyone be present, and at the Proskomedia and Liturgy of the Faithful - only the faithful.

An Orthodox priest celebrates the Eucharist in an Orthodox church. The Sacrament of Communion can only be performed by a priest and only in a Christian church. Photo: hramsokol.ru

In the Historical Churches, in the Anglican Church, among the Old Catholics, the sacrament of the Eucharist can only be performed by a bishop or a priest on his behalf. The sacrament is performed in the temple. And only in case of any special circumstances is it allowed to be performed outside the temple.

According to the 7th rule of the VII Ecumenical Council, particles of the relics of the holy martyrs should be placed in the altars on which the Eucharist is celebrated. In the local tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, since 1655, relics have also been sewn into antimensions, which makes it possible to serve the Liturgy outside the church.

In the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council, the placement of relics on the altar stone is optional.

For the Eucharist, the Orthodox, Copts, Syro-Jacobites and the Assyrian Church of the East use leavened bread - prosphora (today the Assyrian Church of the East uses leavened bread, and at the end of the liturgy unleavened Catholic bread).

In Orthodoxy of the Byzantine tradition, after transubstantiation into the Blood of Christ, wine is necessarily diluted with hot water (“warmth”, “zeon”). Catholics of the Latin Rite use unleavened bread (hostia), while Catholics of the Eastern Rite use leavened bread.

Communion of the laity under two types became possible among Catholics after the Second Vatican Council.

Communion in the Armenian Apostolic Church. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, only unleavened bread is used for liturgy and no water is used. Photo: nnao.ru

In the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Maronite Catholic Church and the Chaldean Catholic Church, as well as Lutherans, Anglicans, and Old Catholics, only unleavened bread is used for sacred rites. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, water is not added to wine.

In the Russian tradition, sweet wine is used to avoid reflexive spitting out of the communion by infants, and in the Catholic Church, which does not have a tradition of giving communion to infants, dry wine is usually used, considering sugar an unnecessary additive to pure wine.

Sove B.I. Eucharist in the ancient Church and modern practice

The page layout of this electronic article corresponds to the original.

B. Sove

Eucharist in the ancient Church and modern practice 1)

On the great day of the mysterious Pentecost, the beginning of a new kingdom of grace was laid, the society of the New Israel, the Church of Christ - the mystical Body of Christ. The Church has recreated the unity of human nature, dissected by sin. The proud construction of the Tower of Babel, the confusion of languages and the division of humanity are contrasted in the service of Pentecost with the fiery tongues of the Holy Spirit and the divine-human cathedral Body of the Church, united into one by love.

After the first sermon of Ap. Peter and the baptism of 3,000 people, “they continued constantly in the teaching of the apostles, in fellowship and in the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42) and, “breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with joy and simplicity of heart” (Acts 2:46). This breaking of bread illuminated with blessed rays the entire life of the early Christian community, which lived with the joy of the blessed forty days. “Yet all the believers were together and had everything in common. And they sold their estates and all their property, and distributed it to everyone, according to each one’s need” (Acts 2:44-45). “The multitude of those who believed had one heart and one soul, and among them there was no one in need” (Acts 4:32, 34). The life of Christians was imbued with the consciousness that “if one member suffers, all members suffer with it, glorified

1) From an article published in the collection “Living Tradition”, Paris 1937.

If one member, all members rejoice with him” (1 Cor. 12:26). The “cup of thanksgiving” for Christians showed the way to the solution of a social problem, the painful severity of which in the Roman Empire and to this day worries our hearts, just as it tormented the Christians of the first centuries. The Eucharist united and equalized everyone - masters and slaves, rich and poor. All members of the Church are equal and free in Christ. All are children of God, all are friends of Christ, brothers and sisters “There is one bread, and we, who are many, are one body: for we all partake of one bread (I Cor. 10:6).

This unity of all members of the Church in Christ in the image of the Most Holy Trinity and the union of love bestowed in the Eucharist resound in all Eucharistic prayers, beginning with the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.”

“Let grace come, and let this world pass away,” prays the liturgist. And the community greets the Eucharistic Christ with a solemn messianic hymn. “Hosanna to the God of David... Maran afa - The Lord has come. He is a believer in the Eucharist. The blessed parousia begins (glorious advent of the Lord. I. Chr.) (Eucharistic). The visions and aspirations of the ancient prophets are being fulfilled. "Thy kingdom come." The messianic kingdom begins “Behold, the King of Glory enters.” Christ reigns. Christians participate in the wedding supper of the Lamb, in the Messianic meal, collectively offering a prayer of thanksgiving and partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ. This was the joy that the book of Acts speaks of. This was the blessed experience that inspired martyrdom.

The catholicity of the Eucharist, the cross-resurrection holiday of the Christian community, is clearly expressed in all rites of the liturgy - the “common work” of the Church, starting with its description in the Apology of St. Justin the Martyr 1), (written between 150 and 155).

The Eucharist is celebrated on Sunday - “the day of the sun.” All members of the community take part in it. After the reading of the Holy Scriptures and the sermon, everyone brings an offering (cf. 1 Cor. 16 2) - gifts - a sacrifice to God, a substance for the sacrament, thereby participating in the general Eucharistic sacrifice 2). “We offer to God not as if he were in need, but in thanksgiving to His Lordship and for the sanctification of creation... The Word is wanted-

1) Collection of ancient liturgies, vol. 1, St. Petersburg. 1874, pp. 40-43.

2) More details. Petrovsky A. The ancient act of offering substance for the sacrament of the Eucharist and the observance of the Proskomedia of Christ. Reading, 1904, vol. CCXVII, part I, p. 406 et seq.

