Excommunicated from communion and not allowed to receive communion - what's the difference? Why can the priest not allow you to receive communion and confession? They are not allowed to receive communion.
There is no sin that would exceed the mercy of God. Even Judas would have been forgiven if he had asked for forgiveness. The example of the Venerable Mary of Egypt, who was a harlot for 17 years and then became a model of repentance and a great servant of God, gives us hope for the forgiveness of our sins.
I'm about to go to my first confession. How to prepare?
To confess, you need awareness of your sins, sincere repentance for them, and a desire to correct yourself with God’s help. You can write down some sins on a piece of paper as a cheat sheet so that you don’t get confused the first time (then do what you want with this piece of paper: you can throw it away, burn it, give it to the priest, save it until your next confession and compare what you have improved on, and than - no). With a long list of sins, it is better to come to the service in the middle of the week, rather than on Sunday. In general, it is better to start with the most painful thing that worries the soul, gradually moving on to minor sins.
I came to confession for the first time. The priest did not allow me to take communion - he advised me to read the Gospel as “homework”.
When a person does not know, for example, the traffic rules, then he does not know that he is breaking them. If a person does not know the Gospel, that is, the Law of God, then it is difficult for him to repent of sins, because he does not really understand what sin is. That is why it is useful to read the Gospel.
Is it possible to ask for forgiveness of the sins of parents and relatives in confession?
We cannot go to the doctor and get treatment for someone, we cannot eat for someone in the dining room, so in confession we ask for forgiveness for our sins and help in correcting them. And we pray for our loved ones ourselves and submit notes to churches.
In confession, I regularly repent of the fact that I live in fornication, but I continue to live this way - I’m afraid that my loved one will not understand me.
An Orthodox Christian should care about being understood by God. And according to His word, “fornicators will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” In addition, confession is not just a statement of sins, but also a desire to improve. In your case, the following situation arises: you come to the doctor (to confession in church), state that you are “sick” with sin, but do not receive treatment. Moreover, such a confession is also hypocritical. Of course, we repeat most of our confessed sins, but we must at least have the intention to improve, and you do not have it. Advice: quickly register the relationship at least with the registry office.
I am not yet ready to repent of one sin, because I will commit it again. In general, don’t go to confession yet? But other sins torment!
No matter how much we love our sins, at least at the level of reason we must understand that if we do not repent and correct ourselves, eternal punishment awaits us. Such a thought should contribute to the desire to correct all sins, because who can give himself a guarantee that he will live at least until the next day? And the Lord told us: “What I find you in, that’s what I judge.” Unfortunately, the vast majority of people immediately repeat most of their sins after confession, but this is not a reason not to repent of them. If a person is sincerely worried about this, if he wants to improve, even if he doesn’t succeed in everything right away, then, according to the words of the Holy Fathers, the Lord will accept even this desire as what he has done.
Is it possible to go to general confession?
The so-called general confession is rather a profanation of confession, because there is no confession as such. It’s something like this: a bunch of people came to the doctor, and he took out a piece of paper with a list of diseases and said: “Well, you sick people, now get well, be healthy!” It is doubtful that you will benefit from such an appointment with a doctor. This is allowed as an exception during a large influx of confessors during Lent, but the priest must emphasize that this is an exception: come to presanctified services on Wednesdays and Fridays, on Saturdays, go to churches somewhere on the outskirts of the city, where there are fewer people , but do not approach confession formally. Don't be happy that you didn't have to say anything, passing the responsibility onto the priest. In general, the door is opened to him who knocks, and whoever seeks finds.
At confession, all sins are forgiven. But what to do if sins from 10 or 20 years ago are remembered? Do they need to be confessed?
If sins are remembered and realized, then, of course, they must be confessed. It won't get any worse.
Serious sins, even though they have already been confessed, torment me greatly. Is it necessary to talk about them in confession again?
A sincerely repented and never repeated sin is forgiven once and for all. But such terrible sins as abortion, involvement in the occult, and murder gnaw at a person even after confession. Therefore, in them you can once again ask God for forgiveness, and you don’t have to say them in confession, but simply remember your crimes and try to make up for them with good deeds that are opposite to them.
Why should laity confess before communion, but priests do not? Is it possible to receive communion without confession?
What do you think, if you take a doctor and a patient without medical education, which of them is better versed in diets, prescribing medications, etc.? In some cases, a doctor can help himself, but an ordinary person is forced to seek help. People go to church to heal the soul, and there are sins that do not allow a person to take communion. A layman may not understand or know about this, and if he goes without confession, communion may serve him not for salvation, but for condemnation. Therefore, control in the form of a priest is needed. But clergy are more competent in such things and can control when they should go to confession, and when they can only ask for forgiveness from God.
Is there any evidence in the Bible that we should confess through a priest?
The Lord, sending the apostles to preach, said: “Whoever you forgive on earth will be forgiven in heaven.” What is this if not the right to accept repentance and forgive a person’s sins in the name of God? And He also said: “Receive the Holy Spirit; by Him forgive on earth, and it will be forgiven in heaven.” There were prototypes of repentance in the Old Testament, for example, the ritual with a scapegoat, the offering of sacrifices in the temple, for these were purification sacrifices for sins. This apostolic authority for the forgiveness of sins, by virtue of succession, is received by all legitimate priests, which is confirmed by the words of Christ: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
It is not always possible to go to confession of sins in church. Can I confess in front of the icon at home?
Evening prayers end with daily confession of sins. But, nevertheless, from time to time a person must repent of them in confession.
I was preparing for the first confession, I read the book by John (Krestyankin) “The Experience of Constructing a Confession.” But when he approached the lectern, he could not say anything - tears flowed. Father absolved me of my sins. Is confession considered valid?
In confession, the main thing is not what we say, but what is in our hearts. For the Lord says so: “Son, give me your heart.” And King David taught: “The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit. God will not despise a contrite and humble heart.”
My grandmother is dying, she doesn’t understand anything, she doesn’t speak. Being of sound mind, she refused confession and communion. Is it possible to confess her now?
The Church accepts a person’s conscious choice without forcing his will. If a person, being of sound mind, wanted to begin the sacraments of the Church, but for some reason did not do this, then in case of clouding of his mind, remembering his desire and consent, one can still make such a compromise as communion and unction (so we give communion to infants or the insane). But if a person, being of sound consciousness, did not want to accept the sacraments of the church, refused to confess his sins, then even in the event of loss of consciousness, the Church does not force the choice of this person. Alas, it is his choice. Such cases are considered by the confessor, directly communicating with the patient and his relatives, after which a final decision is made. In general, of course, it is best to clarify your relationship with God in a conscious and adequate state.
I fell - the sin of fornication, although I gave my word, repented and was sure that this would not happen to me again. What to do?
Mary of Egypt was the greatest harlot. But every Great Lent the Church remembers her as a model of repentance. Conclusion: no matter how hard we fall, sincere repentance blots out sin and opens the gates of heaven. Let the very word fornication be disgusting to you, so that with God’s help this will never happen again.
It’s a shame to tell the priest about your sins in confession.
You should be ashamed when you sin. And shame in confession is false shame. We must think not about how the priest will look at us, but about how God will look at us. Moreover, any prudent priest will never condemn you, but will only rejoice, as a doctor rejoices at a recovering patient. If you cannot bring yourself to name the sins, write them on a piece of paper and give them to the priest. Or repent without details, in general terms. The main thing is to have a feeling of repentance, contrition, and a desire to improve.
If my sins are very shameful, can I tell the priest about them without details? Or will it be like hiding sin?
In order to treat bodily diseases, it is important for the doctor to know all the details of these diseases. You don’t have to describe the details of your sins, but it’s still better to call things by their proper names and not limit yourself to general phrases.
Is it necessary to go to confession if it turns out to be formal?
In our relationship with God, sincerity is key. We must understand that formalism and hypocrisy will not work in relationships with God. But if your conscience agrees that many of your words in confession sound cold and formal, this indicates that, nevertheless, the sin you are confessing bothers you and you want to get rid of it. Therefore, name your sins in confession, saying that while admitting them, you see some sins, but you are not yet able to hate them. And therefore, ask God for forgiveness so that this vision develops into hatred of sin and the desire to get rid of it. The Holy Fathers teach that even if we repeat the same sins again, we nevertheless need to confess them, by doing this we seem to loosen the stump, which is then easier to tear out.
