Why only baptized Orthodox Christians may commune
When a stranger approaches the Holy Gifts during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy it is the norm in the Orthodox Church for the priest to ask the person to “kiss the chalice”. Not knowing if the person is Orthodox, or whether they are in good standing with the Church, the priest can not give them communion. This “closed communion” is not meant as a way of separating ourselves from visitors as though we were better than them, but as our way of guarding the Holy Mysteries from being received by someone who is not part of the Church and who may hold to views concerning the Eucharist that are in opposition to the teachings of scripture and the dogmas of the Ancient Apostolic and Catholic Church.
We certainly should pray for everyone, including those who are not Orthodox, and in fact, we monks pray for the whole world each and every day. However, the Church’s practice is that we cannot include the non-Orthodox in the formal liturgical prayers of the Church. For instance, the ban on commemorating non-Orthodox during the Divine Liturgy is theological in nature. When we, as Orthodox Christians, receive the Body and Blood of Christ during communion, we are receiving not only the very Body of our Saviour, but the whole of the Body of Christ, the Church. Therefore, we can not commemorate the non-Orthodox. We can, however, pray for them in our private prayers. I often pray for non-Orthodox people, such as family members who are outside the Church, at the very moment I am receiving the Holy Mysteries.
Priests are guardians of the Holy Mysteries and must make sure they are not defiled. The priest must also protect the person who may receive without proper preparation and belief. Every Orthodox Christian is expected to have prepared for communion by abstaining from all food and drink from midnight on, as well as having said the pre-communion prayers. A good confession is also an important part of proper preparation for Holy Communion.
When a person believes that the things which we teach are true and has receive baptism in the Orthodox Church unto regeneration, and who is living a life in Christ, they come to know that communion is not simply common bread or common wine, but the very Body and Blood of the Saviour. The Logos (Word) Who took on our flesh for the salvation of the world, is received into our bodies through the action of the Holy Spirit and the prayer of His word (this is my body….this is my blood). At this moment our blood and flesh, by transmutation, are nourished with the flesh and blood of Jesus who was made flesh.
Closed communion is the way the Church protects anyone who does not hold to these beliefs from receiving unworthily and therefore hurting their soul. As well, when the priest co-mingles the commemoration particles after the communion of the faithful, with the Body and Blood of Christ, he commemorates the union we have with each other as members of the Body of Christ, the Church. This union is not just with those who are communing with us in this Liturgy, but a union of both the Church Militant here on earth, and the Church Triumphant in heaven. Within the life of the Church there is no separation from each other at death. The Body of Christ is made up of both those who have gone on before us and those who are still alive, for we are all alive in Christ. In a very real way we are not only communing of Christ’s true Body and Blood, but we are communing of each other as the Body of Christ, the Church!
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: The longest day of the year, as seen by this beautiful photograph taken by Father Martin, on the ferry dock in West Seattle.
Saturday June 23, 2018 / June 10, 2018
4th Week after Pentecost. Tone two.
Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast. Fish Allowed
Hieromartyr Timothy, bishop of Prusa (362).
Finding of the relics (1609) of St. Basil, bishop of Ryazan (1295).
Synaxis of All Saints of Riazan.
St. John Maximovitch, Metropolitan of Tobolsk (1715).
Synaxis of All Saints of Siberia: St. Innocent, bishop of Irkutsk (1731); St. Macarius (Glukharev) of Altai (1847); St. Macarius (Nevsky), metropolitan of Moscow, apostle to Altai (1926); and others.
New Hieromartyr Nicholas, Basil priests and Martyr Paul (1918).
New Hieromartyr Timothy priest (1940).
Venerable Silvanus of the Far Caves in Kiev (14th c.).
Martyr Alexander and Virgin-martyr Antonina at Constantinople (313).
Venerable Theophanes, monk, of Antioch (363), and St. Pansemne, the former harlot of Antioch.
St. Bassian, bishop of Lodi in Lombardy (409).
St. Paul, metropolitan of Tobolsk (1770).
Hieromartyr Metrophanes, the first Chinese priest, and the Chinese New Martyrs of the Boxer Uprising, at Peking and other places in 1900.
Martyr Neaniscus the Wise of Alexandria (Greek).
St. Canides, monk, of Cappadocia (460) (Greek).
St. Apollo, bishop (Greek).
St. Alexius of Bithynia, bishop (Greek).
St. Asterius, bishop of Petra (4th c.).
The Scripture Readings
John 10:1-9
Jesus the True Shepherd
10 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
Jesus the Good Shepherd
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Romans 6:11-17
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members asinstruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leadingto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
Matthew 8:14-23
Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed
14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.
Many Healed in the Evening
16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses.”
The Cost of Discipleship
18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Wind and Wave Obey Jesus
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
Long before I even considered joining a Church, I would occasionally find myself at a Protestant service, for one reason or another. Each time, something resembling “communion” would be offered to me, and each time I I experienced, in the moment, a wordless repulsion towards the offer. I sensed, or felt, that I had no business, as a casual attendee, taking part in what should be a scared offering, and that the church in question had no business trying to make me a part of it.
Thank-you for this clarification Father Tryphon. I respect those rules and that is why I remain Protestant. I believe Jesus died for ALL. All who would come to Him, just as they are are seeking communion with Him in one way or another. Their relationship is unique, it is their decision to come to communion. God knows the heart and I believe He is big enough to protect Himself. I do believe much reverence has been lost in many Protestant churches but the ones whom God calls to a deeper walk will treat communion, where ever it is, with respect, reverence and hope. We are children of God who believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said do not turn the children away… Still I do respect your rules and Thank-you for your enduring faith and prayers. God Bless you and your Monastery always.
Of course Jesus died for all of us, but the reception of the Holy Mysteries requires a knowledge of the healing of the nous (the eye of the soul), that comes with receiving communion. The Eucharist was one of the big drawing points of Orthodoxy, for me.
Thankyou for your teaching and I can certainly understand the watering down that takes place if anyone and everyone receives the Eucharist without the proper teachings, lifestyle and commitment to the sacramental life. My question would be – is it correct to say that it “weakens” the Body of Christ when we become too lax with the rules – rules that are put in place to protect and cherish what was authentically handed down?
Thankyou and God bless, Margaret
The Canon of the Church (rules) are the guardians of the Faith. They keep alive Holy Tradition, which is why we Orthodox are the preservers of Ancient Christianity.
Thank you. I have been wrestling how to be able -or in what way -to pray for my un-orthodox family – since I could not do it during the liturgy. This make it more acceptable to carry. I mean the grief not to.
As the body and blood of Christ our God, communion is God. Since when does He need protection from mere mortals? Who are we to deny Him to others? The prayer that the priest says silently before the consecration says that God does everything to bring us to Heaven. Are we to keep other men from Him because of man made rules? Yes the canons are largely written by men. The patriarchs of the church can’t even agree to meet, they have no credibility. Would we deny a physically ill person medicine because they did not speak the right language or had the wrong color skin? How can we deny Christ to someone who happened to be baptized in another Christian sect? We are ordered to approach with faith and in love. Christ had no qualifiers…those in good standing; only the baptized, only those who have been to confession in the past week, month, year, whatever local custom happens to be, those who have been instructed long enough in the tenets of the Church… With faith and in love come forward…Jesus did not choose the elite.. .He chose us all.
Saint Paul warns of eating and drinking to the damnation of the soul.
Thank you Fr. Abbot Tryphon.
The reverence and respect of Orthodoxy is part of the reason I converted.