Is it possible to receive communion at the evening service. Is it possible to take communion on a weekday, t
The meaning of the sacrament
First of all, in preparation for communion, there will be an awareness of the meaning of communion, so many go to church because it is fashionable and it could be said that you took communion and confessed, but in fact such communion is a sin. When preparing for communion, you need to understand that you go to church to the priest, first of all, to draw closer to the Lord God and repent of your sins, and not to arrange a holiday and an extra reason to drink and eat. At the same time, go to communion only because you were forced to, it’s not good to go to this sacrament at will, cleansing your soul from sins.
So, anyone who wants to worthily partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ must prayerfully prepare himself for this in two or three days: pray at home in the morning and evening, attend church services. Before the day of communion, you must be at the evening service. The rule for Holy Communion is added to home evening prayers (from the prayer book).
The main thing is the living faith of the heart and the warmth of repentance for sins.
Prayer is combined with abstinence from fast food - meat, eggs, milk and dairy products, with strict fasting and from fish. In the rest of the food, moderation should be observed.
Those who wish to take communion should, best of all, on the eve, before or after the evening service, bring sincere repentance for their sins before the priest, sincerely opening their soul and not concealing a single sin. Before confession, one must certainly reconcile both with one's offenders and with those whom one has offended oneself. At confession, it is better not to wait for the priest's questions, but to tell him everything that is on your conscience, without justifying yourself in anything and without shifting the blame to others. In no case should you condemn someone in confession or talk about other people's sins. If it is not possible to confess in the evening, you need to do it before the start of the liturgy, in extreme cases - before the Cherubic Hymn. Without confession, no one, except for infants up to seven years of age, can be admitted to Holy Communion. After midnight, it is forbidden to eat and drink, you must come to Communion strictly on an empty stomach. Children should also be taught to abstain from food and drink before Holy Communion.
How to Prepare for Communion?
The days of fasting usually last a week, in extreme cases - three days. Fasting is prescribed on these days. Modest food is excluded from the diet - meat, dairy products, eggs, and on days of strict fasting - fish. Spouses abstain from physical intimacy. The family refuses entertainment and TV viewing. If circumstances permit, these days one should attend services in the temple. The morning and evening prayer rules are more diligently carried out, with the addition of reading the Penitential Canon to them.
Regardless of when the Sacrament of Confession is performed in the temple - in the evening or in the morning, it is necessary to attend the evening service on the eve of communion. In the evening, before reading the prayers for the future, three canons are read: Penitent to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, Guardian Angel. You can read each canon separately, or use prayer books where these three canons are combined. Then the canon for Holy Communion is read until the prayers for Holy Communion, which are read in the morning. For those who find it difficult to perform such a prayer rule in one day, they take a blessing from the priest to read three canons in advance during the days of fasting.
It is quite difficult for children to follow all the prayer rules for preparing for the sacrament. Parents, together with the confessor, need to choose the optimal number of prayers that the child will be able to do, then gradually increase the number of necessary prayers needed to prepare for Communion, up to the full prayer rule for Holy Communion.
For some, it is very difficult to read the necessary canons and prayers. For this reason, some do not go to confession and do not receive communion for years. Many people confuse preparation for confession (which does not require such a large volume of prayers to be read) and preparation for communion. Such people can be recommended to approach the Sacraments of Confession and Communion in stages. First, you need to properly prepare for confession and, when confessing sins, ask your confessor for advice. It is necessary to pray to the Lord that He will help to overcome difficulties and give strength to adequately prepare for the Sacrament of Communion.
Since it is customary to start the Sacrament of Communion on an empty stomach, from twelve o'clock in the morning they no longer eat or drink (smokers do not smoke). The exception is infants (children under seven years of age). But children from a certain age (starting from 5–6 years old, and if possible even earlier) must be taught to the existing rule.
In the morning they also do not eat or drink anything and, of course, do not smoke, you can only brush your teeth. After reading the morning prayers, prayers for Holy Communion are read. If it is difficult to read the prayers for Holy Communion in the morning, then you need to take a blessing from the priest to read them the evening before. If confession is performed in the church in the morning, it is necessary to arrive on time, before the start of confession. If confession was made the night before, then the confessor comes to the beginning of the service and prays with everyone.