Is it true that in confession one should not repent of sins committed before baptism?
If you have washed dirty clothes, wash them again only when they become dirty again. If a person accepts the sacrament of baptism with faith, then, indeed, he receives forgiveness for all sins committed up to that moment. There is no point in repenting of them anymore. There are simply such terrible sins as murder, abortion, in which the soul again and again wants to ask for forgiveness from God. That is, the case when God has already forgiven, but a person cannot forgive himself. In such cases, it is permissible to speak once again about terrible sins in confession.
I'm afraid I incorrectly named the sin in confession. What to do?
The main thing is not what to call your sin, but to have a feeling of repentance and a desire to improve.
My spiritual father confesses to me at home, so I am better aware of my sins, I am not in a hurry, I can ask him a question. Is it possible to do this?
Can. Many people before the revolution, not having the opportunity to often visit Optina Pustyn, wrote to the elders and confessed in letters. In your case, it is important that you not just talk, but that the priest reads a prayer of permission at the end.
Is it possible to confess without preparation?
When a person has appendicitis, or he doesn’t sleep at night because of toothache, he doesn’t need any tests, examinations, ultrasounds to identify the disease. He rushes to the doctor for help. So it is with confession. If our heart hurts that we, for example, stole something, went to witches, had an abortion, fell into fornication, drunkenness, i.e. when we specifically know what we are sinning, then no books are needed , we go to confession and confess our sins. But a person who is not familiar with the Gospel, does not know the laws of God and, even breaking them, does not realize that he is sinning, naturally must prepare. Study the laws of God, find out what he sins in, and thus prepare himself, go to confession to a priest.
In what cases can a priest impose penance? How to remove it?
Penance is excommunication from communion for some sin for some time. It may consist of fasting, intense prayer, etc. Upon completion of the imposed penance, it is removed by the same priest who imposed it.
While getting ready for my first confession, I found a list of sins on the Internet. There were: listening to music, going to the cinema, to concerts, going on rides... Is it true?
Firstly, it is impossible to realize and remember all sins, we have so many of them. Therefore, in confession we must repent of especially serious sins that bother us and from which we really want to get rid of. Secondly, as for attractions, music, cinema, then, as they say, there are nuances. Because music and films are different and not always harmless. For example, films filled with debauchery, violence, horror. Many rock music songs glorify the devil and are literally dedicated to him. Well, I’m sure there are absolutely harmless attractions, not counting, of course, the hobby of computer games and consoles. Because gambling addiction (gaming addiction) has terrible consequences for both the soul and the body, which cannot be said about ordinary carousels and swings.
There is an opinion that it is undesirable to confess “according to the list”, but that you need to remember everything.
If a person, preparing for confession, simply rewrites the manual for penitents, and then reads out this list during confession, then this is an ineffective confession. And if a person is worried, afraid from excitement to forget about some of his sins, and at home in front of a candle and an icon with tears he writes down on paper the repentant feelings of his heart, then such preparation can only be welcomed.
Can a priest's wife confess to her husband?
To do this, you must literally be a holy person, because it is purely humanly difficult to be completely sincere, revealing all the nakedness of your soul to your husband. Even if mother does this, she could harm the priest himself. After all, he is also a weak person. Therefore, I would recommend not going to confession with your husband unless absolutely necessary.
A relative of mine who went to church and participated in its sacraments suddenly died. There remains a piece of paper with sins. Is it possible to read it to the priest so that he can say the prayer of permission in absentia?
If a person was preparing for confession, but died on the way to the temple, the Lord accepted his intentions and forgave his sins. So no correspondence confession is required anymore.
I go to confession regularly. I won’t say that I don’t see my sins, but the sins are the same. Should we say the same thing in confession?
But we brush our teeth every day, right? And we wash ourselves and wash our hands, despite the fact that they get dirty again. So it is with the soul. This is what the Gospel calls for: the number of times you fall, the number of times you get up. So there is only one conclusion: if we dirty our clothes, we clean our clothes, if we pollute our soul with sins, we cleanse our soul with repentance.
What consequences does the recollection of confessed sins have on the soul?
If you remember with a shudder, for example, an abortion, it will be useful. But if you remember with relish, for example, the sins of fornication, then this is sinful.
Is electronic confession allowed via the Internet?
Your doctor can tell you over the phone which medications to take for which symptoms. But, for example, it is impossible to perform a transaction over the phone. Similarly, you can ask a priest something via the Internet and get advice, but you still have to go to the sacraments yourself. But if someone is stranded on a desert island, but somehow contacts a priest by email, he can repent of his sins by asking the priest to read a prayer of absolution. That is, such a format of confession can be allowed when there is no other opportunity for repentance.
At what age should boys go to confession, and at what age should girls go to confession?
The rules indicate, without dividing between boys and girls, that a person begins confession at about 10 years of age or as he realizes the meaning of confession. And in Rus' (probably very smart children) it is customary to start confessing children from the age of 7.
I came to confession for the first time in 20 years. He repented of his affair with his wife and did not remember any more sins. Father said that in my case it was necessary to come with a huge list of sins and that the Christian in me had died...
In fact, confession does not require a long list of sins written on paper. In confession, a person says what he cannot forget, what hurts his soul, and no piece of paper is needed for this. For what is the point of sitting at home, copying out the next manual for penitents almost one after another, if at the same time the person has not felt the depth of his fall and has no desire to correct himself? In your case, the Christian in you did not die, he simply slept in a deep sleep for 20 years. Once you arrived at the temple, he began to wake up. The task of the confessor in this case is to help you resurrect the Christian within you. So, in form, you seemed to be rightly subjected to a thrashing, but in essence, they could actually completely kill the remnants of Christianity in your soul. I would like to wish you, through the instructions of the Holy Fathers, listening to the voice of conscience and good priests, to come to the Church and live in it all your life with hope for the Kingdom of Heaven.
I want to go to confession and receive communion, but I constantly put it off out of fear of the Lord. How to overcome fear?
The fear of sudden death must overcome the fear of confession, because no one knows at what moment the Lord will call his soul to answer. But it’s scary to appear before God with all your negative baggage; it’s wiser to leave it here (through confession).
Does a priest have the right to violate the sacrament of confession?
The secret of confession cannot be disclosed to anyone and under no justification. There were cases when a priest, keeping confession secret, even went to prison.
I don’t go to confession because I’m afraid for the priest, who takes all the sins upon himself and then gets sick.
John the Baptist, pointing to Christ, said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world.” No priest can take upon himself the sins of the people who confess to him; only Christ can do this. Throw away all your fears and false shame and rush to confession.
After confession and communion, I felt relieved. Minor feuds in the family disappeared and well-being improved. But most importantly: I noticed that my prayers to God were heard, requests for the health of my family were being fulfilled.
Your words indicate that when you sincerely turn to God with a request for forgiveness of sins, the Lord, who said “Ask, and it will be given to you,” fulfills his promise. And since our sins are very often the cause of our illnesses, troubles, failures, then when these sins are forgiven, the cause of all troubles disappears. That is, when the causes disappear, the consequences also disappear: a person’s health is restored, success at work appears, family relationships improve, etc.
"On the possibility and time of admission of the laity to Holy Communion"
Monk Alimpiy (Verbitsky)
Report at the Consecrated Council 2005 (Published in the "Bulletin of the Metropolis" of the Russian Orthodox Church, No. 1, 2006)
On the eve of the Metropolitan Council, His Eminence Bishop Andrian instructed me to study modern norms for admitting the laity to the Holy Communion. Secrets and existing requirements of canonical rules. This was caused by the need for a proper response to letters and questions received by the Metropolis, as well as by the archpastor’s duty to bring church life into conformity with patristic norms. I myself, aware of my many sins, would hardly have dared to speak on such a topic, but out of necessity of obedience, and also, not wanting to hide the truth of God due to my unworthiness, I undertook real work.
Being limited by a short period of time, I still collected some material that I am going to present to your attention.
