Take, eat: this is My Body. Yours from yours brings to you This is my blood

We have already said that liturgy- the main, most important service, during which the Sacrament is performed Eucharist, or Sacrament of Communion. This Sacrament was first performed by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself on the eve of His suffering, on Maundy Thursday. The Savior, having gathered all the apostles together, gave praise to God the Father, took bread, blessed it and broke it. He gave it to the holy apostles with the words: Take, eat: this is My Body. Then He took the cup of wine, blessed it and gave it to the apostles, saying: 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.(Matthew 26, 28). The Lord also commanded the apostles: Do this in My remembrance(Luke 22:19). Even after the resurrection of Christ and His ascension to Heaven, the apostles performed the Sacrament of Communion. During the Eucharist (Greek. thanksgiving) each time what the Lord did at the Last Supper is actually accomplished. We mysteriously, under the guise of bread and wine, partake of the Divine Himself - Body and Blood of the Savior. He abides in us, and we abide in Him, as the Lord said (see: John 15:5).

The Eucharist is also called A bloodless sacrifice, because she is an image of the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made for us on Calvary. He accomplished it once, having suffered for the sins of the world, was resurrected and ascended to Heaven, where he sat down at the right hand of God the Father. The sacrifice of Christ was offered once and will not be repeated. With the establishment of the New Testament, Old Testament sacrifices ceased, and now Christians perform the Bloodless Sacrifice in remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ and for the communion of His Body and Blood.

The Old Testament sacrifices were only a shadow, a prototype of the Divine sacrifice. The expectation of the Redeemer, the Liberator from the power of the devil and sin is the main theme of the entire Old Testament, and for us, the people of the New Testament, the sacrifice of Christ, the Savior’s atonement for the sins of the world, is the basis of our faith.

The Holy Gifts are a fire that burns up every sin and every defilement if a person strives to receive communion worthily. We receive communion for the healing of soul and body. When starting communion, you need to do it with reverence and trembling, realizing your weakness and unworthiness. “Although you eat (eat), O man, the Master’s Body, approach with fear, lest you become singed: for there is fire,” says the prayers for Holy Communion.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes about how the Lord enlightened one young man, Dmitry Shepelev, and showed that the true Body of the Savior is served in Holy Communion: “He was brought up in the Corps of Pages. Once during Great Lent, when the pages were fasting and already beginning the Holy Mysteries, the young man Shepelev expressed to a comrade walking next to him his decisive disbelief that the Body and Blood of Christ should be in the chalice. When the secrets were taught to him, he felt that there was meat in his mouth. Horror seized young man: he stood beside himself, not feeling the strength to swallow a particle. The priest noticed the change that had taken place in him and ordered him to enter the altar. There, holding a particle in his mouth and confessing his sin, Shepelev came to his senses and used the Holy Mysteries taught to him” (“Fatherland”).

Often, spiritual people and ascetics experienced phenomena of heavenly fire descending on the Holy Gifts during the celebration of the Eucharist. Yes, the Sacrament of Communion, the Eucharist is the greatest miracle and mystery, as well as the greatest mercy for us sinners, and visible evidence that the Lord established a New Covenant with people in His Blood (see: Luke 22:20), sacrificing for us cross, died and rose again, spiritually resurrecting all humanity with Himself. And we can now partake of His Body and Blood for the healing of soul and body, abiding in Christ, and He will “abide in us” (see: John 6:56).

Origin of the liturgy

Since ancient times, the sacrament of communion, the Eucharist, has also received the name liturgy, which is translated from Greek as common cause, common service.

The holy apostles, disciples of Christ, having accepted from their Divine Teacher the commandment to perform the Sacrament of Communion in remembrance of Him, after His Ascension they began to break bread - the Eucharist. Christians continued constantly in the teaching of the Apostles, in fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers(Acts 2:42).

The order of the liturgy was formed gradually. At first, the apostles celebrated the Eucharist in the very order that their Teacher taught them. In apostolic times the Eucharist was united with the so-called agape, or meals of love. Christians ate food and were in prayer and fraternal fellowship. After the supper, the breaking of bread and communion of the believers took place. But then the liturgy was separated from the meal and began to be performed as an independent sacred rite. The Eucharist began to be celebrated inside sacred churches. IN I-II centuries The order of the liturgy was apparently not written down and was transmitted orally.

What are the liturgies?

Gradually, different localities began to develop their own liturgical rites. Served in the Jerusalem community Liturgy of the Apostle James. It took place in Alexandria and Egypt Liturgy of the Apostle Mark. In Antioch - the liturgy of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. All these liturgies are united in their meaning and meaning, but differ in the texts of the prayers that the priest offers during the consecration of the Holy Gifts.

Now in the practice of the Russian Orthodox Church they usually perform three orders of liturgy. These are the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the liturgy of St. Basil the Great and the liturgy of St. Gregory the Great.

This liturgy is celebrated on all days of the year, except for the first five Sundays of Great Lent and weekday Lenten days. Saint John Chrysostom compiled the rite of his liturgy based on the previously compiled liturgy Saint Basil the Great, but shortened some prayers.

Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

According to the legend of Saint Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, Saint Basil the Great asked God “to give him the strength of spirit and mind to perform the liturgy in his own words. After six days of fiery prayer, the Savior miraculously appeared to him and fulfilled his request. Soon Vasily, imbued with delight and divine awe, began to exclaim: “Let my lips be filled with praise,” “Take in, Lord Jesus Christ our God, from Thy Holy Dwelling,” and other prayers of the liturgy.”

Liturgy of St. Basil is being done ten times a year:

on the eve of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany (on the so-called Christmas and Epiphany Eves), on the day of remembrance of St. Basil the Great on January 1 (January 14, new style), on the first five Sundays of Lent, on Holy Thursday and on Holy Saturday.

Liturgy of St. Gregory the Dvoeslov, or Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

During the Holy Pentecost of Great Lent, the service of the full liturgy ceases on weekdays. Lent is a time of repentance, crying over sins, when all festivity and solemnity are excluded from worship. And therefore, according to church rules, on Wednesday and Friday of Lent Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. The Holy Gifts, with which believers receive communion, are consecrated at the Liturgy on Sunday.

In some Local Orthodox Churches, on the day of remembrance of the Holy Apostle James (October 23, old style), a liturgy is served according to his rite.

Sequence and symbolic meaning of the liturgy

The order of performing the full liturgy (that is, not the liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts) is as follows. First, the substance for celebrating the Eucharist is prepared. Then the believers prepare for the Sacrament. And finally, the Sacrament itself is performed - the consecration of the Holy Gifts and the communion of believers. The Divine Liturgy thus has three parts: proskomedia; Liturgy of the Catechumens; Liturgy of the Faithful.

Proskomedia

This word is Greek and translated means bringing. In ancient times, members of the early Christian community themselves brought before the liturgy everything necessary for the Sacrament: bread and wine. The bread used during the liturgy is called prosphora, which means offering(in ancient times, Christians themselves brought bread to the liturgy). In the Orthodox Church, the Eucharist is celebrated on prosphora made from leavened (yeast) dough.

Used for proskomedia five prosphoras in memory of the miraculous feeding of five thousand people by Christ.

For communion, one prosphora (lamb) is used. For the Lord also gave communion to the apostles, breaking and distributing one loaf. The Holy Apostle Paul writes: there is one bread, and we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of one bread(1 Cor 10:17). The Lamb is crushed after the transfiguration of the Holy Gifts, and the clergy and all those preparing for communion receive communion with it. During the liturgy, red grape wine is used, as it resembles the color of blood. Wine is mixed with a small amount of water as a sign that blood and water flowed from the Savior’s pierced rib.

Proskomedia is performed at the very beginning of the liturgy in the altar while the reader is reading the hours. Exclamation "Blessed be our God" pre-reading three o'clock, is also the initial exclamation of the proskomedia. Before the liturgy there is a sequence three and six o'clock.

Proskomedia is a very important part of the Divine Liturgy, and preparation of the Gifts for consecration has a deep symbolic meaning.

Let us remind you: the proskomedia is performed on altar.

From Lamb prosphora priest with a special knife called a copy, cuts out the middle in the shape of a cube. This part of the prosphora has the name Lamb as a sign that the Lord, as the Immaculate Lamb, was slain for our sins. From the bottom of the Lamb is cut crosswise with the words: “The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world for the worldly belly (life) and salvation.” The priest pierces the right side of the Lamb with a spear, saying the words: one of the soldiers pierced His ribs with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. And he who saw it bore witness, and his testimony is true.(John 19:34-35).

