How to take communion in church: the meaning and rules of the sacred rite

“It’s better for you not to take communion today…” Such penance imposed by a priest is often perceived as an undeserved punishment. What are the reasons for not allowing a person to take communion? Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky, Rector of the Assumption Church in the city of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, Dean of the Churches of the Krasnogorsk District of the Moscow Diocese, answers.

The most dangerous thing is formalism

Father Konstantin, sometimes priests do not allow communion because a person has fasted not for three days, but for two. Some refuse to take communion during Bright Week or at Christmas time, because at this time the parishioners do not fast. On the other hand, there is an opinion that fasting before communion is not necessary at all - according to the church calendar in a year, and so about half of the fast days.
- Breaking the fast in itself does not refer to such grave sins and conditions in which a person should be prohibited from partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Church rules, including those about fasting, are a gift from the Church to her children, and not a burden that one has to bear with anguish so that the priest does not scold. If a person, for some reason beyond his control, is not able to use the gift of the Church, this is a subject for patience and humility. If, due to frivolity, or partiality, or forgetfulness, a person has violated the rule given by the Church, this is a reason for repentance, but not yet for a ban. I advise all violators of fasting and other similar church regulations not to excommunicate themselves from communion arbitrarily, but to come to the service and bring the matter to the decision of the confessor. And decisions may be different, but they should never be formal. The task of the priest is not to observe the rule, but to bring benefit to a person, or at least not harm. It happens that a person is so distracted and gorged himself (even with lenten food) on the eve of communion that he himself feels the need to postpone communion. Well, let him put it off, fast, and then take communion. And it happens that someone, out of forgetfulness, put sour cream in the soup. I don't think strictness is appropriate in such cases.

As for fasting before communion, I think it should not be abolished altogether, but the severity and duration of fasting should be appropriate to the situation: different people in different circumstances should be given different advice. It is one thing when a person, for some reason, takes communion once a year, and quite another thing when on all Sundays and holidays. Both health and lifestyle habits matter. For some, the rejection of meat and dairy is a real feat, but for some, sunflower oil in potatoes is an indulgence to gluttony.

The worst thing about fasting is formalism. Some demand scrupulous observance of what they read in the Typicon, others demand the abolition of strict rules. But in fact, let the rules remain as a norm, a guideline, and how and to what extent to apply them, let the priest decide in each specific case especially, praying for a person, driven by love for him and a desire to help him on the path of salvation.
As for communion on Bright Week and on the Holy Days after Christmas, then, of course, if a liturgy is served in the Church, then it is possible to receive communion. How about a post? For those who ask me, I advise you to eat all kinds of food these days, but do not overeat. But I don't want to impose anything on anyone; the worst thing, I think, in this area is the disputes over the letter. If someone wants to eat greens for Easter, there is nothing wrong with that, just don’t be proud of it and don’t condemn those who eat differently. And let those who do not fast strictly, do not consider the fasters backward and unspiritual.

Let me give you an extensive quote from the Apostle Paul: “... Some people are sure that they can eat everything, but the weak eat vegetables. Who eats, do not humiliate the one who does not eat; and whoever does not eat, do not condemn him who eats, because God has accepted him. Who are you, condemning someone else's slave? Before his Lord he stands or falls. And he will be raised, for God is mighty to raise him up. One distinguishes day from day, and another judges every day equally. Everyone act according to the assurance of his mind. He who distinguishes the days distinguishes for the Lord; and whoever does not distinguish the days does not distinguish for the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, does not eat for the Lord, and gives thanks to God. ... And what are you judging your brother? Or are you also, that you humiliate your brother? We will all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. ... Let us no longer judge each other, but rather judge how not to give a brother a chance to stumbling or temptation. I know and am confident in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; only to him who considers something unclean, it is unclean to him. But if your brother is grieved over food, then you no longer act out of love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. … For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:2-6, 10, 13-15, 17).

The grounds for prohibiting communion for a longer or shorter period can only be either a serious sin (fornication, murder, theft, witchcraft, denial of Christ, obvious heresy, etc.), or a moral state that is completely incompatible with communion (for example, refusal to reconcile with repentant offender).

Legalization of non-churchness

In the nineties, many priests did not allow people living in an unmarried marriage to receive communion. Patriarch Alexy II pointed out the inadmissibility of this. But what about those living in a so-called civil marriage? Formally, fornication, but in fact it can not always be called such.
- Indeed, the late Patriarch Alexy II pointed out the inadmissibility of excommunicating people from communion only on the grounds that they live in an unmarried marriage. Of course, pious Orthodox Christians will not begin married life without a church blessing, which in our time is just taught in the sacrament of marriage. But there are many cases when unbaptized people entered into a legal marriage, have children, love each other, and remain faithful. And so, let's say, the wife believed in Christ and was baptized, but the husband has not yet. What to do? Is their marriage now turned into fornication and must be destroyed? Of course not. Yes, the apostle Paul writes about this: “If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she agrees to live with him, then he should not leave her; and a wife who has an unbelieving husband, and he agrees to live with her, must not leave him ”(1 Cor. 7: 12-13). Surely the fulfillment of the apostolic instruction should entail a prohibition in church communion? Moreover, in the first centuries of Christianity, church weddings did not exist at all. Christians entered into marriage with the knowledge of the bishop, but according to the laws of the country, and then, together with the whole community, they partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, this was the church recognition of their marriage. The ecclesiastical ceremony of marriage took shape gradually over the course of several centuries and became obligatory everywhere for Christians entering into marriage only at the end of the first millennium.

Regarding "civil marriage", let's clarify the terminology. A civil marriage (without any quotation marks) is a marriage concluded according to the customs and laws of the people or state, to which the husband and wife belong. It is no accident that I use here the various terms "custom" and "law," "people" and "state" together, in their own right, because at different times and in different places the legality of marriage can be determined in different ways. How to treat people who live in a family way, but who have not legally formalized their relationship in any way? Can they be allowed to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ? In the vast majority of cases, such cohabitation is unacceptable from a church point of view, and people must either enter into a legal marriage, or part with their cohabitants, and only then receive permission for sins in the sacrament of confession and be accepted into church fellowship. But there are difficult situations when a lawless family was created by non-church people and children were born to them. Here is an example from life: people have been living as spouses for many years, consider themselves husband and wife, but the marriage has not been registered. They have three children. About two years ago, the wife believed in Christ and came to the Church, she was told that the marriage must be registered. She agrees, tries to persuade her husband, but he refuses, says that all his friends who have signed are already divorced, but he does not want to get divorced. Of course, I don’t agree with him, that is, I think that I need to sign, but he doesn’t come to me for advice. And his wife can't convince him. She goes to church, takes the children to communion (her husband even helps her with this), the children study with us in Sunday school. Really, in this situation, it would be necessary to forbid this woman to take communion or demand from her to destroy the family, even if it was unregistered? The rule requiring Christians to enter into marriages in accordance with state laws is wise and should, of course, be observed. But we must not forget that although the law is higher than lawlessness, love is still higher than the law.