Fasting before confession
People who come to Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ for the first time need to fast for a week, those who commune less than twice a month, or do not observe Wednesday and Friday fasts, or often do not observe many days of fasting, fast three days before Communion. Do not eat animal food, do not drink alcohol. Yes, and do not overeat with lean food, but eat as needed to saturate and nothing more. But who every Sunday (as befits a good Christian) resorts to the Sacraments, you can fast only Wednesday and Friday, as usual. Some also add - and at least on Saturday evening, or on Saturday - do not eat meat. Before communion, from 24 hours no longer eat, and do not drink anything. On the prescribed days of fasting, eat only plant foods.
It is also very important these days to keep yourself from anger, envy, condemnation, empty talk and bodily communication between spouses, as well as on the night after communion too. Children under 7 do not need to fast or go to confession.
Also, if a person goes to communion for the first time, you need to try to subtract the entire rule, read all the canons (you can buy a special booklet in the shop, called “The Rule for Holy Communion” or “Prayer Book with the Rule for Communion”, everything is clear there). To make it not so difficult, you can do this by dividing the reading of this rule into several days.
Clean body
Remember that it is not allowed to go to the temple dirty, unless, of course, the life situation requires it. Therefore, preparing for communion means that on the day you go to the sacrament of communion, you must wash your body of physical dirt, that is, take a bath, shower or go to the bathhouse.
Preparation for confession
Before confession itself, which is a separate sacrament (not necessarily after it should be followed by Communion, but preferably), you can not keep a fast. A person can confess at any time when he feels in his heart that he needs to repent, confess sins, and as quickly as possible so that the soul is not weighed down. And you can take communion, properly prepared, later. Ideally, if possible, it would be nice to attend the evening service, and especially before the holidays or the day of your angel.
It is absolutely unacceptable to keep fasting in food, but not change the course of your life in any way: continue to go to entertainment events, to the cinema for the next blockbuster, to visit, to sit all day at computer toys, etc. The main thing in the days of preparation for Communion is to live they are different from other days of everyday life, not much work for the Lord. Talk to your soul, feel why it spiritually missed you. And do what you have been putting off for a long time. Read the Gospel or spiritual book; visit loved ones, but forgotten by us people; ask for forgiveness from someone who was ashamed to ask for it and we put it off for later; try these days to give up numerous attachments and bad habits. Simply put, these days you have to be braver to be better than usual.
Communion in the Church
The Sacrament of Communion itself takes place in the Church at a divine service called liturgy . As a rule, the liturgy is performed in the first half of the day; the exact time of the beginning of the services and the days of their performance should be found out directly in the temple where you are going to go. Services usually begin between seven and ten in the morning; the duration of the liturgy, depending on the nature of the service and partly on the number of communicants, is from one and a half to four to five hours. In cathedrals and monasteries, liturgies are served daily; in parish churches on Sundays and church holidays. It is advisable for those preparing for Communion to be present at the service from its beginning (for this is a single spiritual act), and also to be at the evening service the day before, which is a prayerful preparation for the Liturgy and the Eucharist.
During the liturgy, you need to stay in the church without a way out, prayerfully participating in the service until the priest leaves the altar with a cup and proclaims: “Come with the fear of God and faith.” Then the communicants line up one by one in front of the pulpit (first the children and the infirm, then the men and then the women). Hands should be folded crosswise on the chest; it is not supposed to be baptized in front of the cup. When the turn comes, you need to stand in front of the priest, give your name and open your mouth so that you can put in a liar with a particle of the Body and Blood of Christ. The liar must be carefully licked with the lips, and after the lips are wet with the board, with reverence kiss the edge of the bowl. Then, without touching the icons and without talking, you need to move away from the pulpit and take a “drink” - St. water with wine and a particle of prosphora (in this way, the oral cavity is washed, so that the smallest particles of the Gifts are not accidentally expelled from oneself, for example, when sneezing). After communion, you need to read (or listen to in the Church) prayers of thanksgiving and in the future carefully keep your soul from sins and passions.
How to approach the Holy Chalice?
Each communicant needs to know well how to approach the Holy Chalice so that communion takes place sedately and without fuss.