FEATURES OF CURRENT PRACTICE
As is known, at present a practice has developed in parishes according to which those who wish can begin to receive Communion usually during four annual fasts, for which they observe the week of dry eating, fulfilling a certain prayer rule, after which they confess, and those who do not have canonical obstacles, are admitted to Communion. The following factors take place:
1. Confession and Communion, being independent sacraments, are in time connected here together.
2. Circumstances give rise to the illusion that the fasting and rule usual before Communion apply equally to the sacrament of Confession. Confession itself, combined with preparation for Communion, in the mind becomes artificially associated with annual fasts. And the established week of dry eating is equally obliged to observe all those who confess, even those who, being under penance, cannot be admitted to Communion; as if making confession requires additional fasting and rules.
3. The intervals between fasts are inaccessible to those wishing to receive communion. They are refused under the pretext that it is supposedly permissible for the laity to receive communion only by fasting.
4. Those who wish to confess at any time, with the exception of Lenten, are also usually denied the sacrament. At the same time, they often say: “Confession will be a fast, then come.”
5. Sometimes the communion of infants at every liturgy is condemned by the people as immodest behavior.
6. Cases with newly baptized adults present a separate topic. If they are baptized without the proper preparation required by the holy rules, which in itself is criminal, then one crime is added to another: these people are also denied Communion under the pretext that they either smoke, or do not fast, or are simply far from the Church. Thus, the pastors admit to their own illiteracy, disparaging the sacrament of Holy Baptism.
7. Illiteracy sometimes extends to such an extent that they refuse communion to a dying person if he has eaten food on that day, apparently forgetting about the rule of ITS IN THE SAINTS NICKIPHORUS CONSTANTINE THE CONFESSOR: “It is appropriate to give divine communion to a sick person who wants to die, but always taste the food for him.” (Collection of St. Cyril of Belozersky, sheet 72 ver.)".
8. Not to mention the fact that travel to the dying or seriously ill is often postponed for several days, or they even refuse to go at all under various pretexts, as a result of which many die without ever receiving Communion.
9. But at the same time, Communion is sometimes given to people who demonstratively do not want to comply with the elementary requirements of Christian life, be it wearing a beard or observing fasts - when illness or something like that is given as an excuse. The desire to please a significant person usually triumphs over the divine rules and laws of the Church. Thus, of the six priests who at different times cared for the Seleznevsky community, only one refused to give communion to such a violator, who, however, enjoyed authority in the community.
EXISTING CANONICAL RULES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION
Now on this subject it is necessary to cite the existing laws of the Church and the testimonies of the holy fathers.
The canonical rules are known that excommunicate those who, while in the city, do not come to church for three Sunday days, however, not everyone knows that we are talking here not about simple presence at public worship, but about Communion. Several of these rules form a group and have a close interpretation.
NINTH RULE OF SVV. APOSTLES: “All the faithful who enter the church and listen to the scriptures, but do not remain in prayer and holy communion to the end, as if they are causing disorder in the church, he commands to be excommunicated from church communion.”
ZONARA: “This rule requires that during the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, everyone should remain in prayer and Holy Communion to the end. For then it was also required of the laity to constantly receive communion. There is a rule of the Council of Sardica and another of Trullo, and also of the Council of Antioch, which prescribe, so that anyone who, while present at divine services on three Sundays, does not receive communion, is subject to excommunication. Therefore, the present rule excommunicates those who do not attend prayer and Holy Communion as violating the order.”
BALSAMON: “The definition of this rule is very strict. For it excommunicates those who are in church, but do not stay until the end and do not receive communion. And other rules similarly determine that everyone is ready and worthy of communion, and excommunicates those who do not receive communion on three Sundays (Kormchaya )".
But at the same time, interpreters point out that the rule does not mean all those who do not take communion, but only those who avoid without a good reason.
SYNTAGMA OF MATTHEW THE BLESSER. Chapter 25. About those who do not have communion with the faithful during the celebration of the sacred liturgy or postpone communication for three Sunday days: the 8th and 9th canons of the holy apostles, desiring that everyone should always be ready and worthy of communion of the Divine Mysteries... the faithful, Those who enter and listen to the sacred scriptures, but do not remain at prayer and Holy Communion to the end, are excommunicated (the rule commands) as disorderly. In accordance with this, the 2nd (rights, personal) of Antioch also defines, for all those who enter the church and listen to the sacred scriptures, but do not participate in prayer with the people or turn away from the communion of the holy Eucharist, out of pride, perhaps, or out of evasion from order, or due to neglect, he commands excommunication from the church until, through confession, they show the fruits of repentance and receive forgiveness. And some say [Balsamon, see interpretation of rule 8th north. Apostle] that these rules were established regarding those serving in the altar at that time and the laity who do not remain until the time for communion of the faithful comes: for it is very burdensome and forcible to force everyone to take communion every day, otherwise - to excommunicate; for how can one who revolves in the environment and is defiled by worldly things forever have a soul pure to accept the spiritual world? For it is enough if someone, having despised and put aside everything else and set himself to this one goal, without being enslaved to any other evil desire, can then, with God’s help, be worthy of this, but I think that among the ancient faithful, living was no less an object of concern right, as well as the right to believe; That is why much of what was proclaimed by the canons then appears differently than it does now, for negligence and the wrongness of life have conditioned us so much that it is hard to believe that any of the faithful have reached such a height of virtue. I think [according to Valsamon, in his interpretation on 2nd example. Antioch.] that, without a doubt, because of this threat to the divine rules, the distribution of the antidoron was invented, so that those who cannot partake of the life-giving Mysteries would have every need to wait for the end of the Divine sacred rite, in order to receive its consecration from the hands of the priest. See also rule 66 of the VI Council and 80 (right) of the same (VI) Council. And also the rules of the Sardician Council 11th and 12th.
It is worthwhile to dwell in some more detail on what the circumstances are that excuse those who do not receive communion at every service.
NE. NIKOLA KAVASILA, Archbishop of Thessalonica, writes: “It is mortal sin and wounds of the will that remove us from Communion” (Seven words about life in Christ, part 2). These are the few reasons that are the only fair basis for avoiding Communion. Chrysostom writes: “Whom should we praise? Those who take communion once? Those who often? Those who rarely? Neither those who once, nor those who often, nor those who rarely. But those who come with a clear conscience , with a pure heart, with an impeccable life. Let such always begin, and those who are not - never" (Conversations on the Epistle to the Hebrews). However, one can hear an objection: isn’t reverence for the Sacrament a sufficient reason for receiving communion infrequently? The holy fathers call such an excuse not reverence, but disdain, as evidenced by the 2nd canon of the Council of Antioch, in the interpretation of which ZONARA says: “The fathers here called aversion not so much to hate Divine Communion and therefore not to want to receive communion, but to evade it , allegedly out of reverence or humility. For if some had refused it as haters and abominations of Holy Communion, they would have been condemned not to excommunication, but to complete expulsion and anathema.”
NE. KIRILL OF ALEXANDRIAN: "...Let those baptized who do not care to go to church to receive communion and are absent from communion for many periods of time know that they use artificial and harmful reverence as an excuse. Let them know that by not receiving communion, they are deprived of eternal life, refusing from being revived. This turns into a trap and temptation, although this refusal of Communion seems to be the fruit of reverence (On the Gospel of John, book 4, chapter 2).
NE. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM: “The trouble is that we determine the dignity of Communion not by purity of thoughts, but by the period of time, and that you consider it pious to approach the Sacrament infrequently, not knowing that it is unworthy to begin even once - it will cause harm to yourself
harm, and if worthily, even often, to acquire salvation. Insolence does not lie in the fact that they do it often, but in the fact that it is unworthy, even if someone takes communion once a year... Reasoning like this, we do not understand that those who crucified Christ crucified Him once. But really, because once, the sin is less? And Judas betrayed him once. What of this? Did this save him? Why do we measure this matter in time? At the time of communion, may we have a clear conscience" (Commentary on the first letter to Timothy. Fifth conversation).
And about all other cases the Fathers write like this.