Let us also bring gifts to the altar often and unfailingly” 1). These gifts were supplemented by gifts to neighbors, but not as a simple act of charity, but as a sacrifice to God. “Meanwhile, those who are sufficient and willing, each according to his own free will, give what they want, and what is collected is accumulated by the representative, and he has care for orphans and widows, for all those in need due to illness or for another reason, for those in prison, for those who have come to need" 2). Without love, the sacrifice is incomplete (Matthew 5:23.24) Participation in liturgical thanksgiving was preceded by reconciliation and healing of mutual relations among community members. This requirement is imposed by the “Teaching of the 12 Apostles” on those participating in the Eucharist, along with the instruction to admit only those reborn in the water of baptism to it. Reconciliation is sealed with the “holy kiss of love” (1 Cor. 16:20), the “kiss of love” (I. Peter 5:14), the “kiss of reconciliation” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem. 5 sacred words), the “divine kiss” (Dionysius the Areopagite ), which “connects souls together.” “Let us love each other” - “Let us kiss each other.” Without love, unanimity is impossible. The source of love is Christ. The priest kisses the covered paten, the chalice, and the edge of the throne. United into a single body by this “sacred act of the world” (Dionysus. Areopagite), which achieves “unanimity and unanimity and verbal identity” (St. Max. Confession), the community begins the Eucharistic prayer, which is read by the bishop, surrounded by the clergy. Prayer is often improvised, because the anaphora is still in a molten state. The liturgist aloud on behalf of all believers brings thanksgiving and “verbal and bloodless service” “for everyone and for everything.” He is not separate from the believers. He is the “principal of the brethren” (St. Justin), “the mouth of all” (Theodore Mop. and Narsai), he is the luminary of the choir “by the union of love of those bound together.” The entire community participates in the Eucharistic prayer, in the Eucharistic sacrifice and thanksgiving, sealing the prayer with a common solemn “Amen” 3). This prayerful feat carried out the first public task - liturgical, one of the most important duties not only of the hierarchy, but also of all members of the Church, the people of the “New Israel”, “the chosen race, the royal priesthood, the holy people” (I Pet. 29 Anaphora of St. Basil the Great ), because in the Church of Christ the ideal that Moses hoped for

1) St. Irenaeus Lyon. Contra Haer, I. 4. p. XVIII, Collection, c. I, page 46.

2) St. Justin. Ibid., p. 42.

3) 1 Cor. 14, 16. Orders of ancient liturgies. Justin. Collection of ancient liturgies, c. I, page 40 St. Dionysius Alex From a letter to Sixtus, bishop. Rimsky. Ecclesiastical history of Eusebius, book. VII, 9. Collection, p. 69, etc.

(Ex. 19 6) and the prophets are the universal priesthood.

This doctrine of the universal priesthood, of course, does not exclude the divinely established hierarchy, the celebrant of the sacraments, “Only that Eucharist is considered true which is celebrated by the bishop or by those to whom he himself has granted it.” (St. Ignatius the God-Bearer).

St. clearly teaches about the participation of the people in the Eucharistic prayer. Cyril of Jerusalem and St. John Chrysostom, who deeply mourned the indifference of many Christians to the liturgy. The people help a lot in prayers. So, for example, common prayers are performed by the priest and the people for the possessed and for the repentant. . During the very performance of terrible mysteries, the priest prays for the people, and the people pray for the priest, because the words “with Your Spirit” mean nothing more than this. And prayers of thanksgiving are also common - because it is not just the priest who brings thanksgiving, but the whole people. St. John Chrysostom emphasizes the responsibility of all members of the Church, continuing: “I have said all this so that each of those under his authority may be sober, so that we may know that we are all one body and differ as much from one another as member from member, and so that we do not entrust everything to the priests alone, but also take care of the whole Church ourselves, as if it were a body common to all of us” 1).

The deacon’s invitation “Let us become kind, let us become fearful, and bring holy offerings to the world” applies to all believers; the Eucharistic prayers are addressed to God on behalf of the entire community (“we” - prayers, for example, “We thank (we) the Lord”).

This common participation in the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice ends with the common communion of St. Body and Blood of Christ.

United in prayer with “one heart” and “one mouth,” believers are united with Christ and in Him with each other.

Common communion at each liturgy was the norm in the ancient Church. It was closely connected with the offering of the Eucharistic prayer and sacrifice. Those under prohibition and deprived of the right to approach the Holy Chalice could not participate in the liturgy. “Kiss each other with the holy kiss, and those of you who cannot partake of this divine sacrament, let them go out the door” - the exclamation of the Dia-

1) Interpretations. on 2nd Epistle to Corinth. Conversation 18.

kona in the Armenian liturgy. Compare the exclamation in the Coptic liturgy of St. Cyril of Alexandria “come out, you who do not partake.”

Liturgy was celebrated on Sundays.

In some parts of the Church, communion was more frequent. So St. Vasily Vel. in a letter to Caesarea, the wife of Patricius, he writes that we receive communion 4 times every week - on the Lord’s Day, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, as well as on other days, if there is a commemoration of a saint,” but “it is good and beneficial every day to partake and receive the holy body and blood of Christ.” The custom of daily communion was widespread in Rome and Spain. At the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 4th century, Great Lent was gradually established - the Holy Pentecost, which developed from the short pre-Easter fast of the first centuries. Lent is a time of repentance and contrition for sins. During the mournful days of Lent, the full liturgy - the holiday of the Christian community with its Easter cross-resurrection joy of Golgotha and the Bright Night - could not be celebrated. Believers, however, were allowed to receive communion on days of fasting. The beginning of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was made, which is a combination of Vespers and Communion. This “liturgy” speaks of the possibility of communion outside the full liturgy. This was allowed in the Ancient Church. So, for example, St. Justin Martyr notes that the Holy Gifts to·; those not present are sent through deacons 1). The ancient Church knew the keeping of the Holy Gifts at home and self-communion. They subsequently continued in monastic practice. But, of course, self-communion, like the communion of the sick, could not replace the full liturgy with its conciliar Eucharistic sacrifice and conciliar communion. Self-communion was allowed “for the sake of need,” just as participation in the offering of gifts (prosphora) and anaphora (offering of Eucharistic prayers) is now allowed without communion or a kind of “spiritual communion.”

The conciliar character of the Eucharist required the celebration of only one liturgy in each city. “Try to have one Eucharist,” wrote St. Ignatius the God-Bearer to the Philadelphians - for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup in the unity of His Blood. There is one altar, just as there is one bishop with presbytery and deacons.”

This conciliarity of the Eucharist in the Ancient Church shone and sanctified the world. Participants of the Kingdom of Christ in the Temple for the liturgy

1) Collection of ancient things. liturgy issue. 1.

