Preparation for communion consists of physical, spiritual and prayerful preparation:
A brief scheme of preparation: fasting for three to seven days - the night before, attending a service in a church - a house of prayer - in the morning for confession - and at the end of the service, receiving communion.
Fast from 3 to 7 days (judge by your condition: someone can only do three days, and someone can do all seven). Usually those who rarely receive communion and skip fasts fast for 7 days. Those who take communion regularly fast for 3 days. Fasting means physical and spiritual fasting. This means: do not eat food of animal origin, do not participate in drinking and celebrations, spend your days more calmly, without fuss, take water more often, do not have relationships with your husband or wife, do not smoke, think more about sins and God. At the moment of communion, be in feminine purity.
How to behave near the Chalice of Communion?
This story happened not so long ago in one of the churches in St. Petersburg. During the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, during the communion of the laity, the attention of the worshipers was attracted by a small blond boy standing near the altar. He looked attentively at the participants and from time to time burst into ringing childish laughter. They pulled him back, tried to reason with him, but in vain. With the end of communion, the boy’s unusual behavior also stopped.
The extremely surprised parents began to ask why he was laughing, and this is what they heard in response.
“When I looked at the people approaching the Bowl, I suddenly saw a white dove flying up to some of them. As soon as the uncle or aunt opens his mouth to swallow the Gifts, the dove pecks Them from the spoon and flies away. They don’t see this dove, they close their mouths and walk away, thinking that they received communion, but in fact they only held an empty spoon. This made me very funny.”
To an unbeliever, this child’s story may seem like fiction, but the Orthodox heart cannot help but shudder with trepidation, having understood the meaning of the vision sent by God to the child. In fact, isn’t it scary to realize that the Lord does not allow many of us to receive communion, because we approach the Holy Chalice in an unworthy, unprepared state.
“Whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment on himself”
(1 Cor. 11:29) - the Apostle Paul admonishes us. The Charter has long defined requirements, the fulfillment of which helps the communicants worthily receive the Holy Gifts. This includes fasting from 1 to 7 days, abstaining from marital intimacy during this time, reading many prayers, and attending divine services - for everyone according to his strength and spiritual experience. It is obligatory to confess before Communion.
But now everything is done. The liturgy ends, and the communicant is ready to unite with Christ. The Royal Doors open.
“Draw near with the fear of God and faith...”
- proclaims the deacon. Faith and fear of God - this is what should be imprinted in the heart of everyone who approaches the Chalice. This is no place for talk and fuss. But in practice...
Who among us has not witnessed a crush in front of the Holy Chalice! People push others away, try to achieve the Holy Gifts as early as possible, and do not heed the admonitions of the priest. But unworthy behavior in front of the Chalice can in the blink of an eye undo all the painstaking work of fasting. Then the invisible dove will not allow us to access the Holy Gifts, and we will not gain eternal life in the sacrament, but condemnation and God’s punishment.
To prevent this from happening, each communicant needs to know well and follow the rules of approach to the Holy Chalice that the Church has established. Here they are:
Before the Chalice one must bow to the ground. If there are many communicants, then in order not to disturb others, you need to bow in advance. The bow is made not in front of the Chalice itself, but to the side;
When the Royal Doors open, you must cross yourself and fold your arms crosswise on your chest, your right hand on top of your left, and with this folding of your arms you must receive communion; you need to move away from the Chalice without releasing your hands;
You must approach from the right side of the temple, and leave the left free;
The altar servers receive communion first, then the monks, the children, and only then everyone else. You need to give way to your neighbors, and under no circumstances push;
Women need to wipe off their lipstick before Communion;
Approaching the Bowl, say your name loudly and clearly. Accept the Holy Gifts and immediately swallow them, and kiss the lower edge of the Chalice like the rib of Christ;
You cannot touch the Chalice with your hands and kiss the priest’s hand;
It is forbidden to be baptized at the Chalice! Raising your hand to make the sign of the cross, you can accidentally push the priest and spill the Holy Gifts;
Having gone to the table with a drink, you need to eat the antidor and drink the warmth. Only after this can you venerate the icons and talk;
If the Holy Gifts are given from several Cups, They can only be received from one. Taking communion twice a day is a terrible sin;
On the day of Communion, it is not customary to kneel, with the exception of bowing before the Shroud of Christ on Holy Saturday and kneeling prayers on the day of the Holy Trinity;
Arriving home, you should first of all read the prayers of thanksgiving for Holy Communion; if they are read in church at the end of the service, you should listen to the prayers there.