NICOLA CAVASILA: “For just as it would be unlawful in general if someone, having sinned to death, then dared to approach a holy thing, so those who are not so seriously ill should not be deprived of bread. For those who still suffer from wounds of the will should to be wary of fire, not to communicate with it until they change, and for those who have a right will, but are otherwise weak, strengthening medicine is necessary, and they should come to the author of health, who accepted our infirmities and suffered our illnesses, and those who wish not to be sick people should most of all try to see a doctor" (Seven Words about Life in Christ).
SIMEON OF THESSALONA: "...Let none of the people who fear God and love the Lord miss Lent. And whoever has enough strength and attention, let him come to the communion of Christ more often, even, if possible, every week; especially the elderly and the weak" (Part 1, Chapter 325).
NE. BASILY THE GREAT: “If a monk or a lay person goes 40 days without communion, except for the prohibition, but through negligence he does not receive communion, and he will be excommunicated from the church for the summer. The same is from the penances of ST. THEODOR THE STUDITE: “A monk or layman who is not under penance - he who, through his own negligence, has not started communion for forty days, shall be excommunicated from the church for (one) year.”
FROM A LETTER TO ST. THEODORA STUDYTA TO SPAFARIA NAMED MAKHRA: "...Why have you rarely taken communion for so many years? This must have some reason. One should take communion not rarely and not just every day, but with a clear conscience; for it is poisonous, it is said, and drink unworthily, judge yourself to eat and drink, without judging the Body of the Lord. So, if, observing your condition in this way, you delay for a while with reverence, then this is good, whether it is short or long, there is no limit to this; proceed with a pure heart, as much as is possible for a person. If any sin occurs that removes one from communion, then it is obvious that such a person can receive communion when he has fulfilled penance.”
NE. BASILY THE GREAT. Message from 93 Caesars to Patricia. “It is good and beneficial to commune every day and partake of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ, since the Lord Himself clearly says: “He who eats My flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life.”
About SV. MACARIA OF EGYPT is told that after he healed that woman who, through the devil’s assistance, seemed to people to be a horse, he told her the following: “Woman, never be absent from the communion of the Mysteries of Christ, but take communion often, for this devilish action happened to you because “that you have not received communion for five weeks, and because of this the devil found a place for himself and annoyed you” (Lavsaik, chapter 18).
SAINT TIMOTHY OF ALEXANDRIA even writes in relation to those who are possessed by demons: “A faithful person who is possessed by demons, if he does not violate the Mysteries, or blasphemes in any other way, then let him receive communion, but not every day: only on Sundays is enough for him.” (3rd rule of St. Timothy of Alexandria).
And the fact that in communion priests do not have a single difference from the laity is testified by St. John Chrysostom: “In some things, a priest is no different from a layman. When, for example, one should partake of the Terrible Mysteries, we are all rewarded with the same thing, not as in the Old Testament: the priest ate one thing, and the uninitiated the other. It’s the law, after all.” He did not allow the people to eat what the priest ate. Now it is not so, but one Body and one Cup are offered to all" (interpretation of the second letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. Conversation 18).
A problem naturally arises: it is believed that a week-long fast is necessary to prepare for communion, but if they wish to receive communion, for example, on Bright Week, what should they do in this case? After all, no one in their right mind would argue that on Bright Week it is permissible for only clergy, infants and the dying to receive communion! However, some believe that in this case, although communion is possible, fasting is necessary. Fasting for Bright Week! This is already subject to the patristic prohibition of excommunication pronounced on those fasting on such days. Nowhere is it said that a priest has a special right to receive communion without fasting during non-fasting times.
There is another interesting feature of our practice. In many parishes it is not customary to administer communion during the Easter service: the priest, without any guilt, excommunicates not only individuals, but even the entire parish, from communion, and on Easter, too! Forgetting that Easter is not about Easter cakes and eggs - Christ Himself is Easter. And it is this Easter that the faithful are deprived of, contrary to all church laws. Let me cite, for example, a testimony from the Zonar: “On Maundy Thursday and Maundy Saturday and on Easter, let everyone receive communion, unless there is some sin in repentance” (List 27, vol.).
About those who cannot receive communion every Sunday, the interpreter’s comment was necessary as about condescension towards the weakness of those praying, as opposed to modern times, when this has already been elevated to the norm. And if previously those who did not receive communion were excommunicated, now it is the other way around - everyone who wants to receive communion is excommunicated, and not just during non-Lenten times, but even on great holidays. Let it not seem an exaggeration to say that those who wish to receive communion are now excommunicated. After all, the penance of excommunication, one of the most significant, consists precisely in removing oneself from communion for various periods of time. Therefore, we say: if someone is denied communion, it means they have been excommunicated. It remains to add that excommunication as spiritual healing can be imposed by a confessor only in case of sins and by no means arbitrarily. Consequently, in this case we are dealing with unmotivated excommunication.
Now let's summarize what has been said. One has to wonder; what all Christians have been guilty of; for which they were excommunicated from communion not for seven, and not for forty, and not for eighty days, but for life, for the entire period between Lent, including the feast of St. Easter? And they excommunicated not only from communion, but even from antidor? Due to a false tradition, priests not only excommunicate everyone from communion in the intervals between fasts, but even always from the antidoron, the partaking of which is now the privilege of their young children and junior clergy. Are all Christians really adulterers, thieves and murderers? But even the sinners mentioned were excommunicated only for certain years, and some priests managed to excommunicate everyone from communion for life, except during certain fasts. But at the same time, the most amazing thing is not even this, but the fact that all Christians are now excommunicated even from confession, as soon as someone declares a desire to confess during non-Lenten times, for it turns out that confessing now, unless you are on your deathbed, is permissible only during annual fasts. The situation is unprecedented and completely new in the history of Christianity: the priest refuses to accept repentance! If this continues, the Gospel will soon be forgotten.
CONCLUSIONS
In the absence of canonical obstacles, every faithful has the right to receive communion at any liturgy.
A priest never has the right to refuse communion to anyone without legal grounds, and there are no grounds for deprivation of confession in nature.
Generally speaking, there are no canonical restrictions for frequent communion and there cannot be; on the contrary, there are prohibitions from the 8th and 9th canons of Sts. the Apostles and the 2nd Rule of the Council of Antioch, excommunicating the faithful who do not receive communion at every liturgy, however, without good reasons, which are mortal sins and defiled conscience (wounds of the will).
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE WITH THE NEW RITE PRACTICE?
1. People who are subject to temporary exclusion from communion are admitted.
2. Penance during confession was abolished, and the practice of general confession was introduced.
NOTES
In ancient practice, confession could not precede every liturgy (Mary of the Egyptians and the laity with the Holy Gifts).
During non-Lenten times, weekly dry eating could not be practiced, especially during holiday periods.
But dry eating was widely used as penance in cases where a person was not allowed to take communion.
Confession is an independent sacrament, and if a person regularly goes to confession and wishes to receive communion more often, and if he has the testimony of his spiritual father, and has not had time to do anything subject to excommunication, then he can be allowed to receive communion close in time, just as priests receive communion - without confession.
Of course, everything that has been said is by no means a call for universal frequent communion. There is not the slightest doubt that for most Christians, fasting times are more convenient for communion. Since it is difficult to expect that in our time, especially in the conditions of a multi-rebellious city life, many will be able to preserve their conscience in order to be able to receive communion more often than is customary. The point now is mainly that those zealous Christians who lead an attentive lifestyle should not encounter obstacles in their desire for more frequent communion. And they could count on the understanding of their spiritual fathers. And also so that it will be possible to receive communion during the Easter service and on the days of great holidays, if they are ready for it.
St. Simeon of Thessalonica: “All the faithful should receive communion. This is not the ministry of the bishop alone, but his ministry is to minister this All-Holy Body of Christ and Blood, and to give them to all the faithful in communion, for this is the only purpose they are intended for.”
How best to prepare for receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ?
Only Orthodox Christians approach the Sacrament of Holy Communion, those who constantly go to church, strictly observe all fasts, are married, pray, live in peace with everyone, repent of sins - such people, with the permission of their confessor, begin the Chalice.
It is necessary to prepare both soul and body in advance in order to unite with the Lord. Fast for 3-4 days, do not eat light food, abstain from dinner the day before, replace it with the rule: read two akathists - to the Savior and the Mother of God, four canons - to the Savior, the Mother of God, the Guardian Angel and the canon for Holy Communion. Those who do not have such an opportunity - 500 Jesus prayers and 150 times “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice...” But even after reading this rule, even if we had been preparing for a thousand years, we cannot think that we are worthy to receive the Body of Christ. We must rely only on the mercy of God and His great love for mankind.
