The Time of Holy Communion

When the veil is drawn back and the royal doors are opened, the bishop or priest comes forward with the chalice as the people sing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” It is proper to stand at that moment, and, according to local practice (and day of the week), to bow or prostrate.

This moment recalls the appearance of the King of Glory, Jesus Christ himself: when he entered the Holy City on Palm Sunday, the people greeted their King with this very cry of joy and hope (Mat 21:9; see Q542). The opening of the veil also recalls the Lord’s resurrection from the sealed tomb, and how the risen Lord came forth, from beyond the veil, to visit his Apostles and disciples (Joh 20:19; see Q221).

Since what is given at the Chalice is the very Body and Blood of the Lord, the manner of approaching it is not merely etiquette but theology enacted: reverence made visible in the body. The preparation begins long before the procession forms, in the fast, in the prayers of preparation, in recent Confession according to the guidance of one’s priest, and in peace with all (Mat 5:23–24; 1Co 11:27–29, on discerning the Body; see Q426, Q486). One practical duty of love and order belongs at the very threshold: a visitor, a newcomer, or anyone not known to the priest should introduce himself to the priest before the Liturgy begins, for Communion in the Orthodox Church is not anonymous; the priest is a shepherd who must know whom he communes (Joh 10:3, 14), and it is a kindness to him, and to one’s own soul, not to present him at the Chalice with a decision he has had no chance to make. Where this was not possible, one approaches the priest for a blessing rather than presuming.

When the holy doors open and the call is given, “With the fear of God, with faith and with love, draw near”, the communicant comes forward without haste, and, from the moment of joining the line, crosses the arms over the chest, the right over the left. This ancient posture confesses much in silence: the arms form the Cross over the heart; the hands, which grasp and labor and defend, are folded away, for here nothing is taken, everything is received; and the whole body says what the soul is praying: “into Thy hands I commit my spirit.” For the same reason, one should not make the sign of the Cross with the hand while directly before the Chalice, nor bow suddenly at it, precisely so that no movement of ours can strike the holy vessel.

Arriving before the Chalice, the communicant says his or her baptismal name clearly to the priest (even in one’s home parish, and certainly elsewhere); for the priest communes each person by name (“The servant of God N. partakes of the precious and all-holy Body and Blood…”), and the name spoken is the name given at the font: at this moment the whole person, baptized and named in Christ, stands before Christ (cf. Isa 43:1, “I have called you by name, you are mine”; Rev 2:17).

Then, with the communion cloth held beneath the chin, the communicant opens the mouth well, receives the Holy Gifts from the spoon with care and devotion, and consumes them at once, making no abrupt motion of head or body, not drawing back until the spoon is fully withdrawn, and letting the cloth be wiped across the lips: for the communicant’s stillness is the priest’s safeguard, and every care that guards against the least spillage of the Holy Things is itself an act of faith in what they are. Even in the early Church, such was the custom:

You who are accustomed to taking part in the divine mysteries, know how, when you receive the Body of the Lord, you take care with all caution and reverence lest any small part of it should fall to the ground, lest any of the consecrated gift should perish. You consider it a crime if any of it falls. If you are so careful to preserve His Body, and rightly so, how can you think it less a crime if you neglect the word of God than His Body? (Origen, Homilies on Exodus, Homily 13.3)

Where it is the local custom, one may reverence the base of the Chalice gently with the lips, never with the hand, and never where the priest’s practice directs otherwise.

Having received, the communicant returns to his place in silence and in prayer, neither greeting others, nor conversing, nor letting the eyes wander; for the moments after Communion are the most precious of the week: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psa 46:10; see the Study on the Battle of Prayer; see Q390).

Finally, the congregation’s reverence continues to the end: as long as the priest stands with the Chalice raised before the people at “With the fear of God…” and again at the final blessing, “Always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages,” when the Holy Gifts appear at the doors for the last time before being borne to the table of oblation, all remain standing, facing the Lord in his Mysteries as the disciples stood gazing at his Ascension (Luk 24:50–52; Act 1:9–11; see Q223, Q542); for that final elevation is precisely the image of the Ascension, the Lord’s last appearance and his blessing as he was parted from them. No one sits, moves about, or turns to leave while the Chalice is lifted; and none should depart before the dismissal and the veneration of the Cross.