Orthodox thanksgiving after communion

In the life of every Orthodox person there are events that go far beyond the scope of everyday joys and sorrows. These are the days when the sacrament of the Holy Communion is performed over it. They lie in a completely different plane of life. They bring joy, but this joy of a special kind, not commensurate with the joy that earthly life gives us. These are the days of our union with God.

What is the meaning of Holy Communion for us?

The great sacrament of the sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord makes our human nature related to God. His body and blood become a part of us, organically form part of our soul and body. As a person inherits from his biological parents, of which he has become a part by blood relationship, certain qualities inherent in him, and having received the body and blood of the Lord in himself, we become heirs to his qualities.

The Lord in his earthly life, when he offered a ransom sacrifice, died, and then rose again in a completely different flesh. This flesh was endowed with properties unavailable to an ordinary person. But Holy Communion makes us - the creations of his hands - the heirs of this flesh, and this immortality. In addition, Jesus Christ, incarnated from the Virgin Mary, took all human qualities, except sinfulness. The Lord is sinless.

When we read the prayers entering into the Holy Communion, we ask God to save us from the slavery of sin, which gravitates over us from the day of the fall of the first people - Adam and Eve. And our prayers are justified. After all, becoming partakers of the Divine body and blood, we must get rid of the sinful captivity. For the great joy of spiritual renewal and the attainment of immortality, we thank the Lord God, offering him thanksgiving prayers for Holy Communion.

Where and how are these prayers read?

Communion of the Holy Mysteries of the body and blood of Christ is performed in the temple during the Liturgy. At the end, it is read on behalf of everyone who was honored on this day of the holy mystery, thanksgiving prayer after Communion. Usually it is read by a psalm-reader. But sometimes parishioners, returning home from the temple, open prayers and read themselves.

The text that constitutes the thanksgiving prayer for Holy Communion includes five independent prayers. Then follow the famous words of the holy Reverend Simeon Bogomiteltsa: "Now let go ..." - and then read the texts of troparia and kontakion, depending on which liturgy of a saint was performed on this day. All this prayer is one purpose - worthy of praise and thanking the Lord God for granting us great mercy. It is not for nothing that the thanksgiving prayers for Holy Communion are preceded by words calling for reading them warmly and with all their heart.

Prayer One

This prayer begins with the words of gratitude to God for the fact that, despite all our sinfulness, he did not reject us and showed us partakers of the saints of his secrets. Next is a request that his body and blood serve spiritual healing and bodily health. To help them repel any enemy, visible and invisible, enlighten the knowledge of the Divine Mysteries in strengthening the faith and give strength to observe the holy commandments of the Lord. This first thanksgiving prayer after Communion ends with words expressing a desire to continue to devote life to the service of God, and asking for beneficial help along the way. Next comes the prayer, written in the IV century by Saint Basil the Great.

The Prayer of St. Basil the Great

First of all, it is necessary to say a few words about this saint. Basil the Great was born in Caesarea in 303. Having received a fine education in his childhood, he continued it in Athens. Here he became acquainted with another pillar of Christianity - Gregory the Theologian. Their friendship lasted a lifetime. In Athens, St. Basil entered the path of asceticism and knowledge of Christian teaching. Soon he accepted the order. The saint traveled a lot. Having gathered a circle of like-minded people, he became their spiritual mentor.

He wrote a lot of theological works that have come down to us. Thanksgiving after Communion, written by Saint Basil the Great, is full of deep and sincere feelings. He begins it with words of gratitude for all the blessings bestowed upon him by God. The saint asks the Lord to always keep him with grace and divine power. In conclusion, he prays for the Lord's vouchsafing him to preserve his conscience untainted and always embarking on holy mysteries with the consciousness of his spiritual purity.

Prayer is the third

Its author is the holy monk Simeon Metaphrast, who lived in Greece at the turn of the 9th-10th centuries. He entered the history of Christianity as an outstanding theologian and historian. He created a vast collection of saints' lives, edited and furnished with commentaries. The prayer of thanksgiving after Communion written by him is read third in the account. Starting it, he likens the Lord God to fire, burning all unworthy. The Monk prayed, saving his life, piercing the sinful thorns nesting in him, and making him the abode of the Holy Spirit. The Monk hands himself to God's industry and hopes for his protection.

Quite short, fourth prayer

This small prayer is filled with a very deep meaning. It contains an appeal to God to grant eternal life - the main and desired goal of every Christian. Then the words of prayer call upon the Lord to send mercy to the Last Judgment, which will follow the second coming.

Thanksgiving Prayer to the Theotokos

The Most Holy Theotokos enjoys special love and reverence for all Christians. To her a very special attitude. By its purity and holiness, it surpasses the angelic hosts. Even cherubim and seraphim can not be compared with her. Therefore, the prayer addressed to her begins with words full of sincere love. "The light of the darkened soul, the veil, the refuge, the consolation and joy" are the epithets from which the thanksgiving that comes to her for allowing us to partake of the blood and body of her Son begins.

In prayer, when we acknowledge ourselves to be murdered by sin, we ask that the Most Pure One enliven us. For her, which gave birth to the source of immortality, nothing is impossible. We ask that we direct our thoughts to good deeds and fill our hearts with divine love. And like all the previous prayers, the thanksgiving prayer to the Theotokos ends with a request to grant us the opportunity to receive the sanctuary of the most precious secrets until the end of life.

A fragment of the Gospel text and subsequent troparia

At the end of the prayer, a short Biblical text is read to the Most Holy Theotokos, including the words of the holy Rev. Simeon the God-Receiver, which he uttered when he received the Holy Spirit in the baby Jesus incarnated in the temple that was incarnated. His "Now let go ..." completes the thanksgiving after the communion, the description of which is given above.

But on this our thanksgiving does not end. Then troparia and kontakion are read, and which ones, depends on the liturgy of which saint was performed. It could be a liturgy of St. Basil the Great, or it could be of St. John Chrysostom. In addition, if the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was served, the troparion to St. Gregory Dvoslov and the corresponding kontakion is read. Thanksgiving prayer to the guardian angel is not included in this list of prayers, but it is quite understandable that we can not thank the guardian of our soul and body, do not give him due for all that we owe him, including for the blessing of the Holy Communion. There are many prayers to our guardian angel. You can read any of them. The main thing is that it was a pure heart. Preparing for the Holy Communion, everyone reads a large number of prayers prescribed by the church charter. Among them is the canon of the guardian angel. It is very good to read it after the sacrament.

Our day after Holy Communion

But thanksgiving prayers for the Communion do not complete the circle of our duties connected with this most important sacrament. The Holy Church strongly recommends that this day be dedicated to the study of the word of God, to the thoughtfulness of God and to the preservation of spiritual purity. It is better on this day to get rid of all idle and devoid of spirituality. It is recommended to abstain from all kinds of entertainment. Even those of them that are not condemned by the church in ordinary days, on the day of the Sacrament may not be appropriate. Also, conjugal intimacy and smoking are forbidden. The mouth, which took upon itself the body and blood of the Lord, should not be defiled by anything. Therefore, the use of abusive words is absolutely unacceptable.

The Lord granted us for communication with him a powerful and reliable means - Orthodox prayers. Thankful, pleading and penitential - they elevate our souls and hearts. Regardless of whether we are talking about the church prayer read in the temple, or about the home - the cell, the graceful ones, they become only on condition of our deepest faith and sincerity with which we utter them. And every time we approach them, we must remember that we are making a great mystery of communion with God at the moment.