Before Communion, you must repent sincerely in the presence of a priest. You must have a cross on your chest. Under no circumstances should you approach the Chalice if your confessor forbids it or if you are concealing a sin. In bodily and monthly uncleanness, you also cannot begin the Sacrament of Communion. Before and after Communion, one must abstain from marital relations.
We must remember that before or after Communion there will certainly be temptation. After Communion, no prostrations are made until the morning, lips are not rinsed, and nothing should be spit out. We must protect ourselves from idle talk, especially from condemnation, read the Gospel, the Jesus Prayer, akathists, and Divine books.
How often should you take communion? How do you know that you have received communion worthily and not to condemnation?
If a person is married, observes fasts, Wednesdays, Fridays, reads morning and evening prayers, lives in peace with everyone, if he reads all the rules before Communion and considers himself unworthy, approaching Communion with faith and fear, then he partakes of the Mysteries of Christ worthily . The soul will not immediately, suddenly feel worthy of receiving communion. Maybe the next day or the third the soul will feel peace and joy. Everything depends on our preparation. If we pray intensely, try to let every word of prayer penetrate our hearts, fast and consider ourselves sinful and unworthy, then we can immediately feel the presence of the Lord in us. After Communion we will have peace and joy. Temptation may come immediately. You must be prepared for it, having met it, not be tempted and not sin. This means the devil knows that we are prepared. But the most important thing is to consider yourself sinful and unworthy. Of course, if we live in such a way that we are forcibly forced to read the canons, morning and evening rules, and we do it carelessly, this feeling of sinfulness will not be born in our souls. We have enough time to chat, run around, see what is where, who is doing what. We have enough energy for this. Or we’ll hold out, beat the clock: “Oh, three minutes left until midnight! We need to go eat!” This is not the Orthodox spirit. This is the spirit of Satan. It shouldn't be this way. An Orthodox person must do everything with reverence and fear of God. The soul of an Orthodox Christian feels God both after communion and between communions. The Lord is nearby, standing at the door of our hearts and knocking: what if they open it and hear His knock? The Holy Fathers honored reverence and fear in their souls and supported this grace with prayer. They, feeling that their prayer was weakening, confessed and approached the Chalice, and the Lord strengthened them! Again the soul was on fire. Communion is the only sacrament of the Church where a person’s soul can ignite with the flame of divine love; because in Communion we take into ourselves the Living Fire, the very Creator of the universe.
Is the infection transmitted through a cross, a communion spoon, or an icon?
In the church we are already dealing with Heaven. Here we are no longer on earth. The Church is a small piece of Heaven on earth. When we step over the threshold of the temple, we must forget about everything earthly, including disgust (disgust is usually lascivious, say the Holy Fathers). The infection is transmitted only through sinful means. Many people work in infectious diseases departments, in tuberculosis hospitals, but do not suffer from these diseases. The priests also come there and give communion. And no one has ever become infected. People become infected only through sin.
When they approach the Chalice, they accept from one small spoon - a liar - the Creator of the Universe, the Living Christ, the Body and Blood of Christ. Here there is purity and sterility. Everything here is so clean that believers don’t even think about infection. Through the hands of the priest, Christ Himself enters into man. Not a part of His Flesh and Blood, but as a whole, the Lord enters into each communicant. The angels are in trembling, present in fear. And what can we say about some kind of infection. There was a time, in 62-63, atheists came to church and taught that after each communicant a spoon should be dipped into a special solution. Well, this is for them... They don’t understand anything. And the fact that their soul has already become a vessel of Satan is normal, no big deal!
When Righteous John of Kronstadt served in the cathedral, two young people came to him. They gathered to take communion. One read the rule, but the second, very tired, could not. And both came to church. The one who read it calmly approached Communion, and the righteous John of Kronstadt did not allow him. And the other with a contrite heart said to himself: “Lord, I so want to receive You; but I didn’t read the rule, I’m so vile, so disgusting...” Condemning himself, he approached the Chalice, and Righteous John of Kronstadt gave him communion. The most important thing for the Lord is our contrite heart, the awareness of our unworthiness. St. John Chrysostom says: “If we prepare for a thousand years, we will never be worthy - we must hope for the mercy of God. If the Lord does not help, we will not be able to receive communion worthily.”
When you take communion, you feel light in your soul, but after a while (on the same day) this state passes, and your soul is heavy again. You feel the absence of God. The same passions arise again. What should I do?
You need to prepare yourself the day before. You need to fast well - “this kind of demons is driven out only by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21), so you need to pray well the day before, warm up your soul, fast - the passions will subside. After Communion, we must try to remain in prayer and maintain peace of mind. Those who like to be arbitrary and rebel do not value Communion. They took communion - and immediately there was resentment, hysteria, and rebellion. This is because everything happens not according to their will. We need to deal with them, break everything completely, all relationships. There are still many such people, they are called bottlers. They don't value anything, they don't value anything. The most important thing is that everything is according to their wishes. And if (God forbid) something is against them, everyone around them becomes enemies, and there will never be peace in the soul, until death. This is the most terrible state of the human soul. A person lives according to his own will and no one has the right to say anything to him. And everything is fine with them, just don’t touch them - they’ll sting...
Why then, when you receive communion, do the Holy Mysteries sometimes taste like bread, and sometimes like Flesh? Does this mean that at some time you partake of eternal life, and at another time - into condemnation?
If a person feels that he accepts the Flesh, then the Lord gives it to strengthen faith. But it’s right to feel the taste of bread. The Lord Himself says: “I am the bread of Life” (John 6:35).
Many people told me about this. Just recently, one woman called from Kyiv and said: “Father, my faith is weak. When I went to Communion today, I was poorly prepared. Father gave me a small particle, and at the Chalice I thought: “What kind of Flesh can there be here? When I can’t even feel with my tongue that he put something in my mouth?" He gave me a little, a tiny bit. And I just couldn’t eat that piece. It stayed in my mouth like that. I came home - my mouth was full of meat. No way. I can swallow it. I cried for several hours, asked the Lord - it’s a pity to throw it away, but I just can’t swallow it! Then the Lord freed me - I swallowed it and now I’m calling. What, have I sinned terribly?” “Repent for doubting this,” I tell her.
We know that the Lord performed the first miracle when he transformed water into wine. It costs him nothing to transform His Blood from wine, or His Flesh from bread. A person does not receive part of the flesh, but the Living Christ enters entirely into each person who receives communion.
We know the word of the Apostle Paul about receiving the Holy Gifts “without reasoning.” I would like to know whether it is possible to give such recommendations to a person who does not believe in God?
Only believers can approach the Chalice and receive communion; those who believe in the crucified Jesus Christ as the Son of God and sincerely confess their sins. And to the “raw material” who doesn’t go to church, doesn’t pray to God, doesn’t keep fasts and strives to take communion “just in case,” we usually say: “It’s too early for you to take communion. You need to get ready.” Some defend such “parishioners” and say: “If they are not allowed in, then who should be allowed in?” God does not need quantity, God needs quality. It is better for one person to receive communion worthily than twenty unworthily. Saint Gregory the Theologian says: “I would rather give my body to be torn to pieces by dogs than the Body of Christ to the unworthy.”
You need to have reasoning. We know from experience: everyone who came to church to be baptized and did not prepare remains outside the Church. Therefore, we ask you to seriously prepare your soul for this Sacrament, go to church services, and pray. When such a prepared person is baptized, he will become a faithful member of the Church and will constantly be in the temple. These are the real Orthodox Christians. On the Day of the Last Judgment, on the left side of our Judge there will be a lot of baptized, “Orthodox” people. They will prove that they are believers, but the Lord will say: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).
After communion I almost got hit by a car. I escaped with a bruise... I want to understand why this happened?
There may be various reasons for this. The Holy Fathers say that before or after communion, the enemy will certainly create a temptation: he will try to prevent communion, or after communion he will take revenge. He strives with all his demonic machinations to create an obstacle so that a person cannot receive communion worthily. A Christian is preparing, praying, reading the rule for Holy Communion, and suddenly... someone met him on the way, scolded him, or his neighbors started a scandal at home, all so that the person would sin and lose heart. These are obstacles from the devil.
