Mission Monthly – June 2004

“Because we Christians living in this world are inevitably caught up in earthly activities, afflictions, trials and temptations, and because we are so easily overcome by sinful passions, God gives us ways by which we are enabled never to forget Him. He provides practices by which we can keep ourselves constantly prepared to meet Him at His coming. He offers rules of spiritual and physical discipline for us to practice so that we can remain constantly alive to His presence and power in our lives and so to be ready to receive Him when He gives Himself to us in Holy Communion.”

Fr. Thomas Hopko

I have been asked several questions over the past few months regarding preparation for Holy Communion. Questions like these are always joyfully received. Usually they indicate a heart seeking to draw closer to God, though I suppose sometimes such questions may be more about the keeping of rules or, more sadly, minimum expectations; whatever the case it is always a rich opportunity to talk seriously about a very serious subject.

The standards of the Church are, as in all things, very high when it comes to preparing to receive Christ’s Holy Body and Precious Blood! Consider the following excerpt from the post-Communion prayer of St. Simeon Metaphrastes, “O Thou who willingly dost give Thy flesh to me as food, Thou who art a Fire consuming the unworthy, consume me not, O my Creator” St. John of Damascus says it this way in his pre-Communion prayer, “And I, most sinful, dare to partake of Thy whole body. Let me not be consumed” Yes, the reassurance of God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness is certainly also given in the pre- and post-Communion prayers of the Church, yet one cannot sincerely read these prayers without being struck silent by the gravity of approaching the Holy Chalice. One thing is certain—receiving Holy Communion is not an entitlement or a right; rather it is a gift which requires self-examination, extreme reverence and, as we will explore here, mindful preparation.

Sometimes questions arise when people travel and ask if they are permitted to receive Holy Communion when visiting another Orthodox church. My usual response is, “Seek the blessing of your father confessor first, then see the blessing of the priest you are visiting before approaching (his) holy chalice.” This is not a mere courtesy; it should be and usually is required. In other words, ask your priest and pastor, who by normal policy is your father confessor, for this blessing. Barring a reason of a pastoral nature he will most usually give it. Then contact as early as possible the priest of the church you plan to visit. Priests are not to give Communion to anyone they do not know or have not been introduced to prior to Divine Liturgy. [As a priest I can say that there is little worse than being surprised by a strange face while distributing Holy Communion.]

There are a variety of practices within the Orthodox Church regarding preparation for Holy Communion. If you are visiting another church the basic rule to follow is the rule of the community you are visiting. These rules are founded in the loving authority of each jurisdiction or community and, as visitors, we follow these standards out of humility and respect (even if they are more or less stringent then one’s own community).

The various standards of preparation may include a full week of strict fasting and/or confession before every partaking. Attendance at the preceding Saturday evening Great Vespers or Vigil may also be required. The OCA Diocese of Alaska requires Confession if you miss three or more Sundays in a row. Churches like ours ask communicants to be regular and faithful stewards of the local Church, to strive for daily prayer and scripture reading, to fast according to the liturgical schedule, to seek regular Confession and to regularly attend Divine Liturgy. Some churches may not require even some of these basic standards.

Regarding our preparation just prior to receiving Holy Communion, the minimum standards we are given are: to fast from all food and beverages beginning at “Midnight” Saturday night or at “Noon” for weekday evening liturgies; fasting from marital intimacy Saturday evening or during the day of weekday evening liturgies; fasting from entertainment and (if at all possible) avoiding weddings or parties in general Saturday evening or before any liturgy.

Yes, this is a difficult topic. It is personal and it requires each of us to look carefully at his own conscience, regularly and with the guidance of his father confessor, to examine if his life (even week to week) is being lived in anticipation of approaching the holy chalice. In our community I believe that we have a good rhythm of preparation, yet I am compelled to offer these words for those times and circumstances when even these basic expectations are not being fulfilled.

When a priest is ordained his primary charges are: to guard the Holy Eucharist with his life and to love and nurture his flock. Included in the spirit of his charge is the occasional need to say “No” when someone is unprepared to approach the holy chalice. In most cases, it is simply left to the conscience of the individual. This requires maturity and responsibility in examining ourselves. Even the priest has to recognize his own pitiful efforts to prepare to touch, let alone partake of, Holy Communion. Yet priests often know when their people are struggling in faith and the other circumstances of their lives, or if they haven’t been to Confession or church services regularly. What then are we to do?

We need Holy Communion! It is God’s gift to us: “for the remission of sins and for life everlasting.”I believe in frequent Communion! But sometimes I wonder if in an effort to frequently commune the faithful some churches and priests may lessen the standards of preparation? In addition to our normal standards I personally like two of the standards mentioned above: attendance at Saturday evening Vespers, and Confession if one should miss Communion three Sundays in a row (barring illness or a unique situation). Why? Because discerning the Body and Blood of Christ is not necessarily as easy as one might think; and as Fr. Hopko wrote, there are many circumstances and temptations that interfere with our “readiness” to receive Christ into ourselves. God forbid we deceive ourselves about our readiness and ultimately become negligent in our preparation. Listen to what St. Paul said to those of the Church at Corinth who “ate and drank without discerning” and partook of the bread and cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, “many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (1 Cor. 11). It is in this spirit of seriousness that I address these questions posed to me regarding preparation for Holy Communion and it is out of love that I set this challenge to examine more completely our preparation before partaking of God’s Holy Eucharist. This is in no way intended to measure one’s “worthiness” (for we all are only made worthy by the grace of God). Rather we must humbly ask ourselves questions such as these, “What have I done this week to prepare myself to meet God intimately in His Holy Eucharist?” or “Has anything happened this week to interrupt my preparations for Holy Communion?” It is my pastoral judgment that for those rare occasions when one finds that he has not prepared, I believe it would better to abstain from Communion (while still attending Liturgy) and set our sights on proper preparation for the next time . Please note that I say “rare” occasions; and that a situation such as this should be distressing enough to then make every effort to reconcile as soon as possible with the great gift of Holy Communion (if necessary, by means of Confession).

Yes, I joyfully receive all such questions and I suspect there will be more questions that arise from these thoughts. I welcome them with hope that we may all grow in our understanding of what it means to truly prepare to receive the precious Body and Blood of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, “So that, together with Thine elect, we may also receive those incorruptible good things which Thou hast prepared for them that love Thee, O Lord.”

See the following web link for the complete text of Fr. Hopko’s article:

http://www.svots.edu/Events/Orthodox-Education-Day/Articles/2000-Fr-Thomas-Hopko-2.html