God was inspired by the desire to bring love, joy and light into the world - to heal social diseases that disfigure God’s beautiful world. The entire life of a Christian, sanctified by church sacraments, flowed around the Eucharist and was sanctified by it, for all the sacraments were connected to it. Coming out of the font of revival, receiving the blessed right to call God his Father and sealed with the “seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit,” he joyfully approached the Holy Chalice for the first time. With her, those who entered into a marriage union were united in Christ, receiving a church blessing. For the sake of the Holy Chalice, sinners who so worried the church conscience endured long-term severe repentance. The gracious gifts of priesthood and anointing were given during the liturgy. Other sacred rites were also performed on it, for example, tonsure as a monk, the consecration of the world, and the waters of Holy Epiphanies.

The Eucharist is joy in the spiritual life of an individual member of the Church. She is the basis and blessed inspiration for the feat of climbing the ladder of virtues. She is “the medicine of immortality, a healing agent, so as not to die, but to live constantly in Christ Jesus.” She is the deification of the believer in Christ, his theosis. But the Eucharist also has a conciliar aspect. Participation in it is a common endeavor of all members of the Church. And if someone, for any reason, most often due to neglect of the greatest spiritual treasure - the Holy Gifts, due to neglect of his duties as a member of the Church, due to the absence or impoverishment of love for Christ and for other members of the Church, refused or evaded this conciliar work, the Church tried to heal this spiritual ulcer.

These concerns permeate the rules of councils in the post-Constantinian era. The conversion of the empire to Christianity attracted many Christians in name only to the ranks of the Church. “From a personal, purely sacrificial feat, Christianity for most people turned into a matter of public decency, and sometimes even profit” (Sergius, Metropolitan of Moscow). The spiritual tension of Christians weakened, and a careless and unworthy attitude towards the Liturgy was created. Cases of people leaving the temple after reading scriptures and preaching are becoming more frequent.

Then Christians stopped coming to the liturgy altogether.

This neglect of the Eucharist by people who “lost the strength and warmth of faith and gave themselves up to worldly affairs and concerns” (St. Proclus) prompted the Church to take decisive measures. Canon 21 of the Council of Elvira (305), canon 11 of the Council of Serdica (343), repeated by canon 80 of the Council of Trullo (692) expels the clergy and excommunicates clergy and

laity “who do not come to the Liturgy on three Sundays during three weeks.” But these measures did not have the desired impact. The decline of spiritual life continued and was expressed in avoidance of participation in the liturgy and communion. In the time of Chrysostom, some received communion once or twice a year, despite the saint’s denunciations. This practice of rare communion is also condemned by Rev. Cassian. The “daily penances for monks” attributed to Ven. Theodore Studitus 1).

Other changes in liturgical practice are taking place. The secret reading of the Eucharistic prayers is gradually being introduced. It spreads during the era of Justinian. He fights in vain against this innovation, citing Romans and 1 Cor. 14, Emperor. “We command that all bishops and presbyters should not secretly pronounce the prayers of the divine offering and holy baptism, but in a voice that would be heard by the faithful people, so that the minds of those who hear are stirred to greater remorse... It becomes prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ, our God with the Father and With the Holy Spirit, in every offering and other services, lift up loudly. Those who refuse will give an answer at the throne of God, and if we find out, we will not leave them unpunished.”

By the 8th century, the secret recitation of anaphora became a common practice.

After the introduction of the secret reading of the anaphora, the liturgy, of course, remained and could not help but remain a conciliar divine service, but the laity, as it were, was relieved of responsibility for the conciliar Eucharistic prayer and sacrifice. Apart from the initial dialogue between the liturgist and the people, the introduction to the anaphora, which dates back to the apostolic age, only individual exclamations, mostly subordinate clauses, began to reach the laity. “Singing a song of victory, crying out, calling out and saying”... “Thine from Yours, brought to You, for everyone and for everything.” “A lot about the Most Holy Most Pure.” While reading the anaphora, the people listen to the singing of “Worthy and Righteous”... “Holy, Holy”, “We sing to You”, “It is Worthy to Eat” or the worthy man. The singing of the choir divided the liturgist and the people and increased the passivity of the latter. When

1) Rule 41. If someone did not receive communion on the day of the liturgy, he must indicate the reason, and if he does not indicate, then he must fast until the evening, making 50 bows,

62. A monk or layman who is not under penance and, through his own negligence, has not taken communion for forty days, must be excommunicated from the Church for (one) year. Creations of Rev. Our Father and Confessor Theodore the Studite in Russian translation. St. Petersburg. 1908, vol. II, pp. 848, 850, 852.

When the iconostasis appeared, the practice of reading the anaphora with the royal doors closed was gradually established, with the exception of the bishop's service 1.

The introduction of the secret recitation of the anaphora contributed to a further weakening of Eucharistic piety and life. The greatest prayer of the Church - the Eucharistic, which in ancient times many knew by heart, began to be forgotten by the laity. Most laity do not feel the heartbeat of the Church, as it is heard in the anaphora, in which all the prayers of the Church “for everyone and for everything” are merged. Anaphoras of the liturgies, and between them the prayer of St. Basil the Great, amaze with the scope of the worldwide cosmic prayer, into which the thanksgivings and petitions of certain members of the Church flow, the depth and power of the gracious love of the Church, the accuracy and plasticity of dogmatic formulas. This hymn of conciliar prayer does not reach the ears and consciousness of believers. For many, the understanding of the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist and the consciousness of responsible participation in the offering of the anaphora have been lost, although prosphora and the submission of notes for the living and the dead testify to this side of the Eucharistic common cause. It is with regret that we note the insufficiently attentive attitude of the laity to proskomedia and its sacrificial and propitiatory character. Rarely are any lay people present in the church during the proskomedia, and if they are present, they listen to the reading of the hours. On Mount Athos, during the hours, at the appropriate moment, a bell rings, and the monks begin to read the memorials, their own and the monastery’s. Many people praying in the temple during the anaphora pray with their own independent, rather than congregational prayer, thank God for their joys, bring their sorrows to Him and ask Him for help in their needs. The assembly of believers, unfortunately, does not recognize itself as like-minded and united before the paten, at which the entire Church and the world surround the Head - Christ. In the attitude of the laity to the Eucharist and the liturgy, there is an element of conciliar, social decay, which is aggravated by the sin of rare communion. This is complicity in social sin, the sin of dislike for one’s neighbor.