For some serious sins (murder, practicing the occult), excommunication from communion is expected for almost 20 years. Nobody canceled these rules, but today they are practically not applied.
- It seems to me that today many years of penance cannot fulfill its functions - healing the soul, reconciling it with God. In Byzantium it was possible. All the people there lived the church life, and the one who committed a serious sin remained a member of the community that was gathered around the Church. Just imagine: everyone goes to the service, and he remains on the porch. He doesn’t go to the movies and he doesn’t lie on the sofa by the TV, but he stands on the porch and prays! After a while, he begins to enter the temple, but cannot receive communion. All these years of penance, he prayerfully repents, realizing his unworthiness. And what will happen today if we excommunicate a person from communion for five years? Not a member of the community, but most likely someone who came to confession for the first time in his life at the age of 40-50-60. As he did not go to church before, so now he will not. Moreover, “legally,” he will say: the priest did not allow me to take communion, so I am lying at home, drinking beer, and when the period of penance has passed, I will go to take communion. It will be so, only not everyone will live to see the end of the penance, and of those who live, many will forget about God. That is, today, in modern conditions, imposing many years of penance on a person who first came to the temple, we essentially legalize his non-churchhood. Meaning? After all, a person who is in mortal sin and does not want to repent, change his life, and so cannot receive communion until repentance. If he has changed, laments about what he has done, I believe that even with the most serious sins, if it is forbidden for him to take communion, then not for long, especially for those who came for the first time.

The attitude towards church people should be more strict. Fortunately, church people do not often fall into grave mortal sins, but I remember a case when a regular parishioner who had been going to church for many years had an abortion and took communion. Here penance was appropriate, and the woman did not grumble when she was appointed to her, a man has a conscience. But when a pensioner comes, whom her grandmother took to communion as a child, then she became a pioneer, a Komsomol member, lost her way, had an abortion, and 40 years later she thought about God, what kind of penance can there be? And even if an abortion was recently performed, but by a non-church woman who walked the ways of this world, and now she believed and repented, I also do not think that penance should be imposed on her. By the way, I note that a priest can impose even small penances only with the consent of the penitent himself. Only the ecclesiastical court itself and the ruling bishop have the right to ecclesiastical court. As for long-term penances, this is all the more not within the competence of the parish priest.

How often, in your opinion, should a layman take communion? Is it possible to take communion every day at Christmas time or Bright Week?
- It is absolutely normal when the whole community gathers on a Sunday or other holiday for a liturgy and everyone partakes of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. True, this norm is forgotten by most of us. And daily communion was just not the norm, because the liturgy was not served every day. But since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, church customs have changed, and not only because of the lack of spirituality among parishioners and clergy, there are also factors that do not depend on specific people. Now, I think, it is impossible to introduce or even recommend general rules for all.
There are people who recognize themselves as Orthodox, who do not fall into serious mortal sins, who, however, take communion only three or four times a year and do not feel the need for more. I do not think that they should be forced or even persuaded to take communion more often. Although, as far as possible, I try to explain to all Christians the meaning and salvation of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood.

If an Orthodox person takes communion on all Sundays and holidays, this is natural for a Christian. If for some reason it does not work out, let it be as it turns out. Once a month, it seems to me, every person can get out to the temple for communion, but if this is not possible, what can you do. The Lord welcomes the intention. Only it is not necessary to consider communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ a feat! If so, then it is better not to take communion at all. The Body and Blood of Christ is not our feat, but the grace of God. But if someone wants to take communion several times in a row during the Bright Week, not in the order of achievement, but in simplicity, then what's wrong with that? If a person is not hindered by anything, I usually do not mind. But in order to constantly take communion every day, there must be serious reasons. In and of itself, this has never been a church norm. Here St. Theophan the Recluse in the last years of his life took communion every day. Let everyone look at what really incites him to extraordinarily frequent communion: the grace of God or his own vain fantasies. It is also good to consult with a confessor.
Confessors themselves must approach human souls with great caution. I remember once I had to confess to an old woman (I was still a novice priest at that time), she said that she did not want to, but she took communion every day. "How so?" I asked. She replied that her spiritual father told her so. I tried to dissuade the old woman from such an absurd, in my opinion, feat, but the authority of the spiritual father prevailed. I don't know how it ended.

About the Sacrament of Communion

(Luke 22:19).

15.6. Who can partake?

–

About the Sacrament of Communion

15.1. What does communion mean?

– In this Sacrament, under the guise of bread and wine, an Orthodox Christian partakes of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and through this is mysteriously united with Him, becoming a partaker of eternal life, for in every particle of the crushed lamb the Whole Christ is contained. The comprehension of this Mystery surpasses the human mind.

This Sacrament is called the Eucharist, which means "thanksgiving".

15.2. Who established the Sacrament of Communion?

– The Sacrament of Communion was established by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

15.3. How and why did Jesus Christ establish the Sacrament of Communion?

– This Holy Sacrament was instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ at the Last Supper with the Apostles on the eve of His sufferings. He took bread into His pure hands, blessed it, broke it and divided it among His disciples, saying: “Take, eat: this is my body» (Matthew 26:26). Then he took a cup of wine, blessed it and, giving it to the disciples, said: “Drink from it all, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”(Matthew 26:27,28). At the same time, the Savior gave the commandment to the apostles, and in their person and to all believers, to perform this Sacrament until the end of the world in remembrance of His suffering, death and Resurrection for the closest connection of believers with Him. He said: "Do this in remembrance of me"(Luke 22:19).

15.4. Why should you take communion?

– To enter the Kingdom of Heaven and have eternal life. It is impossible to achieve perfection in spiritual life without frequent Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

The grace of God acting in the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion enlivens the soul and body, heals them, tangibly acts in such a way that a Christian person becomes sensitive to his sins and infirmities, does not easily succumb to sinful deeds and is strengthened in the truths of faith. Faith, the Church and all its institutions become native, close to the heart.

15.5. Is repentance alone sufficient for cleansing from sin, without Communion?

– Repentance cleanses the soul from the defilements, and Communion fills with God's grace and prevents the return of the evil spirit, expelled by repentance, into the soul.

15.6. Who can partake?

– All baptized Orthodox Christians can and should receive communion after the necessary preparation for this by fasting, prayers and confession.

