Prayers of Thanksgiving for Holy Communion
Glory to you, God. Glory to you, God. Glory to you, God.
Prayer of thanksgiving, 1st
I thank Thee, O Lord my God, for Thou hast not rejected me as a sinner, but for Thou hast granted me to be a partaker of Thy holy things. I thank You, for You have granted me, unworthy, to partake of Your most pure and heavenly Gifts. But the Lord, the Lover of Mankind, for our sake died and rose again, and gave us this terrible and radiant and life-giving Sacrament, for the goodness and sanctification of our souls and bodies, grant that I too may be here for the healing of soul and body, for the driving away of all opposition. Tivnago, to enlighten the eyes of the heart mine, into the world of my spiritual strength, into unashamed faith, into unfeigned love, in the fulfillment of wisdom, in keeping Thy commandments, in the application of Thy Divine grace, and the appropriation of Thy Kingdom: yes, in Thy holiness We preserve them, I always remember Your grace, and not who I live for myself, but for you, our Lord and benefactor; And so from this life I have departed from the hope of the eternal life, into everlasting peace I will achieve, even as those who celebrate the unceasing voice and endless sweetness, who behold Your face’s ineffable kindness. For You are the true desire and the indescribable joy of those who love You, Christ our God, and all creation sings of You forever. Amen.
Prayer of Saint Basil the Great, 2nd
Master Christ God, King of the ages and Creator of all, I thank Thee for all the good things Thou hast bestowed upon me, and for the communion of Thy most pure and life-giving Sacraments. I pray to You, the Better and the Lover of Mankind: keep me under Your roof, and in the shadow of Your wing; and grant me with a clear conscience, even until my last breath, to worthily partake of Your holy things, for the remission of sins and eternal life. For You are the living bread, the source of holiness, the Giver of good things, and to You we send glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Prayer of Simeon Metaphrastus, 3rd
Give me Thy flesh to eat according to your will, O fire and scorcher of the unworthy, do not scorch me, my Companion; Rather, go into my heart, into all my parts, into my womb, into my heart. The thorns of all my sins fell. Cleanse your soul, sanctify your thoughts. Confirm the compositions with the bones together. Enlighten the simple five of your feelings. Immobilize me with Thy fear. Always cover me, keep me, and save me from every deed and word of the soul. Cleanse, and wash, and adorn me, fertilize, enlighten, and enlighten me. Show me Your dwelling of the one Spirit, and not to anyone the dwelling of sin. Yes, like Your house, the entrance of communion, like fire, every evildoer, every passion flees from me. I offer prayer books to You, all the saints, the orders of the incorporeal, Your Forerunner, wise apostles, and to these Your undefiled, pure Mother, and their prayers, O Compassionate One, accept, my Christ, and you Make Your servant the number of light. For You are the One and the sanctification of our souls and lordship; and like You, like God and the Master, we send all glory every day.
Prayer 4
Thy holy Body, Lord Jesus Christ our God, may Thy holy Blood be unto me for everlasting life, and Thy venerable Blood for the remission of sins: May this thanksgiving be unto me joy, health and gladness; At Thy terrible and Second Coming, grant me, a sinner, to stand at the right hand of Thy glory, through the prayers of Thy Most Pure Mother and all the saints.
Prayer 5, to the Most Holy Theotokos
Most Holy Lady Theotokos, light of my darkened soul, hope, protection, refuge, consolation, my joy, I thank You for You have enabled me, unworthy, to be a partaker of the most pure Body and honorable Blood of Your Son. But having given birth to the true Light, enlighten my intelligent eyes of the heart; You who gave birth to the source of immortality, revive me, killed by sin; Even the most merciful and compassionate Mother of God, have mercy on me, and give me tenderness, and contrition in my heart, and humility in my thoughts, and appeal in the captivity of my thoughts; and grant me, until my last breath, to uncondemnably accept the consecration of the most pure Mysteries for the healing of soul and body. And wait for me to have tears of repentance and confession, so that I can sing and praise Thee all the days of my life, for Thou art blessed and glorified forever. Amen.
Now let Thy servant go, O Master, according to Thy word in peace: for my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all men, a light for the revelation of nations, and for the glory of Thy people. rálya.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse our sins; Master, forgive our iniquities; Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name's sake.
Lord have mercy (three times).
Glory, and now:
Our Father, Who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Troparion to Saint John Chrysostom, tone 8:
Your lips, like the brightness of fire, shining with grace, enlighten the universe; do not gain the treasures of the world through the love of money, show us the height of humility of mind, but by your words of punishment, Father John Chrysostom, pray to the Words of Christ God to save our souls.
Kontakion, tone 6
Glory: You have received Divine grace from heaven, and with your lips you have taught us all to worship the One God in the Trinity, John Chrysostom, all-blessed, reverend, we deserve to praise you: you have come nickname, like a Divine manifestation.
And now: The representation of Christians is unshameful, the intercession to the Creator is immutable, do not despise the sinful prayers of the voice, but advance, as the Good One, to the help of us, who faithfully call Ty: hasten to prayer, and strive to entreaty, ever presenting, O Mother of God, those who honor Thee.
If the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great was celebrated, read the troparion to St. Basil the Great, tone 1:
Thy message went forth into the whole earth, which received thy word, which thou hast divinely taught, thou hast clarified the nature of beings, thou hast adorned human customs, the royal ordination, that O Reverend, pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Kontakion, tone 4
Glory: Thou hast appeared as an unshakable foundation to the Church, giving to all unstealthy dominion over man, sealing with thy lordship, the unappearing Venerable Basil.
