Communion or Eucharist is one of the most important rites of the Christian church. Through communion, a believer, as it were, unites with God, becomes closer to him, accepting his body (bread) and blood (wine), which are previously sanctified.
Due to the fact that communion plays a rather important role in the life of a churchgoer, this ritual raises a large number of questions among parishioners: what can be eaten before the Eucharist and whether it is possible to eat food at all, whether it is possible to brush your teeth before and after communion. These questions are asked most often.
What is Communion?
In Orthodoxy, there are several important rituals and sacred rites that must be performed at one time or another in one’s life. The most important of them are Baptism, Confirmation, Repentance (that is, Confession), Communion (or the Sacrament of the Eucharist), Wedding (marriage), Blessing of Anointing (otherwise Unction).
Communion is one of the main ones and is performed most often. It is believed that a person who is involved in church life, observes all rituals and fasts, must come to repentance and receive communion once a month. If you are too busy, then at least every year. Usually the Sacrament is held during the Liturgy, that is, on weekends and on great holidays.
In the process of this, the common person is introduced to the Holy Spirit and God. The believer receives grace and strength. But not everyone is allowed to participate in such a sacred rite. To do this, you need to prepare in a certain way, and also be sure to appear for Confession in order to completely cleanse your soul of sin and appear “pure” before the Lord.
The Sacrament of Communion was introduced by Jesus Christ himself in ancient times, the day before his death. On the day of Easter, he already knew about the betrayal of one of the apostles, the Pharisees were looking for him, and for the last time Jesus decided to arrange the Last Supper, at which he gave special instructions to his followers and disciples.
It was at this dinner that Christ said a prayer over the bread, divided it among the apostles and told them to eat his body. He did the same with wine and called it his Blood. It was established that this Sacrament should be carried out constantly, thereby introducing people to God. Since the Lord concluded a New Covenant with the Jews in those days, according to which it is no longer necessary to offer a sacrifice in the form of a lamb on Easter, since the Son of God himself became this Lamb. It is he who, once killed, will wash away all the sins of humanity with his blood.
Today, special bread (prosphora) is baked in the diocese, as well as in monasteries and parishes. It, together with wine, is specially prepared and consecrated in order to give communion to parishioners.
What is the fast before communion?
If you are new or have not been to church for a long time, then be sure to go to the priest for confession. Usually during this sacrament many spiritual issues are resolved. Father will explain to you what to do, what to beware of, and when you can receive communion.
What is meant by fasting? Meat and milk should not be eaten, eggs too. In addition, dishes, products, and drinks that contain the above products are not consumed. Remember that fasting should be spiritual in nature. Eat little food. For example, for breakfast - tea with oatmeal cookies or oatmeal porridge with water, for lunch - soup with vegetable broth, for dinner - vegetable salad and rice/potatoes.
Drinking before communion, as well as during fasting, is prohibited. It is also recommended to give up coffee. After all, the body should be a temple of the soul, a calm “home”, sober and cheerful. Meal food (not fasting), coffee and alcohol cannot in any way induce prayer.
Preparation
You can’t just go and come to Communion. It is not allowed without certain preparation. To do this, it is advisable to fast for at least 3 days in a row. If a person rarely visits temple, lives a sinful life and does not adhere to important rituals, but wants to take communion, then it is better to devote more time to this, at least a week.
Often such Sacraments are performed on great holidays - Easter, Christmas, etc. But it is not necessary to wait for such events in order to observe fasting and undergo the Sacrament of Communion. This can be done at any time when the Liturgy is held in the church. Much more important is reconciliation with God itself, the desire to stop sinning and start a new life, and not convenience or certain events.
Before Confession and Communion they fast. For this purpose, you need to follow the recommendations:
- pray daily, read the canon of repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ, the canons to the Mother of God, the Guardian Angel and the Rules for Communion, psalms, do this in a calm home environment so that no one distracts you;
- switch to lean food, for which they exclude eggs, milk, meat and any dishes with them from the diet for this period;
- refuse alcoholic drinks and coffee;
- avoid entertainment, small, vain affairs, try to read more biblical spiritual literature (the Holy Fathers, the Gospel);
- it is important to make peace with those with whom you recently quarreled;
- go to an evening service or an All-Night Vigil.
It is very important to go through Confession before Communion; without this stage a person will not be allowed to the Chalice. At the same time, you need to remember as honestly and sincerely as possible all your sins, from small to serious, that you committed during the period from the previous Confession, or throughout your entire life, if you have never done this before.
Of course, a priest is only a minister of the church and an earthly representative of God, but you are obliged to name your own sins, as before the Lord himself. Only then will you receive his forgiveness and blessing. It is believed that if you forget about something, it is not terrible, but when something is deliberately hidden, it only aggravates the situation and increases guilt in the eyes of God.
If you do not know what exactly is considered a sin and what is not, then you should carefully re-read about the seven deadly sins, as well as the Ten Commandments. Violation of each of them is condemned by the church and the Lord.
How to treat?
Above we looked at two testimonies of the miracle of God. It is worth noting that during the Liturgy there is not only Jesus Christ in the altar, but also the Mother of God, Archangels, and saints.
It is not for nothing that the holy fathers said that the angels grieve because they do not receive communion. After all, they have no body, no need. They are already with God. And the Lord gave man such a great gift - to unite with Himself during Communion. Even if it is invisible.
Let's figure out what to read before communion:
- canon of repentance to the Savior;
- prayer canon to the Mother of God;
- canon to the Guardian Angel;
- following to Holy Communion.
It is all these prayers, chants, kontakia that will help you prepare correctly to receive the Holy Gifts as they should be.
Who is not allowed?
