The Sacrament of Communion or Eucharist is one of the most important Christian Sacraments, on a par with Baptism or Confirmation, which every Orthodox Christian must perform. Usually Communion is celebrated after each service on Sunday, but only those who went to confession on Saturday can take communion. Before and after the breaking of bread, prayers of thanksgiving are read.
Texts of prayers after communion
Words of gratitude to God are the ideal start to the day in Orthodoxy. Phrases can be very short: “Thank you, Lord!” It is no coincidence that the main section of the liturgy is called “Eucharist” - translated from Greek as “thanksgiving”. When a person understands the interpretation of the word “Thank you!” addressed to the Almighty, he moves to a new level of religion.
What is the meaning of the words of thanks after communion?
- The main prayer appeals to the Heavenly Father with gratitude that he helps people despite their mistakes.
- The following from Saint Basil contains reverence for the gift of unshakable faith, purity of soul, clarity of thoughts.
- The third prayer is for protection from sin, the fear of the fire of the Lord.
- The shortest one reveals the meaning of a person’s life.
- The final one is addressed to the Mother of God with the hope of the eternal love of the Almighty.
Main
I thank you, Lord, my God, for you have not rejected me as a sinner, but have made me worthy to be a partaker of your holy things. I thank You, for You have vouchsafed me, who is unworthy, to partake of Your Most Pure and Heavenly Gifts. But the Lord, the Lover of Mankind, for our sake, died and rose again, and granted us this terrible and life-giving Sacrament for the benefit and sanctification of our souls and bodies, grant this to me for the healing of soul and body, for the driving away of all that is resistant, for the enlightenment of the eyes of my heart , into the peace of my spiritual strength, into unashamed faith, into unfeigned love, into the fulfillment of wisdom, into the observance of Thy commandments, into the application of Thy Divine grace and the appropriation of Thy Kingdom; Yes, we preserve them in Your shrine, I always remember Your grace, and I live not for myself, but for You, our Master and Benefactor; and thus having gone from this life to the hope of the eternal life, I will achieve everlasting peace, where those who celebrate the unceasing voice and endless sweetness, who behold the ineffable kindness of Your face. For You are the true desire and the inexpressible joy of those who love You, Christ our God, and all creation sings to You forever. Amen.
Saint Basil the Great
Master Christ God, King of the ages, and Creator of all, I thank Thee for all the good things He has given me, and for the communion of Thy most pure and life-giving Mysteries. I pray to Thee, O Kinder and 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 living bread, the source of holiness, the Giver of good things, and we send up glory to You, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Simeon Metaphrastus
Having given me flesh by Your will, fire and scorch the unworthy, do not scorch me, my Creator; rather, go into my mouth, into all my parts, into my womb, into my heart. The thorns of all my sins fell. Cleanse your soul, sanctify your thoughts. Confirm the compositions with the bones together. Enlighten the simple five of feelings. Fill me with Thy fear. Cover me always, keep me, and save me from every deed and word of the soul. Cleanse and wash and adorn me; Fertilize, enlighten, and enlighten me. Show me Your village of the one Spirit, and not to anyone the village of sin. Yes, like Your house, the entrance of communion, like fire, every evildoer, every passion flees from me. I offer prayer books to You, all the saints, the orders of the disembodied, Your Forerunner, the wise Apostles, and to this Your undefiled, pure Mother, graciously accept their prayers, my Christ, and make Your servant a son of light. For You are the sanctification and the only one of ours, the Good One, of souls and lordship; and like unto You, like God and the Master, we send all glory every day.
Short
Glory to You, God. Glory to You, God. Glory to You, God.
To the Blessed Virgin Mary
Most Holy Lady Theotokos, light of my darkened soul, hope, protection, refuge, consolation, joy, I thank Thee, for Thou hast vouchsafed me, unworthy, to be a partaker of the Most Pure Body and Honest Blood of Thy Son. But She who gave birth to the true Light, enlighten my intelligent eyes of the heart; You who gave birth to the Source of immortality, revive me, killed by sin; Even the merciful Mother of God, have mercy on me, and give me tenderness and contrition in my heart, and humility in my thoughts, and appeal in the captivity of my thoughts; and grant me, until my last breath, to receive consecration of the most pure Mysteries without condemnation, for the healing of soul and body. And give me tears of repentance and confession, to sing and praise Thee all the days of my life, for Thou art blessed and glorified forever. Amen. Now do You let Your servant go, O Master, according to Your word, in peace: for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people, a light for the revelation of tongues and the glory of Your people Israel. Trisagion. Holy Trinity... Our Father...
The role of holy communion in the life of an Orthodox Christian
Holy Communion is a sacrament during which a Christian believer partakes of Christ's body and blood under the guise of bread and wine. Communion gives the Orthodox the opportunity to mysteriously merge with Jesus and thus get closer to eternal life.
Communion is very important for a religious person, since Jesus Christ himself established it during the Last Supper with 12 of his disciples - the apostles - the day before he accepted suffering for humanity.
First, He took, blessed, and divided the bread among the apostles, saying that it was His body, then He did the same with the wine—His blood. In addition, the Son of God gave his disciples (and through them, all believers) the commandment that the sacrament of communion should be celebrated from now on forever - in memory of His torment, death and resurrection.