With these words, wine mixed with water is poured into the chalice. The preparation of the Gifts at the proskomedia has several meanings. Here we remember the birth of the Savior, His coming into the world and, of course, the Calvary sacrifice on the Cross, as well as burial.

The cooked Lamb and the particles taken from the other four prosphoras symbolize the entirety of the heavenly and earthly Church. After the Lamb is prepared, it rests on the paten.

The priest takes out a triangular particle from the second prosphora in honor of Holy Mother of God and places it on the right side of the Lamb. From the third prosphora, particles are taken out in honor of Saint John the Baptist, prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, saints, unmercenaries, saints whose memory is celebrated by the Church on this day, the parents of the Mother of God, the righteous saints Joachim and Anna, and the saint whose liturgy is celebrated.

From the next two prosphoras, particles are taken out for living and deceased Orthodox Christians.

At the altar at the proskomedia, believers submit notes of health and repose. Particles are also taken out for the people whose names are contained in the notes.

All particles are put in in a certain order on the paten.

The priest, having bowed, places a star on the paten above the Lamb and the particles. The paten marks both the Bethlehem cave and Golgotha, the asterisk marks the star above the cave and the cross. The priest censes special coverings and places them on top of the paten and chalice as a sign that Christ was laid in the tomb and His body was wrapped in shrouds. These swaddling clothes also symbolize the Christmas swaddling clothes.

The meaning of commemoration at the Proskomedia

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, after the communion of the faithful, the priest pours particles taken from the prosphora at the proskomedia into the Holy Chalice with the words: “Wash away, O Lord, the sins of those who were remembered here with Your honest blood, with the prayers of Your saints”.

Prayer at the proskomedia for health and peace, with the removal of particles for them, and then immersing them in the chalice is the highest commemoration in the Church. A Bloodless Sacrifice is made for them. They also participate in the liturgy.

At the relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov, Hieromonk Alexy (1840-1917), the future elder of the Goloseevsky monastery of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (now glorified as a locally revered saint), bore obedience. He got tired and dozed off at the shrine. Saint Theodosius appeared to him in a dream and thanked him for his efforts. He asked that his parents, Priest Nikita and Mother Maria, be remembered at the liturgy. When Hieromonk Alexy asked the saint how he could ask for the priest’s prayers when he himself stood before the Throne of God, Saint Theodosius said: “The offering at the liturgy is stronger than my prayers.”

Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov tells that after the death of a careless monk who suffered from the love of money, he ordered thirty funeral liturgies to be served for the deceased, and the brethren to perform a common prayer for him. And after the last liturgy, this monk appeared to his brother and said: “Until now, brother, I suffered cruelly and terribly, but now I feel good and I am in the light.”

Liturgy of the Catechumens

The second part of the liturgy is called Liturgy of the Catechumens. In ancient times, people underwent very lengthy preparation to receive holy baptism. They studied the basics of faith, went to church, but they could pray at the liturgy only until the Gifts were transferred from the altar to the throne. The catechumens, as well as the penitents, excommunicated from communion for serious sins, had to go out into the vestibule of the temple.

After the priest exclaimed: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.”- the choir sings: “Amen.” The peaceful, or great, litany is pronounced. It begins with the words: “Let us pray to the Lord in peace”. The word “in peace” tells us that we must pray in peace, reconciling with our neighbors, only then will the Lord accept our prayers.

The peaceful litany covers all aspects of our existence. We pray: for the peace of the whole world, for the holy churches, for the temple where the service is celebrated, for bishops, presbyters, deacons, for our country, its authorities and soldiers, for the blessing of the air and the abundance of earthly fruits necessary for food. Here we also ask God for help to all those traveling, sick and in captivity.

Liturgy is common cause, and prayer on it is performed collectively, that is, by all believing people, “with one mouth and one heart.” Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them(Matthew 18:20), the Lord tells us. And according to the rules, a priest cannot perform the liturgy alone; at least one person must pray with him.

After Great Litany psalms are sung called antiphons, since they are supposed to be sung in two choirs alternately. The psalms of the prophet David were part of the Old Testament worship and made up a significant part of the hymns in the early Christian service. After the second antiphon, the chant is always sung: “Only Begotten Son...” - about the coming of Christ the Savior into the world, His incarnation and atoning sacrifice. During the singing of the Gospel beatitudes from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, the royal doors are opened and the small entrance is made, or entrance with the Gospel. The priest or deacon, exalting the Gospel, signifying the cross with it at the royal doors, proclaims: “Wisdom, forgive!” Translated from Greek I'm sorry Means directly. This is said as a reminder to us that we need to be attentive in prayer and stand upright.

It also speaks of the wisdom that the Divine Gospel and the preaching of the Lord brings to us, for the Gospel is taken out from the altar as a sign that Christ has come out to preach and bring the Good News to the world.

After singing the troparions dedicated to the holiday given to the day, the saints of the day and the temple are sung Trisagion: “Holy God...” On Christmas, Epiphany, Easter and Paschal week, on the day of the Holy Trinity, as well as on Lazarus and Great Saturdays, instead of the Trisagion, the following is sung: “Those (who) were baptized into Christ (baptized), into Christ put on (put on). Alleluia." In ancient times, catechumens were baptized traditionally on these holidays. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and the week of the Veneration of the Cross of Great Lent, instead of the Trisagion, the following is sung: “We bow to Thy Cross, O Master, and glorify Thy holy resurrection.”

For careful reading Apostle And Gospels We are prepared by the cries of “Let us hear” and “Wisdom, forgive us, let us hear the Holy Gospel.” After the Gospel reading, a special (intensified) litany follows, in which, in addition to various prayers for the hierarchy, authorities, the army and all believers, there is a name commemoration of those who submitted their notes to the liturgy: their names are proclaimed by the clergy, and all the people pray with them for health and the salvation of God’s servants, “all who are now remembered here.”

During the special litany, the priest reveals on the throne holy antimension.

After the spoken special litany often added Litany for the Dead. During it, we pray for all our previously deceased fathers, brothers and sisters, asking God for forgiveness of their voluntary and involuntary sins and their placement in heavenly abodes, where all the righteous rest.

What follows Litany of the Catechumens. Some people find this part of the service confusing. Indeed, the practice of catechumen and preparation for baptism that existed in the ancient Church does not exist now. Today we typically baptize people after one or two conversations. But still, there are still catechumens preparing to accept the Orthodox faith. There are many people who have not yet been baptized, but are drawn to the Church. We pray for them, that the Lord would strengthen their good intentions, reveal to them His “Gospel of Truth” and join them to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Nowadays, there are many people who were once baptized in childhood by their parents or grandmothers, but are completely unenlightened. And that the Lord “announce them with the word of truth” and bring them into the church fence, we need to pray at this litany.

After the words "Catechumens, come forth" those preparing for baptism and those repenting left the church, for the main part of the Divine Liturgy began. With these words, we must look especially carefully into our soul, expel from it all resentment and enmity towards our neighbors, as well as all worldly vain thoughts, in order to pray with full attention and reverence during the Liturgy of the faithful.

Liturgy of the Faithful

This part of the service begins after the call to the catechumens to leave the temple. Two short litanies follow. The choir begins to sing Cherubic song. If we translate it into Russian, it will read like this: “We, mysteriously depicting the Cherubim and singing the Trisagion Hymn to the Life-Giving Trinity, will now put aside care about everything worldly in order to perceive the King of all, Who is surrounded by angelic Forces. Praise God!

This song mentions that the Lord is surrounded by angelic armies who constantly glorify Him. And not only clergy and parishioners pray at the Divine Liturgy. Together with the earthly Church, the heavenly Church celebrates the liturgy.

Once the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, being a hierodeacon, served the Divine Liturgy. After the small entrance, Seraphim exclaimed at the royal doors: “Lord, save the pious and hear us!” But as soon as he turned to the people, he pointed his orarem at those present and said: “And forever and ever!” - how a ray brighter than sunlight illuminated him. Looking at this radiance, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the form of the Son of Man in glory, shining with indescribable light, surrounded by the Heavenly Forces - Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim.

During the Cherubic Song, the Gifts prepared for consecration are transferred from the altar to the throne.

