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Saturday, November 3, 2012

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH'S BELIEF ABOUT THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST AND BLESSED BREAD!



I lift this from St. Innocent Orthodox Church in Macon:

6. Blessed bread and consecrated bread.
Only Orthodox may take communion, but anyone may have some of the blessed bread. Here’s how it works: the round communion loaf, baked by a parishioner, is imprinted with a seal. In the preparation service before the Liturgy, the priest cuts out a section of the seal and sets it aside; it is called the “Lamb”. The rest of the bread is cut up and placed in a large basket, and blessed by the priest.

During the eucharistic prayer, the Lamb is consecrated to be the Body of Christ, and the chalice of wine is consecrated as His Blood. Here’s the surprising part: the priest places the “Lamb” in the chalice with the wine. When we receive communion, we file up to the priest, standing and opening our mouths wide while he gives us a fragment of the wine-soaked bread from a golden spoon. He also prays over us, calling us by our first name or the saint-name which we chose when we were baptized or chrismated (received into the church by anointing with blessed oil).

As we file past the priest, we come to an altar boy holding the basket of blessed bread. People will take portions for themselves and for visitors and non-Orthodox friends around them. If someone hands you a piece of blessed bread, do not panic; it is not the eucharistic Body. It is a sign of fellowship.

Visitors are sometimes offended that they are not allowed to receive communion. Orthodox believe that receiving communion is broader than me-and-Jesus; it acknowledges faith in historic Orthodox doctrine, obedience to a particular Orthodox bishop, and a commitment to a particular Orthodox worshipping community. There’s nothing exclusive about this; everyone is invited to make this commitment to the Orthodox Church. But the Eucharist is the Church’s treasure, and it is reserved for those who have united themselves with the Church. An analogy could be to reserving marital relations until after the wedding.

We also handle the Eucharist with more gravity than many denominations do, further explaining why we guard it from common access. We believe it is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. We ourselves do not receive communion unless we are making regular confession of our sins to a priest and are at peace with other communicants. We fast from all food and drink—yes, even a morning cup of coffee—from midnight the night before communion.

This leads to the general topic of fasting. When newcomers learn of the Orthodox practice, their usual reaction is, “You must be kidding.” We fast from meat, fish, dairy products, wine and olive oil nearly every Wednesday and Friday, and during four other periods during the year, the longest being Great Lent before Pascha (Easter). Altogether this adds up to nearly half the year. Here, as elsewhere, expect great variation. With the counsel of their priest, people decide to what extent they can keep these fasts, both physically and spiritually—attempting too much rigor too soon breeds frustration and defeat. Nobody’s fast is anyone else’s business. As St. John Chrysostom says in his beloved Paschal sermon, everyone is welcomed to the feast whether they fasted or not: “You sober and you heedless, honor the day…Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast.”

The important point is that the fast is not rigid rules that you break at grave risk, nor is it a punishment for sin. Fasting is exercise to stretch and strengthen us, medicine for our souls’ health. In consultation with your priest as your spiritual doctor, you can arrive at a fasting schedule that will stretch but not break you. Next year you may be ready for more. In fact, as time goes by, and as they experience the camaraderie of fasting together with a loving community, most people discover they start relishing the challenge.

7 comments:

Marc said...

They have a beautiful church there at St. Innocent. The liturgy is breathtakingly beautiful as well.

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Yes like SSPX beautiful liturgy and church but oh so schismatic

Marc said...

Yep, beautiful liturgy does not ensure orthodoxy. On the other hand, the True Faith should not be getting put to shame in terms of beautiful liturgies by schismatics.

John Nolan said...

There are Byzantine-rite Churches in full communion with Rome (notably the Ukrainian Catholic Church) where you can receive Communion from a spoon by intinction. The distribution of 'blessed bread' was common in the Latin Church in the Middle Ages when the laity communicated infrequently.

The SSPX is not schismatic, nor is its liturgy any different from the Roman Rite. Schismatic Churches like the Old Catholic (and Henry VIII's Church of England) removed the Pope's name from the Canon of the Mass. The SSPX has not done so.

Marc said...

I've never been to a ByzCath Liturgy (though I have been to the Orthodox Liturgy). I've read about the issues and problems the ByzCaths have been having with translations and Latinizations.

Frankly, I get enough of the debate and frustration from my experience and study of the Roman Rite - I don't need to get involved in the debates of another Rite right now!

Besides, the American South is not exactly heavy on ByzCath parishes! Though I would certainly go if it were close.

qwikness said...

Still waiting and hoping for a Divine Liturgy at Saint Joseph's. If that was to happen would they bring an icon screen?

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Augusta has a very tiny but lovely one in a former Methodist Church but you'd not know that looking at it today as it is completely covered with icons. It is Saint Ignatious of Antioch and until recently both its past pastors were also bi-ritual, one who is now deceased a former married Episcopal priest and one of the first to be ordained a Catholic priest in our country in the Latin Rite and my parochial vicar at Most Holy Trinity in Augusta while at the same time pastor of the Eastern Rite Parish as he had bi-ritual faculties. The Augusta website is: http://www.melkite.net/