The Eucharist

Here is a section called "Benefits of the Sacrament" from a Coptic catechetical lecture:

This is from the Armenian Apostolic Church:
And a short piece from the Malankara Orthodox Church:

abacabb3 said:

I am just looking for someone to go out on a limb and say, "Yes, if you miss partaking in the sacrament, there are sins not forgiven that otherwise could have been." I just want to verify if this is true.

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This type of loaded question is why I provided you quotes from three equally Orthodox OO sources. The Coptic author is closest to the view you have posited, though I think Coptic theologians tend to prefer to emphasize the aspect of new life that is inherent in communion over any doctrine of forgiveness. The Armenian source emphasizes the preparation, especially confession and absolution, requisite to receiving the eucharistic meal. The Malankaran source emphasizes the lifestyle of sacramentality and is, I think, deliberately vague on when a sacrament works efficaciously. The common thread is that all have a fully sacramental theology that identifies a sacrament as a visible channel of divine grace.

There can be different emphases because of the way Orthodoxy perceives time and salvation. Time is transcended by the grace of God; therefore, identifying a particular moment of grace is somewhat presumptuous. Salvation is a process. For the true believer it is so sure it can be spoken of as an accomplished fact at times, but in reality our salvation is not consummated until the second advent of Christ. Thus, the Evangelical scholar G.K. Beale aptly described our ultimate salvation as an "already, not yet" reality.

abacabb3 said:

Well, I honestly do not think it is loaded, it cuts to the heart of the issue. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote that baptism does not forgive sins if there is no faith behind it. Likewise, taking the Eucharist in an unworthy, faithless matter also is of no benefit (in fact, it is the opposite) to the believer. So, the issue is, at its very core does eating and drinking do something for the believer? It is easy to say, "Yes," but that would require saying that then there is a very tangible benefit to church attendance because the physical act proves to be beneficial.

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Partaking of the Eucharist is of great benefit, however, it is also a lasting benefit, and an act that requires preparation: fasting from midnight, confession and rhe saying of pre-Eucharistic prayers, are demanded of Oriental Orthodox before partaking. Some Coptic and Erhiopian parishes I think fo a bit further by expecting attendance at Coptic Vespers/Raising of Incense/Psalmody the night before (altogether, a two and a half hour service as long or longer than the Divine Liturgy itself on Sunday morning, also where private confessions are made), and the Ethiopians for their part typically begin morning prayers before Communion at 4 AM, amd in Ethiopia, some of the famous rock hewn churches are known for celebrating prayer vigils exceeding 24 hours in duration on their patronal feasts. And this is not out of fear or a compulsion to propotiate God, through Pelagian earning of salvation, which we regard as heretical, rather we participate in these liturgies because we love God and love to worship.

Now, the weekly reception of the Eucharist is not regarded as meccessary, and without proper preparation through fasting and prayers of repentance, is viewed as harmful. At present the Copts normally all receive the Eucharost as often as possible; typically everyone in the parish who has not communed earlier in the day will take the Eucharist. However at my Syriac Orthodox Cathedral, on Pentecoat, as an example, 300-500 people attemded, but scarcely more than 20 including myself took Communion. In the Armenian Church, during the Sundays of Lent, about five or six in total, only the Priest takes communion, and the curtain is drawn closed across the altar for the entire Fast. From the start of Lent, no Armenians other than the priest of each parish will partake of the Eucharist until Palm Sunday, when, for the first time in weeks, the altar is unveiled and the Liturgy celebrated in view of the attendees, who will now take communion normally (and again at Easter Sunday and during the rest of the year).

So while the Eucharist doess nourish us spiritually, being "the medicine of immortality" as one Church Father described it, we do not find it neccessary to take it weekly in order to ensure our salvation. Obviously any Armenian who died before Palm Sunday would not have communed in many weeks, and I daresay throughout the year the same holds true for all me,bers of my Syriac parish; while the Eucharist is offered each Sunday to all who have prepared, only 8-30 will normally partake; the two exceptions are Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday, where all the baptized faithful in attendance are obliged to communicate. But a Syriac Orthodox who passes away in Pctober might not have had the Eucharist in six months! In fact, the Shorter Catechism of the Syriac Orthodox Church states that the faithful are only formally required to confess and take communion once each year, at Maundy Thursday, and those who do not are excommunicated.

But the minimum sacramental obligation in my church at least is annual confession and communion, and for many centuries, most laity out of fear of partaking unworthily (1 Cor 11:27-34), while attending the liturgy weekly, only communicated once or maybe twice a year.

Unlike the Roman Catholics, we do not have a legalistic view of sin; there is no distinction between venial and mortal sin and dyimg with unconfessed sins is viewed by many as inevitable. Thus, we stress deep repentance and humility.

The forgiveness of sins is more associated with the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which one encounters a crude approximation of in the Roman Catholic Confessional.

The Eucharist is the medicine of immortality; having been forgiven by our infinitely merciful Lord, we consume his flesh and blood and thus become partakers of the divine nature. Eating him, although it siunds crude, unites us to his Divinity, allowing us to be a part of His Body, the Church, and to have hope on Judgement Day. And while this has always sounded crude to the uninitiated, we live in a crude and disgusting world where billionaires live in extravagance in some Asian cities while their literal neighbors die of hunger; the homeless child dyimg of exposure demonstrates the crude and vile aspect that Sin has introduced into this world.

Sin means refusing Gods love. The Greek word for repentance, metanaioa, implies a change of course, a realignment with the will of God which makes us barely worthy enough to partake of the Eucharist with fear and trembling, and thus hope for salvation through Communion with our Lord.

Everthing St. Ignatius writes is correct. Schism is often said to be worse than heresy, because people rightly ask "how can the body of Christ be divided?" My amswer would be that it cannot, and it subsists in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I am at a Coptic monastery today so by the way if anyone has any thing they want me to ask the abunas, I will try amd get you an answer.

By the way I dont believe I have drifted off topic; you seemed to ascribe to the Eucharist a role more directly performed by Reconciliation.

abacabb3 said:

It appears that the Eucharist is not the medicine, but the breaking of one and the same bread with an undivided mind, without schism is what Ignatius had in mind

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For us they are one and the same. The Eucharistic offering represents and actualizes the communion between Christian persons including the harmony of will between persons. So there is no "either/or" here.

abacabb3 said:

As far as I know, no act we do really forgives sins, but the desire to do these things (which is our faith) does.

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In the Eucharist we join ourselves to Christ's act; it is given to us, we receive it. It's those who locate the forgiveness of sins in a supposed mental space who have a problem with this.

abacabb3 said:

the desire to do these things (which is our faith) does. THis is why those who are killed before baptism get the benefits of regeneration conferred by baptism.

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Faith is not merely an internal desire, but a way of relating with God and the world. God has mercy on the one who seeks him; some sort of personal assent, movement or desire is a necessary but not sufficient aspect of salvation (and in some way this too is given by God). So it is with baptism: Through baptism God offers us participation in Christ's death, resurrection, ascension and second coming; whatever is offered outside of baptism to catechumens and others upon death is something analogous to this.