It's called transference great entrance. The priest and deacon carry the Gifts, leaving the altar by the northern (left) doors. Stopping at the pulpit, in front of the royal doors, turning their faces to the believers, they commemorate His Holiness the Patriarch, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, the priesthood, all those who work and pray in this temple.

After this, the clergy enter the altar through the royal doors, place the Chalice and paten on the throne and cover the Gifts with a special shroud (air). Meanwhile, the choir finishes singing the Cherubic Song. The Great Entrance symbolizes the solemn procession of Christ to His free suffering and death.

Litany, which follows after the transfer of the Gifts, is called supplication and prepares believers for the most important part of the liturgy - the consecration of the Holy Gifts.

After this litany it is sung Creed. Before all the people sing the Creed, the deacon proclaims: “Doors, doors! Let us sing of wisdom!” In ancient times, these words reminded the gatekeepers that the main and solemn part of the service was beginning, so that they would watch the doors of the temple so that those entering would not disturb decorum. This reminds us that we need to close the doors of our minds from extraneous thoughts.

As a rule, all those praying sing the Creed, confessing their faith in the most important dogmas of the Orthodox Church.

We often have to deal with the fact that godparents, recipients of the Sacrament of baptism, cannot read the Creed. This happens because people do not read morning prayers (they include the Creed) and rarely go to the liturgy. After all, in the church, every Divine Liturgy, all the people confess their faith with one mouth and, of course, know this chant by heart.

The sacrament of the Eucharist, the holy offering, must be offered with the fear of God, with reverence and special attentiveness. Therefore, the deacon proclaims: “Let us become kind, let us become fearful, let us bring holy offerings to the world.” Begins eucharistic canon. Chant "Mercy of peace, sacrifice of praise" is the answer to this call.

The exclamations of the priest alternate with the singing of the choir. During the singing, the priest reads the so-called secret (that is, secretly performed, read not aloud) Eucharistic prayers.

Let us dwell on the main, main prayers of the Eucharistic canon. In the words of the priest, “We thank the Lord!” preparation begins for sanctification, the implementation of honest Gifts. The priest reads the Eucharistic prayer of thanksgiving. It glorifies the benefits of God, especially the redemption of the human race. We thank the Lord that He accepts from us the Bloodless Sacrifice in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, although the ranks of angels stand before and serve Him, glorifying Him: “Singing the song of victory, crying out, calling out and speaking.” The priest pronounces these words of prayer in a full voice.

Continuing the Eucharistic prayers, the priest recalls how the Lord Jesus Christ, on the eve of His voluntary suffering, established the Sacrament of Communion of His life-giving Body and Blood. The words of the Savior, heard at the Last Supper, the priest proclaims loudly: “Take, eat, this is My Body, which was broken for you for the remission of sins.”. At the same time, he points to the paten with the Lamb. And further: “Drink of it, all of you, this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.”, - pointing to the Holy Chalice.

Further, remembering all the blessings God has given to people - the Sacrament of Communion itself, His sacrifice on the cross and His glorious Second Coming promised to us - the priest utters an exclamation filled with deep theological meaning: “Thine from Thine is offered to Thee for everyone and for everything”. We dare to offer God these gifts from His creations (bread and wine), making a bloodless sacrifice for all the children of the Church and for all the benefits He has shown us. The chorus ends this phrase with the words: “We sing to You, we bless You, we thank You, we pray to You(You), Our God".

While singing these words happens sanctification, transformation prepared bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The priest prays and prepares for this great moment, reading aloud the troparion of the third hour three times. He asks that God send His Most Holy Spirit on all those who pray and on the Holy Gifts. Then the Holy Lamb signs with the words: “And thou shalt make this bread, the venerable Body of Thy Christ.”. The deacon answers: "Amen". Then he blesses the wine, saying: “And in this Chalice is the precious Blood of Thy Christ”. The deacon answers again: "Amen". Then he marks the paten with the Lamb and the Holy Chalice with the words: "Transformed by Your Holy Spirit". The consecration of the Holy Gifts ends threefold: "Amen, amen, amen". The priests bow to the ground before the Body and Blood of Christ. The Holy Gifts are offered as a bloodless sacrifice for everyone and everything without exception: for all the saints and for the Mother of God, as stated in the exclamation of the priest, which is the end of the priestly prayer: "Considerably(especially) about our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary". In response to this exclamation, a chant is sung dedicated to the Mother of God: "Worthy to eat". (On Easter and on the twelve feasts, before the dedication, another hymn of the Theotokos is sung - the hymn of honor.)

Next comes the litany, which prepares the faithful for communion and also contains the usual petitions of the litany of petition. After the litany and exclamation of the priest, the Lord’s Prayer is sung (most often by all the people) - "Our Father" .

When the apostles asked Christ to teach them how to pray, He gave them this prayer. In it we ask for everything necessary for life: that everything be God’s will, for our daily bread (and, of course, for the Lord to grant us the opportunity to receive the heavenly bread, His Body), for the forgiveness of our sins and that the Lord will help us overcome all temptations and deliver us from the wiles of the devil.

The priest's exclamation: "Holy to holies!" tells us that we must approach the Holy Mysteries reverently, sanctifying ourselves with prayer, fasting and cleansing ourselves in the Sacrament of Repentance.

In the altar at this time, the clergy crush the Holy Lamb, receive communion themselves and prepare the Gifts for the communion of the faithful. After this, the royal doors open, and the deacon brings out the Holy Chalice with the words: “Draw near with the fear of God and faith”. Opening of the royal gates marks the opening of the Holy Sepulcher, and removal of the Holy Gifts- the appearance of the Lord after His resurrection.

The priest reads the prayer of St. John Chrysostom before holy communion: “ I believe, Lord, and I confess, for You are truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who came into the world to save sinners, from whom I am the first...” And people pray, listening to humble prayer, realizing their unworthiness and bowing before the greatness of the shrine being taught. The prayer before communion with the Body and Blood of Christ ends with the words: “I will not kiss Thee, like Judas, but like a thief I will confess Thee: remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom. May the communion of Thy Holy Mysteries be not for judgment and condemnation for me, Lord, but for the healing of soul and body. Amen".

He who receives communion unworthily, without faith, without contrition of heart, having in his heart malice and resentment towards his neighbor, is likened to Judas the traitor, who was one of the twelve disciples, was present at the Last Supper, and then went and betrayed the Teacher.

Everyone who was preparing for communion and received permission from the priest receives the Holy Mysteries of Christ. After this, the priest brings the Holy Chalice into the altar.

The priest overshadows the worshipers with the holy Chalice with the words: “Always, now and ever and unto ages of ages” and carries it to the altar. This marks the last appearance of the Savior to the disciples and His ascension into heaven.

The deacon pronounces a short litany of thanksgiving, ending with the priest’s prayer behind the pulpit (that is, read in front of the pulpit).

At the end of the liturgy the priest says vacation. On vacation, the Mother of God, the saint whose liturgy was celebrated, and the saints of the temple and the day are usually remembered.

All those praying kiss holy cross, which is held by the priest.

After the liturgy, prayers of thanksgiving for Holy Communion are usually read. If they are not read in church, all those who receive communion read them when they come home.

Maundy Thursday. Before us appears a furnished upper room, where the Lord and his disciples are at the Supper. There is very little time left before humiliation, insults, beatings, calvary suffering. The Lord gathers the apostles to not only once again strengthen their spirit, but also to reveal the meaning of his sacrificial act. “Take, eat: this is My Body, which is broken for you, for the remission of sins,” says the Lord, pointing to the bread that is at the Table. “Drink of it, all of you: this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins,” He says, pointing to the cup.

The Mystery of the Supper of Maundy Thursday is also revealed to us. During the Liturgy, we all hear these words addressed to us by the Lord. Every believer in Christ is invited by God and the Savior himself to taste His Body and Blood.

At the Divine service, the Body and Blood of the Lord is taught to believers from a church vessel called a chalice. This vessel is especially kept in the altar. Only clergy have access to it. But, unfortunately, when there is a decline in faith in people and a decline in piety, such things fall into the hands of ungodly people. There have been more than enough such facts in our history. And our city is no exception.