Ending in the next issue.

B. Sove.

1) The curtain in front of the Creed is opened for the duration of the Eucharistic Prayer. The Royal Doors, which perform the same function as the veil (namely, they are intended to close the altar for the time when the curtain is drawn, which replaces the ancient veil of the ciborium), remains closed. In Greek temples, the royal doors are low and under the chest. Our large, high royal doors appeared for the first time in the 16th century during the renovation of the Metropolitan. Makariy Novgor. St. Sophia Cathedral in 1528.

The page layout of this electronic article corresponds to the original.

B. Sove

Eucharist in the ancient Church and modern practice

(Ending)

The disintegration of conciliarity in practice is also felt in the method of communion. Previously, the clergy and the people took communion together. Now the clergy take communion in the altar, with the royal doors closed and curtained. The altar at this time, according to the interpretation of the liturgists, is the Upper Room of Zion, from which the laity are excluded. During the communion of the clergy, the choir sings the canon - the communicant, who in the Ancient Church sang the people receiving communion. For example, “Receive the Body of Christ, taste the immortal source.” “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Subsequently, the tribute began to vary by day and holiday. Now it “is sung in order to support the pious mood of those present and occupy their attention at this time” (communion of clergy) 1). This is the explanation of the Russian liturgist

1) For example, Bishop Vissarion. Interpretation of the Divine Liturgy. Ed. 4. St. Petersburg. 1895, p. 263.

testifies to the decline of Eucharistic piety, since in the Ancient Church there was no need to occupy the believers when they stood before the Eucharistic Christ. The decline of Eucharistic piety is indicated by the sermon often delivered after the sacramental verse; its place in the Ancient Church was after the reading of Holy Scripture, or the singing of a “concert” or stichera, irmos of the canons, the content of which is very often very far from the experienced moment when Christ reigns on the throne , and the faithful participate in the messianic kingdom - the image and anticipation of the “unevening day of the Kingdom of Christ.”

For many, the liturgy has lost the meaning of the main divine service - the joy of the church community, which prepared for it through participation in all the divine services of the daily circle. For many church members, enchanted by the beauty of the biblical elements of worship and the poetry of the great spiritual hymnographers of the church, the liturgy takes a back seat to the all-night vigil. The liturgy has acquired additional sequences - abbreviations of Matins - prayers and memorial services, which in the minds of believers often obscure the sacrificial and propitiatory nature of the Eucharist,

Communion is combined with fasting and the sacrament of repentance. This is a great spiritual truth. “Let a 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 to condemn himself, without considering the body of the Lord” (I Cor. 10:28-29). The cry “Teaching of the 12 Apostles” - “if anyone is holy, let him begin; if not, then let him repent” - sounds in all liturgies. "Holy of Holies." Chrysostom, expressing an ardent desire for his flock to approach the holy Mysteries as often as possible, demands communion “with a clear conscience, with a pure heart, with an impeccable life,” “in the greatest unanimity and with fiery love, with trembling and in all purity.” A Christian, on the day of his spiritual rebirth and sealing with the seal of the Holy Spirit, is called to a life in which he would have the opportunity, albeit with a deep consciousness of his sinfulness and unworthiness, to approach the Holy Spirit as often as possible “with the fear of God and love”, with sacred trepidation. . Cup and participate in the prayers of the holy offering.

The ancient Church protected the holiness of the Eucharist and excommunicated obvious sinners from the holy Chalice for a long time, sometimes until death. Subsequently, a harsh charter

penitential discipline was weakened due to the general decline in the spiritual life of Christians. The emerging monasticism has a huge impact on the lives of the laity. In monasteries, the liturgy was celebrated once or twice a week, and the rest of the time was spent preparing for the sacrament and the feat of purifying the heart through great ascetic “sweats and labors.” In monasteries, the needs of an intense spiritual life created the practice of almost daily confession in two forms: senile and sacramental. There is a close connection between communion and confession.

The new practice from the monasteries was transferred to the laity, with the only difference that the laity began to take communion less and less often, finding an excuse to excuse their spiritual negligence and sin in the need for special preparation, forgetting the call of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, addressed to the enlightened: “do not reject yourself from communion; do not deprive yourself of these sacred and spiritual secrets for the sake of sinful defilement.” The words of the Venerable were also forgotten. John Cassian the Roman: “We should not be excluded from the Lord’s communion because we recognize ourselves as sinners. But we must rush to him with even more and more thirst for the healing of the soul and the purification of the spirit, but with such humility of spirit and faith that, considering ourselves unworthy of receiving such grace, we desire more healing for our wounds, Otherwise, even one year one cannot receive communion with dignity, as some do when living in monasteries; the dignity, sanctification and beneficialness of the heavenly mysteries are valued in such a way that they think that only saints and immaculate people should receive them, but it would be better to think that these sacraments, by communicating grace, make us pure and holy . They truly express more pride than humility, as it seems to them; because when they accept them, they consider themselves worthy of accepting them. It would be much more correct if we, with that humility of heart by which we believe and confess, that we can never worthily touch St. Secrets, on every Sunday we took them to heal our ailments, rather than, having exalted ourselves with the vain conviction of our hearts, to believe that after a year we are worthy of accepting them.”

Gradually, the practice of receiving communion once a year, preceded by fasting, became established. Many members of the Church do not fulfill this minimum requirement and do not receive communion for several years. The church authorities in Byzantium and Russia have repeatedly noted this with sorrow.

initial phenomenon, I tried to heal it, but, unfortunately, not always with spiritually permissible and expedient measures, especially when other motives were mixed in. We will not dwell on the spiritually reprehensible legislative and administrative measures taken in Russia in the 18th-19th centuries to oblige every Orthodox Christian to annual confession and communion (registration of confessors, fines and punishments). The sacraments were a weapon for the government to combat schism. Naturally, Art. 20 of the “Charter on the Prevention and Suppression of Crimes”, of course, had a huge negative meaning, hardening hearts against the Church, creating mass phenomena of blasphemous attitude towards the Church Sacraments.