Basics of Orthodoxy
The evening before communion
Preparation for confession takes place the evening after the service. It is important to concentrate, remember, realize and write down all your sins on a piece of paper. If you have any difficulties understanding sins, you can read the relevant literature or familiarize yourself with the main sins and their definitions on our website. You need to remember not only the sins that you commit every day, but also those that you committed earlier and have not yet confessed; this could be, for example, the fact that at school you teased or offended someone, or stole, and so on.
Communion in the Orthodox Church
The day before His feat of the cross, on Maundy Thursday at the Last Supper, Jesus Christ first revealed the sacrament of communion to the disciples. This is how the Gospel of Mark tells about it: “And while they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and 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). But this was not just a meal, for the first time the Lord showed us, His children, the opportunity to unite with Him not only on a spiritual, but also on a material level.
The term “sacrament” perhaps most fully characterizes the sacrament, since no one - neither theologians, nor priests, nor scientists - is still able to explain how bread baked by people and ordinary red wine are transformed into the Flesh and Blood of God. For us earthly people, this remains a mystery.
Before bedtime
An hour and a half before the usual rhythm of going to bed, we open the prayer book (this is a book with a collection of prayers) and begin to read, but not just read, but pray, trying to understand the meaning of what is being read and said - of course, at first it may be difficult, I understand you perfectly. It’s good if the priest showed you in advance how and in what rhythm the prayer is read, and in what rhythm the canon is read. When a Christian understands these nuances, it will not be so difficult and dreary for him to pray. And later, when the text and method of reading are known, the canons will simply fly by with great spiritual joy.
How to prepare for Holy Communion
Preparation for Communion
- spiritual work (spiritual exercises) undertaken by a Christian (under the guidance of a priest, confessor), aimed at achieving a special spiritual and moral state for the sake of “worthy” participation in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
You must prepare yourself for the Sacrament of Holy Communion through prayer and repentance. In addition, it is very important to remember that preparation for Communion should not only be the fulfillment of certain instructions, but our entire life, built on Gospel principles. It is necessary not only to comply with disciplinary regulations, but to thirst for Christ, with all the strength of the soul to desire union with Him.
Home and church prayer
There is home and church prayer. Anyone who wishes to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ must prayerfully prepare himself for this: pray more and more diligently at home, attend church services.
On the eve of communion, it is customary to attend evening church services.
For prayer preparation for Holy Communion on the eve of communion, you need to read:
— Follow-up to Holy Communion. It is in the Orthodox prayer book.
There is, in addition, a pious tradition (but not an obligation) of reading three canons and an akathist before receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ:
After communion, be sure to read prayers of thanksgiving
After communion, with joy and sincere gratitude to God, we read the prayers “Thanksgiving for Holy Communion.” We do not spit or eat seeds or pistachios for the next 2 hours, so as not to accidentally spit out a piece of the tasted gifts. We try to spend the day without fuss, curses, in order to preserve the sanctifying power of Divine Grace.
PS I do not recommend that beginners prepare for Communion for the first time on major Church holidays, as you need to devote a lot of time. Therefore, please come, my dears, on weekdays or ordinary days, when there are not so many people.
How to take communion correctly?
The essence of Communion is communion with Christ through the acceptance of bread and wine, symbolizing, respectively, the body and blood of Christ. This is one of the main Christian rituals. You can find out more about it in the article What is a sacrament.
It is very important to know how to properly receive communion in church. You can start by reading the rules for Holy Communion to better understand everything, or read the basic rules here. Any baptized Orthodox Christian can receive Communion.
Preparation for Communion
- Before communion, it is necessary to observe strict fasting, which means that you cannot eat not only meat and fish, but also eggs and dairy products. Marital intimacy should also be avoided. It is advisable not to watch films and television programs, not to listen to the radio and not to read fiction and entertainment literature.
- Before communion, you should pay special attention to prayer. In addition to morning and evening prayers, be sure to find time during the day. In your free time, read spiritual literature. It is advisable to attend Divine Services.
- Before communion, you must confess, so you should find out in advance when confession takes place in the church where you are going to receive communion. But one should remember one’s sins not only during confession, but also at all other times. And not only remember, but also sincerely repent of them, and if possible, then correct them (ask for forgiveness, help others). The meaning of confession is not so much to atone for the sins of the past, but rather to not sin in the present, and next time in a similar situation to do the right thing, kindly. You can also read about confession and communion in the article How to properly confess and receive communion.
- Under no circumstances should you receive communion while in mortal sin and without repenting of it - this is considered an even greater sin and only makes it worse.
Now let's look at the communion itself, the rules necessary to observe during the ritual:
- When the royal doors open, the priest and deacon come out to the pulpit with a chalice and bow to the ground.