In 1923, in the city of Vyazemsky, the Bolsheviks closed the temple. The temple building is being transferred to a cultural center. Some of the church items go to the new owners. Later in 1972, Gennady Borisovich Golosov, who at that time worked in the city of Vyazemsky and was an acquaintance of the director of the cultural center, saw a strange object on the table in the club, which the director used as an ashtray. When asked where it came from? - he was told that it was from old temple things. Gennady Borisovich asked to give him this item. Arriving home and cleaning it, he saw that it was a church bowl. Upper part was made of silver, and the lower one was made of copper. The mark of the master who minted it was even visible on the bowl. Gennady Borisovich decided to save the find and left for Khabarovsk.

Time passed, and he learned that in the city of Vyazemsky there was an active community and a temple on a historical site. And as he himself said, he did not want to keep such a thing at home, because it should not be at home, but in the temple.

This wonderful event took place in our church on May 2, 2013, during Holy Week on Holy Thursday after the Divine Liturgy.

You never cease to be amazed at how wonderfully the Lord connects us. The events of two thousand years ago, the past century, the fast service at which the Last Supper of the current fast is remembered, all this speaks of the unity of our Involvement in our Savior in a special providence known only to Him.

All that remains is to say, Glory to our God forever. Amen.

The last pages of the Lord's earthly life unfold before us. The Jewish holiday of Passover was approaching and with it the moment of the suffering on the cross and the death of the Savior. How understandable and natural is His desire, in anticipation of imminent death, to spend the last minutes together with his beloved disciples, to celebrate the great holiday in a peaceful conversation with them and to give them the last instructions before their final earthly separation.

I greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering,- He says in the Gospel of Luke (Luke XXII, 15).

And so He sends two of His disciples, Peter and John, to prepare everything for the holiday.

The name of the holiday "Easter" Hebrew, according to the explanation of St. Gregory the Theologian, means “transition” and was given to this holiday historically - due to the flight and resettlement of the Jews from Egypt to Canaanite, and spiritually - due to the passage and ascent from the earthly to the heavenly and to the land of promise. (Works of St. Gregory the Theologian. Book V. Homily 45, for Holy Easter).

The origin of the holiday is associated with the history of the plagues that the Lord brought on Egypt in order to break the stubbornness of Pharaoh and force him to release the Jews. After the first executions turned out to be insufficient for this purpose, the Lord sent the tenth, one of the most terrible ones - the beating of all the firstborn of Egypt. The book of Exodus talks about it this way:

And Moses said, Thus says the Lord: At midnight I will pass through the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the bondwoman who is at the millstone, and all the firstborn of the livestock; and there will be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as has never happened and such as will never happen again.(Ex. XI, 4-6). At the same time, the Jews who were in Egypt were given the following command: Say to the whole congregation of the [sons of] Israel: on the tenth day of this month, let each one take for himself one lamb according to his family, one lamb per family...You shall have a lamb without blemish, male, one year old; take it from the sheep, or from the goats, and let it be kept with you until the fourteenth day of this month: then let all the congregation of the congregation of Israel slaughter it in the evening, and let them take some of its blood and put it on both the doorposts and on the lintel of the doors in the houses where they will eat it; let them eat his meat this very night, baked on the fire; let them eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; Do not eat it half-baked, or boiled in water, but eat it baked over fire, the head with legs and entrails; do not leave it until the morning [and do not crush its bones], but what remains of it until the morning you burn in the fire. So eat it this way: let your loins be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and eat it with haste: this is the Passover of the Lord. And this very night I will walk through the land of Egypt and will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast, and will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. And the blood will be a sign among you on the houses where you are, and I will see the blood and pass by you, and there will not be a destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt. And let this day be remembered for you, and celebrate this feast of the Lord throughout all your generations; as an eternal institution, celebrate it(Ex. XII, 3, 5-14).

This is the rule of Easter. Conveying this command of God to the people, Moses again confirms:

Keep this as a law for yourself and for your sons forever. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you, as He has spoken, observe this service. And when your children say to you, “What kind of service is this?” tell [them]: This is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed by the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses(Ex. XII, 24-27).

The terrible words of God were fulfilled. At the appointed time,

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in prison, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh arose at night, himself and all his servants and all Egypt; and there was a great cry [throughout the whole land] of Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not a dead man (Ex. XII, 29-30).

Pharaoh's tenacity was broken. He not only released the Jews, but also forced them to leave quickly.

And [Pharaoh] called Moses and Aaron by night and said [to them], “Arise, come out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel... and go and bless me.” And the Egyptians urged the people to quickly send them out of that land; for they said: we will all die(Ex. XII, 31-33).

In memory of this great event, which marked a turning point in the history of the Jewish people and the beginning of a new, independent life in the Promised Land, the Jews sacredly honored the holiday of Passover, as the Lord commanded them through Moses; Moreover, violation of the holiday and failure to comply with its regulations entailed a formidable punishment:

whoever is clean and is not on a [long] journey and does not keep the Passover, that soul will be cut off from his people(Numbers IX, 13).

According to the statute given by Moses (Lev. XCP1 and Deut. XVI), the Passover lamb could not be slaughtered in dwellings.

“You cannot kill the Passover,” he says, “in any of your dwellings... but only in the place that the Lord your God chooses, so that His name may remain there, kill the Passover in the evening at sunset, then the very time at which you came out of Egypt; and bake and eat in the place that the Lord your God will choose, and on the next day you can return and enter into your tents(Deut. XVI, 5-7).

In pursuance of this decree, all Jews gathered in Jerusalem to perform the Passover sacrifice, where there was a temple, which was considered the place of God’s special residence. Obeying this statute, and the Lord who came not to break the law, but to fulfill, sends disciples to Jerusalem to prepare the Passover lamb.

And His disciples went and came into the city... and prepared the Passover. When evening came, He came with twelve(Mark XIV, 16-17).

The Last Supper began, as this last Easter meal of the Lord with his disciples is usually called.

The Gospel of John details the last speeches of the Savior and His farewell instructions to the disciples, full of deep meaning and inexpressible love and sadness. Mark does not have these speeches. Having spoken only about the Lord's hint at the betrayal of Judas, he dwells on the main, fundamental moment of the Last Supper - on the establishment of the great sacrament of the New Testament, which replaced the Old Testament Easter sacrifice - the sacrament of the Eucharist.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take, eat.” this is My Body. And he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them: and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many.”(vv. 22-24).

Do this in remembrance of Me,- He added, according to the legend of the Evangelist Luke (Luke XXII, 19).

Since then, according to the commandment of the Savior, in remembrance of His suffering on the Cross and death for the redemption of fallen man, the great mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ has been performed in the Church of Christ. Under the guise of bread and wine, instead of the Old Testament one-year-old lamb, the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is offered. This sacrament was performed already in apostolic times, as can be seen from the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians.

I received from the Lord Himself what I also conveyed to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night on which he was betrayed took bread and, having given thanks, broke it and said: Take, eat, this is My Body, broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. He also took the cup after supper, and said: This cup is the new covenant in My Blood; Do this whenever you drink, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.(1 Cor. XI, 23-26).

What significance does this sacrament have for us?

The first great Calvary sacrifice, when the Lord gave Himself voluntarily to suffer on the cross and die for the sin of man, had infinitely great significance for us, for it delivered us from the sin, curse and death to which man fell for the sin of Adam. The free suffering of the Lord and His death on the cross for us, being of infinite value and dignity as the death of the sinless and God-man, is both perfect satisfaction with the justice of God, who condemned us to death for sin, and immeasurable merit, which acquired Him the right, without insulting justice, to grant us sinners forgiveness of sins and grace for victory over sin and death. The event of the death and suffering of the Savior stands at the center of the Christian religion and all of world history, during which God’s economy for our salvation developed. This event is so great and comprehensive in its significance that we cannot understand and appreciate it in its entirety, especially from its mystical side. As St. Gregory the Theologian says, this sacrifice “is accepted by the Father not because he demanded or had a need, but because of the economy and because man needed to be sanctified by the humanity of God, so that He Himself would deliver us, overcoming the tormentor by force, and raise us to Himself through The Son who mediates and organizes everything in honor of the Father, to whom we find ourselves submissive in everything. Such are the works of Christ; and let the greater be honored with silence” (Works of St. Gregory the Theologian. Book V. Homily 45, for Holy Pascha).

The Eucharist of the Orthodox Church, which is a mysterious repetition of the same Calvary sacrifice through the eating of bread and wine, transformed into the true Body and true Blood of Christ, allows those who approach the sacrament with faith to enter into the closest, most sincere and real union with the Lord and mysteriously participate in His sufferings and death, thereby obtaining forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Eating My Flesh and Drinking My Blood, says the Lord, has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My Flesh is truly food, and My Blood is truly drink. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he who eats Me will live by Me.(John VI, 54-57).