15.7. How to prepare for Communion?

—Those who wish to receive communion worthily must have heartfelt repentance, humility, and a firm intention to correct themselves and begin a pious life. It takes several days to prepare for the Sacrament of Communion: to pray more and more fervently at home, to be at the evening service on the eve of the day of Communion.

Fasting is usually combined with prayer (from one to three days) - abstinence from fast food: meat, milk, butter, eggs (with strict fasting and from fish) and, in general, moderation in eating and drinking. You should be imbued with the awareness of your sinfulness and protect yourself from anger, condemnation and obscene thoughts and conversations, refuse to visit places of entertainment. The best time to spend is reading spiritual books. It is necessary to confess in the evening on the eve of the day of Communion or in the morning before the Liturgy. Before Confession, one must reconcile both with the offenders and with the offended, humbly asking everyone for forgiveness. On the eve of the day of Communion, refrain from marital relations, after midnight do not eat, drink or smoke.

15.8. What prayers should be used to prepare for Communion?

– There is a special rule for prayer preparation for Communion, which is found in Orthodox prayer books. It usually consists of reading four canons the night before: the canon of repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ, the canon of prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, the canon to the Guardian Angel, the canon from the Follow-up to Holy Communion. In the morning, prayers are read from the Follow-up to Holy Communion. In the evening it is also necessary to read prayers for a dream to come, and in the morning - morning prayers.

With the blessing of the confessor, this prayer rule before Communion can be reduced, increased, or replaced by another.

15.9. How to approach Communion?

– After singing “Our Father”, one should approach the steps of the altar and wait for the removal of the Holy Chalice. Children should be skipped ahead. Approaching the Chalice, one should fold his hands crosswise on his chest (right over left) and do not cross himself in front of the Chalice, so as not to accidentally push it.

Approaching the Cup, you should clearly pronounce your Christian name given at Baptism, open your mouth wide, reverently accept the Holy Gifts and immediately swallow. Then kiss the bottom of the Cup like the rib of Christ. You can not touch the Chalice and kiss the priest's hand. Then you should go to the table with warmth, drink Communion so that the shrine does not remain in your mouth.

15.10. How often should you take communion?

– This must be coordinated with the spiritual father, since priests bless in different ways. For people seeking to church their lives, some modern pastors recommend taking communion from one to two times a month. Other priests also bless more frequent Communion.

Usually they confess and receive Communion during all four multi-day fasts of the church year, on the Twelfth, Great and Temple holidays, on the days of their name day and birth, spouses - on the day of their wedding.

The opportunity should not be missed as often as possible to enjoy the grace bestowed by the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

15.11. Who is not eligible to receive communion?

– Not baptized in the Orthodox Church or baptized in other religious denominations, not converted to Orthodoxy,

- one who does not wear a pectoral cross,

- who received the priest's prohibition to take communion,

- women in the period of monthly cleansing.

It is impossible to receive communion for the sake of "tick", for the sake of certain quantitative norms. The Sacrament of Communion should become for an Orthodox Christian a need of the soul.

15.12. Can a pregnant woman take communion?

– It is necessary, and as often as possible, to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, preparing for Communion by repentance, confession, and prayer within your power. The Church exempts pregnant women from fasting.

The churching of a child should begin from the moment the parents learned that they would have a child. Even in the womb, the child perceives everything that happens to the mother and around her. The echoes of the outside world reach him and in them he is able to capture anxiety or peace. The child feels the mood of his mother. At this time, it is very important to participate in the Sacraments and the prayer of the parents, so that the Lord through them would work His grace on the child.

15.13. Can an Orthodox Christian take communion in any other non-Orthodox church?

– No, only in the Orthodox Church.

15.14. Is it possible to take communion on any day?

– Every day in the Church, Communion of the faithful takes place, with the exception of Great Lent, during which you can take Communion only on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

15.15. When can I take communion during the week of Great Lent?

– During Great Lent, adults can take communion on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; small children - on Saturdays and Sundays.

15.16. Why are babies not given communion at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts?

– The fact is that at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the Chalice contains only blessed wine, and the particles of the Lamb (the Bread that was changed into the Body of Christ) are soaked in advance with the Blood of Christ. Since babies, due to their physiology, cannot be communed with a particle of the Body, and there is no Blood in the Chalice, they are not communed at the Presanctified Liturgy.

15.17. Is it possible to take communion several times on the same day?

- No one should take Holy Communion twice on the same day. If the Holy Gifts are taught from several Chalices, they can only be received from one.

15.18. Is it possible to take communion after the Unction without Confession?

– Unction does not cancel Confession. At the Unction, not all sins are forgiven, but only forgotten and unconscious ones.

15.19. How to take Communion to a sick person at home?

- Relatives of the sick person must first agree with the priest on the time of Communion and on measures to prepare the sick person for this Sacrament.

15.20. How to give communion to a one-year-old child?

- If a child is not able to calmly stay in the church for the entire service, then he can be brought to the end of the Liturgy - to the beginning of the singing of the prayer "Our Father" and then take communion.

15.21. Can a child under 7 eat before Communion? Is it possible to take communion when the sick are not on an empty stomach?

—Only in exceptional cases is it permitted to take communion on an empty stomach. This issue is resolved individually in consultation with the priest. Infants under the age of 7 are allowed to take communion not on an empty stomach. Children should be taught to abstain from food and drink before Communion from an early age.

15.22. Is it possible to take communion if you have not been to the all-night vigil? Is it possible to take communion if you fasted, but did not read or did not finish reading the rule?

– Such issues are resolved only with the priest individually. If the reasons for not attending the All-Night Vigil or not fulfilling the prayer rule are valid, then the priest may allow communion. What is important is not the number of prayers read, but the disposition of the heart, living faith, repentance for sins, the intention to correct one's life.

15.23. Are we sinners worthy of frequent communion?

– "The healthy do not need a doctor, but the sick"(Luke 5:31). There is not a single person on earth who is worthy of Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and if people do receive Communion, it is only through the special mercy of God. It is the sinners, the unworthy, the weak, who need this saving source more than anyone else - like those who are sick in treatment. And those who consider themselves unworthy and distance themselves from Communion are like heretics and pagans.

With sincere repentance, God forgives a person's sins, and Communion gradually corrects his shortcomings.

At the heart of deciding how often to take communion lies the degree of preparedness of the soul, its love for the Lord, the strength of its repentance. Therefore, the Church leaves this issue to the priests and confessors to decide.

15.24. If after Communion one feels coldness, does this mean that one received communion unworthily?

– Coldness happens to those who seek consolation from Communion, and whoever considers himself unworthy, grace remains with him. However, when after Communion there is no peace and joy in the soul, one must see this as an occasion for deep humility and contrition for sins. But one should not despair and grieve: there should not be a selfish attitude towards the Sacrament.