- Communion takes place in turns. In the beginning are the clergy, after them the monks, and then the laity: children, men, and then women.
- You need to approach the pulpit from the right side.
- Cross yourself and, folding your hands in a cross on your chest, with your right hand on top, and approaching the priest, say the name received at baptism.
- The priest, reading a prayer, will use a spoon to serve sacred gifts that need to be eaten.
- The deacon wipes the lips of the communicant, after which the communicant, without touching his hands, kisses the edge of the cup.
- After this, they go to the table with a drink, eat a piece of prosphora and wash it down with red wine. After which you can venerate the icon.
- Only after this can you start talking.
- At the end of the liturgy, believers venerate the cross and read prayers of thanksgiving for Holy Communion.
Small children can be given communion immediately after baptism; they are carried into the pulpit to the priest in their arms. And they hold it on the right hand while the child receives the holy gifts.
If a believer cannot come to communion himself due to illness, then the priest can give him communion in the hospital or at home.
Holy gifts can only be received once per ritual, even if communion is given from several cups.
If you still have questions, you can read the article How to take communion in church.
If you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you (John 6:53)
What is Communion? Why is It so vital for Christians?
These questions are asked by everyone who is just beginning to join the Christian world, and it is very important to find the answer to them, so that at the very beginning of this path, communion does not become a simple formality for show.
Communion of the Holy Mysteries is a sacrament established by the Lord Himself for our spiritual salvation and inclusion in eternal life. On the eve of His suffering and death, Jesus took bread at supper and, blessing it, broke it and, giving it to the disciples, said: Take, eat: this is My Body. And, taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said: drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
(Matt. 26, 26-28).
According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, every Christian during Communion in a mysterious way, incomprehensible to our minds, is united with Christ, since every particle of Communion contains the whole of Christ. In his conversation with the Jews, the Savior said: He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him, or I am the bread of life.
(Gospel of John, chapter 6) In this case, the Lord did not mean earthly life, but eternal life, life after death. That is why, the one who partakes of the Holy Mysteries of the Lord has hope of salvation, hope of resurrection on his last day.
There are several rules that must be observed by those preparing for this Holy Sacrament. You cannot begin Communion without first purifying yourself through repentance in confession to a priest (for more details, see the Confession section), for which fasting prepares us, helping us overcome spiritual lethargy. Without confession, no one, except infants under 7 years of age, can be admitted to Holy Communion. Those who wish to worthily receive communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ must prayerfully prepare themselves for this in 2-3 days: pray more and more diligently at home in the morning and evening, attend divine services. Before the day of Communion, you must be at the evening service. At home, read the canons: repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ, prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos, Guardian Angel, and also the Follow-up to Holy Communion. Fast for 2-3 days, abstaining from eating meat, eggs, milk and dairy products, and during strict fasting, from fish. The rest of your food should be kept in moderation. Smokers and drinkers should completely stop smoking and drinking alcohol during these days. You must come to Communion strictly on an empty stomach. Not only should you not eat food, but you should also not drink water. The exception is children under 6-7 years old.
Why do you need to take communion?
Have you ever fallen in love with someone who is very far away? If yes, you understand well how strong in such a situation is the desire to be close to your loved one at all costs, to touch him, to talk not only through online messages, but, as they say, live. This is exactly how a soul that loves God longs to be with him not only in the future, in Heaven, but already now, in earthly life.
Some people believe that to live a righteous life, it is enough just to do good deeds and pray. But this is far from true. We must never forget that hundreds of evil spirits are invisibly swarming around, instilling in us completely unrighteous thoughts. And sometimes we even stop noticing that we are sinning, believing that we live “like everyone else.” Demons cling like burrs, and the further you go, the more of them there are. They push some to despondency and depression, they turn others away from God and the Church, and now the person stops thinking about his soul. It is very hard for such a soul, overgrown with demons, it groans and cries, and sometimes a person cannot even understand why he is so bitter, why family life is not going well and nothing makes him happy. And even good deeds and prayers help very little, because moral guidelines are blurred, because without God’s help it is not always possible to distinguish good from evil. Gradually, this state of affairs becomes familiar.
It is difficult to convey in words the feeling that a person experiences after receiving communion - perhaps the first in his life. There is suddenly peace in the soul, and the body seems so light, as if suddenly rejuvenated. I want to sing in unison with the choir and smile at everyone I meet. And then, after communion, he is not at all drawn to past carnal pleasures, but spiritual themes, on the contrary, attract more and more. God’s will begins to be felt in life - many events acquire patterns and meaning, and in what seemed just a series of troubles, spiritual benefit suddenly opens up.