Entering into close and direct union with the Lord through partaking of His Most Pure Body and Blood, all believers at the same time through Christ are connected in the most intimate way with each other, forming single organism The Church, the head of which is Christ, and the body is the entire sum of believers, united by the unity of faith, sacraments, teaching and love. The Liturgy, where the great sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ is offered, is the most significant moment of the beating of the mysterious heart of the Church, through which the spiritual power of Christ, the power of grace-filled life, spills from the Holy Chalice throughout the entire body of the Church. Believers, like vine branches, receive their nourishing juices here from the vine-Christ (John XV, 5). That is why without the sacrament of Communion there is no spiritual life.

If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you(John VI, 53), says the Savior.

At the same time, the Liturgy is the moment of unity in Christ among all communing believers, merging into one body of the Church.

One bread, writes the Apostle Paul, - and we, many, are one body; for we all partake of one bread(1 Cor. x, 17).

This moment of common communion from the one bread is so significant in the life of the Church that it determines membership in the Church, and people who refuse common communion of the Holy Mysteries with others usually want to testify that they do not belong to the same Church. The Eucharist is a great holiday of the mysterious unity of believers.

Finally, in a moral sense, the Eucharist for believers is a great lesson and a visual sermon about the essence of moral Christian life. This holy Chalice, filled with the Body and Blood of the Lord, with great power that surpasses all eloquence, tells us about the feat by which eternal life was acquired for us. This feat is a feat of suffering of love. For the sake of His great, boundless love for us, the Lord gave Himself to suffer on the cross and to death in order to “raise us to the first bliss.” The Eucharistic Cup is, first of all, a cup of suffering, and it speaks of the suffering of love. She reminds us that life should be a feat of love.

revealed that God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might receive life through Him. This is love, that we did not love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved! if God loved us so much, then we should love each other(1 John IV, 9-11).

Before the Holy Chalice we recognize love in the fact that He,

laid down his life for us: and we must lay down our lives for the brothers(1 John III, 16).

The Holy Chalice calls to the suffering of love, to love, ready, following the example of the Savior, to lay down one’s soul for one’s neighbor, for Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends(John XV, 13). Voluntarily accepted sufferings of love, constituting the essence and highest expression of moral Christian life, together with faith in the Lord and His redemptive sufferings, are for believers that subjective condition under which unity with Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist reaches its highest strength and completeness. The first and most important commandment left to us by the Savior is the commandment of love.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another; as I have loved you, so love one another(John XIII, 34).

Whoever fulfills this commandment at the same time testifies to his love for God, for

He who has My commandments and keeps them loves Me(John XIV, 21),

and to such a person the true promise of the Savior applies:

whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him and appear to him Myself(John XIV, 21), and further: whoever loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him(John XIV, 23).

This unity with God is the highest happiness of life available to man, and the path to this happiness is through the suffering of love.

Thus, the whole essence of Christian life is given in the holy Eucharistic cup: in it is the torment and bitterness of the suffering of love, but in it is also the happiness of love and the highest bliss of unity with God. The sacrament of the Eucharist is suffering transformed by love into bliss. This is also the mysterious law of life in Christ.

The sacrament of the Eucharist is unity with Christ, not only mental and imaginary, but real, real, for we believe that in this sacrament we materially partake of the true Body and true Blood of the Lord. Therefore, in the prayer before Communion we read: “I believe... that this is Your most pure Body, and this is Your most pure Blood.” We believe that bread and wine in the sacrament of the Eucharist are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. We believe in the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts.

But this faith is disputed by many, mainly by sectarians of the so-called rationalist sense - Baptists, evangelists, etc. For them, the Eucharist is not the sacrament of union with the Lord, but a simple rite established in remembrance of the Last Supper. The main reason for their denial is that the bread and wine of the Eucharistic sacrifice do not change at all outwardly.

More recently, because of this disagreement, a major scandal occurred in the London Cathedral of St. Paul, where the Bishop of Birmingham, Dr. Barne, publicly expressed this negative view from the pulpit. “Let us not teach nonsense,” he said, “that the Lord Himself is in the bread. We have no basis for such a statement. In each thing it is customary to distinguish between accidents, that is, properties, and substance, that is, essence. But the accidents, that is, the properties of the consecrated bread, do not change at all, and whether the substance, that is, its essence, changes, we do not know, because not a single living person has the vision that sees and distinguishes the substance, so that we can rely on his testimony. No one can distinguish consecrated bread from ordinary bread.” When there was a noise of sharp protest in the church, the preacher continued, setting out his view of the essence of the Eucharist: “Here the sky is just opening before us, and in amazement we contemplate the mystery of Calvary’s sacrifice and atonement.”

There is no need to say much about the importance of this difference in understanding the essence of the holy Sacrament of Communion. It is one thing to think about God and mentally imagine unity with Him, and another thing is to actually enter into unity with Him, personally experience the bliss of this unity, actually accept and feel its mysterious fruits as a cleansing, strengthening, reviving grace-filled power given to everyone with by faith to those who receive communion. It is one thing to be amazed to contemplate the mystery of the Calvary sacrifice, and quite another to directly participate in it. It is one thing to remember the Last Supper, and another thing to receive from the Lord, together with His disciples, the bread and wine blessed by Him, about which He says:

.

Without yet providing evidence in favor of one view or another, one can already clearly see how much happier than the wise sectarians are the children of the Orthodox Church who believe that the Eucharistic Gifts, that is, bread and wine, are transformed, or transubstantiated, into the Body and Blood of Christ and that through eating them, real and tangible unity with the Lord is achieved. It is pleasant to think and talk about a loved one, but to see Him, to really touch Him and to feel a mysterious, personal and direct connection with Him, a connection of love, is incomparably more blessed.

What data do we have for our faith? The very fact of the transformation of bread and wine into Body and Blood is quite acceptable for people who believe in the miraculous power of God’s omnipotence spread throughout the world, for it does not in the least contradict the laws of our thinking and for our mind does not seem either strangely absurd or absolutely impossible . The same transformation of food and drink into human body and we can observe blood every day in our own body, and if it does not strike us as a miracle, it is only because, thanks to constant repetition, we have become too accustomed to it, although we cannot understand or grasp this mysterious process of transformation. condition.

But this is not enough. We need positive evidence that a similar transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is not only possible, but actually takes place in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Of course, for believers, the strongest and most undoubted proof are the words of our Lord and Savior Himself:

this is My Body, this is My Blood.

These words are so clear and definite that they can only be understood in a literal sense. They can be accepted and believed, if, of course, we recognize the truth of the Gospel; they can be doubted and rejected if their meaning seems inaccessible to us and if we are not convinced of the truth of the Gospel stories, but we have no right to give them an allegorical or allegorical meaning. In vain do sectarians say that the word “is” here should be understood not literally, but simply in the sense of “means,” and the entire text should be translated as follows: “this means My Body,” “this means My Blood.”

Such a reinterpretation is completely arbitrary and we have no basis for it.

Even Luther, the founder of the Protestant Church and one of the pioneers of free understanding of the text Holy Scripture, could not help but recognize the power of the above words and had to admit the real unity of believers with Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. In a dispute with Zwingli, the leader of the Swiss reformers, who recognized the Eucharist as a simple rite in remembrance of the Last Supper, he wrote on the blackboard with chalk: “this is My Body,” emphasized the word “is” and silently pointed at it with his finger, making it clear that any dispute not useful here due to the clarity of the text. “The text is too strong,” he said, “I can’t do anything here, it cannot be reinterpreted.”

Perhaps the Lord speaks even more clearly about eating His Flesh under the guise of bread in the Gospel of John:

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; And the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world... For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink(John VI, 51, 55).

Even many of the Savior's disciples

Hearing this, they said: What strange words! who can listen to this?(John VI, 60).

It is not surprising that for us this teaching is mysterious and incomprehensible, and doubt arises in a timid and weakly believing heart. And yet, the Lord does not consider it necessary to explain His words to the disciples in any other way, not in the literal sense, but only notes with reproach for lack of faith:

Is this what tempts you? What if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?(John VI, 61-62).