Rare communion is observed not only in the Russian Church, but also in other parts of the Universal Church, for example, in the Balkans.

Unfortunately, the practice of rare communion has turned out to be elevated to almost the level of a canonical “rule” for many. “Excessive and already unhealthy suspiciousness has developed, timidity, which sometimes goes too far and often drives members of the Church away from communion for many years” (Metropolitan Sergius).

However, in the Orthodox Church there are some trends emerging aimed at revitalizing the conciliar eucharistic life of the Church, like the powerful Western liturgical movement, which is growing and expanding, with the goal of returning the Mass to its conciliar character by attracting the entire community to participate in it.

The Eucharistic zeal of the great prayer book and shepherd Fr. John of Kronstadt.

Communion is becoming more frequent. This is noticeable in Soviet Russia, where the special conditions of life of the Church created for believers an atmosphere of spiritual tension that excludes lukewarmness. Of particular interest is the practice of the late professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archpriest. T. Nalimov, who called on his spiritual children to receive communion as often as possible and replaced confession before each communion with a weekly spiritual conversation, which gave him the opportunity to observe and guide spiritual children.

The thought involuntarily turns to the practice of the Ancient Church, to the clearly expressed conciliar character of its liturgy, dimmed by human neglect of the great gifts of grace and joy given to believers in Christ in the Upper Room of Zion at the Last Supper and the Great

day of Pentecost, and from a weakening consciousness of the responsibility of all members of the Church for participation in the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice and congregational communion, responsibility for the fate of the Church and the architecture of the Kingdom of God in the world. I remember the warning of St. John Chrysostom, “so that we do not entrust everything to the priests alone, but also take care of the whole Church, as if it were a body common to all of us. This will also serve to strengthen us and motivate us to greater success (in virtue). In the Church we should live as in one house, as members of one body, everyone should be disposed towards each other... Our present state is worthy of tears. They were so far separated from each other, while they should have represented one body.”

Awareness through experience of the feat of prayer of the joyful and responsible duty accepted in the sacrament of anointing, conciliar participation in the liturgy, both in sacrifice and in communion, will be the path that will create spiritual uplift and bring gracious inspiration to the aspirations of Christians aimed at ecclesiastical life and culture, to the revelation of the Kingdom of God in a world severely suffering from the ulcers of social evil and sin. This consciousness and spiritual experience of the Eucharistic prayer will make it possible, quite naturally, with the conciliar voice of the Holy Church, to return to those features of the ancient liturgies that have faded due to the spiritual negligence of Christians. This return in no way means, of course, a rejection of the great spiritual treasure accumulated in the Church over the centuries, the blanket of prayerful inspiration and achievement. To refuse it would be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, who lives in the Church and adorns Her with his gifts.

And the fiery words of the Eucharistic prayers, unfortunately, do not reach the consciousness of the laity, shining like never-setting luminaries.

“Unite us all from the One Bread and the Cup of Communion to each other, into one Holy Spirit of Communion. . . Receive us all into Your Kingdom, sons of light and sons of the day, grant us Your peace and Your love... And grant us with one mouth and one heart to glorify and glorify Your most honorable and magnificent Name, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

B. Sove.

Washing of feet is part of Holy Communion in some Christian Churches

In some Protestant churches, before the Lord's Supper, the feet of others are washed, just as Christ washed the feet of his disciples. In Adventism this is considered obligatory.

Communities practicing this tradition also exist in Pentecostalism, Mennoniteism and Methodism. The Catholic Church also recognizes this rite. It is celebrated on Maundy Thursday at evening mass.

Its purpose is to remember the events of the Last Supper. The priest presiding over the mass washes the feet of 12 parishioners. The ritual is carried out after the sermon, before the start of the Eucharistic Liturgy.

In the Orthodox Church, the Rite of Washing the Feet accompanies the Eucharist, although it is not obligatory.

In the Orthodox Church, the Rite of Foot Washing is performed on Maundy Thursday by the bishop, who washes the feet of 12 priests (or monks). In the practice of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century, the ritual became obsolete (it was performed only in certain dioceses).

In 2009, for the first time in the modern history of the Russian Orthodox Church, the rite was performed by Patriarch Kirill at the end of the liturgy in the Epiphany Cathedral.

In the Russian Orthodox Church they receive communion monthly

In the Orthodox Church, it is traditional to note the sacramental significance not of the “institutional words,” but of the epiclesis that follows them. This corresponds to the structure of the Byzantine Eucharistic canon.

Orthodox Christians can receive communion after the sacrament of baptism has been performed on them, which is combined with confirmation. As a result, according to different traditions, the sacrament is celebrated either on the 8th day after birth or on the 40th day after birth.

In the Russian Orthodox Church, communion is celebrated either on the 8th or 40th day after birth.

In the event that there is a threat to the life of the baby, his baptism is performed instantly. Communion of infants traditionally occurs only under the guise of wine (“Blood of Christ”), which is associated with fears that the child may spit out the consecrated bread.

For this same reason, infants do not receive communion at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

The fact is that communion occurs only with consecrated bread (“Body of Christ”), soaked in consecrated wine (“Blood of Christ”). Adults take communion in Orthodoxy with bread and wine, symbols of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Confession before communion. In most Christian churches, Communion is preceded by special preparation, such as confession. Photo: upload.wikimedia.org

In the Russian Orthodox tradition, communion for adults is preceded by preparation, including a special prayer rule, fasting, and preliminary confession. There is currently no consensus on how often an Orthodox Christian should receive communion. So during the Synodal period they rarely received communion. Nowadays, the Russian Orthodox Church recommends that adults receive communion monthly, and infants weekly.

In addition, some theologians criticize the practice of frequent communion, since only repentance and prayer can save and give Eternal Life, and not frequent reception of the Holy Gifts. At the same time, Righteous John of Kronstadt, on the contrary, welcomed such a practice.

Origin.