And now: Representation of Christians...
If the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was celebrated, read the troparion to Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov, tone 4:
And from God above we have received Divine grace, glorified Gregory, and we strengthen Him with strength, You have deigned to march evangelically, from where Christ received the retribution of labor, O all-blessed: He Now pray that our souls will be saved.
Kontakion, tone 3
Glory: You seemed to the Chief to be the shepherd of Christ, teaching the monks of the succession, especially Gregory, to the fence of heaven, and from there you taught the flock of Christ by His commandment: now from You rejoice in us and rejoice in the blood of heaven.
And now: Representation of Christians...
Lord have mercy (12 times).
Glory, and now:
The most honest Cherub...
After communion, let everyone remain in purity, abstinence and laconicism, so as to worthily preserve Christ received within himself.
The story of the sacrament
To understand and realize the importance of such a sacrament as communion, people need to turn to history. Most people tend to forget that it is in history that one can find answers to the questions that torment their minds. And the sacrament of holy communion is no exception. After all, he also has his own history, which goes back to ancient times, when the son of the Lord still walked the Earth.
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The Bible, which is the main book of all Orthodox Christians, says that this sacrament has existed for a long time. The reason for the emergence of the tradition of receiving communion was the Last Supper. If you delve a little deeper into history, you can find out why the Last Supper is given such great importance. According to legend, it was that evening that Jesus, while eating with his disciples, served them wine and bread. And for this reason it is believed that wine is the blood of Christ, and bread is his flesh.
However, this does not explain why the tradition of regularly receiving communion arose. The fact is that in those days faith was prohibited. In other words, all those people who preached Christianity were lawbreakers. Anyone who advocated the baptism of the people was subjected to severe torture and ultimately killed.
It is worth noting that it was in those terrible years that the first martyrs appeared who died for their faith. After all, first of all, the main task of the rulers of those times was to recognize paganism as the only faith. This is explained by the fact that the worship of pagan gods required complete obedience to the monarch. And since often the emperor ruling the country was not distinguished by mercy, many hated him, but could not overthrow him for fear of being punished by the gods.
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But the Christian faith was different and preached completely different ideals. And therefore, it is not difficult to guess why the rulers, accustomed to committing atrocities, did not want to recognize her. After the death of Jesus Christ, his disciples continued to serve the Lord and praise him. However, in doing so they encountered serious difficulties. And these difficulties were not caused by persecution by the authorities. The faithful followers of the Lord’s son were not at all afraid of execution. However, they could not find a way to honor their teacher, who left the world of the living, because:
- there could be no question of publishing special religious literature;
- open public speeches were impossible;
- it was extremely difficult to preserve any writings;
- the construction of churches was prohibited.
And then the disciples, remembering the words spoken by the teacher at the Last Supper, decided to honor him with holy communion. Moreover, this tradition gradually became known to those priests who, despite the existing ban, continued to glorify the Lord. But they couldn’t hold services in the church. And it was impossible to do this in front of everyone. Because the emperor's soldiers kept a close eye on anyone they suspected of serving the Lord.
Therefore, the priests were forced to perform this sacrament under the cover of darkness, which reliably sheltered them from the sight of enemies. Even lying on their bunks, the arrested bishops and priests continued to receive communion. This demonstrated how strong their faith was.
How often should you take communion?
Perhaps this is the question ministers most often hear from their parishioners. In the old days, all people who were present at the liturgy had to accept the Holy Mysteries of Christ. However, sometimes there were those who refused to participate in the sacred rite. Then the priests inquired about the reason for the refusal. Moreover, everyone who refused to accept the sacrament had to have something to motivate their refusal. And most of the “refuseniks” cited the main reason that they were simply unworthy of such an honor.
Indeed, finding a person who would be worthy to receive the sacred sacrament will be very difficult. Because all people are sinners by nature. However, modern priests consider this only an excuse. Not a single person alive today is worthy of the honor bestowed by the Lord. And yet such grace was given to people. Therefore, it is a sin to refuse it. If the Almighty decided that people can join the sacrament, then they cannot challenge this decision. If you think about it, this excuse can be used every time.
It is believed that this only alienates a person from the Lord. It is for this reason that spiritual mentors recommend not to miss a single liturgy. In other words, believers should attend church every Sunday and on holidays. And at the same time receive the sacrament. Only in this case will they be able to draw closer to the Lord and gain true faith.
Communion in the modern world
Since then, this tradition has strengthened, people began to offer prayers of thanksgiving after Holy Communion. This tradition is still honored by all true believers. However, if previously people had to hide and receive communion in places that were not at all intended for this, now everything has changed.
Today people receive communion exclusively within the walls of the church. It is worth noting that some believers still do not fully understand that the liturgy is not an ordinary recollection or reproduction of events that occurred in the past. And church ministers tirelessly remind us of this. In fact, the liturgy is a sacrament for the reason that it is a continuation of the Last Supper. This becomes obvious if we remember exactly how the liturgy is conducted.
The priest in this case is only an instrument of the Lord. He repeats exactly the words that were spoken by Jesus Christ during the Last Supper. This is a very significant moment. Because in most cases, priests bring something of their own in the pastoral word or in conversation with people. However, this is completely unacceptable during the liturgy. Because it should represent only one thing - the appearance of Christ. In other words, it is through the clergyman that Jesus Christ himself acts during the liturgy.