The inner experience of those who receive communion with faith also often convinces them with the great power of personal experience that they are receiving communion of more than just bread and wine. Of course, if at all in moral and spiritual life the law of internal experiences is determined by the words of the Savior: according to your faith may it be done to you, - then, in particular, in the sacrament of Holy Communion it manifests itself, perhaps, with the greatest force, and, of course, non-believers in the sacrament of the Eucharist will not subjectively feel anything other than the simple sensations of eating bread and wine. But nevertheless, it is completely incorrect that Dr. Barne, Bishop of Birmingham, claims that no one can distinguish consecrated (that is, Transubstantiated) bread from ordinary bread. For non-believers, this is, of course, impossible, just as in the sectarian ritual of remembering the Last Supper, of course, there is no Transubstantiation, and their bread and wine remain bread and wine. But in the Orthodox Sacrament of the Eucharist, people of deep faith, especially the clergy who perform the sacrament, feel the reality of the Transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts and its blessed fruits with extraordinary clarity and strength.

“I felt it a thousand times in my heart,” says one of these believing shepherds, Fr. John of Kronstadt, - that after communion of the Holy Mysteries the Lord gave me, as it were, a new nature of the spirit, pure, majestic, bright, wise, blissful, instead of unclean, dull, sluggish, cowardly, stupid, evil. I have been changed many times by a wonderful, great change, to the surprise of myself, and often of others.”

There are few Orthodox priests in personal experience who would not have had cases of the blessed effect of the holy Sacrament of Communion and who would never have felt - perhaps not with such strength as the late Father John of Kronstadt - that in the Eucharist before them is not simple bread and wine, but the real, “Only Begotten Son God and our God rest the sacraments with the terrible ones that are presented” (prayer at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts after the Great Entrance). Prayer at these moments receives special strength and effectiveness and is often heard. It seems that almost every priest who knows how to believe and pray sincerely can attest to this based on his own experience. “It is good for me to pray for people,” continues the same Father John, “when I consciously receive Communion: the King is then in me, as in a monastery, and I have great boldness before Him: “Ask what you want.” Indeed, numerous cases of healings, sometimes extraordinary, almost miraculous, in the pastoral practice of Fr. John was achieved most often through the sacrament of Holy Communion. How can we explain this if we are dealing with ordinary bread and wine?

“After the death of my wife,” says one elder priest, later a bishop, “I remained a relatively young widower, and at first I suffered greatly from carnal passion. I could not cope with unclean thoughts. They followed me everywhere. Even during the Divine service, I was not completely free from them... In the greatest moments of the sacrament, sometimes a sharp, voluptuous thought pierced me like a poisonous sting. It was terrible! I struggled in vain, trying to drive away passionate images. This was successful only for a short time, and they returned again, unclean, igniting the imagination, as if laughing at my powerlessness. I was exhausted in this struggle and either wanted to remove myself from the priesthood, feeling all the horror and impossibility of my position, or I prayed to God for death. "God! - I said. “It is better for me to die than to offend You and the pure shrine of Your sacraments with the dirt of my thoughts and the damnation of my vicious soul!” Lord, my Creator! Either deliver me from this stench - cleanse my mind and heart - or send me death. I cannot bear the thought that by my service I am desecrating Your altar!..” And then one day, when I was praying like this with tears, prostrating myself before the Holy Gifts, just at the moment of Transubstantiation, I suddenly felt as if some veil had been pulled away by an invisible hand from my consciousness. The stuffy, swirling waves of carbon dioxide images and memories disappeared somewhere in an instant. It became so clean, clear, easy. Quiet peace and a feeling of boundless gratitude filled my soul... Since then I have hardly suffered. If bad thoughts sometimes appear, they are only like fleeting clouds, and it’s not worth any effort to drive them away.”

Such instances of the grace-filled help of Holy Communion are likely to be found in the inner spiritual life of almost every priest. But here is a fact of a different kind, no less amazing and also speaking about the miraculous power of the Holy Gifts, but about the punitive power, threatening towards the unworthy.

The case took place in Urzhum, Vyatka province. A liturgy was going on in the local church, and a crowd of communicants were waiting for the priest to emerge from the altar with the Holy Gifts. When the priest appeared with the Holy Chalice, he began, as usual, to read the Pre-Communion Prayer, “I believe, O Lord, and I confess,” which the believers repeated after him in chorus. During the reading, the priest drew attention to one tall man who shouted the words of prayer especially loudly to the entire church. When communion began, this pilgrim also approached the Holy Chalice, but, having received communion, he suddenly cried out loudly and stood on the left side in front of the icon of the Mother of God. The priest noticed that he spat something into his hand, and immediately sent a deacon to find out what was the matter, and if the Holy Gifts were in his hand, then to take measures against possible blasphemy. When the deacon approached the strange communicant, he was amazed and horrified to see coal in the latter’s swollen hand. They were the burnt Holy Gifts. The pilgrim’s mouth was also burned to such an extent that he could not close it from severe pain. It turned out that he was a schismatic who decided to begin the sacrament of communion without first joining the Orthodox Church and even without confession.

This case should be especially remembered by those who hold the rather widespread view among us that it is enough to partake of the Holy Mysteries in order to taste the grace-filled fruits of communion, forgetting that for this it is necessary to make oneself worthy of communion through the feat of repentance and prayer.

Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily,- says the Apostle Paul, - will be guilty against the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let man examine himself, and in this way let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, without considering the Body of the Lord. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying.(1 Cor. XI, 27-30).

Thus, confirming the presence of great power in the sacrament of Communion, the apostle warns believers about the need to prepare for it, testing themselves and purifying themselves in order to worthily receive the holy Gifts. Without this obligatory condition, communion can lead to a person’s “judgment or condemnation,” that is, it will turn into harm. At the Last Supper, the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ was undoubtedly beneficial for all the apostles, but Satan entered Judas along with the piece (John XIII, 27).

What should be the preparation for the Sacrament of the Eucharist and when can it be said about a person that “he eats this bread and drinks the cup of the Lord” worthily?

Moses, having established the law of the Old Testament Passover, demands that the Jews eat the Passover lamb with bitter herbs and adds:

Eat it this way: let your loins be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and eat it with haste.(Ex. XII, 11).

Explaining these words, Saint Gregory the Theologian says: “Let us consume the sacrifice with diligence, eating unleavened bread with a bitter potion, girding our loins, and putting on our boots, and like the elders, leaning on the rods.”

1). “With care, so as not to do what the commandment forbids Lot, let us not look around... and let us not harden into a pillar of salt from returning to the worst that is produced by delay.” In other words, let us hasten with all determination to correct our lives and, having made such a decision, we will not look back, that is, return to the sinful past.

2). With bitter potion; because life according to God is bitter and difficult, especially for beginners, and it despises pleasures, that is, let us take upon ourselves the labor of moral achievement and walk the narrow path.

3). Let us gird our loins, that is, with a belt and chastity, let us tame lust and this neighing in ourselves, as the Divine Scripture says (Jer. V, 8), condemning the vileness of passion, so that we may taste the Passover clean, having killed the ouds of the earth (Col. III, 5) , and imitating the belt of John, the hermit, Forerunner and great preacher of the truth.

4). We must wear boots for safety both from other things and from scorpions and snakes, which Egypt produces in abundance, so as not to suffer harm from those who watch the heel, on whom we are commanded to tread (Luke X, 19). In other words, we must beware of the sting of temptation in a persistent struggle with the mental serpent-devil.

5). Finally, the law commands us to take a rod for support, so as not to stumble in thought when we hear about the blood, suffering and death of God, and, thinking about becoming God’s defender, not to fall into atheism. Feel free and without hesitation to eat the Body and drink the Blood if you desire life. Without unbelief, listen to the teaching about the Flesh and without being tempted to listen to the teaching about suffering, stand firmly, unshakably, not wavering in the least before your opponents, not in the least carried away by the teachings of probability, place yourself on height, plant your feet on the rock, let your feet not move (Psalm. XVI, 5), walking according to God.

“If you do this, you will come out of Egypt: I know without a doubt that a pillar of fire and cloud will show you the way day and night, the desert will become unwild, the sea will be divided, Pharaoh will be polluted, bread will rain, a stone will pour out water, Amalek will be overthrown, no only with weapons, but also with the battle-bearing hands of the righteous, depicting together both prayer and the invincible sign of the Cross... and without continuing the words I will say: everything that is narrated for this and together with this will be given to you from God... Such is the Sacrament for you Easter! (Works of St. Gregory the Theologian. Book V. Homily 45).