Before approaching the Chalice, one must bow to the ground. If there are many communicants, then in order not to disturb others, you need to bow in advance. When the royal doors open, one must cross oneself and fold one’s hands crosswise on the chest, the right hand over the left, and with such a folded hands take communion; you need to move away from the Chalice without separating your hands. It is necessary to approach from the right side of the temple, and leave the left free. Altar attendants receive communion first, then monks, children, and only then everyone else. It is necessary to give way to neighbors, in no case do not push. Women need to remove their lipstick before communion. Women should approach communion with their heads covered.
Approaching the Chalice, one should loudly and clearly state one's name, accept the Holy Gifts, chew (if necessary) and immediately swallow Them, and kiss the lower edge of the Chalice as the rib of Christ. You can not touch the Chalice with your hands and kiss the priest's hand. It is forbidden to be baptized at the Chalice! Raising your hand for the sign of the cross, you can accidentally push the priest and spill the Holy Gifts. Going to the table with a drink, you need to eat antidor or prosphora to drink warmth. Only after that you can apply to the icons.
If the Holy Gifts are taught from several Chalices, they can only be received from one. You cannot take communion twice a day. On the day of Communion, it is not customary to kneel, with the exception of bows during Great Lent when reading the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian, bows before the Shroud of Christ on Great Saturday and kneeling prayers on the day of the Holy Trinity. When you come home, you should, first of all, read thanksgiving prayers for Holy Communion; if they are read in the temple at the end of the service, one must listen to the prayers there. After communion until the morning, one should also not spit anything out and rinse the mouth. Communicators should try to keep themselves from idle talk, especially from condemnation, and in order to avoid idle talk, one must read the Gospel, the Jesus Prayer, akathists, and Holy Scripture.
The holy mysteries - the body and blood of Christ - the greatest shrine, God's gift to us sinners and unworthy. No wonder they are called so - holy gifts.No one on earth can consider himself worthy to be a partaker of the holy mysteries. In preparing for the sacrament, we purify our spiritual and bodily nature. We prepare the soul by prayer, repentance and reconciliation with our neighbor, and the body by fasting and abstinence. This preparation is called fasting.
Prayer rule
Those preparing for communion read three canons: 1) repentant to the Lord Jesus Christ; 2) a prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos; 3) the canon to the guardian angel. The Follow-up to Holy Communion is also read, which includes the canon for Communion and prayers.
All these canons and prayers are contained in the Canon and the usual Orthodox prayer book.
On the eve of communion, it is necessary to be at the evening service, for the church day begins in the evening.
Fast
Before communion, fasting, fasting, fasting - bodily abstinence is attributed. During fasting, food of animal origin should be excluded: meat, dairy products, and eggs. With a strict fast, fish is also excluded. But lean foods should also be consumed in moderation.
Spouses during fasting must refrain from bodily intimacy (5th canon of St. Timothy of Alexandria). Women who are in purification (during the period of menstruation) cannot take communion (7th canon of St. Timothy of Alexandria).
Fasting, of course, is necessary not only with the body, but also with the mind, sight and hearing, keeping one's soul from worldly entertainment.
The duration of the Eucharistic fast is usually negotiated with the confessor or parish priest. It depends on the bodily health, the spiritual state of the communicant, and also on how often he begins to partake of the holy mysteries.
The general practice is to fast before communion for at least three days.
For those who take communion frequently (for example, once a week), the duration of the fast can be reduced with the blessing of the confessor to 1-2 days.
Also, the confessor can weaken the fast for sick people, pregnant and lactating women, and also taking into account other life circumstances.
Those preparing for communion no longer eat after midnight, as the day of communion arrives. You need to take communion on an empty stomach. Under no circumstances should you smoke. Some mistakenly believe that you should not brush your teeth in the morning so as not to swallow water. This is completely wrong. In the Teaching News, each priest is prescribed brushing his teeth before the Liturgy.
Repentance
The most important moment in preparing for the sacrament of communion is the cleansing of one's soul from sins, which is performed in the sacrament of confession. Christ will not enter into a soul not cleansed of sin, not reconciled with God.
One can sometimes hear the opinion that it is necessary to separate the sacraments of confession and communion. And if a person regularly confesses, then he can proceed to communion without confession. In this case, they usually refer to the practice of some Local Churches (for example, the Greek one).
