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THE
SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY COMMUNION
Our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ established this sacrament.
The
night before he was betrayed, He set down with His disciples at
the Upper Room, after having washed the feet of His disciples as
a sign of humility, in the middle of the Passover Dinner He took
a cup of wine and He said: "Drink of it all this is my blood, which
is shed for you and for the remission of your sins,"
Then
He took the bread and said: "Take it, this is my body, which is
broken for you and for the remission of your sins, do this in memory
of me."
Since
that night, when the disciples were gathered and were given the
dinners called, dinner of love, they were repeating this act. All
the first Christians were receiving this Holy Communion from the
hands of the Disciples or priests or deacons. With the years, prayers
and hymns were connected before and after receiving the Holy Communion.
So the Divine Liturgy was established. The Divine Liturgy that we
celebrate every Sunday and Feast Day is performed for the Holy Communion,
which is the heart of the Divine Liturgy. Anybody can not receive
Holy Communion; first of all you have to fast and go to HOLY CONFESSION,
in order to clean yourself from any temptation in deed and in thought.
With the Orthodox Church Philosophy, you have to fast at least 3
days or one week, in order to receive the Holy Communion. You have
to show kind of sacrifice from yourself and clean your body in order
to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.
The
Bread and the wine are transformed with the power of the Holy Spirit
during Divine Liturgy and become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
The
Orthodox Church never taught or believed that the bread and the
wine represents the Body and Blood of Christ but IS THE BODY AND
BLOOD OF CHRIST. At the Last Supper Jesus Christ did not say this
represents my body and this represents my blood, but He said: "This
is my body and this is my blood."
So
the Sacrament of the Holy Communion is Christ Himself. It is the
most sacred Sacrament, where the faithful is united with His Lord
and Savior, and makes his/her body a Cave of Bethlehem where the
Son of God will dwell in it.
In
order to stress the sacredness of this practice the Orthodox Church
has special prayers before and after receiving Holy Communion. In
these prayers explains the greatness and the holiness of the action.
Non-orthodox can not receive Holy Communion in the Orthodox Church.
All
who receive Holy Communion from the same cup have to confess the
same faith, the common faith. As long as we have dogmatic differences
with the other denominations of Christianity we can not receive
from the same cup. Neither, an Orthodox faithful is allowed to receive
Holy Communion from another Christian Church. If the orthodox person
does this, this means that he denies the orthodox teachings and
becomes heretic.
There
is on going theological dialogue among the Christian Denominations,
in order to solve these dogmatical differences since the split of
one Christian Church on the VIIth century. Until the IVth Ecumenical
Synod of Chalcedon, there was one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Despite different point of views and expressions which were condemned
by the Ecumenical Synods.
But
at the IVth Ecumenical Synod the churches who disagreed about the
nature of Christ , split from the main body of the Church and established
the monophysite Churches, that accept that Jesus had only one Nature
not two (God and Man). Later other churches split for political
reasons and today we have more then 800 denominations from which
only with the old denominations the Orthodox Church is on dialogue.
In
conclusion in order to receive Jesus Christ through Holy Communion,
you have to confess the same faith and keep the rules and regulations
of receiving Holy Communion.
In
order to receive Holy Communion, a person has to fast at least three
days or one week; there are circumstances that we fast 40 days like
before Easter, before Christmas or 15 days before August 15th or
before Christmas starting December 12th. There are also days that
the Church asks from her faithful to fast one day only to honor
the feast day or the eve of a feast day.
HOW
OFTEN SHOULD WE RECEIVE COMMUNION?
First
Children has to start fasting when they are 12 years old only
two or three days, not strict. They are allowed to receive Holy
Communion since their Baptism and the fasting regulations do not
apply to children up to 8 years old.
A
person in clear conscience. A person who received absolution of
his/her sins through Holy Confession
can fast and receive Holy Communion.
The
theory of receiving 3 times a year is wrong, also to receive it
every week is not necessary. It will be nice a Christian person
to be united with the Lord once or twice a month in order to live
a good and active spiritual live. It is a grave sin not to receive
for many years Holy Communion, except if the spiritual Father
has put a restriction of a period time. This period time the maximum
according to the Canon Law is two years, in the extreme conditions.
FORGOTTEN
CATECHETICS THAT WE SHOULD KNOW
AS ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS WHILE ATTENDING CHURCH
Prepared By the V. Rev. Alexander Kile from the teachings of the
Orthodox Faith
HOLY
COMMUNION
I
hear that some people, especially concerned mothers, do not bring
their children to receive communion because they are scared of
different diseases. The Orthodox Church uses one Holy Spoon and
one Holy Chalice to distribute the Holy Body and Holy Blood of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we do not believe that we
are receiving the same Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, then we
are not worthy to receive Holy Communion.
At
the Last Supper our Lord took the bread and said:"THIS IS MY BODY
WHICH IS BROKEN FOR YOU AND FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS" then he
took the cup with the wine and said:" THIS IS MY BLOOD WHICH IS
SHED FOR YOU FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS". ALSO He said: "DO THIS
IN MEMORY OF ME".
He
gave this message to the disciples and through the disciples to
the clergy to perform the Holy Communion for the faithful Christians
to be united in Him. So at the end of the Divine Liturgy we do
not receive bread and wine but the real BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR
LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. The bread and the wine are transformed
into Christ during the Divine Liturgy with the power of the Holy
Spirit.
That
is why we fast and we go to confession in order to cleanse ourselves
from every sin in order to receive Jesus Christ in us and be united
with Him.
If
the concern of these people were true, then we would not have
any clergy left alive now and in the history of the HOLY Church
because at the end of the Divine Liturgy the priest consumes everything
that is left in the Holy Chalice.
There
have been instances in which priests in the hospital have given
Holy Communion to patients dying with AIDS and other diseases
and still consumes the rest of the prepared Holy Communion and
nothing has happened to any of the clergy.
SO
BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE RECEIVING THE REAL BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS
CHRIST IN THE HOLY COMMUNION. This is the command of our Lord
who instituted the Divine Liturgy and the Holy Communion at the
Last Supper, as His Last will to the Disciples and to all Christians
before His Crucifixion and death. At his first appearance after
HIS GLORIOUS Resurrection He gave two commands to the disciples
to forgive or retain the sins and to go all over the world to
preach whatever He taught them and Baptize them in the Name of
the Holy Trinity. In His teaching the Last Supper is His Last
will before sacrificing Himself for the sins of the world.
So
even to think of it is considered a sin, because we question and
do not believe the teachings of the Son of God.
May
His Name be glorified forever and ever Amen
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