Also on the topic:
PREPRESENCE

According to the gospels (Mark 14:22-25 and parallel passages in other gospels), the ritual meals that Jesus shared with his disciples took on new meaning at the Last Supper, when Jesus declared that the bread and wine over which he had said a prayer of thanksgiving, the essence is his Body and Blood, sacrificed “for many.” The Church continued to carry out the “breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42), seeing in it the sacrament of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ (1 Cor 10:17), the proclamation of the death of the Lord (1 Cor 11:26) and the source of eternal life in Christ (John 6 :53-58).

In the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is the remembrance of Holy Easter

In the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is considered a sacrament. It is “the source and summit of all Christian life.” In the Catholic Mass, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, made once on the cross, is repeated in every Mass.

For the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is the remembrance of Christ's Easter, the actualization and sacramental offering of His one sacrifice in the liturgy of the Church, which is His Body. Eucharistic prayers in Catholicism are called anamnesis, or remembrance.

Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church. Only at the Second Vatican Council was it allowed to give communion to the laity under two types. Photo: upload.wikimedia.org

The only ministers who can celebrate the Eucharist and consecrate the sacrament are ordained priests acting in the person of Christ. The Catholic Church teaches that Christ is actually present under every aspect in every part of the Blessed Sacrament.

That is why it is believed that by communing both under one type (Bread only) and under two types (Bread and Wine), a person communes with Christ in all its fullness.

The fact is that about wine He said “this is my blood”, and about bread “this is my flesh”. In the Middle Ages, the laity received communion under one type, and the clergy under two. As a result, this gave rise to several reformist religious movements, most famously the Hussites.

The Second Vatican Council allowed the laity to receive communion under two types.

Only in the 20th century, the Constitution of the Second Vatican Council (1962 - 1965) Sacrosanctum Concilium allowed communion under two types for the laity.

In modern liturgical practice of the Catholic Church, both methods of communion for the laity are used, depending on the decision of the local Conference of Catholic Bishops and the conditions for the celebration of the Eucharist.

First communion in the Latin rite is traditionally celebrated between the ages of 7 and 12 and is celebrated with special solemnity. According to the Catholic Church, the Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of consecration and continues as long as the Eucharistic species (bread and wine consecrated) exist.

Monstration, a vessel for displaying the Holy Gifts during worship. In the Catholic Church there is a tradition of extra-liturgical veneration of the Holy Gifts. Photo: upload.wikimedia.org

In Catholicism, there are a number of non-liturgical types of veneration of the Holy Gifts, into which bread and wine are transubstantiated in the Eucharist. One of them is adoration - the display of the Holy Gifts in a special type of monstrance (monstrance) for worship and prayer in front of them.

According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, the Eucharist can only be received by those who are in a state of grace, that is, without any mortal sin. If a person has committed it, then initially he must undergo the sacrament of remission of sins, and only when the remission of sins occurs can he accept the Blood of Christ and His body.

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About Holy Communion

Many have heard that in church believers and baptized people partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. Children under 7 years of age receive communion without confession; adults usually confess before communion. Communion is one of the seven Sacraments of the Church. One of the most important. It is necessary to prepare for Communion. First of all, make peace with everyone, ask - everyone knows who - for forgiveness. If possible, pray and fast. Spiritually, prayerfully, tune in internally, awaiting communion as the great joy of communion and union with Christ.

At a special moment in a church service - mass, liturgy - shortly before its end, its most important, most solemn moment comes. The Royal Doors of the iconostasis open and with the words “Come with the fear of God and faith!” The Chalice containing the Body and Blood of our God and Savior Jesus Christ is taken out. The priest reads the prayer: “Lord, I believe and confess that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the living God...”

People approach the Chalice, the priest gives Communion with a spoon. We must remember that this is Communion. You should not tell children: “Father gives me honey.” Perhaps only for tiny children. And so children should be told the truth from very early childhood, teaching them that they approach God Himself and unite with Him. We should go towards Christ, who is coming to us.

So what do they “give”? What are they teaching believers? What's in the Chalice? As we see and feel when eating - bread and wine. Let's write it with a capital letter: Bread and Wine. Why with a capital letter and why are they given? The fact is that this is not only Bread and Wine, but something much more. This is the true Body and true Blood of our Lord and Savior, the Son of God Jesus Christ.

This is our Orthodox understanding. Bread and Wine, being and remaining Bread and Wine, become the Body and Blood of the Lord God. God wants it that way. In this way He brings people as close as possible to Himself. How can it be? Of course, only in a way incomprehensible to us, supernaturally. Let us not be afraid of this word. If we are looking for God, religion, then we will have to deal with the supernatural in the future. If we reject it in advance, then we are doomed to remain unbelievers and irreligious all our lives. And we are unlikely to be able to understand believers.

The transformation of Bread and Wine was accomplished by Jesus Christ. He is the founder and subject of the Christian faith, relatively speaking, religion. We strive to be as close to Him as possible. We partake of His Body and Blood, as He commanded us.

What is it for? For our salvation. For our happiness. For the highest happiness and for the fulfillment of your calling. Why was man created? Why does it exist? Not for “just like that” and not for simple vegetation. For something else. For something higher. In order to serve God and ultimately come to Him. In order to get as close to Him as possible. In order to connect with Him as much as possible. Of course, to the extent that it is accessible to a person. And for maximum union with God there is eating. Eating the Body and Blood of the Lord, physically accepting God. This makes it clearer and more tangible to us. Therefore, God chose precisely this way of connecting with Him. Christ comes into us, we receive Him. Christ Himself created this way of connecting with Him.

The custom of eating God as a way to connect with God is very ancient. It existed among many pagan peoples. After all, they also had a share of religious truth. Suffice it to remember our usual Russian pancake for Maslenitsa. After all, this is an image of the sun - the sun god. It was necessary to bake this image and eat it. Thus, man accepted God into himself. Of course, the analogy here is very relative. But the prototype is there. Christ used images and customs that people understood. Our Church has Christianized many pagan customs. They were understandable to the people of that time.

