There is no doubt that communion isn’t only a right for the believer in every liturgy but also a duty. The attendance towards communion became great when believers understood that they cannot become complete without it. It is their heavenly bread and the source of their eternal life. However, the encounter with Jesus is a responsible encounter based on our love and commitment for him. It is a process that requires an awareness regarding the greatness of the encounter and the depth of the love that it carries. In simpler words, the condition for this communion is repentance and the intention to leave sin and eagerness to stay with the Lord forever.
One of the ways of getting ready is staying without food since dawn. This preparation is fear in the sense: “With fear of God draw near”. He who didn’t plan to be a better person after the liturgy must abstain himself from receiving the Lord’s body. The person that is preparing a sinful plan or that is intending to stay in his hatred and bad relationships and lies isn’t concerned with the call of the priest: “With fear for God and faith and love draw near”.
If your heart wasn’t moved for Christ and you didn’t ask his friendship and intimacy, do not stand in the line of those who are approaching communion. Since the night that precedes the liturgy, you should stay alone with the Lord through prayer and holy readings. Among these prayers, there is the “metalipsis”, which is a collection of prayers that are read after the Small Compline and that contain meanings of repentance, piety and asking for forgiveness. And before going to Church, it is necessary to say any prayer (you can make it up) in which you tell the Lord that you are going to him.
If you arrived very late to the liturgy, this means that you are not interested in it. Therefore, do not have communion. You should attend the whole divine service since “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father…” and it is also better to participate in the Matins service in order to hear the meanings of resurrection which elevate your soul through resurrectional chants. How could you approach Christ’s divine blood before becoming paschal through tasting His triumph?
Communion isn’t a Sunday habit. We do not get used to things. We are always with Jesus in a renewed love. We receive Him on Sunday as if it is our first time. You cannot become a new man if you didn’t accept Him as a new dawn, as if you were baptized today. If you passed by the liturgy as if it is a group of consecutive segments with a tone that you like, i.e. if you were shallow to this extent, how could you approach such a fearful food?
You can find fondness with Jesus, but you can only earn this after fatigue. If your heart didn’t experience tears and if you weren’t stained with your tears, then you are a dry person, and dry people do not accept Christ in His tenderness. If you didn’t understand that the Lord is the whole life, you should abstain yourself.
Was your heart covered with silence and crowned with mercy? Did you stay away from the noise and glow of lust in you? Did you deny yourself from all the whispers of the devil and pushed him away from you? Did you love the divine lover? If you did so, approach while feeling fear towards your salvation and asking for mercy from your Lord and being crushed to the extent of disappearing in front of the Lord’s feet. If you weren’t in this situation, then you do seem close but you wouldn’t have approached the Lord’s heart, you wouldn’t have been thrown in His bosom. Be fearful, then feel secure and come.
Translated by Mark Najjar
Original Text: “الاستعداد للمناولة” –Raiati 31- 01.08.1999