But our Russian people have been in atheistic captivity for more than 70 years. And the Russian Church is only just beginning to recover from the spiritual catastrophe that has befallen our country. We have very few Orthodox churches and clergy. In Moscow, for 10 million inhabitants, there are only about one thousand priests. People are not churched, cut off from traditions. Community life is practically non-existent. The life and spiritual level of modern Orthodox believers are incomparable with the life of Christians of the first centuries. Therefore, we adhere to the practice of confession before each communion.
By the way, about the first centuries of Christianity. The most important historical monument of early Christian writing, “The Teaching of the 12 Apostles” or in Greek “Didache”, says: “On the day of the Lord (that is, on Sunday. - about. P.G.), having gathered together, break bread and give thanks, having confessed your transgressions in advance, so that your sacrifice may be pure. But whoever is at odds with his friend, let him not come with you until they are reconciled, lest your sacrifice be defiled; for this is the command of the Lord: in every place and at all times a pure sacrifice must be offered to me, for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is marvelous among the nations” (Didache 14). And again: “Confess your sins in church and do not approach your prayer with a bad conscience. Such is the way of life!” (Didache, 4).
The importance of repentance, cleansing from sins before communion is undeniable, so let's dwell on this topic in a little more detail.
For many, the first confession and communion was the beginning of their churching, becoming Orthodox Christians.
Preparing to meet our dear guest, we try to clean our house better, put things in order. Even more so, we must prepare with trepidation, reverence and diligence to receive into the house of our souls the "King of kings and the Lord of lords." The more attentively a Christian follows spiritual life, the more often and more zealously he repents, the more he sees his sins and unworthiness before God. No wonder the holy people saw their sins as countless as the sand of the sea. A noble citizen of the town of Gaza came to the Monk Abba Dorotheus, and the abba asked him: “Eminent gentleman, tell me who do you consider yourself to be in your city?” He replied: "I consider myself great and the first in the city." Then the monk again asked him: “If you go to Caesarea, what will you consider yourself to be there?” The man replied: "For the last of the nobles there." “If you go to Antioch, who will you consider yourself to be there?” “There,” he replied, “I will consider myself one of the commoners.” “If you go to Constantinople and draw near to the king, who will you consider yourself to be there?” And he answered: "Almost for a beggar." Then the abba said to him: “This is how the saints, the closer they come to God, the more they see themselves as sinners.”
Unfortunately, we have to see that some perceive the sacrament of confession as a kind of formality, after which they will be admitted to communion. Preparing to receive communion, we must with all responsibility treat the purification of our soul in order to make it a temple for the acceptance of Christ.
Repentance the holy fathers call second baptism, baptismal tears. Just as the waters of baptism wash our souls from sins, tears of repentance, weeping and contrition for sins cleanse our spiritual nature.
Why do we repent if the Lord already knows all our sins? God expects from us repentance, recognition of them. In the sacrament of confession, we ask Him for forgiveness. You can understand this with this example. The child climbed into the closet and ate all the sweets. The father knows perfectly well who did this, but he is waiting for the son to come and ask for forgiveness.
The very word "confession" means that a Christian has come tell, confess, tell yourself your sins. The priest in prayer before confession reads: “These are Your servants, word be kindly resolved." Man himself is resolved from his sins through the word and receives forgiveness from God. Therefore, confession should be private, not public. I mean the practice when a priest reads a list of possible sins, and then simply covers the confessor with an epitrachelion. "General confession" was an almost universal phenomenon in Soviet times, when there were very few functioning churches and on Sundays, holidays, as well as fasting, they were overflowing with worshipers. It was simply unrealistic to confess to everyone who wanted to. Conducting confession after the evening service was also almost not allowed anywhere. Now, thank God, there are very few churches where such a confession is held.
In order to be well prepared for the purification of the soul, before the sacrament of repentance, one must reflect on one's sins and remember them. The following books help us in this: “To Help the Penitent” by St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), “The Experience of Building a Confession” by Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) and others.