We, of course, connect with God in a different sense. We are not pagans, we are Christians. We believe in one god, not many. We testify to the world that the Son of God - the true God - came into the world. He became a human being among us people. And he left us the sacrament of communion, the sacrament of union with Him through bread and wine. As we see, our faith in Christ is not a spiritualistic religion. She stands firmly on the ground. A person eats earthly, material goods - bread and wine. But it is in them that God dwells, calling us to Himself.

Two thousand years ago a new religion appeared, more than a religion, faith in God who became Man to save people. This religion established man's relationship with God differently. And this is its special value.

Christ established the sacrament of communion on Maundy Thursday, the day before his death, three days before the Resurrection. He established this sacrament at the Last Supper, that is, during his farewell dinner with his disciples. Christ and His apostles-disciples were present. Location: "Zion's Upper Room", room in Jerusalem.

World artists have devoted a lot of work to depicting the Last Supper. There are many icons and paintings on this topic. One of the famous ones was written by Leonardo da Vinci. There is one inaccuracy in it, everyone is sitting at the table. Apparently, according to local custom, the students were in a reclining position. Church texts say that the disciples “reclined.” That's not the point, of course.

At this supper, Christ performed the local custom of blessing the Cup, and here - what is even more important! - He blessed the bread and wine, and commanded the disciples to do the same in “His remembrance.” At the same time, He spoke the words that we find in the Gospels. Priests have been repeating these words, remembering Christ, for 2000 years at every liturgy. We call them the establishing words of Christ. With these words, Christ established this sacrament of the Church, the sacrament of Communion. These are the words:

Take, eat, this is My Body, which was broken for you for the remission of sins. This means: Take and eat. This is My Body, which is refracted for you.

Drink everything from her. This is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. This means: Drink everything from this Cup. This is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many.

These words, with slight differences, are placed in the Gospels and in the Second Chapter of the First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. The editions are different, the meaning of words and sentences is identical. We have given the text according to our accepted Liturgy of John Chrysostom. Thus, the text is ecclesiastical.

Since ancient times, Christians have gathered together to pray, read Scripture, and “break bread.” So they continued the Last Supper of Christ. So they introduced the practice of celebrating our today’s – already very ancient – Liturgy-Lunch. This service is performed in the morning.

When you come to church and attend the Liturgy on Sunday or Feast Day, everything is interesting and joyful: the reading, the singing, the sermon, the candles, and the sisters and brothers praying around you. But the main meaning of the presence of believers at the Liturgy is the communion of the Holy Mysteries. In the ancient Church, everyone received communion at every service. First we pray, then we listen to the Holy Scriptures and the sermon. Then “I Believe” is read or sung. Soon after this we will hear familiar words. “Take, eat, this is My Body” and “Drink from it, all of you.” Let's continue praying. Then... the solemn moment comes. The curtain and the Royal Doors open, and to the cry of the deacon: “Come with the fear of God and faith!” The Chalice is brought out. It is brought out for the communion of believers. Christ comes to the people to save people, to bring them closer to Himself, to give them access to His Kingdom. Believers, crossing their arms on their chests, approach the Chalice. The priest reads a prayer:

I believe, Lord, and confess that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners, from them I am the first, the first. I also believe that this is Your most pure Body, and this is Your most pure Blood. I pray to You: have mercy on me, and forgive me my sins, voluntary and involuntary, in word, in deed, in knowledge and ignorance. And make me worthy to partake of Your most pure Mysteries without condemnation, for the remission of sins and eternal life. Amen.

Thy secret supper this day, O Son of God, receive me as a partaker: I will not tell the secret to Thy enemies, neither will I give Thee a kiss like Judas, but like a thief I will confess Thee: remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.

May it not be for judgment or condemnation that I receive the communion of Your holy mysteries, O Lord, but for the healing of soul and body.

You should keep your hands on your chest and not cross yourself at this moment, so that, God forbid, you don’t push the Chalice. You should approach one by one, without crowding, again, so as not to push the Cup. Spoon the Holy Gifts with reverence. This is great joy! Then the deacon sexton wipes the lips of the communicant with a special handkerchief so that no drop of the Blood of the Lord remains on them. You should kiss the Cup and step aside, giving space to others. Receive and eat a piece of prosphora and wash down Communion from the ladle with water or wine - as is customary where.

Holy Communion is also called the Eucharist. In Greek it means thanksgiving. At the Last Supper, at a meeting with his disciples, Christ performed the rite of thanksgiving. “He took the Cup, blessed, gave thanks...” Christ gave praise and thanksgiving to God the Father. The Eucharist is the Church itself.

Only where the Holy Mysteries are communed is the Church. Only such a gathering of Christians can be called a Church. Outside the Church there is no Eucharist. And a Church that does not give Communion to believers is not a Church.

Let us emphasize once again: you need to prepare for Holy Communion. Make peace with everyone, ask for forgiveness, confess - as necessary - try to drive out bad thoughts from yourself. There are prayers before Communion. They are useful to read or listen to in church. After receiving St. During the sacrament, one should thank God for this great joy. There are prayers of thanksgiving, they should also be read or listened to.

Try not to sin after this, keep Christ within yourself for as long as possible. At the end of the service, go into the world and bring Christ to the world, to other people, do good, give alms, give peace to the world.

In Russia, after Peter the Great, the custom of taking communion once a year came into being. Why? Yes, because there were people who had not received communion for years. For this purpose, Peter the Great issued a decree: all government officials are required to take communion every year. People decided: once a year is enough. Of course, this is the minimum. It is advisable to take communion more often. The more often the better. And every fast, and on major holidays, and on ordinary Sundays. In the 20th century, there was a revival of more frequent communion. In the ancient Church, among the early Christians, everyone received communion every Sunday, at every service. This was the purpose of the Sunday church meeting: to pray together and break bread. Otherwise: take communion all together, from a single (one) Chalice. In the Chalice there is salvation. She leads us to God, she leads us to God's Kingdom. It is not for nothing that the Fathers of the Church called Communion the medicine of immortality. This means future, eternal life - life with God. Here we come to a Mystery that is incomprehensible to our human mind.