In addition, the Sacraments are not always reflected in the senses, but act secretly.

15.25. How to behave on the day of Communion?

- The Day of Communion is a special day for the Christian soul, when it is mysteriously united with Christ. These days should be spent as great holidays, devoting them as far as possible to solitude, prayer, concentration and spiritual reading.

After Communion, you must ask the Lord to help you keep the gift worthy and not go back, that is, to your previous sins.

It is necessary to especially protect yourself in the first hours after Communion: at this time, the enemy of the human race is trying in every possible way so that a person offends the shrine, and she would stop consecrating him. A shrine can be offended by sight, a careless word, hearing, condemnation. On the day of Communion, one should eat moderately, not have fun, and behave decently.

You should keep yourself from idle talk, and in order to avoid them, you need to read the Gospel, the Jesus Prayer, akathists, and the lives of saints.

15.26. Is it possible to kiss the cross after Communion?

—After the Liturgy, all the worshipers venerate the cross: both those who received communion and those who did not.

15.27. Is it possible to kiss icons and the priest's hand after Communion, to make prostrations?

– After Communion, before drinking, you should refrain from kissing icons and the priest’s hand, but there is no such rule that those who take communion should not kiss icons or the priest’s hand that day and not bow to the ground. It is important to keep the tongue, thoughts and heart from all evil.

15.28. Is it possible to replace Communion by partaking of Epiphany water with artos (or antidoron)?

– This erroneous opinion about the possibility of replacing Communion with baptismal water with artos (or antidoron) arose, perhaps due to the fact that people who have canonical or other obstacles to Communion of the Holy Mysteries are allowed to use baptismal water with antidoron for consolation. However, this cannot be understood as an equivalent replacement. Communion cannot be replaced by anything.

15.29. Can children under 14 receive communion without Confession?

– Without Confession, only children under 7 years old can receive communion. From the age of 7, children receive communion only after Confession.

15.30. Is Communion paid?

– No, in all churches the Sacrament of Communion is always performed free of charge.

15.31. Everyone is communed with one spoon, is it possible to get sick?

“Squeamishness can only be fought with faith. There has never been a single case of someone getting infected through the Chalice: even when people take communion in hospital churches, no one ever gets sick. After the Communion of the faithful, the remaining Holy Gifts are used by the priest or deacon, but even during epidemics they do not fall ill. This is the greatest Sacrament of the Church, given, among other things, for the healing of soul and body, and the Lord does not shame the faith of Christians.

After the release of the Jews from Egyptian slavery, the Lord gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and ordered Moses to build a tabernacle from expensive materials, a kind of portable temple, one of the first schools of piety. “When Moses entered the tabernacle, then a pillar of cloud descended and stood at the entrance to the tabernacle, and [the Lord] spoke to Moses. And all the people saw a pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tabernacle; and all the people stood up, and each one worshiped at the entrance to his tent. And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex. 33:9-11).

Thus the Lord determined the place of His special presence. Later, at the command of God, the wise King Solomon built a majestic stone temple in Jerusalem. At this temple, the Most Holy Theotokos was brought up, and then our Lord Jesus Christ Himself entered this temple. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the majority of the Jews did not accept the Savior and crucified Him, the temple, like the whole city, was destroyed during the Jewish uprising in 70 AD. From this temple, only part of the wall remains, which is now called the Wailing Wall.

Now, following the example of the Temple in Jerusalem, many majestic and beautiful Christian churches have been built all over the world, and we, like the ancient Jews, believe that they have a special place for the presence of God. All our Orthodox churches are modeled on the ancient tabernacle, that is, they consist of three parts: the Holy of Holies - the altar, the main part where the people stand, and the vestibule ...

- Father, how does our Orthodox church differ from the Old Testament one?

Perhaps the most significant difference is that in an Orthodox church, unlike the Old Testament, where innocent animals were sacrificed, a bloodless sacrifice is made - the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is performed, when simple bread and wine, through the prayers of the upcoming priest and people, are transformed by the power of the grace of the Holy Spirit into the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we come to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ with faith, we invisibly unite with God Himself.

Many people on a subconscious level are drawn to the temple, they feel that the Lord is here, and they try to go in and at least light a candle and briefly pray for themselves and their loved ones, but they are limited only to this. How important is it also to participate in the Sacraments that are performed here?

If a person with tears of repentance and prayer came to the temple and limited himself only to putting a candle, then no one has the right to condemn such a person for not staying here for a longer time, not proceeding to the Sacraments. Perhaps this is his first small experience of familiarization with the spiritual life. Some time will pass, and this person will have a need to deepen their relationship with God.

But such a need may not appear! It is no secret that today, despite the abundance of necessary information, many people have no idea about the Church Sacraments, no one told them about it either in the family or at school.

Yes, now most people are baptized in the Orthodox faith, but they are not enlightened, that is, they do not have elementary knowledge about faith, and even more so about the Church Sacraments. But when a person does not participate in the sacraments of the Church, it is very difficult or, it would not be an exaggeration to say, impossible for him to resist those temptations and temptations into which worldly fuss constantly plunges him.

For people who live in the world, although they constantly step on the same rake, this is not obvious. Can you give any specific example?

For example, a person is married. At first, everything went well, there was love and harmony, but as they got to know each other more deeply, the relationship in marriage began to get upset and ended up on the verge of a complete break. What to do? In most cases, as official statistics show, such a marriage breaks up, because in a heated conflict, usually each of the parties blames the other side and there is no end to these mutual accusations. If, however, faith in God is at least a little warm in a person’s heart and he tries to constantly support and ignite it through prayer, confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, then in the light of faith he sees the cause of the conflict not in another person, but first of all in himself. and tries to do everything, to make any sacrifices and concessions, so that the conflict exhausts itself. No one can do this without faith and without participation in the Sacraments. Or take another example: someone has a very harsh and picky boss who is not easy to tolerate. And so the constant squabbles and scandals begin. If a person has faith, then he is calm, for he is not afraid of a stern boss, but of God and tries to do everything in the best way in order to please Him first of all.

However, there are many cases when people regularly go to church, go to confession, take communion, but do not become better or become even worse than they were. Why does it happen?

Perhaps the main reason for the lack of change is not the ineffectiveness of the Sacraments, but the wrong attitude towards them. Often people, approaching Communion, are looking for some special sensations and delights. It happens that they even brag to each other about their feelings after receiving the Sacrament, but at the same time they forget about its main essence. The essence of the Sacrament is not to experience delight, but to overcome oneself, one's sins and passions with God's help and become closer to the Lord and other people.

