Eucharist: The Climax of Everything
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The Climax of Everything- by Fr. David Petras
In his commentary on the Divine Liturgy, St. Maximus the Confessor describes Holy Communion as “ ... the climax of everything ... which transforms into itself and renders similar to the causal good (that is, God) by grace and participation those who worthily share in it. To them is there lacking nothing of this good that is possible and attainable for human beings, so that they also can be and be called gods by adoption through grace because all of God entirely fills them and leaves no part of them empty of his presence. (The Church’s Mystagogy, chapter 21). “ Here St. Maximus expresses beautifully the theology of our faith: God created us in his own image, and in partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we are restored and fulfilled with that image, and are made Godlike, becoming what we have eaten. This is the covenant of Jesus, the Son and Word of God, given to us on the evening of his arrest and sealed by his death on the Cross and holy Resurrection. Therefore, when the priest gives holy Communion, he says, “The servant of God (name) partakes of the precious, most holy, and most pure body and blood of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ for the remission of (his or her) sins and for life everlasting. Amen.”
This is the climax of the Liturgy, the completion of the sacrifice, our deification, the gift of the fruit of the Tree of Life, the attainment of our human destiny to transcend our mortal limitations, the promise of our future inheritance, the seal of the Divine Liturgy, of the love of God for us manifested through his death and resurrection. It is a gift of God, and must be received with great joy. By Communion, God raises us up from our unworthiness and therefore we must receive Communion standing. It is a sign of our faith that God saves us through this grace. What St. John Chrysostom wrote about mystery is fulfilled in the Holy Communion of the Eucharist. We see one thing with the eyes of our body, but another with the eyes of our soul. With the eyes of our body we see only bread and wine, and receive with our tongues only a small portion of this bread and wine, but with spiritual eyes we see the “noetic,” that is, the deeper and more real truth, that we partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord, the incarnate Word of God, In this way are brought into unity with the Creator of all, both what is visible and what is invisible, expressed so well in the Prayer of Thanksgiving of St. Basil, “a faith that cannot be confounded, a love that does not pretend, a wisdom that overflows, the healing of our souls and bodies, the defeat of every enemy (that is, spiritual enemies of our soul), the full observance of your commandments, and an acceptable defense before the fearsome judgment seat of your Christ.”
In the ancient Church, closer to the apostolic norms, it was expected that every person who attended the Liturgy would receive Holy Communion. It was not an option, it was the reason anyone was there, and to partake was an act of faith that we are the Body of Christ, that Christ has invited us to unity in the Trinity, that the only fulfillment of our human destiny to be an image of God. Those who were unable to receive Holy Communion were dismissed from the church before the anaphora, the Prayer of Offering, was said, for having heard the prayer, we could only assent in faith and receive the gift. This tradition has been maintained to this day for those who are ordained bishop, priest or deacon and who serve at the Holy Table. They cannot abstain from Communion and must receive. This was also true for all the faithful, and those who were not yet baptized, the catechumens, were dismissed before bread and wine were brought to the Holy Table. Likewise, those who had committed grave sins that made them unworthy of their baptism, that is, those who were in church penance were likewise dismissed at the same time. There are some indications that those who were not going to receive Communion at the Liturgy were also dismissed by a Prayer of the Bowing of Heads, which may remain in the Liturgy just before Communion. However, as the ancient fervor diminished, and the teachers of the Church emphasized the awesomeness of the mystery, many others began to spontaneously abstain from partaking in Communion, even when they were present for the whole Liturgy. The situation persisted for many centuries that the faithful would receive the Eucharist only once or twice a year. A more proper attitude towards Communion has been restored over the last century, but modern individualism still makes our participation in Communion a matter of personal preference, a matter of our private share of God’s grace rather than incorporation into the salvation of the people of God, the Church.
Holy Communion brings us into a real unity. Through the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are united in both body and spirit with the Son of God, and through him, we become partakers in the life of the Trinity. Through him, we also are united with the whole Church, which, St. Paul tells us, is the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23). We must question whether our faith in this reality is strong or weak. If it is strong, then the reception of Communion is the most important act we do as Christians. If it is unity with God and his Church, then we must celebrate it as a sign of unity. This is why St. Paul again emphasizes that we should partake of one loaf (1 Corinthians 10:17). This is why St. John Chrysostom so often taught that in the Eucharist we are all equal, for all of us, becoming one in Christ, are one body and no one is superior to another. We are all transformed into Christ, who is infinitely greater than any of us and all of us together. We are all servants of God, the new translation replacing the distinction between “servants” and “handmaids.” To serve this unity, Communion should be received by all as a corporate body. Communion should be given at one time to all present in the church, the priest first as the elder of the community, though, as Chrysostom tells us, he receives no special benefit this way, since we are all one and equal in Christ. The only exception is for those who are ill and unable to come to the church. It is taken to them outside the Liturgy. Particularly, Communion should not be delayed until after the Divine Liturgy, as has become the custom for singers in some places, so as not to interrupt the liturgical chant. However, it is better to have a moment of silence for the sake of the unity of the whole community.