Sacrament of Communion

The Sacrament of Communion — the Eucharist (translated from Greek as “Thanksgiving”) — is the main Sacrament of the Church, without regular participation in which people cannot consider themselves real Christians. The Lord Himself draws special attention to the need to participate in this Sacrament, saying: «Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you» (John 6:53).

The Sacrament of Communion was established by the Lord Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, the night before His suffering on the cross and death. At the last meal with His disciples, the Savior transubstantiated bread and wine into His most pure Body and Blood, giving the Apostles to drink from the same cup and eat from the broken bread. The Lord commanded His disciples to perform this Sacrament at all times.

The union with the Lord is realized in the Sacrament of the Eucharist — which is what every Christian is called to. It contains the mystery of meeting and communicating with the Lord. By communing from the chalice with the Blood of the Lord, Christians form an organic whole, just like a body united with its head — Christ Himself — thereby demonstrating church unity.

Through union with the Lord, we receive healing of soul and body. We become brothers and sisters in Christ. In the Sacrament of Communion, the Savior strengthens us spiritually, mysteriously transforms our soul, and gives us strength to fulfill His commandments and fight sins.

St. John Chrysostom witnesses that Communion «makes the royal image of our souls shine, gives birth to inexpressible beauty, does not allow the nobility in the soul to fade, watering it constantly and nourishing... Communion is the salvation of our souls... makes our minds brighter than fire... makes our souls purer than gold!»

The Eucharist is the main Church service in the Orthodox Church — the Divine Liturgy. The central prayer of the Liturgy is the priest’s invocation of the Holy Spirit with the prayer of all the believers in the church for the consecration of the prepared Gifts (pure wheat leavened bread and pure grape wine diluted with water), their transformation and manifestation as the Body and Blood of Christ. After this, Christian believers receive Communion of the Holy Gifts, uniting with Christ, and in Him — with each other; thus, the Liturgy becomes the Sacrament of the Church itself as a unity of believers.

A Christian can receive the Holy Gifts outside of the Divine Liturgy because of illness or other reasons.

Only baptized Orthodox Christians who are not in a state of excommunication from the Church are allowed to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

An Orthodox Christian is called to resort to the Sacrament of the Eucharist at the Liturgy every Sunday. If circumstances do not allow this, a Christian should try to receive communion at least once a month.

The human mind is unable to understand the depth of this action of God: truly, the Eucharist is the love of Christ, which surpasses all understanding. Thanks to it we keep and increase joy, love, peace and all our virtues, visibly approaching life’s goal — the salvation of the soul. When receiving Communion, Christians must contemplate God with the eyes of their souls and feel His living presence in the consecrated Gifts, and by striving to live a liturgical life, regularly receive Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ to strive to live in Christ.

1. Understanding. Communicants must firmly understand why this Sacrament is needed: to unite with Christ, with God Himself, and not just to perform some kind of religious rite. The Lord enters inside us, and this entry does not take place in some symbolic or only spiritual way but is absolutely real: the Body of Christ becomes our body, and the Blood of Christ begins to flow in us. This is something that no other religion can give to a person: Christ is not just a teacher and a moral ideal for us — He becomes food for a person, and a person eats God, uniting with Him spiritually and physically.

2. Wish. Communicants must sincerely desire to unite with Christ, and this desire must be accompanied by reverence for the sacred object. It must be remembered that «whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord» (1 Cor. 11:27).

3. Peaceful state of mind. Communicants approaching the chalice must have a state that is alien to malice, hostility or hatred towards anyone. At the very least, they must make an effort to forgive everyone and make peace with everyone they are offended by or whom they themselves have offended. Otherwise, according to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is unacceptable to receive communion (Matt. 5:23-24).

4. Confession. The tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church requires Confession before Communion: «But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup» (1 Cor. 11:28).

5. Fasting. Before Communion, it is necessary to fast with our bodies and souls. Bodily fasting means that from midnight on the eve of Communion one does not eat or drink anything (except for necessary medicines). For people who receive communion less than once a month, the Church also establishes a three-day fast before Communion, during which one does not eat food of animal origin. Fasting for the soul includes limiting entertainment (TV, computer, concerts, guests) and abstaining from anger, rudeness and other sins (for example, if we are offended, we try to be restrained and not be rude in response).

6. Prayer. A few days before Communion, communicants should put in effort to pray more. In addition to usual morning and evening prayers at home, communicants are to read the Prayers before Holy Communion (which can also be read in the morning before Communion) and, if they wish, the Canon to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Canon to the Most Holy Theotokos, and the Canon to the Guardian Angel.

If a communicant cannot fulfill these rules partially or completely for one reason or another, this issue should be resolved personally with the priest in advance.