- Really after the Communion there should not be any sensations at all?

There can be only one feeling - the realization of one's unworthiness before God. This is stated in the prayer before Holy Communion: “I believe, Lord, and I confess that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who came into the world to save sinners, but from them I am the first.” Sometimes even from the feeling of their unworthiness, tears appear in the eyes of people. I know some priests and laity who never take communion without tears. But the main thing during Communion, I repeat, is not special feelings, but spiritual closeness with the Lord and with other people.

But can't Communion have a beneficial effect not only on the soul, but also on the body of a person, heal him of illnesses?

Yes, in the prayer before Communion there are the words: “Let communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ be not for judgment or condemnation, but for the healing of soul and body.” This means that Communion can also bestow bodily health. It is no coincidence that believers in the event of a serious illness, and especially before an operation, try to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Many cases are known when Communion acted beneficially, when doctors have long since lost all hope.

- Why do believers take communion from one cup and one spoon (spoon)?

The essential aspect of Communion is the unity of all people in Christ. In the ancient Christian monument Didache (the teaching of the twelve apostles), the Eucharistic prayer is given, in which there are such words: “As this broken bread was scattered over the hills and, gathered together, became one, so may Thy Church be gathered from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom, for yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever” (9:4). Through Communion, a crowd of people, where everyone worries only about themselves, turns into a Church, where all people become close and dear, ready to perceive someone else's pain as their own, other people's joys as their own. And just as everything in a family is common and people often do not disdain to eat from one dish, so during Communion we become one great family, and therefore we partake of one cup and one spoon.

How often do you need to take communion? In the 19th century, according to the Catechism of St. Philaret (Drozdov), the laity were recommended to take communion 4 times a year, that is, during the Great, Petrov, Assumption and Christmas fasts. And now we see that some people take communion at every liturgy. How to find the golden mean?

I think that in the 19th century such a recommendation - to take communion four times a year - was dictated by force, because of the impoverishment of faith and piety among part of the intelligentsia and the people. Almost all the pastors of that period testify to this in their sermons and publicistic speeches. At that time, many people completely stopped going to church and taking communion. Hence the recommendation in the Catechism: better rarely than never. But now the situation is different. Today, we priests recommend that people take communion at least once a month, and always on the Twelfth Feasts. For those who want to receive communion more often, such as seminary students, novices, monks, or people who go to church more than once a week and try to lead an active spiritual life, we do not prohibit this. On the contrary, it is joyful that in our time there are still people who, first of all, try not to please themselves, not their bliss, relaxation and passions, but God.

Now people travel a lot and end up in places where there are no Orthodox churches. Can they take communion in a Catholic or schismatic church?

It is better not to do this, because these religious meetings, although they preserve the ancient rites, have lost their essence. This is a topic for a separate discussion. The most terrible thing is that they have fallen away from the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, which we confess with the whole temple at every divine service in the Creed. And a branch on a tree that has broken off can retain its beautiful greenery and fragrance only for the time being, but later, without moisture, it completely dries up.

Participle(Greek κοινωνία (kinonia) - communion; μετάληψις - acceptance) (- from Greek Εὐχαριστία (eucharist) - thanksgiving) - in which bread and wine are changed into the true Body and true Blood of our Lord, after which the believers consume them in abandonment and into Eternal Life.

In the early Church, communion was also called koinonia, ( communication), i.e. communication of people with God and in God, i.e. stay in His and .

The Savior Himself said: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the Last Day” (). With these words, the Lord pointed out the need for all Christians to have the closest union with Him in the Sacrament of Communion.

Who can a priest not allow to receive Communion?

Those whose sins fall under the Church canons, which prohibit communion. The basis for a ban on communion for a certain period may be a serious sin (fornication, murder, theft, witchcraft, renunciation of Christ, obvious heresy, etc.), or a moral state that is completely incompatible with communion (for example, refusal to reconcile with a repentant offender ).

What is Communion?

Archpriest Evgeny Goryachev

Leading. What is Communion? Is this a Mystery? Rite? priesthood? Magic or sorcery?
Father Eugene. Good question. speaks to some extent in a language that is very understandable to all people, but - up to a certain point. After this moment, the language of conventions begins, the language is iconic, the language is sacred. The term "Communion", as well as synonyms: the Eucharist, the Holy Gifts, the Body and Blood of Christ, refer precisely to this. Returning to your question, I would say that, of course, in history, people who were not inside the ritual circle, that is, those who perceived it from the inside, being ecclesiastical, the Sacrament of the Eucharist was perceived both as a rite, and as magic, and as witchcraft . The famous novel by L.N. Tolstoy's "Resurrection" directly indicates that this is something barbaric: "They eat their God." This is something connected with paganism, with some kind of infernal antiquity, it cannot be perceived by a modern person. But, of course, he does not relate to this in the way that external people think about it, and from some time Tolstoy became external in relation to the Church, but they perceive it in the way both Holy Scripture and tradition teach about it, and the Lord, the Installer of this Sacrament Jesus Christ. I have already said this word - "sacrament". The Church perceives this as something mysterious, which we cannot fully explain, but simply share the experience of experiencing in this sacred ceremony every Christian who absorbs the Holy Gifts. In short, I would say that the Sacraments differ from other commandments of God in that they do not speak of ethics, but of mysticism. They were given to us precisely in order to make ethics real, not an abstraction, which we look at and say: "Yes, it's beautiful, yes, it's right, but I can't fulfill it." Everyone probably remembers the fresco of the Sistine Chapel "The Creation of Adam", where the Divine hand reaches out to meet the human hand. So, I would say this: the Sacraments, including Communion, were given by God so that our human weakness would receive support in the Divine fortress. God from eternity stretches out his hand in order to support the weak hand of man. And all the Church Sacraments, starting with Baptism and ending with the Wedding and Unction - they are addressed precisely to this. God supports us, including through the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Leading. What does "Body and Blood" mean? What is cannibalism?
Father Eugene. This may be perceived as such, based on the linguistic context, but if we turn to the Biblical story, we see that the One who established this Sacrament, our Lord Jesus Christ, refers listeners to the most ancient Biblical story: “Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died, the bread that I will give you will be for you into eternal life.” “Give us this bread every day,” said the Jews. “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” says the Lord Jesus Christ, “whoever eats the Body and drinks my Blood, he will have life in himself.” These terms sound: Body and Blood, but whenever we eat meat, no matter whose: pork, beef, venison, rabbit meat - we always taste dead separateness. And at the Last Supper, not the dead, but the living Christ pointed to the bread and said: "This is my body." Not the dead, but the living Christ pointed to the cup of wine and said, "This is my blood." What is the essence of the Mystery? In a way inexplicable to man, the whole living Christ was united with this bread and this wine, so we partake not of a dead separateness, but of the whole living Christ.