It happens differently. The man is in enmity, has not reconciled, has not asked for forgiveness and goes to the Chalice. Or He has secret unrepentant sins in his soul.
If a person went through formal confession, did not repent of anything and approached the Chalice more than once, he received communion unworthily, to his own condemnation. About such the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says that “... many of them are dying” (1 Cor. 11:30).
If we repented of everything, hid nothing, left nothing on our conscience, then we are under the special protection of God. Then, even if we are hit to death by a car, it’s not scary: on the day of communion all Orthodox Christians would like to die, because for the sake of the Holy Gifts the soul immediately admires the Angels in Heaven and it does not go through the ordeal. The soul will not go to hell on the day of communion.
And if such a nuisance happened, but the person “got away with fright” and remained alive, then this can be regarded as a reminder from God of the inevitable death that can come today or tomorrow. Life is short term. This means that we need to intensify our deeds and pay more attention to the spiritual side of our life. Any illness, any such case is news from the other world. The Lord constantly reminds us that our earthly refuge is temporary, that we do not live here forever and will go to another world.
No matter how well a person lives on earth, he will not build a kingdom here. Only once was he given the opportunity to live in paradise under the cover of God's grace. Man could not resist, fell into sin, and sin shortened the days of man’s life. Along with sin, death entered man's life. The devil has distorted consciousness so much that sin has become the norm, and virtue is trampled underfoot.
But we have hope of entering the Kingdom of Heaven through a righteous life in Christ and cleansing the soul through repentance. And in the Kingdom of Heaven there is no despondency, no illness, no despair, no sorrow. There is fullness of life, fullness of joy, and for this we must constantly prepare, remember every second: our whole life is only preparation for eternity. How many billions of people there were on earth, everyone moved into the world of the majority. And now we stand on the threshold into that world.
Is it possible for unmarried people to receive communion?
This issue is very complex, and it must be resolved with the confessor. An unmarried marriage is not blessed by God. For example, a woman lives in Moscow. She has an apartment. A man comes to her from the other end of Moscow and lives with her. Well, so how: can such people be allowed to receive communion?" Many will exclaim: "Father, this is fornication. They live illegally."
Fine. Then this man collects his things and moves to her, thinking: “Why am I going to go back and forth.” He came, began to live, and registered with her. We registered with the registry office, in case of divorce, in order to divide the things we had acquired together. Did the marriage then become legal? Nothing of the kind, it is just as illegal. They just moved in together.
This marriage will be legal when they have strong faith, make a promise to God to maintain purity in marriage, that is, during fasting not to indulge infantry desires, not to commit adultery on the side, and get married. Then this marriage will be “registered” in Heaven. This marriage is blessed by God.
Now many people get married at the insistence of their parents. A mother says to her son or daughter: “You definitely need to get married!” And children, to please their parents, get married in church. The mother is calm, comforted. And they lived for two or three months, there was a scandal, and they fled. Soon they find another couple and begin to live as a new family. Thus they commit adultery and trample on the holy bonds of a married, God-blessed marriage.
By the law given by God, these people are bound by marriage as long as one of the spouses is alive. The husband died, the wife can get married, and vice versa. But if both spouses are alive, none of them can live with another person. And no priest has the right to marry them.
What God has joined together, let no man separate. “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries one who is divorced from her husband commits adultery” (Luke 1b:18). “To those who are married, I do not command, but the Lord: a wife should not divorce her husband, and a husband should not leave his wife” (1 Cor. 7:10).
If it has become unbearable to live with your spouse and you separated, then you need to keep yourself pure; but it is better to reconcile with the one whom the Lord has given you.
We give communion to a baby, but for some reason he becomes irritable after communion.
Much depends on the parents. The child is sinless, holy, and the parents are often unrepentant, and this internal state is reflected in the child. It is mentioned in the life of Righteous John of Kronstadt: when babies were brought to him for communion, some of them did not want to accept the Holy Gifts - they waved their hands, spun, and twirled. And the righteous man prophetically said: “These are the future persecutors of the Church.” They were already opponents of God from birth.
A grandmother gives Holy Communion to a small child in secret from her parents; she is embarrassed by the fact that it is done in secret.
There's nothing wrong here. On the contrary, it is very good that someone in the family is doing a good deed for the soul of this child. A child must live a spiritual life. If he does not receive communion, his soul may die and the little man will grow up with a dead soul. Subsequently, he can be possessed by an evil force even to the point of mental illness, to the point of demonic possession. And if this, by the grace of God, does not happen, a person with an evil character will simply grow up.
A small planted flower requires care and attention. It needs watering, loosening and freeing from weeds. Likewise, a child must be given communion with the Holy Mysteries - the Blood and Body of Christ. Then his soul lives and develops. She falls under the special protection of the Lord's grace.
In the last issue of our magazine, we tried to answer questions related to the Sacrament of Confession; Today we’ll talk about the Sacrament of Communion of the Holy Mysteries. The fact is that our knowledge about the Church Sacraments does not always correspond to our actions. Actions are ahead. We go to receive communion without knowing the answers to many questions related to the Eucharist, without even realizing how little we know. At some initial stage, this may not be a problem. On the contrary, this suggests that the desire for salvation lies in each of us deeper than consciousness. But one cannot live long in a state of such lack of awareness. Our actions in the Church must be conscious. In addition, even with good awareness, questions arise and will arise again and again. Let's ask at least some of them to the editor-in-chief of our magazine, Abbot Nektary (Morozov).
- Let's start with the meaning. All those who receive communion know that the wine and bread in the Chalice are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but not everyone will immediately explain: why do we take the Body and Blood inside? It is difficult for a person of modern culture to understand this; reading about the Last Supper in the Gospel, he also does not immediately understand the meaning of the Savior’s actions, the meaning of His words: ...drink of it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins...(Matt. 26, 27-28). If the Blood is shed “for the remission of sins,” that is, in order for sins to be forgiven, then why should it be drunk? The question seems rude, but there is no escape from it.
— The question is really rude, but the main problem with this question is not rudeness, but a lack of trust in God. If a person has that minimum of trust, without which faith is impossible, then it is enough for him to hear the words of Christ - take, eat: this is My Body...(Matt. 26:26). Do we need to wonder why the Lord commanded us to do this - eat His Body and drink His Blood? Once upon a time, the first people in the Garden of Eden wondered: why can’t we eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? They didn’t ask themselves on their own, but thanks to someone who still whispers similar questions to people today... The fruits from this tree could not be eaten, because the Lord said: it is impossible. Because He forbade it to man. The worst evil was not that man ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but that man did not trust God. He didn’t believe Him, he thought that God was deceiving him. There are things that our minds cannot understand. The subtlest, the deepest, the most sophisticated human mind will certainly get confused in this. Why did great theologians turn into great heretics? Because they tried to explain in human language what is inexplicable in it. The Monk Isaac the Syrian said that silence is the sacrament of the future century, and words are the tools of this century. It is impossible, using the tools of this age, to explain what belongs to the age to come. There are questions to which our heart can give us answers, but not our mind, not our intellect. Can we say in human language who the Seraphim are who surround the throne of the Creator? And if not, then how can we say what the Body and Blood of Christ are?
Communion of His Body and Blood is the deepest unity between God and man. The highest form of unity of people on earth is marriage. In marriage, people become one flesh. And in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in the Sacrament of Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, greater unity is achieved. The Savior says: If you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you... He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him(John 6, 53, 56). By receiving Communion, we participate in Divine Life, and this Life participates in us.
- So this is not connected with any ancient customs, for example, with the custom of eating the meat of sacrificial animals?
— The custom of eating the meat of sacrificial animals is rather representative of the Sacrament of Communion.
- It’s still not entirely clear. Is this how it should be? Is this why the Sacrament of Communion is called Communion of the Holy Mysteries?
- Yes, that's exactly why. And the word Sacrament itself comes from here. We do not know exactly how, in what way grace is given to a person - in the Sacrament of Baptism, in the Sacrament of Anointing, we perform some very simple actions. But these actions turn out to be a ladder - we climb up it to God, and the Lord teaches us grace. Only God knows why and how this happens.
