“You envy the opportunity of the woman who touched the vestments of Jesus, of the sinful woman who washed His feet with her tears, of the women of Galilee who had the happiness of following Him in His pilgrimages, of the Apostles and Disciples who conversed with Him familiarly, of the people of the time who listened to the Words of Grace and Salvation which came forth from His lips. You call happy those who saw Him… But, come to the Altar and you will see Him, you will touch Him, you will give to Him holy kisses, you will wash Him with your tears, you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“Since Christ Himself has said ‘This Is My Body’, who shall dare to doubt that It Is His Body?”
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
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“If the poison of pride is swelling up in you, turn to the Eucharist; and that Bread, Which is your God humbling and disguising Himself, will teach you humility. If the fever of selfish greed rages in you, feed on This Bread; and you will learn generosity. If the cold wind of coveting withers you, hasten to the Bread of Angels; and charity will come to blossom in your heart. If you feel the itch of intemperance, nourish yourself with the Flesh and Blood of Christ, Who practiced heroic self-control during His earthly life; and you will become temperate. If you are lazy and sluggish about Spiritual things, strengthen yourself with this Heavenly Food; and you will grow fervent. Lastly, if you feel scorched by the fever of impurity, go to the Banquet of the Angels; and the Spotless Flesh of Christ will make you pure and chaste.”
Saint Cyril of Alexandria
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“The commemorated names are offered because through their taking part in the Holy Chalice they invisibly partake of God and Commune and are consoled, that is, they are comforted and Saved and gladdened in Christ.”
Saint Symeon of Thessaloniki
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“Therefore, Communion of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ, which strengthens our contact with Him and refreshes us with the Living Streams of the Grace of the Holy Spirit flowing through the Body of the Church, is necessary for everyone.”
Saint John Maximovitch
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“O Lord, we cannot go to the Pool of Siloe to which You sent the blind man. But we have the Chalice of Your Precious Blood, filled with Life and Light. The purer we are, the more we receive.”
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
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“When man partakes of Holy Communion he receives power and is enlightened, his horizons widen, and he feels joy. Each person experiences something different, analogous to his disposition and the flame of his Soul. One person feels joy and rest, another peace, another a spirit of devotion and another an inexpressible sympathy towards all things.”
Elder Amphilochios Makris
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“He who communicates frequently, if he should be troubled by evil thoughts, puts them to flight; if he falls into a lesser sin, he is cleansed of it; if he suffers from a greater passion, he is cured of it; if he is assailed by the demons, he drives them away!”
Saint Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain
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“When the Priest cuts out sections [of bread that will be used for Holy Communion] and commemorates the names of the faithful during the Prothesi, an Angel of the Lord descends and takes this commemoration and places it before the Throne of Christ as a Prayer for those commemorated.”
Saint Iakovos Tsalikis of Evia
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“The Holy Orthodox Church has determined the rules of preparation for Holy Communion. The main thing is to prepare the heart for uniting with the Lord. Fasting is necessary for calming the body, and once the body is at peace, the Soul is at peace, too.”
Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
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“Even at the very Cup the enemy sets his snares for you and disturbs you by various thoughts, against which you must fight, or else, knowing that you have wished for a long, long time to find rest in God, the enemy will not allow it.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“When going to the Holy Mysteries, go with simplicity of heart, in full faith that you will receive the Lord within yourself, and with the proper reverence towards this.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“The Grace of True Communion is so great that it is imprinted on all the people who receive Communion.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“The Church received many Traditions from the Apostles… The constitution of the Church Services, especially of the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Mysteries themselves and the manner of performing them, certain Prayers and other institutions of the Church go back to the Sacred Tradition of the Apostles.”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
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“Why is the Creed sung before the changing of the elements into the Body and Blood of the Holy Gifts? Why does the Priest also say the Creed to himself inside the Altar at the same time? In order that those present should believe and remember that the Holy Trinity takes part in the act of the Transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts, and that the Mystery of the Eucharist is the work of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In order also that the Priest himself may celebrate the Holy Sacrament without condemnation and with undoubting Faith in the Mercy and Omnipotence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and afterwards, at the proper time, communicate of it. For at this time especially great Faith is required of the Priest, as then, above all, the enemy uses all his efforts to strike his mind and heart with coldness and unbelief, or to disturb him by doubt.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Today that you have Communed… do you see how you feel? This is how I always feel. Christ is always in me.”
Saint Iakovos Tsalikis of Evia
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“Following His Ascension, the Lord sits with His Heavenly Father in the Heavens and at the same time, He is present with the faithful Christians in the Divine Liturgy… His Presence fills the Earth… and the Heavens! Thus, together with Christ, the Christian who is in the Church and Communes is at the same time on Earth and in Heaven.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“When in fear, trembling and unworthiness we are yet permitted to receive the Divine, Undefiled Mysteries of Christ, Our King and Lord, we should then display even greater watchfulness, strictness and guard over our hearts, so that the Divine Fire, the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, may consume our sins and stains, great and small. For when that Fire enters into us, it at once drives the evil spirits from our heart and remits the sins we have previously committed, leaving the intellect free from the turbulence of wicked thoughts. And if after this, standing at the entrance to our heart, we keep strict watch over the intellect, when we are again permitted to receive those Mysteries the Divine Body will illumine our intellect still more and make it shine like a star.”