A person does not always receive permission from the priest to come to Communion. If the priest notices that the parishioner has not undergone Confession, then he will not be allowed to the Chalice. Also important sins for which it is quite difficult to receive a blessing are:
- abortions;
- killing a person;
- fortune telling and other similar activities related to spiritualism, etc.;
- different faith;
- drug addiction, alcoholism;
- debauchery and sex life before marriage;
- homosexuality, etc.
Also, women during menstruation are not allowed to participate in such Sacraments. Some priests are more loyal to this point, but the church itself and even the Bible consider it wrong for an “unclean” parishioner to have contact with any sacred attributes. And if sometimes it is allowed to come to Baptism, Wedding or Confirmation on such days, then Communion is most often excluded from this list.
The only difference can be if the woman is sick, in serious condition and needs to receive a blessing. Then the priest can give her communion, despite her special situation.
Another living testimony
In the city of Lanciano (Italy) to this day there is true proof that Communion is not just bread and wine. In the Catholic Church of Saint-Legotius in the 8th century, a priest doubted that Communion was a miracle. When he picked up a piece of bread, he saw something similar to muscle tissue. He looked into the Cup and saw that instead of wine there was blood. The priest screamed in horror. Then he realized that there was no doubt. The Lord proved to him that everything was for real. To this day, this miracle is located in Lanciano. Many pilgrims come to pray near such a shrine.
What does a Christian need before communion? Of course, first of all, the belief that he will be given to taste not just bread and wine, but the body of Christ. Of course, such a meal is a miracle. The Lord gives a piece of himself to a sinful person. Therefore, one must approach Communion not only with fear, but also with faith. You can’t just receive communion like that.
About keeping the day of Communion (how to behave after communion)
Many books have been written on how to prepare for Communion, but how to behave on this day? There are many prejudices:
- You can’t wash on this day,
- You can’t eat fish without spitting out the bones, or berries with seeds?
- You can’t spit saliva, even if it’s phlegm, and what should you do if you spit?
- What to do if the baby burps on this day?
- You can’t kiss a communicant, and what should you do if it’s a baby whom you kiss 100 times a day?
Priest Nikolai Fateev: this is what is recommended and generally accepted: “Church rules prescribe to maintain bodily purity on the day of communion, to occupy your mind with thoughts of God and prayer, and not with entertainment. There are no recommendations regarding food, but there is a limit on the amount of food and wine intake so that there is no nausea that day. Therefore, abstinence before Communion, moderation in food, is especially necessary on this day. If a baby burps after communion, then it is necessary to collect it with a napkin and burn it. The church rules are silent about kissing a baby.”
How should you behave during the day after communion?
Priest Afanasy Gumerov, resident of the Sretensky Monastery, answers:
After communion, a person must preserve the shrine. It is wise to control your lips and avoid idle talk. We must move away from everything vain, passionate and generally spiritually unhelpful. You need to be especially attentive to yourself, because on such a day the enemy always tries to lead a person into temptation. If the sacrament was on a weekday, then you must fulfill your duties. Nothing interferes with work.
The opinion that on the day of communion you cannot kiss icons and the hand of priests is not based on anything. There is no mention of this either in the holy fathers or in the liturgical books. It is better to abstain from prostrations until the evening, because a person has accepted the greatest shrine - the Body and Blood of the Lord. But if during the prayer everyone fell to their knees, then you can do this without embarrassment. The most important thing is to be in a joyful mood and thank God.
When receiving Communion, is it necessary to bow towards the altar after receiving the Holy Gifts?
This should not be done. And here's why: the bow after communion towards the altar, past the pulpit, on which the priest stands with the Chalice, reflects a complete misunderstanding of one obvious fact. The one to whom the one who has received the Holy Gifts wishes to express gratitude, i.e. Christ Himself remains at this time with His Most Pure Body and Precious Blood in the Eucharistic Chalice, which the communicants kiss precisely as a sign of gratitude.
Priest Dimitry Turkin
They say you can’t take Christ after communion?
They also say that you can’t kiss three times after Communion or kiss children?
It is known that many people think that if they kiss someone after Communion, then “grace will leave them.” This is a prejudice. First of all, the person receiving communion must keep himself from everything that is not beneficial to the soul, from vanity, from sin.
Before Communion itself
During the service you should listen carefully to prayers. When the priests prepare Communion, pray that you may receive the Blood and Body of Christ with dignity. At the same time, a pious person must sincerely consider himself unworthy of such a Gift.
Remember the Canon to the Mother of God before Communion: we need to pray that the Mother of God will intercede for us sinners. What does the canon of Jesus Christ say? We repent to the Lord of our sins. Remember this when you are waiting for Communion.
Why such restrictions?
During the Liturgy, before the removal of the Holy Chalice, the choir sings that we (the parishioners) are leaving all earthly vanity. Not every (especially modern) person understands that sooner or later earthly life will end and everything that he worked so hard on will go into oblivion. After all, he will not be able to take his passport or favorite job, bank accounts or computer with valuable information with him into the afterlife. He will appear before God with his conscience, with his sins and virtues. The Lord will not ask if you were the general director, He will ask you to answer for offending your grandmother-client. God doesn't care if you had a Lexus. He will ask if you gave lifts to the infirm, the weak, without taking money from them.
Why are there restrictions on fasting in relation to entertainment? The time has come to sit down at the table or stand in front of the icons and think: what bad have you done in your entire life, during this period. Is your conscience clear? It is more important for a Christian to know not about, for example, whether it is possible to brush your teeth before Communion, but about what sins actually exist and what repentance is, how not to sin. The Lord is upset when a person commits a sin even mentally. Just think: you are mentally angry, even your heart is numb. This is also a sin. You need to repent sincerely.