Leading. Yet why - Communion?
Father Eugene. Indeed, it is very interesting. Participle. We see in this word, as it were, two sides: a prefix and, in fact, the very root “part”, that is, we join something, become parts of something larger. The apostle Paul said, "Don't you know that you are bodymates with Christ?" What does it mean? In the usual order of laws, we eat so that what we eat becomes us. If a person is not very picky about the amount of food eaten, then you can track on the scales how much he recovered after he sat at the table. In the Church Sacrament, the order of regularities is directly opposite. It is not food that becomes us, but we become what we partake of. That's why we say "Communion", we become part of something bigger.

Leading. Can everyone take communion?
Father Eugene. Of course, yes, but for this it is necessary to meet several conditions. Of course, a person must be baptized, because the pass, forgive me for this image, to participation in the mystical life of the Church, the pass to the rest of the Sacraments, is precisely baptism. The Church cannot allow an unbaptized person to the Sacrament, because this would be violence against him. If he did not show his desire to be a Christian, to offer him a purely Christian pastime, spiritual mysticism, this would be a violation of his freedom. But, even if a person was baptized in childhood, but lost faith or perceives Communion as a magical rite, or he has some other motives and considerations in this regard, then the Church recalls that Communion in this case can not only ennoble and heal man, but it can be to his detriment. By the way, Judas, a participant in the Last Supper, also took communion, and it is said about him that "with this piece Satan entered him." Why? The greatest shrine, which should both ennoble, and transform, and heal, at the same time becomes for Judas a path to a worse life. Because in his heart he already carried the desire to betray the Savior. The priest, leaving with the Eucharistic chalice, always utters the same words: "Come with the fear of God and with faith." With faith that it is indeed the Body and Blood of Christ. And with fear, because one can take communion not for improvement, not for healing, but for judgment and condemnation.
As for reality, here, it seems to me, the Christian tradition was divided into two unequal camps, and Orthodoxy went in the middle between them. Protestants began to say that Communion should be perceived as a kind of symbol, behind which there is no reality, as a convention. Christ speaks of himself in the Gospel as a door, but we do not perceive him as a door. Talking about a vine, that doesn't mean He's a vine branch. So Communion is a convention and nothing more. There is another extreme, which perceives this as a naturalism of hypertrophied form: it is meat and blood. In this case, indeed, it is legitimate to speak of anthropophagy, this is cannibalism in its purest form. As I have already said, Orthodoxy chooses the middle way, which does not dare to say that it is only a symbol. It is a symbol, but behind this symbol is reality. And he does not dare to speak of naturalism, because in this case we partake of dead separateness. I repeat: the living Christ enters into a person in order to transform him, but everything depends on the state of the soul in which the person takes communion. Every person can take communion if he is baptized, but the fruits of this Communion depend on the moral component of each individual person.

Leading. If a person is baptized and believes in the truth of the Holy Gifts, is it necessary to observe any additional conditions in order to receive communion?
Father Eugene. Quite right, such conditions are necessary. If a person is baptized, and if at the same time he does not doubt that this is the Body and Blood of Christ, the Holy Gifts, nevertheless the Church requires additional preparation from him. It consists in attending worship, reading the Holy Scriptures, and finally, in fasting. Why is this needed? When we sit down at an ordinary table, at best we read a short prayer, and at worst we just cross ourselves and eat food, nothing more. But the fact is that no matter how the Holy Gifts and any other products are related in their substantial form, this is food, in the end. We still say that this is a special food, and since it is special, then our preparation for it is expressed in the fact that we tune our soul in a certain way. After all, the body and soul are very closely connected. We commune in order to get a result in the soul, but before we partake, we act on our body and on our soul so that the Holy Gifts cause the necessary echo. Not in the sense that this is some kind of magic: I subtracted so many prayers or fasted, and then the grace of the influence of the Holy Gifts will be such and such, but if I did less, there will be less. No, but because we prove to God - as, say, we prove our love to the bride, our care to the sick mother - we prove to God that we tremble before this Sacrament. We are afraid to defile the gift that God has given us with our unworthiness. Although, of course, the painful perception of the topic of unworthiness should not lead us to the area where a person, due to pseudo-piety, does not receive communion at all. I think that if you perceive Communion as a medicine, then a person, approaching the cup, keeps in his mind one simple thought: "I am not worthy, Lord, make me worthy."

Leading. How often do you need to take communion?
Father Eugene. If we talk about the church-legal side, then if a person prays, tries to fulfill the commandments, reads the Holy Scriptures, does good deeds, but does not take communion, then we are talking only about a greater or lesser degree of his falling away from church fullness. Because the Lord said, "If you do not take communion, you will not have My life in you." If we talk about the technical side of things, then it seems to me that this mood, which I mentioned, the desire to meet with God, to meet in order to fulfill the commandment and receive renewal - it should be multiplied by an internal self-disciplining attitude. Why? Because there can be addiction in this case too, if a person, figuratively speaking, steps into Communion, opening the door with his foot, then he needs to take a break. When he takes communion with trepidation and feels that this trembling has not left his soul, he can do this at least every week.

hegumen Peter (Meshcherinov):
The gospel proclaims to us the words of Christ: I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (). I am the way and the truth and the life (). The Lord, wishing to join us to Himself, to give us this “abundant life”, chose for this not some kind of mental-intellectual or aesthetic-cultural way, but the simplest, most natural way for a person – through eating.
As food enters us and dissolves in us, penetrates to the last cell of our body, so the Lord wanted to penetrate us to our very last molecule, unite with us, partake of us, so that we would partake of Him to the end.
The human mind refuses and is unable to understand the terrible depth of this action of God; verily, this is the love of Christ, which surpasses all understanding (cf.).

priest Alexander Torik:
It should be noted that in some cases, usually for the lack of faith of a priest or those praying, the Lord allows a miracle to happen - bread and wine to become real human flesh and blood (such cases are even provided for in the priestly “Misal Book” in the instruction for priests called “Teaching News”, in the emergency section).
Usually, after some time, flesh and blood again take on the form of bread and wine, but an exception is known: in Italy, in the city of Lanciano, for many centuries, Flesh and Blood with miraculous properties have been stored, into which bread and wine were put on the Divine Liturgy ().

saint († 1923):
“Communion more often and do not say that you are unworthy. If you talk like that, you will never take communion, because you will never be worthy. Do you think that there is at least one person on earth who is worthy of communion of the Holy Mysteries? No one is worthy of this, and if we do receive communion, it is only through the special mercy of God. We are not created for communion, but communion is for us. It is we, the sinners, the unworthy, the weak, who need this saving source more than anyone... I often commune you, I proceed from the idea of ​​bringing you to the Lord, so that you feel how good it is to be with Christ.”

holy righteous John of Kronstadt:
It is a disaster for the soul to not partake of the Holy Mysteries for a long time: the soul begins to stink of passions and sins, the strength of which increases as we do not come to the Sacrament of Communion for a long time.