— Why is the Sacrament of Communion also called the Sacrament of the Eucharist, that is, thanksgiving?
- Again, let's turn to the Gospel: And he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them: and they all drank from it.(Mark 14:23). The Eucharistic canon is a time when we thank God for everything. Because He created us and brought us into this world. Because He did not turn away from us when we fell, when we ourselves departed from Him. And because He gave us this Sacrament, incomprehensible to our minds, for the sake of our salvation, for the sake of communion with Him, unity with Him.
— Following to Holy Communion, which is in any prayer book, it contains answers to many of our questions
— Unfortunately, in our current prayer books there are very different prayers; but those who are included in the succession to Holy Communion were written by the great holy fathers. They reveal not only the meaning of this Sacrament, but also the experience of it by those saints who left us these prayers. Here is the prayer of Simeon the New Theologian: “...I will partake of Your undefiled and most holy Mysteries, by them everyone who eats and drinks with a pure heart is revived and adored.” Adored - for the purpose of Christ's coming to earth is to return to us this amazing opportunity - being, on the one hand, limited created beings, to become, on the other hand, gods by grace. Remember, the Lord Himself in the Gospel of John quotes Psalm 81: ...is it not written in your law: I said: you are gods?..(John 10:34). Here again, how can the human mind understand this: we are people, and we can be gods by grace? Not little pagan gods, no, but - we can be in God, and God in us. Maximus the Confessor has such a comparison, as do some of the later fathers: red-hot iron, which did not cease to be iron, but at the same time became fire.
- This is somewhat naive, perhaps, but each time we expect from Communion some internal changes - intelligible and directly felt, such that we could give ourselves an account. How justified is this, what changes can we expect?
— Changes will not happen if a person who has opened his mouth to receive the Body and Blood of Christ does not open his heart even a millimeter. And if he opens his heart even a little, the Lord will come in and changes will take place. The Venerable Seraphim of Sarov said very clearly and accurately: a person who constantly partakes of the Holy Mysteries of Christ with faith and with proper preparation is gradually enlightened, sanctified and changed. Every time we prepare for Communion, we must take a certain step forward. We take this step, and the Lord leads us many, many steps further beyond this step. And if over the subsequent time we do not retreat back, but take another step forward, then the Lord again takes us by the hand and again leads us further - to purification, to sanctification and deification. The trouble is when we snatch His hand away and go back ourselves. The Lord leads us forward, but we constantly retreat back. Therefore, we do not receive the fruits that we expect from Communion. Or we gain, but lose.
— We read: He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day(John 6:54), and for many this is precisely what becomes the main incentive - not only to take communion, but also to come to Orthodoxy. The promise of immortality! What should you think about first when approaching the Sacrament - about the resurrection on the last day or about what is happening to us here now?
- In order to answer this question, we must first clarify: what do we mean by immortality, or more precisely: what do we mean by death? True death, from which the Lord saved and delivered us, is being without God. God is the only source of being, the source of life. We do not have life in ourselves; we receive it from Him as a gift. Therefore, when we talk about the immortality that a person receives who partakes of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, then this immortality is like not falling away from God, like the opportunity to always be with God. This is exactly what Simeon the New Theologian is talking about: “... it is not that there is one, but with You, my Christ, the Trisolar Light...”. Of course, initially a person may be guided by some primitive, even selfish ideas about spiritual life: “We must take communion so as not to die with death.” But the Lord seeks in man the smallest possibilities, those places into which grace can be grafted. A selfish attitude towards the Sacrament is impossible and wrong, but the desire for immortality can bring a person to the Church, and then the Lord will bring him closer to Himself and enlighten him, of course, if the person himself makes efforts to do so. Then a person will understand that we receive communion not in order not to die, but in order to be with Christ. According to the thought of St. Gregory Palamas, Divine grace, which is taught in the Sacraments, is not something external, it is not something that the Lord takes and gives to man as if separately from Himself, no - grace is God Himself acting in man . God gives Himself to man every time. Not health, or joy, or happiness, not even immortality, but Himself.
— Question: “Often or rarely?” - is discussed constantly, but what does periodicity mean in this case?
— The first Christians received communion often (for example, in the Caesarea Church, according to the testimony of Basil the Great, four times a week). But it was a completely different intensity of spiritual life. They were ready to die any day, to die for their testimony about Christ. And they lived in anticipation of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was about to come, about to open. But today’s person needs to prepare for Communion, he needs to tear his mind, his heart away from what he has to live with every day. To become sober from being in the usual passions, in the usual bustle. Therefore, we cannot receive communion as often as the first Christians did. We need, apparently, to be guided by the following principle: we must not receive communion too rarely; in this case, the soul, deprived of communication with God, will go wild and find itself “hunted by the devil,” as the holy fathers said; but one should not take communion too often, so as not to get used to it and lose reverence. A person gets used to everything. It is difficult to find a middle ground, but Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) believed that on average a person should receive communion once every two weeks. He advised sick people or those who had gone through the occult, through the temptation of unclean spirits, to receive communion every week. Also, many confessors blessed those Christians who live a strict, attentive life and strive to the best of their ability to receive communion weekly. But each person must also consult on this matter with the priest to whom he confesses.
— In your opinion, is it worthwhile to regularly give communion to small children and infants? One priest bitterly told me that the parents of these babies themselves receive communion extremely rarely, and they don’t even go to church: they come in for ten minutes to give the child communion and leave.
“The child very subtly senses the atmosphere in which he resides, not only spiritual, but also spiritual. If a child who has been communed with the Holy Mysteries of Christ returns after this to an atmosphere devoid of grace (that grace that is always present in the home of people living a church life), he loses the gift he received. If parents give communion to a child, but do not care about his Orthodox upbringing, if they themselves are not church people, this does not bring much benefit (although, on the other hand, it is better this way than nothing at all). In general, giving communion to a child often is very good. This is reality: the more often a child accepts the Body and Blood of Christ, the better it is for his spiritual development.
— In modern church practice, the Sacrament of Communion is inseparable from the Sacrament of Confession. Hence the conclusion drawn by the majority: if you confessed, it means you are ready. What does readiness or unreadiness mean in this case? What Communion can be called unworthy? The words of John Chrysostom - that he who receives communion unworthily is like Judas kissing Christ and is subject to eternal torment - are frightening, but at the same time - who is worthy except the saints?
— Paradoxical answer: The person who considers himself worthy is unworthy of Communion. One should not think that the saints considered themselves worthy, on the contrary: “... because I am not worthy, I am content below, but under the shelter of the temple of my soul, all empty and fallen, and there is no place in me worthy to bow my head...” - this is from the prayer of the same John Chrysostom, also now included in the Follow-up to Holy Communion. Nobody deserves this. The whole question is with what spiritual disposition a person approaches the Chalice. The Apostle Paul wrote that in his time many Christians died because they received communion “without discerning themselves,” that is, without examining their own souls. Everyone is sinful to one degree or another. Judas was sinful, and so was Peter. Judas betrayed Christ, Peter denied Him. But in Judas's denial there was a conscious decision and refusal to repent as conversion and change, and in Peter's denial there was ordinary human weakness. And his renunciation was followed by repentance, a return to Christ. Peter at the hour of the Last Supper did not know his weakness and was truly ready to die for Christ, and Judas, taking communion, was already ready to betray. Hence the conclusion: if we, approaching the Chalice, have the determination not to repeat those sins of which we have just repented, the Lord will deign us to receive communion without condemnation. And if we approach with a different disposition, as if hiding the thought in ourselves: now I will take communion, and then I will lead my old life - this, in essence, is the disposition of Judas, this is unworthy Communion. Worthy Communion is when a person strives with all his might to change himself. The Monk Barsanuphius the Great, answering questions from his disciples, said: a person should begin Communion like a sick person coming to a doctor for healing. If it is healing that we are looking for - not the body, but the soul - then the Lord will not condemn us. After all, the Lord has one desire for us - to change us, correct our lives, make us worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. And if we expect the same from Communion, it will not condemn us.
