Commemorating St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, July 27/14

It is commanded to all Orthodox Christians to partake often, firstly, of the Sovereign Commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ, secondly, of the Acts and Rules of the Holy Apostles and Holy Councils, as well as the testimonies of the divine Fathers, thirdly, by the words themselves, the rite and sacred action of the Holy Liturgy, and fourthly, finally, Holy Communion itself.

When the Lord gave the Sacrament of Communion to His disciples, He did not say to them in the form of advice: “Whoever wants, let him eat My Body, and whoever wants, let him drink My Blood,” as He said: “If anyone wants to follow Me " ( Mt.16:24 ) and "if you want to be perfect" ( Mt.19:21 ). But He proclaimed commandingly: “Take, eat, this is My Body”, and “drink everything from it, this is My Blood” (see Matt. 26:26-28 ). That is, by all means you must eat My Body and must necessarily drink My Blood. And again he says: “Do this in remembrance of Me” ( Luke 22:19). That is, this Sacrament I commit to you, so that it is performed not once, or twice, or three times, but daily (as the divine Chrysostom explains) in remembrance of My sufferings. My death and all My economy of salvation.

These words of the Lord clearly represent two necessary [points] in Communion: one is the obligatory command they contain, and the other is the duration indicated by the word “do”, which, understandably, means that we are commanded not just to take communion but keep communion unceasingly. So, everyone now sees that the Orthodox are not allowed to violate this command, no matter what rank it may be, but he is charged with a duty and duty to keep it without fail, to accept it as the Master's commandments and ordinances.

If a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or anyone from the holy list does not take communion when making an offering: let him present the reason, and if he is blessed, let him be excused. If he doesn’t imagine: let him be excommunicated from the communion of the Church, as if he had become guilty of harm to the people, and brought suspicion to the one who made the offering, as if he had done wrong” . That is, if someone does not take communion when the Holy Liturgy is served, let him say the reason why he did not take communion, and if it is respectful, let him be forgiven, but if he does not say this, then he should be excommunicated.

And in the 9th canon they say: “All the faithful who enter the church and listen to the writings, but who do not remain in prayer and Holy Communion to the end, as if they are causing disorder in the church, should be excommunicated from the fellowship of the Church” . That is, all those believers who come to church and listen to the Scriptures, but do not remain in prayer and do not partake of Holy Communion, must be excommunicated from the Church, because they are causing outrage in the church.