Saint Hesychios of Jerusalem
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“After Communion you should ask the Lord that you preserve the Gift worthily and that the Lord help you so that you do not turn backward, i.e., to your former sins.”
Saint Ambrose of Optina
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“He who receives Communion is made Holy and Divinized in Soul and body in the same way that water, set over a fire, becomes boiling… Communion works like yeast that has been mixed into dough so that it leavens the whole mass; …Just as by melting two candles together you get one piece of wax, so, I think, one who receives the Flesh and Blood of Jesus is fused together with Him by this Communion, and the Soul finds that he is in Christ and Christ is in him.”
Saint Cyril of Alexandria
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“I don’t know what to do with my sins, my mind doesn’t see how I can wash and cleanse myself. If I decided to wash myself in the waters, the seas and rivers are small for me, not enough to cleanse me. But if I wash myself with the Blood and Water from the ribs of the Son of God, then I will be cleansed, and His Mercies will be poured out on me.”
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
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“The Eucharist is a fire which inflames us.”
Saint John of Damascus
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“When in fear, trembling and unworthiness we are yet permitted to receive the Divine, Undefiled Mysteries of Christ, Our King and Lord, we should then display even greater watchfulness, strictness and guard over our hearts, so that the Divine Fire, the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, may consume our sins and stains, great and small. For when that Fire enters into us, it at once drives the evil spirits from our heart and remits the sins we have previously committed, leaving the intellect free from the turbulence of wicked thoughts. And if after this, standing at the entrance to our heart, we keep strict watch over the intellect, when we are again permitted to receive those Mysteries the Divine Body will illumine our intellect still more and make it shine like a star.”
Saint Hesychios of Jerusalem
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“The reason why the reception of the Divine Sacraments is called Communion is that the Sacraments join us to God and make us members and participants of His Kingdom.”
Saint Isidore of Pelusium
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“For union with Christ, the mere conjoining of our body with the Body of Christ does not suffice. The consumption of the Body of Christ becomes beneficial when in Spirit we strive towards Him and unite ourselves with Him. Receiving the Body of Christ, while turning away from Him in Spirit, is like the contact with Christ which they had who struck Him and mocked and Crucified Him. Their contact with Him served not for their Salvation and healing, but for their condemnation. But those who partake with piety, love and readiness to serve Him, closely unite themselves with Him and become instruments of His Divine Will.”
Saint John Maximovitch
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“Until a man’s Earthly life finishes its course, up to the very departure of the Soul from the body, the struggle between sin and righteousness continues within him. However high a Spiritual and moral state one might achieve, a gradual or even headlong and deep fall into the abyss of sin is always possible. Therefore, Communion of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ, which strengthens our contact with Him and refreshes us with the living streams of the Grace of the Holy Spirit flowing through the Body of the Church, is necessary for everyone.”
Saint John Maximovitch
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“Don’t be proud, my child, that when you received Holy Communion today your face shone like the sun. Even in good changes one must guard himself from pride.”
Saint Iakovos Tsalikis of Evia
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“If you wish to kindle Divine fervour in your heart and acquire love for Christ – and with it all other Virtues – frequently partake of Holy Communion.”
Saint Nicodemus of Mount Athos
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“The Body and Blood of Christ is the Body and Blood par excellence, because in every little piece, in the smallest pearl, there is the whole Christ. The same is not true of the human body. In the Body and Blood of Christ every crumb and every drop is the whole Christ, indivisible, One and the same.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Yet we ought not to suspend ourselves from the Lord’s Communion because we confess ourselves sinners, but should more and more eagerly hasten to it for the healing of our Soul, and purifying of our spirit, and seek the rather a remedy for our wounds with humility of mind and faith, as considering ourselves unworthy to receive so great Grace. Otherwise we cannot worthily receive the Communion even once a year, as some do, who live in Monasteries and so regard the dignity and Holiness and value of the Heavenly Sacraments, as to think that none but Saints and spotless persons should venture to receive them, and not rather that they would make us Saints and pure by taking them. And these thereby fall into greater presumption and arrogance than what they seem to themselves to avoid, because at the time when they do receive them, they consider that they are worthy to receive them. But it is much better to receive them every Sunday for the healing of our infirmities, with that humility of heart, whereby we believe and confess that we can never touch those Holy Mysteries worthily, than to be puffed up by a foolish persuasion of heart, and believe that at the year’s end we are worthy to receive them. Wherefore that we may be able to grasp this and hold it fruitfully, let us the more earnestly implore the Lord’s Mercy to help us to perform this, which is learnt not like other human arts, by some previous verbal explanation, but rather by experience and action leading the way; and which also unless it is often considered and hammered out in the Conferences of Spiritual persons, and anxiously sifted by daily experience and trial of it, will either become obsolete through carelessness or perish by idle forgetfulness.”
Saint John Cassian
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“If anyone looks with faith at the mystical table and the Bread of Life placed on it, he sees the Person of the Word of God, Who was made flesh for our sake and dwelt among us (John 1:14). If he shows himself a worthy receptacle, he will not only see but become a partaker of Him, receive Him to dwell within him, and be filled with His Divine Grace.”
Saint Gregory Palamas
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