— John Chrysostom places great responsibility on the priest for the “purity of the source,” that is, for ensuring that no one unworthy receives communion from him; Moreover, Chrysostom places this responsibility on the entire Christian community: “Considerable punishment awaits you if, having recognized someone as wicked, you allow them to partake of this meal.” But how applicable are these norms in modern church practice?
- Can you, standing in church today and seeing a person who, from your point of view, is unworthy of Communion, not allow him to take the Chalice? Hardly: what do you really know about him? In the ancient Christian community the situation was different. It was precisely a community in which everyone was familiar with everyone in one way or another. Although the temptation to please people was present even then, and not all bishops and shepherds overcame it. Perhaps this is what Chrysostom means? But here is an example from the life of Saint Ambrose of Milan. When Emperor Theodosius the Great carried out a terrible defeat in Thessalonica, he came after that to the temple and wanted to receive communion. But Saint Ambrose tells him: “You are a murderer, you cannot receive communion, you must repent, spend time in fasting and prayer, sprinkle ashes on your head.” And what - the emperor sprinkled ashes on his head and repented. He repented until the saint saw: “the mighty one of this world” is in such a contrite state of spirit that mercy must be shown to him.
Obviously, not all bishops acted this way; at least for the emperor, such severity was unexpected. However, Saint Ambrose “only” acted according to his conscience. If someone in such a case “sees, does not see,” then it is unlikely that he will avoid condemnation.
- But who should the priest not allow to receive Communion today?
- A person who lives in mortal sin and does not want to leave this sin is not allowed to the Chalice. Such sins in this case would include adultery or fornication, abortion, witchcraft, magic, and the use of occult services. We cannot apply the norms of the ancient Church in all their severity today, but we must understand: if a person comes to us immediately after a grave, mortal sin, he must be given some time to repent. This time may be different (a month, forty days, two months), but it should not be too long, so that, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, Satan would not destroy this person and take him even further from the Church. After all, the task of the priest in this case is not to punish the person, but to prepare him for worthy Communion. Not to the worthy, or rather, but to that Communion that will not be his judgment or condemnation.
There are very different situations here. Sometimes a person comes and it turns out that he committed some terrible sin a long time ago, and now, perhaps, he has just left prison. You can, of course, give him penance and say: read the Penitential Canon for two months, and then come to receive communion. Or you can look at him and see that if he leaves now, he will not come again and will disappear. It is better to admit him to Communion, and only then say: read the canon. It happens that the miracle of a person’s conversion occurs after Communion, even received “illegally” - without confession, for example. I have seen such miracles, but they are the exception rather than the rule.
“There are, however, priests who are much stricter in this matter. And others are unjustifiably strict. Not long ago, the Orthodox media discussed an episode when in one of the Moscow churches a woman was not allowed to receive Communion on Christmas Day because she drank a glass of wine on New Year’s Eve and confessed about it with
- It should be remembered: the priest is equally responsible for both giving Communion to an unworthy person and for preventing a person who needs Communion from receiving Communion. In both cases, responsibility for this lies entirely with the priest. Of course, besides those mortal, grave sins that we talked about, there are other reasons why a person should not be allowed to take the Chalice. For example: a person was not at the evening service the day before. The priest should not allow him to receive Communion: after all, the liturgical day begins in the evening. If a person has not read the Follow-up to Holy Communion, again, the priest should not allow him. But here, probably, it is necessary to make some kind of distinction between people who regularly go to church and know that they must be at the evening service, that they must read the Rule, and people who came for the first time. A person comes to the liturgy, he confesses with tears, with real contrition of heart. Someone told him that before Communion he needed to fast for three days, and he did it, but he didn’t know that he had to read the Rule. What to do, say: “Go, and next time don’t come without reading the Rules,” or still give him communion, explaining what and why he needs to read the day before? The task of a priest is to acquire a person for the Church, and not vice versa. From my point of view, in this case the person must be given communion. However, it is completely wrong if the priest allows a person who regularly comes to church not to attend the evening service or not to read the prayer rule before the Sacrament.
However, there are exceptions here too. Saint John of Kronstadt has such an example. A woman comes to him and says that she cannot take communion: she did not prepare, all this time she “was in vanity.” And her “vanity,” it turns out, was service to her neighbor. And Father John tells her: “No, you take communion, because all your deeds were just preparation.” The letter kills, but the spirit gives life - the priest must remember this. And, of course, do not forget about leniency towards real physical weakness, do not demand that a seriously ill person observe “everything in all its severity,” including fasting.
As for the episode with the glass of wine, such severity personally does not seem justified to me. New Year is not a church holiday, but the Church still makes some concessions to this holiday. Fasting becomes more strict after the civil New Year, when the period before Christmas begins. And if the New Year does not fall on Wednesday or Friday, and if on this day, according to the already established tradition, the polyeleos service is served to the martyr Boniface or the Monk Ilya of Murom, then the glass of wine mentioned here is quite possible, even based on the Typikon.
Unfortunately, we sometimes experience a kind of compensation: the lack of proper rigor towards one’s own life turns into a desire to be strict with others.
— People tend to expect “bodily health” and recovery from illnesses from Communion. For some, this is the main incentive: “I need to take communion as soon as possible because I’m sick.” How justified is this?
— When the priest comes out with the Cup, he says the following words: “... for the healing of soul and body. Amen". This means that the hope for healing the body is justified. However, note that first we are talking about the soul, and then about the body. If a person seeks physical health and does not care about the healing of the soul, he will not receive the expected benefit. Here the connection is direct: if our illnesses are a consequence of our sins, that is, illnesses of the soul, then through the healing of the soul the healing of the body can occur. But physical health cannot be an end in itself.
When the late Patriarch Alexy was asked how he had the strength to do work that was completely impossible at his age and in his health, he answered that he was supported and nourished by the frequent service of the Liturgy. And many priests who reverently and reverently treat the Eucharist can say the same about themselves. You come to the altar completely exhausted, but you perform the Liturgy, take communion - and it’s as if, in the words of the psalmist, “your youth has been renewed in you, like an eagle.”
Interviewed by Marina Biryukova
I decided to take communion and confess, but the priest said that he could not allow me to take communion. He even refused to confess. I should have gone to another church!
Surely many of you guessed that this is an excerpt from a letter that came to my email box.
A girl who introduced herself as Lena (21 years old) recently decided that someone was harming her.
She bought a cross, tied a scarf, applied a little lipstick and sprayed her neck with perfume.
Entering the Temple, Lena crossed herself, stood through the entire service, and stood up for confession.
When she approached the priest, she immediately began to list the sins she had committed. But he, slightly pushing her away, ordered her to prepare for confession.
Also, I cannot allow you to receive communion. “Go home and prepare well,” the priest answered sternly.
Come back in a week.
Hello, Elena.
Of course, it was easier to “wash away the insult” by going to church with another priest. Maybe you'll get through.
The priest may not allow you to take communion and confession for the following objective (subjective) reasons:
* He was suspicious of the parishioner’s appearance.
Perhaps you reek of fumes, or the priest noticed how you are looking around, not behaving in church like an Orthodox Christian.
* The aroma of perfume may be perceived by the priest as your carnal unpreparedness for communion and confession.
* Lord God, what cosmetics! Even if it is barely noticeable, it reveals that you have a frivolous approach to the spiritual sacrament.
* Resentment towards the priest, which he sees as your demonic protest to the church canons with a hint of youthful initiative.
In order for the priest to admit you to confession and communion in a week, you need to prepare for the sacrament at home:
1). Read the Prayer Book for 7 days in a row. Morning, evening and prayers throughout the day. Psalm 90 and Our Father.
2). Undergo a strict week-long fast. Be sure to say this in confession.
3). Don't use bad language.
4). Remember all the sins you have committed, writing down the most terrible ones on paper.
5). When you are admitted to confession, you must remember everything written down by heart, asking forgiveness from the priest for forgotten sins.
6). No short skirts, too revealing or flashy clothes, or lipstick.
7). During the service, avoid outside conversations. It is unacceptable to be distracted by those entering and leaving the Temple.
8). If I'm not mistaken, approach communion with your arms crossed over your chest. Here you can pay attention to the parishioners.
I believe that you already know why the priest did not allow you to receive communion and confession.
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