Holy Communion: The Body and Blood of Christ

What is Holy Communion?

Holy Communion is the Mystery in which Orthodox Christians receive the Body and Blood of Christ, given to His Church under the form of bread and wine. It is celebrated at every Divine Liturgy, on Sundays, on the great feasts of the Church year, and on some weekdays during Holy Week. Holy Communion is the heart of Orthodox Christian life.

The Mystery has its origin in the Last Supper, when Christ took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying "Take, eat; this is my body." He then took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:26-28). He commanded them, and through them the Church, to "do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). From the apostolic age forward, the Church has gathered to celebrate this meal in obedience to His command.

The Orthodox Church understands the bread and wine of the Eucharist as truly the Body and Blood of Christ. Not symbols in the modern sense of "merely representing." Not a memorial in the sense of "calling to mind." The bread we receive at the chalice is Christ's Body; the wine is Christ's Blood. This is the consistent teaching of the Church from the New Testament onward, and it is what we mean when we call Communion a Mystery: something we receive in faith that we cannot fully explain.

Why Do We Commune?

Christ Himself gives the answer plainly: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:53-54). The Church takes Christ at His word. We commune because Christ has commanded it, and because He has given us in the Eucharist the means of His ongoing presence and our ongoing union with Him.

But the Greek word the Church uses for Communion — Eucharist — means thanksgiving. The Mystery is not only reception. It is also offering. At the Divine Liturgy the Church gathers to offer back to God the bread and wine He has first given us, the fruits of the earth transformed by human hands. We give thanks for creation, for redemption, for the gift of His Son. We pray that what we offer be received and transformed by the Holy Spirit into the Body and Blood of Christ. And then we receive it back, transfigured, as His gift to us.

In Communion we are united not only with Christ but with one another. The Apostle Paul writes that "because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:17). The Church is constituted as Christ's Body precisely through receiving His Body. This is no metaphor. The local parish, gathered around its chalice, becomes what it receives.

All this is why Communion is also called the sacrament of sacraments. Every other Mystery of the Church points toward it. Baptism and Chrismation lead the newly-illumined to the chalice. Confession reconciles us so that we may approach. Marriage and Holy Orders find their fulfillment in the Eucharist offered by the couple's household and by the priest at the altar. Unction joins the suffering of the sick to Christ's own suffering, made present in the Mystery. The whole sacramental life of the Church flows out of and back into the Eucharist.

How Do We Receive Holy Communion at Holy Apostles?

Holy Communion at Holy Apostles is celebrated at every Divine Liturgy and is offered to all baptized Orthodox Christians who are prepared to receive.

Preparation

Orthodox Christians prepare for Communion through prayer, fasting from food and drink from midnight before the Liturgy (or for at least several hours, as Fr. Tom can advise), and, when needed, the Mystery of Confession. The preparation is not a hurdle but a making-ready. We come to the chalice with attention, not casually.

Receiving

When the priest emerges from the altar with the chalice, the faithful approach in a single line. Each communicant gives their baptismal name, and the priest administers both the Body and the Blood of Christ together by means of a small spoon, speaking the words: "The servant of God [name] partakes of the precious and all-holy Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins and for life everlasting." After receiving, the communicant moves to the side and receives a piece of antidoron — blessed bread cut from the same loaf from which the Eucharistic Lamb was taken before the Liturgy. The antidoron is not the Body of Christ; it is blessed bread, and it is offered to everyone in the church, including those who have not communed.

Who May Commune

Communion at Holy Apostles is open to baptized, chrismated Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves through fasting and prayer. If you are an Orthodox visitor from another parish, you are welcome at the chalice. If you are not yet Orthodox, you may remain in your seat during Communion or, if you've been attending for some time and have spoken to Fr. Tom, approach the chalice for his blessing.

Orthodoxy practices closed communion not because we doubt your faith in Christ, but because Communion isn't symbolic or a reward. It is the expression of full unity in the Orthodox Church binding itself, believer by believer, to Christ. Because we are already in communion, we Commune together. If you are interested in becoming Orthodox, please speak with Fr. Tom; he will walk you through what such a journey would look like.

Learn More

For a fuller exploration of how Communion is celebrated within the Divine Liturgy, including the prayers and movements that surround the Mystery, see our booklet A Companion to the Divine Liturgy.

For further reading we recommend: 

• Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World and The Eucharist; 

• Fr. Thomas Hopko's The Orthodox Faith, Volume 2: Worship.