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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"><DIV align=center></DIV>The Eucharist or Holy Communion in the Orthodox Church.

(Revised Summer 2007.)

Breaking bread.

The central act of the early Church was the breaking of bread - the celebration of the service of the Eucharist. The service began with Old Testament readings and prayers. Then bread and wine were placed on the altar. The priest said the words Christ spoke at the Last Supper : "Take, eat, this is My body ... This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many ... Do this in remembrance of me." Then the bread and wine were shared among all the baptized Christians.

Different explanations.

The Eucharist is still the central service of the Church. However, today there are three different ways of understanding what it means. From the 11th. Century onwards, Roman Catholics have taught that Christ is really present in the Eucharist because the bread and the wine have been changed into His body and blood. From the time of the Reformation, many Protestants have refused to believe this. They teach that the Eucharist is a memorial, and that the bread and the wine are simply reminders of what Jesus did for us. The early Christians would not have accepted either of these explanations. They spoke of the Eucharist as a mystery which they could not explain in worldly terms. They knew that they entered the heavenly realm in prayer every time they celebrated the Eucharist. It was only in this spiritual setting that they understood communion. This early teaching is still accepted unaltered in the Holy Orthodox Church.

The Eucharist in the early Church.

The teachers of the early church agreed that the Eucharist was spiritual food. There was also a physical side to their teaching. They did not believe that the substance of the bread and the wine changed in any literal sense. They did believe that in a mysterious way the bread and wine became the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

"Then the bread and a cup of watered wine are brought in ... when the prayers and thanksgiving are completed ... those whom we call deacons give each person present a share of the Eucharistic bread and the watered wine ... We call this food Eucharist. No one is permitted to share it except someone who believes our teaching is true, and who has been washed in baptism ... For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink. Jesus Christ our Saviour was made Incarnate by the word of God, and had both flesh and blood for our salvation. In a similar way, so we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist is both the flesh and blood of that Jesus Christ, Who was made flesh."

(Justin Martyr 'Apology For Christianity'.)

The Eucharist in the New Testament.

Now read the New Testament, remembering these early Christian beliefs, and the early Eucharist service. You will see that the early Christian beliefs are Biblical.

1) "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion with the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Cor 10:16) In the Eucharist, there is a real communion with the body and blood of Christ.

2) "Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord ... For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgement to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." (1 Cor 11:26-30)

3) Read John 6:51-56. Saint John does not describe the Last Supper. Instead he tells us repeatedly that if we eat the flesh and blood of Christ we will have eternal life. We have Christ's own words for this. It is a mystery, but when we receive communion we know that we are in Christ and Christ is in us.

The Eucharist in the Orthodox Church.

In Orthodoxy, the Eucharist is not considered a matter for academic debate. We can only begin to understand the Sacrament of Holy Communion in the context of the Eucharist service. We can only fully experience that Eucharist service (the Divine Liturgy) in the context of life in the Orthodox Church.

In Orthodox worship we make a journey into the heavenly realms. The church building has an entry hall, a nave, and an altar area beyond the icon screen. These represent this world and the heavenly world that we enter through worship. As we make the spiritual journey, the bread and wine are carried up through the nave to the altar. These physical offerings make the journey with us from earth to heaven.

With the angels, we are in the heavenly places, where Jesus Christ is truly present. We recall all that Christ has done for us. Then, in a mystic state, we pray for the Father to send down the Holy Spirit to make Christ truly present in the bread and the wine. In a mystic, heavenly way the bread and the wine become the body and blood of Christ. We worship His presence in the Eucharist. We consume His body and blood for life everlasting.

There are several different Eucharist services in the Orthodox Church. The main Sunday service is the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, which took shape by the 4th. Century. A slightly longer service is the Liturgy of Saint Basil. Our most ancient communion service is the Liturgy of Saint James, dating from the earliest centuries of Christianity. In the evenings during Great Lent we have the Liturgy of the

Pre-sanctified Holy Gifts (the Lamb is prepared during the Sunday Liturgy). There are also other very localised forms of the Liturgy.

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