Translating this figurative, allegorical speech of the saint into simple language, we will find the following meaning: if we fulfill the conditions that St. Gregory considers necessary for worthy communion, then in the sacrament of the Eucharist we will receive from God great beneficial power and everything necessary for salvation.

The good, and all-good, and all-good God, Who is all goodness, because of the abundant wealth of His goodness, did not tolerate goodness, that is, His nature, existing alone, in which nothing would take part, but for this purpose, firstly, created heavenly powers that can only be comprehended by the mind; then - the visible and sensory world; then - man, consisting of what is comprehended only by the mind, and of what is comprehended by the senses. Of course, everything that comes from Him, insofar as it exists, participates in His goodness. For He Himself is being for everything, since in Him is that which exists (see Rom. 11:36), not only because He Himself brought it from non-existence into being, but because His power protects and contains that which came from Him; and especially living beings. For they have fellowship in goodness both because they exist and because they participate in life. And rational beings have communication in good and according to what was said above; however, also because of reason; and these creatures - to a greater extent, for they

In some ways they are more related to Him, although, in any case, He is without comparison above [everything].

Man, having emerged rational and free, of course, received the opportunity, with the assistance of his own will, to constantly unite with God, if he remains in goodness, that is, in obedience to the Creator. Therefore, since he found himself in transgression of the commandment of Him who created him and fell under the power of death and corruption, the Creator and Creator of our race, in His mercy, became like us, becoming human in all respects except sin, and united with our nature (see Heb. 2 , 17). For since He gave us His own image and His own breath, but we did not preserve it, He Himself takes part in our poor and weak nature in order to cleanse us and make us incorruptible and again make us participants in His Divinity.

But it was necessary that not only the firstfruits of our nature should be in partnership with the best, but that every willing person should be born a second birth, and be nourished with new food corresponding to birth, and thus achieve a measure of perfection. Therefore, through His birth or incarnation, also baptism, suffering and resurrection, He freed nature from the sin of the ancestor, from death and corruption, and became the Firstfruits of the resurrection, and presented Himself as a way, and an image, and an example, so that we, too, would follow His footprints, became by adoption what He is by nature: sons and heirs of God and joint heirs with Him (see Rom. 8:17). So, He gave us, as I said, a second birth, in order that

Just as, having been born of Adam, we became like him, inheriting curse and corruption, so being born of Him, we became like Him and inherited both incorruptibility, blessing, and His glory.

And since this Adam is spiritual, it was necessary that birth be spiritual, as well as food. But, since we are in some way dual and complex, it must be that birth is dual, and food must be complex. Therefore, we have been given birth: through water and the Spirit, that is, through holy baptism (see John 3:5); and food - Himself bread life, our Lord Jesus Christ, descended from heaven(John 6, 48, 51). For, intending to accept voluntary death for us, on the night in which betrayed Himself, He bequeathed to His saints, disciples and apostles New Testament, and through them - to all who believe in Him. Therefore, in the upper room of holy and glorious Zion, having eaten with His disciples dilapidated Easter and fulfilling Old Testament, He washes the feet of the disciples (John 13:1 et seq.), showing the sign of Holy Baptism. Then, having broken the bread, He passed it on to them, saying: Take, eat: this is my body, broken for you for the remission of sins.(Matt. 26:26; 1 Cor. 11:24). In like manner, He also took the cup of wine and water and gave it to them, saying: drink of it, all of you: this is My blood of the new testament, which was shed for many things; for the remission of sins, do this in remembrance of Me. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you die Son of Man proclaim and confess His resurrection, Dondezhe will come Matt. 26, 27, 28. – Luke. 22, 20. – Mark, 24, 24. – 1 Cor. 11, 25, 26. – 1 Cor. 11, 24.

Therefore, if the word of God is living and active(Heb. 4:12) and All the Lord pleases, create (Ps. 134:6); if He said: let there be light. And be... let the firmament be... and be(Genesis 1, 3, 6); If By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the spirit of the mouth

its all their strength(Ps. 32:6); if heaven, and earth, and water, and fire, and air, and all their decoration was accomplished by the word of the Lord, also this, of course, glorious living being: man; if God the Word Himself, having willed, became man, and from the pure and immaculate blood of the Holy Ever-Virgin, seedlessly created flesh for Himself; then really He cannot make bread His Body and wine and water His Blood? He said at the beginning: yes it will earth of old grass(Gen. 1:11), and even to this day, every time it rains, it produces its growths, prompted and strengthened by the Divine command. God said: this is my body; And: this is my blood; And: do this in remembrance of Me; and, in consequence of His omnipotent command, this continues until He comes; for thus [the Scripture] said: Dondezhe will come; and through invocation the rain appears for this new agriculture: the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit. For just as everything that God created, He created through the action of the Holy Spirit, so now the action of the Spirit accomplishes that which exceeds nature, which [nothing] except faith alone can do. accommodate. How will it be To me this, says the Holy Virgin, I don’t know where my husband is?(Luke 1:34). Archangel Gabriel answers: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you(Luke 1:35). And now you ask how bread is made by the Body of Christ and wine and water by the Blood of Christ! And I tell you: the Holy Spirit comes and does this thing that surpasses reason and thought.

And bread and wine are taken because God knows human weakness, for in most cases it turns away with annoyance from what is done not in accordance with custom. Therefore, manifesting His usual

Condescension, He, through what is close to nature, accomplishes what is above nature. And just as in Baptism, because people have the custom of washing themselves with water and rubbing their bodies with oil, He combined the grace of the Spirit with oil and water and made it [i.e. Baptism] bath of rebirth; so because it is the custom among people to eat bread and drink water and wine, He combined His Divinity with them and made them His Body and Blood, so that through what is usual and in accordance with nature, we found ourselves in the midst of what above nature.

The body was truly united with the Divinity, the body born of the Holy Virgin, not because the ascended body descends from heaven, but because the very bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of God. If you are looking for that image of how this happens, then it is enough for you to hear that with the help of the Holy Spirit, just as with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the Lord for Himself and in Himself realized the flesh from the Holy Mother of God; and we know nothing more, except that the word of God is true and effective and omnipotent, and the image is unsearchable. But it is no worse to say that, just as, in accordance with the laws of nature, bread through eating and wine and water through drinking change into the body and blood of the one who eats and drinks, and does not become a different body compared to his former body ; so also the showbread and wine and water, through the invocation and coming of the Holy Spirit, are prenaturally changed into the Body of Christ and Blood, and are not two, but one and the same.

Therefore, for those who accept it with faith and worthiness, it happens for the remission of sins and eternal life, and for the protection of both soul and body; for those

But those who partake of communion with unbelief and unworthiness are punished and punished, just as the death of the Lord for believers became life and incorruptibility, leading to the enjoyment of eternal bliss, and for unbelievers and those who killed the Lord, leading to punishment and eternal punishment .

Bread and wine are not an image of the Body and Blood of Christ (let it not be!), but the very Body of the Lord, deified, as the Lord Himself said: this is Mine, not body image, but body; and not an image of blood, but blood. And before this, to the Jews, that Unless you have eaten the flesh of the Son of Man and drunk His blood, you have not life within you. For My flesh is truly meat, and My blood is truly beer. And again: poisonous Me, I will live(John 6, 53, 55, 57).

Therefore, let us approach with all fear and a clear conscience, and faith beyond doubt, and it will be just as beneficial for us as we believe without doubt. Let us honor him [i.e. Sacrament] with all purity, both mental and physical; for it is twofold. Let us approach him with burning love, and, folding our hands in the shape of a cross, let us accept into ourselves the body of the Crucified One! And having fixed our eyes and lips and foreheads, let us partake of the Divine coal, so that the fire of the love that is in us, having received the ignition that comes from the coal, burns our sins and illuminates our hearts, and so that, as a result of communication with the Divine fire, we are ignited and become deified. Isaiah saw coal (see Isa. 6:6); but coal is not a simple tree, but connected with fire; so the bread of fellowship is not simple bread, but united with the Divine; the body united with the Divinity is not one nature, but one, of course, belongs to the body, the other - united with

Nim to the Deity. Therefore, both together are not one nature, but two.

Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God, greeted Abraham with bread and wine as he returned after the defeat of the foreigners (see Gen. 14:18). That meal typified this mystical meal, just as that priest was the image and likeness of the true high priest of Christ. For You, says Scripture, priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek(Ps. 109:4). The showbread represented this bread. This - pure sacrifice, without a doubt, and bloodless, which, the Lord said through the prophet, brought To him from the east of the sun to the west(Mal. 1:11).

