MMXII said:
Today is the first Sunday of the month and our church usually has communion during our worship service.
What type of communion do you/your church serve? What are your views of the true presence of Jesus in the eliments? Do you fast before your communion?
Do you have any other thoughts about communion. (I'll answer all my own questions later today
)
We call "communion" the Eucharist. We have it every Sunday.
We fast from midnight Saturday (or when we go to bed Saturday night) from all food and all water. (Some of us brush our teeth but do so in a way to prevent swallowing the water.)
The Eucharist is a challace of wine thinned with hot water and specially made bread. The bread is made in batches because the person (or people) making the bread have to fast before making it and say prayers during the making of the bread.
The bread is cut by the Priest using a "spear" (it looks like a miniture spear for real) which reminds one of the spear that pierced the side of Christ on the Cross. The pieces of the bread are put into the challace with the wine and we are given the Eucharist on a spoon by the Priest. Only a Priest can give the Eucharist and he uses our Christian name as he puts the spoon into our mouths.
After we receive the Eucharist there is a table next to the Priest with dixey cups of watered down wine that we drink to make sure that there are no parts of the Eucharist still in our mouths. We also have some "blessed bread" Which is the same bread made for the Eucharist but this is a part that does not go through the change... it is cut of from the rest of the bread... We eat a piece of this bread as well to make sure we have no parts of the Eucharist in our mouths.
Those who do not receive the Eucharist (who did not fast or say the special prayers we recite privately the night before Service and again in the morning before leaving for church... these prayers must be recited to receive the Eucharist... but the fasting can be skipped for health reasons if needed... the prayers take about 90 mins to say but I break mine up into two 45 mins of prayer).
Anyway, those who have not prayed or fasted or have gone too long between confession, or those who are not Eastern Orthodox, they can eat the blessed bread. It is a tradition in my parish for those who are receiving the Eucharist to take some pieced of the bread in our hand and give them to others who did not receive the Eucharist as a sign of fellowship and love.
My church is small, about 30 adults typically. Children start receiving the Eucharist 40 days after birth (immediately after their baptism). So with children and adults we have about 20 people receiving the Eucharist each week. It takes about 10 minutes. We make it go faster by having the kids and the elderly start to line up before the Priest comes out of the altar to start the Eucharist.
We also have special prayers that we recite in Thanksgiving for receiving the Eucharist. We have a tradition in my parish of a laymember reading or chanting (their choice) these prayers and those who receive stay and pray them as a group while the rest go down to the fellowship hall.
(BTW. since most of us have fasted so long, we have a meal at church. I have to say that the very best seasoning for food is hunger!)