One often hears questions: communion in the Orthodox Church - what it is, how to prepare for it, and why, in fact, it is needed. Since these questions are important and necessary, we decided to give a detailed explanation of this most important Sacrament to those who are interested in Orthodoxy and newcomers, based on Holy Scripture.

To maintain the life of the human body, nutrition is necessary: ​​food, drink; as well as treatment if he is sick. The soul of a person, as a substance of a finer organization, needs to be reinforced with a special, life-giving spiritual food. As a loving mother never leaves her child, but cares and takes care of him; Moreover, the Lord does not leave His creation, but provides for man, sends him an abundance of earthly fruits for food and nourishes His faithful children with the most precious, immortal and incorruptible Food: by Himself - by His Most Pure Body and Blood, taught to us in the sacrament of Communion.

Communion is a sacrament in which an Orthodox Christian, under the guise of bread and wine, partakes (takes communion) of the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and eternal life.

Through Communion, a person is most closely united with Christ, becomes a partaker of Christ for the renewal and strengthening of the spiritual and physical powers of a person and the inheritance of eternal life by him.

The Lord tells us about the sacrament of Communion :

“I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died; The bread that comes down from heaven is such that whoever eats it will not die. I am the Living Bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; The bread that I will give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (Gospel of John, ch.6, st.:48-51). “Jesus said to them: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not have life in you. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. For My true Flesh is Drinking. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.” (Gospel of John: ch.6, st.:53-56).

Why you need to take communion

So, we see that in order to unite with God and have eternal life, we need to take communion. If a person has blood poisoning, then the only way to save his life is a transfusion of healthy blood. It is the same with the human soul, infected with sin, the only way to save it is the “transfusion” of healthy Blood, which only Christ Himself has. And, as the holy fathers of the church said, after partaking of Communion, "The blood of Christ flows in our veins," "we become co-corporeal with Christ." After all, a diseased and destroyed organ in the human body is replaced by a transplant with a healthy one so that a person can live on.

So in the spiritual sense, the Body of Christ replaces with Itself the part of the human soul that is sick with passions and ulcers, nourishes it and gives life: “Because we are members of His Body, from His Flesh and from His Bones” (Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians: Ch. .5, art.30). Through Holy Communion, the Lord Himself enters into a person with His Most Pure Flesh, grants him peace, cleansing from sins, joy from the close presence of the Lord. In the sacrament of Communion, a Christian partakes of the “source of the immortal”, gains the ability to spiritually improve, to be one of the participants in a blessed and immortal life, which, for a person who reverently partakes of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, begins already here on earth, and is a guarantee of his resurrection and eternal life.

History of the Eucharist

The Sacrament of Communion is also called the Eucharist, which in Greek means "thanksgiving". The service at which the sacrament of Communion is performed is called the Liturgy (it is performed in the morning, and sometimes at night), which means "public service." The Holy Eucharist (the Sacrament of Communion) in the Orthodox Church is the "Sacrament of Sacraments", the heart of the Church, its basis and foundation, because without it the existence of the Church itself is inconceivable.

The sacrament of the Eucharist was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself at His last supper with His disciples, the Last Supper, on the eve of the Savior's Passion on the Cross.

He Himself performed this Sacrament: “And while they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, broke it, and giving it to the disciples, said: Take, eat: this is My body. And taking the Cup and thanking (God the Father for His mercy to the human race), gave it to them (the disciples) and said: drink from it all; for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Gospel of Matthew: ch.26, st.26-28)

The Holy Evangelist Luke supplements the narrative of the Evangelist Matthew - teaching the Holy Bread to the disciples, the Lord said to them: "... Do this in remembrance of Me." (Gospel of Luke: 22, st.: 19-20); the same is said in the Gospel of Mark: ch.14, st.22-24, in the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians: ch.11, st.:23-26.

After the Resurrection of the Savior, the disciples of Christ gathered on the “day of the sun” (now this day is called Sunday and in the church, as before, it is the first day of the week (week)) to “break bread”. Initially, it was a meal during which the reading of the Holy Scriptures was carried out, the singing of psalms, a sermon was said, and prayer was carried out. Sometimes the meal lasted all night.

Gradually (with the passage of time, the communities expanded), the Eucharist was transformed from supper into a divine service, which in our modern church also begins in the evening: the evening divine service is the first part of the Sunday (or festive) divine service, and the morning Liturgy is its second part, during during which the holy sacrament of the Eucharist is actually celebrated.

How often do you need to take communion?

The first Christians took communion every Sunday. In our time, unfortunately, not many people can approach this Sacrament so often for various reasons. On average, communion is recommended at least once a month. Well, or at least at least - every post, of which there are four in a calendar year, which means at least four times a year. But at least once a year is, so to speak, the “very minimum”.

Some people rarely take the sacrament of Communion, considering themselves unworthy of this holy Sacrament, for others, communion has generally turned into a formality: a tradition, “for show”, well, or something like that, when people without proper preparation, awareness of the great Holy and feelings of reverence, or in general, running past, “run in” to take communion.

Actually, a person is not completely worthy in view of the sinfulness of his nature of this great Sacrament, since all people are sinners, and the Eucharist was given to us by the Lord for this, in order to make us purer in heart and soul and, accordingly, more worthy of this Divine gift. Based on the foregoing, it is better to decide how often to take communion individually with your confessor or with the priest with whom the person confesses, based on his spiritual age (level).

How to prepare for the sacrament of Communion?

The Holy Fathers of the Church emphasized that those approaching this holy sacrament should be ready to meet Christ Himself - how could it be otherwise, because we partake of the Body and Blood of the Lord Himself!

Preparation for communion should not be limited only to reading some prayers and abstaining from any food - first of all, readiness for communion is due to purity of conscience, the absence of enmity against neighbors or resentment against anyone, peace in relations with people: “If you you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift ”(Heb. Matt., : ch.5, st.23-24). An obstacle to communion is grave sins committed by a person, in which it is necessary to repent at confession.