The Body and Blood of Christ pass into the composition of both our soul and our body, without being exhausted, without being destroyed, penetrating not into the lower passage (let it not be!), but into our essence, and becoming a guard, a protective agent from all kinds of harm, cleansing from all uncleanness; if they notice unrefined gold, they purify it through the examining test of fire, so that in the next century we will not be condemned along with the world. For they purify through illnesses and all kinds of threatening incidents, just as the divine apostle says: Even if they reasoned with themselves, they would not have been condemned. We judge, we are punished by the Lord, so that we are not condemned with the world(1 Cor. 11:31-32). And this means what he says: therefore, the one who partakes of the Body and Blood of the Lord unworthy, judge yourself eating and drinking(1 Cor. 11:29). Purifying ourselves through this, we unite with the body of the Lord and His spirit, and become the body of Christ.

This bread is firstfruits future bread that is urgent(ο επιούσιος). For the word: το επιούσιος

It means either the future, that is, the bread of the next century, or the bread taken for the preservation of our being. Therefore, one way or another [we will understand daily bread, by it] the body of the Lord will be properly called; for the flesh of the Lord is a life-giving spirit (John 6:63), because it was conceived by the life-giving Spirit; for what is born of the Spirit is spirit(John 3:6). I say this without destroying the nature of the body, but wanting to show the life-giving and Divine nature of it.

If some called bread and wine images (αντίτυπα) of the Body and Blood of the Lord, just as the God-bearing Basil said, then they spoke [about bread and wine] not after their consecration, but before consecration, calling the offering itself that way.

Communion is called [the Sacrament] because through it we partake of the Divinity of Jesus. And it is called communion, and truly is, due to the fact that through it we enter into communion with Christ and take part in His both flesh and Divinity; on the other hand, through it we enter into communication and connect with each other. For since we partake of the one bread, we all become one Body of Christ and one Blood, and members of one another, being one body with Christ.

Therefore, let us be careful with all our might not to accept Communion from heretics or give it to them. For don't let the holy dog, says the Lord, neither cast your pearls before swine(Matthew 7:6) so that we do not become participants in perverse teaching and their condemnation. For if there is undoubtedly union with Christ and with each other, then we are undoubtedly united by will with all those who, together with

We receive communion. For this connection occurs voluntarily, not without our consent. For everything one body we are, because We partake of the one bread(1 Cor. 10:17), as the divine apostle says.

The images (αντίτυπα) of the future [bread and wine] are called not because they are not truly the Body and Blood of Christ, but because now, of course, through them we become participants in the Divinity of Christ, and then in a spiritual way - through vision alone .

The text is given according to publication(translated into modern spelling):

John of Damascus St. Exact statement Orthodox faith. – Rostov-n/D: Brotherhood of St. Alexy, Publishing house "Priazovsky Krai", 1992 (rep. reprint: St. Petersburg, 1894).

On Great, Clean Thursday, the Orthodox Church celebrates the establishment of the most important and great sacrament of the Eucharist - the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord - remembers the Last Supper of the Savior with His disciples. In this Sacrament of Sacraments, as the Church calls the Eucharist, man really unites with God: God enters into the very depths of human existence and man himself joins true Life in God. Christ, God and Man incarnate, healed all human nature in Himself, defeating the death that ruled over it through His Cross and Resurrection. By accepting Christ into ourselves, we become partakers of this victory.

It is no coincidence, therefore, that the Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer calls the Eucharist “the medicine of immortality, the antidote so as not to die.” The Savior Himself addresses His disciples this way: “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 has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My Flesh is truly food, and My Blood is truly drink. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:53-56). These words cannot be understood in some figurative allegorical sense. Christ in this case uses a verb, which in literal translation means not just “to eat”, but “to eat” in the most direct, physical meaning of the word. Therefore, any symbolic interpretation of this place is simply impossible. Christ speaks of the closest, deepest and most intimate communion of all, both spiritual and physical, of human nature with His Flesh and Blood, and in the Eucharistic bread and wine, indeed, the whole of Christ. This truth seemed so incredible to most of the Savior’s listeners, even absurd: “What strange words! who can listen to this? (John 6:60) that they immediately left. In the event remembered on this day, the impossible, from the point of view of the human mind, became reality, the focus of the life of every Christian and the entire Church.

In the Eucharist, not only each person is united with God, but also all believers are united with each other in a union of love, therefore this sacrament is the basis of the Church, which itself is called by the Apostle Paul the Body of Christ. Before the Last Supper, the Lord showed with what kind of heart a person should approach this great and terrible sacrament. “Before the Feast of Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, showed by deed that, having loved His who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During the supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Simon Iscariot to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given everything into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, got up from the supper, took off His outer garment and, Taking a towel, he girded himself. Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the towel with which he was girded” (John 13:1-5). Surprisingly, this touching act of the Savior is conveyed in the canon of the holiday: “The Master shows the disciples an image of humility: he who covers the sky with clouds girds himself with a towel, and kneels down to wash the feet of [His] servants [He] in whose hand is the breath of all things.”

Among the apostles whose feet the Savior washed was Judas. By his humble act, Christ once again gave the traitor, who had already promised the high priests to betray his Teacher, the opportunity for repentance. However, the soul of the traitor had already become so enslaved to the devil that it was not even touched by this unthinkable manifestation of Divine love, which goes beyond all human concepts: the Creator washes the feet of his creatures (an action, according to generally accepted norms of that time, appropriate only to slaves, moreover, the lowest in position) , The teacher serves his students. Judas calmly offered his feet to the One whom he would condemn to a painful and shameful death. The Apostle Peter, on the contrary, knowing how unworthy he was for his Lord to perform such a humiliating service for him, as he thought, tried to refuse ablution: “Lord! Should you wash my feet? (John 13:6) Christ answered Peter: “What I do you do not know now, but you will understand later” (John 13:7). Christ calls for the most extreme love possible, to the point of complete self-denial, to the complete oblivion of one’s own imaginary and real virtues and rights, until death. At the Last Supper, Christ had a long conversation with his disciples. As never before, He revealed to them His Divine dignity, the secret of the salvation of mankind, and the future calling of the apostles themselves. During this conversation, the Apostle Philip directly asked Christ: “Lord! show us the Father, and it is enough for us” (John 14:8). Jesus answered him: “I have been with you so long, and you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?” (John 14:9-10). The mystery of the Holy Trinity has never been so clearly revealed to people. And during the meal, when they were eating, “Jesus took bread and, having blessed it, broke it and, giving it to the disciples, said: Take, eat: this is My Body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28). For the first time, the apostles partook of the Body and Blood of the Lord; Since then, this miracle has happened at every Divine Liturgy, not symbolically, as just a memory of that Last Supper, but really, as in those hours of Holy Thursday. Then Judas also received communion, but communion did not bring him salvation; moreover, on his part it was a terrible outrage, the last drop of sin, which had already irrevocably poisoned Judas’s heart. And after this piece [of communion] Satan entered into him. “Then Jesus said to him, “Whatever you are doing, do it quickly.” But none of those reclining understood why He told him this. And since Judas had a box, some thought that Jesus was telling him: buy what we need for the holiday, or to give something to the poor. Having accepted the piece, he immediately left; but it was night” (John 13:27-30). Judas went to the high priests to betray his Teacher. There were only a few hours left between the Last Supper and the time of the arrest, and then the unjust trial, humiliation, torture and crucifixion of Christ. These events are interconnected with each other. The salvation of man was impossible without the death of God incarnate for him, and this Salvation cannot be perceived outside the sacrament of the Eucharist. Everyone who receives communion on this day, and every Christian should receive communion on this day, must remember at what price this Sacrament was given to him, and honestly, without guile, look into his own soul, so that this is not a Judaic communion.

There is not much time left before the meeting of the Risen Savior, and these Great days of Holy Week are passing just as quickly. According to one modern author, “Holy Week is no longer Pentecost and not even Lent- this is a separate time. We can say this: Lent (the first 40 days) is the time when we move towards God. Holy Week is the time when the Lord comes to meet us. He goes through suffering, through arrest, the Last Supper, Golgotha, the descent into hell and, finally, by Easter He overcomes the last obstacles that separate us from God.”

Priest Maxim Plyakin