Every Orthodox Christian must take communion in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven after his earthly existence and receive eternal life. Without communion, a person will not be able to achieve perfection in spiritual life. God's grace, which the believer will receive during the process of confession and communion, will awaken his soul and body, have a healing effect, strengthen his faith and reduce his vulnerability to sinful passions.
Troparion and kontakion
Troparion of St. John Chrysostom, tone 8
With your lips, like the lordship of fire, grace shining forth, enlighten the universe: do not gain the love of money and the treasures of the world, showing us the height of humility of mind, but chastising with your words, Father John Chrysostom, pray to the Word of Christ God to save our souls
Kontakion, tone 3
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The subordinate appeared to you as the Chief shepherd of Christ, the monks of the succession, Father Gregory, instructing the heavenly fence, and from there you taught the flock of Christ with His commandment: now you rejoice with them, and rejoice in the heavenly roofs.
And now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Kontakion, tone 4
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Thou hast appeared as an unshakable foundation to the Church, giving to all the unstealthy dominion of man, sealing with thy commandments, the unappearing Saint Basil.
And now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
How to receive the holy mysteries?
The Holy Gifts are received in a strict queue. The first to receive communion are the clergy and people who have any connection with the divine service, then it is the turn of the elderly, women and children, the last are the men and all the remaining people. By the way, women are not allowed to come to the sacrament during menstrual bleeding, and also to paint their lips before partaking of the holy mysteries.
When approaching the bowl with gifts, you should voice your name. Having accepted the blood and body of Christ, you must kiss the edge of the cup without crossing yourself. You cannot touch the cup with your hands and kiss the hand of the clergyman.
The behavior of an Orthodox Christian on the day of communion, in order to preserve the accepted Christ in his body, must be reverent and decent.
Before Communion
You should prepare for the Sacrament in advance. At this time, it is appropriate to give up entertainment, you need to keep a fast, tune your soul to recognition. On these days, it is imperative to open your prayer book in the morning and evening, read the Holy Scriptures, visit churches, and talk with your confessor. Before communion, in addition to the usual prayers, the Canons for Holy Communion are read.
In more detail in this article, 5 basic prayers before Holy Communion.
- Morning worship.
- Prayer of St. John of Damascus.
- Repentant prayer by Rev. Isaac the Syrian.
- Canon of repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Canon of prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos.
- Canon to the Guardian Angel.
- Canon for Communion.
- Follow-up to Holy Communion.
- Evening worship.
The above-mentioned texts have long been translated from Church Slavonic into the familiar Russian language, which makes it possible to explain the chants even to children.
When can I listen to thanksgiving prayers for communion online?
In the modern world, everyone is constantly in a hurry and fussing somewhere. Sometimes there is no time to raise your head to the sky - people are trying to make money and survive.
Even believers have to set aside precious moments for calm, sincere prayer. Therefore, online prayers have spread. They are pleasant to listen to, they are recorded in good quality. Poems of gratitude after Communion are recorded in audio format and are actively used on the Internet. They are presented on church websites absolutely free of charge.
The priests themselves do not welcome online prayer after Communion - after all, believers must attend church.
Questions for the priest
Question: Does it make sense to read a prayer in Church Slavonic? I have the interpreted text. Will I be violating the rules of prayer if I do not use the classic version?
Answer: In general, it is desirable that parishioners know Church Slavonic speech at least a little. But reading the interpreted text is permitted
It doesn't matter what words you use to pray. Sometimes a simple thank you is enough
But prayers help you get into the right mood. Therefore, for many years they are not abandoned and are preserved in their original form.
Question: Is it worth learning prayers by heart?
Answer: This skill will be useful if you don't have a written version at hand. But when memorizing a prayer, try to understand its meaning as deeply as possible. Simply chanting words will not help you reach the Supreme. This is the speech of the flesh. Prayers are used to allow the soul to speak to God. Only in this case will the believer be heard.
Question: How often should you thank God?
Answer: As often as possible. The world in which we live is one great act of the Lord. His gift to us for the time of atonement for sins. Every day different events occur, each of which involves the Creator. Ideally, gratitude should be expressed every day.
History of the sacrament
In those troubled times, faith was prohibited, and people who preached Christianity were lawbreakers. The rulers tried with all their might to have the pagan faith recognized as the only true one. This is due to the fact that the worship of pagan gods presupposed complete obedience to the monarch. As a rule, the rulers of the country were not distinguished by their mercy; many hated him, but they did not dare to overthrow him, fearing punishment to the gods.
The Christian faith preached opposing ideals, so the emperors, accustomed to committing atrocities, did not want to recognize it. After Christ was crucified, the disciples continued to praise and serve him while facing serious difficulties that were not related to government persecution. They were worried that they could not find a way to honor the teacher who had passed on, because:
- public speaking was banned;
- it was forbidden to build churches;
- there could be no question of any publication of Christian religious literature;
- It was extremely difficult to preserve any writings.
It was then that the disciples, remembering the words spoken by the teacher at the Last Supper, began to honor him with holy communion. Gradually, priests learned about this tradition and, despite the ban, continued to glorify Christ. However, they could not hold services in the church, since the ruler’s soldiers kept a close watch on everyone who was suspected of serving Jesus.
The priests performed the sacrament under the cover of darkness, which reliably protected them from the eyes of enemies. Even while in custody, the arrested priests did not stop receiving communion, demonstrating how strong their faith was.