Before receiving the Holy Mysteries, an Orthodox Christian tries to gather himself spiritually and concentrate. You need to prepare yourself for Communion by fasting, which consists in fasting, prayer, doing good deeds (which, however, a Christian must always do, because “faith without works is dead”). Before communion, a Christian must clear his conscience, and for this, according to the tradition of the Russian Church, he needs to come to confession to receive forgiveness for his sins.

Everyone who wants to begin the Sacrament of Communion must first be baptized in the Orthodox faith, since through baptism a person becomes a member of the Church and receives the right to receive communion. Secondly, he must cleanse his conscience, which is facilitated by fasting and prayer. “Let a man examine himself, and thus let him eat from this bread and drink from this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily, he eats and drinks condemnation to himself, not considering the Body of the Lord.” (1st Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians: ch.11, st.: 28-29).

That is, a person must be aware that in front of him in the holy Chalice is not ordinary food, not ordinary bread and wine, but the immortal Meal of the Lord - the Most Pure Body and Blood of the Lord Himself, the Lord Himself, which one should commune with the fear of God, reverence and faith. The irreverent attitude of a person to the Sacrament subjects him to judgment and condemnation. One of the teachers of the Orthodox Church wrote:

“Bread and wine are seen in the cup, and bread and wine are smelled, but the Holy Mysteries are revealed and appear through their action. This is how God, covered by humanity, was revealed.

This is due to the Lord's boundless love for us, and his boundless mercy, indulgence to
weak human nature we taste bread and wine.

It must be said that when, feeling his sinfulness, a person does not take Holy Communion by his own decision, this is an act of pride, since only a priest can prevent him from taking Communion. Contrition from the realization of one's sinfulness is not an obstacle for a Christian to perceive the Eucharist as a holiday and joy from union with the Lord, because our sins are washed away by the Divine Blood, and our sinful ulcers are healed.

And so, we have examined what the spiritual preparation for the Holy Mystery consists of. Now consider the physical side of this preparation.

When we are waiting for a visit of a very important and authoritative person for us, we clean our house: we sweep, wash, polish. Similarly, but only many times more carefully, we must prepare our dwelling - the body for the acceptance of the Lord Himself. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians says:

“…Don’t you know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (St. Apostle Paul, 1st epistle to Cor.: 6, 18-19)

The holy apostle likens the body of a person to a temple - how responsible is this, and how can one not prepare one's body for Communion?

Before Communion you must:

1. . If this is not one of the four fasts of the calendar year, then it is recommended to fast an average of three days, where seven days are recommended, and for some - at least one day. It is better to decide in advance individually with the priest. During fasting, they do not eat food of animal origin, and during strict fasting, they also eat fish - this can also be discussed with the priest. During fasting, they abstain from conjugal intimate relationships.
2. On the eve of Communion it is necessary to be at the evening service. In different temples, it starts at different times, usually it starts: where at 14.00, where - at 15.00, at 16.00, at 17.00 - you need to find out in advance in the temple where you plan to go to the evening service.
3. In the evening, on the eve of Communion, you need to read (in the sense not just “subtract” - as they sometimes say, but, while reading, delve into the meaning of what is being read - praying): evening prayers (“Prayers for the dream to come”) and three canons: “The canon of repentance to our Lord Jesus Christ”, “Canon of Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos” and “Canon to the Guardian Angel”. The Canon for Communion is also read (It is contained in the "Following to Holy Communion").
4. After midnight (after 24 hours) they no longer eat or drink anything, as it is customary to start the Sacrament of Communion on an empty stomach.
5. In the morning, after the Morning Prayers, it is read that they did not have time in the evening. (It happens that in the evening they do not read the Canon from the “Following to Holy Communion”, and in the morning, after morning prayers, they read the entire “Following to Holy Communion”).
6. obligatory, which in some churches is held in the evening after (during) the evening service, in others - in the morning before (during) the liturgy. This is also desirable to clarify in advance. In what part of the temple is confession - you can also ask the servants of the temple.

During Communion

• After confession, all believers line up (in line for the Chalice, one should not talk, but pray) to the salt (the elevation on which the iconostasis stands, protruding significantly forward), to the center of the salt - to the pulpit (at the level of the Royal Doors, with steps).
• When they take out the Chalice with Gifts, immediately make three earthly bows in front of the Chalice (touching the forehead with the floor), but do not do it in front of the bowl itself, so as not to overturn it, but at a distance from it, stand in turn, fold your arms crosswise on your chest (right hand over left) as a sign of his humility before the Lord.
• When your turn has come - go to the Chalice, no longer crossing yourself and bowing (so as not to catch the Chalice), say your full name (Ivan, not Vanya; Natalya, not Natasha, etc.), open your mouth wide and, Having received Communion, immediately swallow it and kiss the rim of the cup.

• Then, without speaking, go to the table, on which are cups with “warmth” (warm water for drinking Communion, to which a little wine can sometimes be added) and eat with a piece of prosphora lying on a plate on the same table. Step aside so as not to interfere with other communicants.

• After communion, you need to be before the end of the liturgy and, only in extremely urgent circumstances, leave the church before the end of the liturgy (to venerate the cross made by the priest (kiss the cross) and leave the church after the closing of the Royal Doors.

After Communion

After communion, you must:

1) Read the "Prayers of Thanksgiving for Holy Communion" (all the above prayers and canons are in almost any book of the "Prayer Book").
2) On the day of communion, refrain from marital intimate relationships.

In the Eucharist, the Lord cleanses, sanctifies and deifies a person. In this Holy Mystery, the grace of the Holy Spirit transmutes bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ and transforms the partaking person from a person clouded by sins into a person enlightened by Divine light and free from the heavy burden of sins. Having accepted the Mysteries of Christ, we already carry Christ Himself within ourselves. It is as if we are carrying a cup filled to the brim with Divine grace - if we are not careful, we will spill the contents of the cup, and if we stumble and fall, we will lose all its contents. From the moment of Communion, preparations for the next Eucharist should begin, and you need to monitor your spiritual state, protect it from sin. And if, due to the weakness of human nature or because of our negligence, we stumbled, fell, sinned again - do not hesitate, hurry to the doctor of our souls: repent and confess, receive the sacrament of Holy Communion for the salvation of the soul and eternal life.

It would be more correct if you, dear Masha, yourself approach the clergyman of the church where you plan to go to Communion (or at least to the clergyman of another Orthodox church) and how he will bless (i.e. say, allow) you to do it - so do it . He will tell you how many prayers to read from the Rule for Communion - sometimes beginners are allowed to read only part of the rule, because. it is not short and may be difficult to read in its entirety at first. But all this is best done with the blessing of the clergyman.
After 24 hours on the night before Communion, you should not eat or drink anything until you take Communion.

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How to fast before communion, can you explain in more detail?

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