In our Christianity everything is divine-human. Jesus Christ is both God and Man, the God-man, the Bible is God-human. It was written by people under God's inspiration. Likewise, the Church is God-human. There is something pure, holy, divine about her. And there is the lower, human, sometimes sinful, earthly. So is Communion. It contains earthly things: Bread and Wine. And there is also the divine, super-earthly: the Body and Blood of Christ. One and the other are inseparable, just as the two natures in Christ are inseparable: divine and human. We eat Bread, drink Wine, but at the same time we taste, we accept God into ourselves - not only spiritually, but also completely physically. It’s clearer, more tangible. Therefore, God was pleased to establish such a way of communicating with Him.

Let us explain two more concepts: antidor and prosphora. Prosphora means offering. Believers bring their sacrifice to the temple. In fact, they are baked at the temple, where they can be purchased. At the prosphora, the priest performs the service. From the first, largest prosphora, he prepares Communion, cuts out Bread, the future Body of Christ. But you can present the prosphora to the altar with a note - the names of your loved ones, for whom we ask the priest to pray. Prosphora looks like a bun, baked from white flour, without salt. Part of the prosphora is then cut and placed on a plate, especially parts of those prosphoras that have been in the altar, for commemoration. This bread is distributed to the communicants after communion, and then to everyone at the end of the service. It's called antidor. Means; instead of gifts, to strengthen all those who pray.

Remembrance. Before starting the main service - the Liturgy, mass, the priest prays for a long time in the altar at the left table - the altar. He remembers. This means: he prays for the living and for the dead, taking particles out of the prosphora and placing them on a round metal plate - a paten. The priest has his own prosphora, and he commemorates whoever he sees fit. In addition, everyone can purchase a prosphora from the headman, from the candle box and submit it to the altar along with a note on which we can write the names of our family and friends, everyone for whom we would like to pray. The priest remembers them too, reading their names with prayer, and takes out particles from the prosphora, placing them on the paten. They lie on the paten throughout the liturgy next to the Lamb, that is, the largest, main prosphora, from which Communion will later be made - the Body of the Lord. At the end of the liturgy, after the Communion of the faithful, the priest lowers and pours all these memorial particles - small pieces, crumbs - into the Chalice, that is, into the Wine, into the Blood of the Lord, with the words: “Wash away, Lord, the sins of all those remembered here, with Your Blood Honest, through the prayers of Your saints." The sins of people are washed away by the Blood of Christ. The saints of the Church atone for these sins. We can take note of this with tears of gratitude to Christ and His saints, with whom our Church is adorned.

The most important thing: in the sacrament of Communion we unite with Christ, with God. But by partaking of the same Body and the same Blood of our Savior, by partaking of the same Chalice, we thereby unite with each other. We are more aware that we are children of one Father, God, and that we are all brothers and sisters. Therefore: we should all love each other, live in peace, brotherhood and love. That is why! We have a serious religious basis for these “slogans”!

Let's imagine a circle. At its center is Christ. And we are all on the outskirts, on the circle. If we all begin to move closer in radius to the center - to Christ - then we will draw closer to each other in this way. Benefit to people, community of people, community of humanity, unity of humanity. Call it what you want. But in our Church of Christ this is achieved through communion of the Sacraments of the Church, mutual, joint prayer, even rituals. And they are common to everyone, and they unite us.

They say: believers willingly take communion before death in order to make their transition to another life easier. On this basis, many other believers believe that it is possible not to receive communion at all. After all, death is still far away. When the hour of death comes, then you can ask the priest to come and give communion. It is true that communion at the hour of death is especially valuable as a guide to eternal life. A person goes to God, wants to accept and meet Him on the way. For many, receiving communion in a terrible hour is consolation and encouragement. It often happens that after receiving communion a person, at least temporarily, generally feels better. The interaction of God's help and spiritual strength, the spiritual uplift of man. God bless!

But it is not true that one must wait until the hour of death to receive communion. First, death can occur suddenly. Do not have time. Secondly, it is unknown what the circumstances of the death will be and whether there will be a free priest nearby. And thirdly, why put it off for a long time?! Why deprive yourself of the great joy of receiving communion regularly throughout your life, of always being with God?! Church people don’t even understand this. It is natural to take advantage of the wonderful fruits that the Church offers us. Moreover, we have a wonderful example of the ancient Church, the first Christians. We need to take an example from them in our time, and not from the vicious practice of recent centuries, the practice of “abstinence” from the Holy Gifts. Communion is not a sign of death, but of life. Life with God. Constant abiding with Christ is already here, in this life, already now!

The Holy Gifts, Holy Communion are kept in the Church on the Altar, in a special vessel in the form of a chapel. She is called the Tabernacle. If necessary, the priest can administer communion to those who wish without performing a service. These are the spare Holy Gifts. They are kept mainly for the sick. And for any unforeseen cases. This is the same communion as in a regular liturgy. But it is more correct to receive communion in Church during mass and liturgy, sharing joy with your brothers and sisters and participating in the fullness of the divine service. Pray, listen to Scripture, sermons and all the required prayers. The priest takes the Gifts from the Tabernacle and goes with them to the sick, infirm, who cannot come to the temple himself.

In conclusion, we present here two of the five prayers of thanksgiving that are read after the service, after receiving the Holy Mysteries. After all, it is quite natural to thank God for such a great Gift, such a great mercy.

Master Christ God, King of the ages and Creator of all, I thank Thee, for all the good things that Thou hast bestowed upon me, and for the partaking of Thy most pure and life-giving Mysteries, I pray to Thee, the Good One and the Lover of Mankind: keep me under Thy roof and in the shadow of Thy wing, and grant me with a clear conscience, even until my last breath, to worthily partake of Your Holy Things for the remission of sins and eternal life. For You are the Animal Bread, the Source of holiness, the Giver of good things: and to You we send up glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Thy holy Body, Lord Jesus Christ our God, be unto me eternal life, and Thy venerable Blood for the remission of sins: may this thanksgiving be to me joy, health and gladness: at Thy terrible and second coming make me a sinner vouchsafed to the right hand of glory Yours, through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother and all the saints.

Let us approach the Holy Mysteries with faith and love! God will open the gates of His Abode for us! Believe me, we will all always feel good with Him!

Catechetical conversations of Rev. were used. Georgy Sidorenko