Communion Question

[suissemissed]

I’m sure this has been asked somewhere before, but I’ve heard that in the various Orthodox Churches, the Eucharist is not regularly given to the laity except maybe four times a year… is that true? And if so, do the Eastern Catholic Churches hold to the same practice?

 

[Vico]

I’m sure this has been asked somewhere before, but I’ve heard that in the various Orthodox Churches, the Eucharist is not regularly given to the laity except maybe four times a year… is that true? And if so, do the Eastern Catholic Churches hold to the same practice?

Eastern Catholic, communion is at every Divine Liturgy, every Sunday and holy day, and also at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts during the Great Fast (Lent).

 

[Alveus_Lacuna]

I’m sure this has been asked somewhere before, but I’ve heard that in the various Orthodox Churches, the Eucharist is not regularly given to the laity except maybe four times a year… is that true? And if so, do the Eastern Catholic Churches hold to the same practice?

It honestly just depends on the country, the church, et cetera. In North America, frequent communion tends to be the norm these days. In the Old World, the current trend is still infrequent, but certainly more than four times a year. If someone is sick, they receive even more often.

It’s really a balance between maintaining fear and reverence, while at the same time engaging in a lifestyle which is always prepared to meet Christ. I would say that frequent reception is not necessarily automatically a good thing, as then often people are approaching the chalice no matter what the state. One can become desensitized to the miracle.

 

[ciero]

I have been to Orthodox Churches all over the world and have NEVER been to a Divine Liturgy where communion was not offered to the people. Many times few partook but NEVER was it NOT offered.

 

[suissemissed]

Thanks everyone for your answers!

 

[Alexander_Roman]

Dear Friends,

In fact, in a number of Orthodox parishes, attendance at Confession is an important part of the experience of the Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The Orthodox Churches (and therefore, ideally, the Eastern Catholic Churches which are to follow the same practice “nec plus, nec minus, nec aliter”) require one’s attendance at a full daily Office with Vespers the night before, and Matins in the morning before the Divine Liturgy. There are also the long pre-Communion prayers that one should say by way of preparation (the Orthodox theologian, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, recommended that if one wished to attend Holy Communion every Sunday and Holy-day, that person should make every effor to say a portion of the pre-Communion prayers every day of the week). Without this preparation which the Eastern Church emphasizes, one should not approach Holy Communion, whether one does so frequently or less so.

In the Coptic Church, there is the daily, seven-fold Office of the Agpeya, consisting of seven services containing, on average, 12 psalms that is to be said throughout each day by everyone, including laity. If a person missed these prayers, he or she, in accordance with Coptic tradition, is to attend to Confession prior to receiving Holy Communion.

So I think the most important issue with the reception of Holy Communion in the Christian East is the preparation and the deep awe and adoration in which the Eucharist is, and should be, held. This pre-Communion “askesis” has sometimes kept individual Christians from attending more regularly. But this is part of the wider “crisis” if you will in Christianity about our need to pray more rather than less. In the Canons of the Church, laity were even required to come prepared to receive Holy Communion in older times. When they could not, they were even required to give a reason as to why they would not commune.

As an Eastern Catholic, I’ve been to Latin Catholic Masses where I’ve been rather shocked at the way Catholics receive Communion. In one Church in western New York, Catholics took Communion in the hand rather, it seemed to me, nonchalantly and then simply walked out of Church without staying for the end of the Mass. Ushers were ready to hand out church bulletins as they left. Without hopefully sounding too judgemental, I just felt scandalized. I’m with those who perhaps commune less frequently, but who make the effort to better prepare themselves for the experience.

Alex

 

[AndrewF1995]

Dear Friends,

In fact, in a number of Orthodox parishes, attendance at Confession is an important part of the experience of the Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The Orthodox Churches (and therefore, ideally, the Eastern Catholic Churches which are to follow the same practice “nec plus, nec minus, nec aliter”) require one’s attendance at a full daily Office with Vespers the night before, and Matins in the morning before the Divine Liturgy. There are also the long pre-Communion prayers that one should say by way of preparation (the Orthodox theologian, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, recommended that if one wished to attend Holy Communion every Sunday and Holy-day, that person should make every effor to say a portion of the pre-Communion prayers every day of the week). Without this preparation which the Eastern Church emphasizes, one should not approach Holy Communion, whether one does so frequently or less so.

In the Coptic Church, there is the daily, seven-fold Office of the Agpeya, consisting of seven services containing, on average, 12 psalms that is to be said throughout each day by everyone, including laity. If a person missed these prayers, he or she, in accordance with Coptic tradition, is to attend to Confession prior to receiving Holy Communion.

So I think the most important issue with the reception of Holy Communion in the Christian East is the preparation and the deep awe and adoration in which the Eucharist is, and should be, held. This pre-Communion “askesis” has sometimes kept individual Christians from attending more regularly. But this is part of the wider “crisis” if you will in Christianity about our need to pray more rather than less. In the Canons of the Church, laity were even required to come prepared to receive Holy Communion in older times. When they could not, they were even required to give a reason as to why they would not commune.

As an Eastern Catholic, I’ve been to Latin Catholic Masses where I’ve been rather shocked at the way Catholics receive Communion. In one Church in western New York, Catholics took Communion in the hand rather, it seemed to me, nonchalantly and then simply walked out of Church without staying for the end of the Mass. Ushers were ready to hand out church bulletins as they left. Without hopefully sounding too judgemental, I just felt scandalized. I’m with those who perhaps commune less frequently, but who make the effort to better prepare themselves for the experience.

Alex

I am in western NY a lot, what church was that?