Theme
We receive Christ himself in the Holy Eucharist and give thanks for his great salvation.
Outline
- The Holy for the holy: One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ
- The Fraction
- The Precommunion Prayers
- The Communion of the Clergy & the Laity
- Thanksgiving Prayers
Scripture References[1]
Isaiah 6.1–9
Luke 24.13–35
John 10.3
John 19.36
1 Timothy 1.15
2 Peter 1.3–4
Quotes
In truth, [in the Eucharist] we are not partaking of one of His gifts, but of His very Self.
— Nicholas Cabasilas The Life in Christ
The faithful are called holy on account of the Holy One in whose they participate and in whose holy Body and Blood they commune.
— Nicholas Cabasilas Commentary on the Divine Liturgy
If you take into account that the Holy Things set for here are so precious that even the Seraphim are far from being worthy to touch them, and then reflect on your Lord’s love for humanity, you will be amazed that the grace of the holy Body and Blood does not spurn descending even to our worthlessness. Bearing in mind, O human, and considering the magnitude of the gift, raise yourself up once and for all, abandon the earth and ascend to heaven.
— St John Chrysostom Homily on Isaiah 6
The Fracture
The placement of the fractured Lamb on the paten:
IC
NI KA
XCIC (Jesus) placed in the chalice.
XC (Christ): the clergy’s portion.
NIKA (conquers): the laity’s portion.
The Prayer of Thanksgiving
St John Chrysostom
We give thanks unto thee, O Master who loves mankind, Benefactor of our souls, for that thous hast vouchsafed this day to feed us with thy heavenly and immortal mysteries. Make straight our path; establish us all in thy fear; guard our life; make firm steps; through the prayers and intercessions of the glorious Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary and of all thy saints.
St Basil
We give thanks unto thee, O Lord our God, for the participation in thy holy, immaculate, immortal, and heavenly mysteries, which thou hast given unto us for the welfare and sanctification of our souls and bodies. Do thou, the same Master of all grant that the communion of the holy Body and Blood of thy Christ may be for us unto faith unashamed, unto love unfeigned unto increase of wisdom, unto healing of soul and body, unto the turning aside of every adversary, unto the fulfillment of thy commandments, and unto an acceptable defense at the fearful judgement seat of thy Christ:
For thou art our Sanctification, and unto thee we ascribe glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.
Extended Edition E-mail
Scriptures References[2]
Exodus 12.43–48 NETS
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: This is the law of the pascha [passover]. No alien shall eat of it. And any domestic of anyone or purchased slave you shall circumcise him, and then he shall eat of it. A resident alien or hired person shall not eat of it. In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not take any of the meat outside of the house, and you shall not break a bone of it. The entire congregation of the sons of Israel shall do this.
2 Maccabees 7.25–29 NETS
Since the young man would not listen to him at all, the king called the mother to him and urged her to advise the youth to save himself. After much urging on his part, she undertook to persuade her son. But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their ancestral language as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: “My son, have pity on me. I carried you nine months in my womb and nursed you for three years and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life and have taken care of you. I implore you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. And in the same way the human race came into being. Do not fear this hangman, but prove worthy of your brothers and accept death so that in his mercy I may get you back again along with your brothers.”
Part of the account of the seven Maccabean martyrs, reflected in the prayer of the bowed heads.
Psalm 27.9 (28.9) NETS
O save your people, and bless your heritage,
and shepherd them, and lift them up forever.
Psalm 33.20–23 NETS
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
and from them all he will rescue them.
The Lord will guard all their bones;
not one of them will be crushed.
The sinners’ death is wretched,
and those who hate the righteous shall go wrong.
The Lord will redeem his slaves’ souls,
and none of those who hope in him will go wrong.
Psalm 34.19–22 ESV
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Note the use of the singular in the first two verses from Hebrew. (LSB also shows plural in its translation of the Greek.) (Servant/slave in the last verse is a translation philosophy difference, not in the original texts.)
Psalm 70.8 (71.8) NETS
Let my mouth be filled with praise,
that I may sing a hymn to your glory,
all day long to your magnificence.
Psalm 81 (82) NETS
A Psalm. Pertaining to Asaph.
God stood in a gathering of gods,
but in their midst he discerningly judges gods:
“How long will you judge with injustice
and to sinners show partiality?
Interlude on strings
“Give justice to orphan and poor;
of lowly and needy maintain the right.
Deliver needy and poor;
from a sinner’s hand rescue them.”
They had neither knowledge nor understanding;
in darkness they walk around;
all the foundations of the earth will be shaken.
I said, “Gods you are,
and sons of the Most High,
but you all are dying like human beings,
and like one of the rulers you fall.”
Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
because you will gain possession of all the nations.
Isaiah 6.1–9 NETS (modified)
And it happened in the year that King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and raised up, and the house was full of his glory. And seraphim stood around him; each one had six wings, and with two they covered their face, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And they cried out one to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Sabaoth; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
And the lintel was raised at the voice with which they cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “O wretched that I am! I am stunned; for being a man and having unclean lips, I live among a people having unclean lips, and I have seen the King, the Lord Sabaoth, with my eyes!”
Then one of the seraphim was sent to me, and he had in his hand a live coal that he had taken from the altar with the tongs. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips, and it will take away your lawlessness and purify your sins.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom should I send, and who will go to this people?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
Luke 24.13–35 ESV
That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
John 10.1–6 ESV
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
John 10.31–39 ESV
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
John 19.31–37 ESV
Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
1 Corinthians 8.4–6 ESV
Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
1 Corinthians 11.27–32 ESV
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Philippians 2.9–11 ESV
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
1 Timothy 1.15–16 ESV
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (ESV)
2 Peter 1.3–4 ESV
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
3 John 15 ESV
Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name.
Another Quote
What is this measureless compassion of Yours,
O Saviour?
How have you accounted me worthy to become
One of Your members?
— I who am impure, a prodigal, a harlot?
How have you dressed me in a garment most bright,
Glistering with the radiance of immortality
And making all my members into light?
For Your Body, pure and divine,
Is wholly radiant, wholly intermixed
And commingled ineffably with the fire of
Your Divinity…
I have been united, I know, also with Your Divinity
And have become Your most pure Body,
A member shining forth, a member truly holy,
A member glittering from afar, and radiant, and shining.
— St Simeon the New Theologian (as quoted by priest-monk Gregorios)
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References from the Greek Bible; differing Hebrew Bible references are noted in parentheses. ↩
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Bible Versions:
ESV: English Standard Bible (a revision of the Revised Standard Version)
OSB/SAAS: Orthodox Study Bible/St Athanasius Academy Septuagint
LES: Lexham English Septuagint (a diplomatic translation of the Vatican Codex)
LEB: Lexham English Bible (From Hebrew OT, and Greek NT)
NET: New English Translation (with extensive translation notes) (not related to the NETS)
NETS: New English Translation of the Septuagint (an academic translation of the Septuagint , in these quotes proper names have been standardized) ↩