Confession cannot be perceived as just a spiritual washing, showering. You can mess around in the ground and not be afraid of dirt, anyway, then everything will be washed off in the soul. And you can go on sinning. If a person comes to confession with such thoughts, he confesses not for salvation, but for judgment and condemnation. And having formally “confessed”, he will not receive permission from God for sins. It's not that simple. Sin, passion causes great harm to the soul, and even having repented, a person bears the consequences of his sin. So in a patient who has had smallpox, scars remain on the body.
It is not enough just to confess sin, you need to make every effort to overcome the tendency to sin in your soul, not to return to it anymore. So the doctor removes the cancerous tumor and prescribes a course of chemotherapy to defeat the disease, to prevent a relapse. Of course, it is not easy to immediately leave sin, but the penitent should not be hypocritical: "I will repent - and I will continue to sin." A person must make every effort to embark on the path of correction, no longer return to sin. A person should ask God for help to fight sins and passions.
Those who rarely go to confession and communion cease to see their sins. They move away from God. And vice versa, approaching Him as the Source of light, people begin to see all the dark and impure corners of their souls. Just as the bright sun illuminates all the uncleaned nooks and crannies of the room.
The Lord does not expect earthly gifts and offerings from us, but: "Sacrifice to God - the spirit is contrite, the heart contrite and humble God will not despise" (Ps. 50:19). And as we prepare to be united with Christ in the sacrament of communion, we bring this sacrifice to Him.
Reconciliation
“So if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:23-24), the word of God tells us.
The one who dares to take communion sins mortally, having malice, enmity, hatred, unforgiven insults in his heart.
The Kiev-Pechersk Patericon tells about the terrible sinful state that people can fall into when they begin to receive communion in a state of anger and non-reconciliation. “There were two brothers in spirit – the deacon Evagrius and the priest Titus. And they had great and unfeigned love for each other, so that everyone marveled at their unanimity and immeasurable love. The devil who hates good, who always walks around, “like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5: 8), aroused enmity between them. And he put such hatred into them that they shied away from each other, did not want to see one another in person. Many times the brethren begged them to be reconciled among themselves, but they did not want to hear. When Titus walked with the censer, Evagrius ran away from the incense; when Evagrius did not run away, Titus passed him without shaking. And so they spent a long time in sinful darkness, proceeding to the holy mysteries: Titus, not asking for forgiveness, and Evagrius, angry, the enemy armed them before. One day, Titus fell very ill and, already at death, began to grieve about his sin and sent to the deacon with a plea: “Forgive me, for God's sake, my brother, that I was angry with you in vain.” Evagrius answered with cruel words and curses. The elders, seeing that Titus was dying, forcibly brought Evagrius in order to reconcile him with his brother. Seeing him, the sick man got up a little, prostrated himself at his feet and said: “Forgive me and bless me, my father!” He, unmerciful and fierce, refused to forgive in the presence of everyone, saying: “I will never be reconciled with him, neither in this age, nor in the future.” And suddenly Evagrius escaped from the hands of the elders and fell. They wanted to pick him up, but they saw that he was already dead. And they could neither stretch out his hand nor close his mouth, as in the case of a long-dead one. The patient immediately got up, as if he had never been ill. And everyone was horrified at the sudden death of one and the speedy recovery of the other. With much weeping they buried Evagrius. His mouth and eyes remained open, and his arms outstretched. Then the elders asked Titus: “What does all this mean?” And he said: “I saw angels departing from me and weeping for my soul, and demons rejoicing at my wrath. And then I began to pray to my brother to forgive me. When you brought him to me, I saw an unmerciful angel holding a fiery spear, and when Evagrius did not forgive me, he struck him and he fell dead. The angel gave me his hand and lifted me up.” Hearing this, the brethren were afraid of God, who said, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).
In preparation for the communion of the Holy Mysteries, it is necessary (if only there is such an opportunity) to ask for forgiveness from everyone whom we have voluntarily or involuntarily offended and forgive everyone ourselves. If it is not possible to do this personally, one must be reconciled with one's neighbors, at least in one's heart. Of course, this is not easy - we are all proud, touchy people (by the way, touchiness always stems from pride). But how can we ask God for forgiveness of our sins, count on their remission, if we ourselves do not forgive our offenders. Shortly before the communion of the faithful at the Divine Liturgy, the Lord's Prayer - "Our Father" is sung. As a reminder to us that God will only then "leave ( forgive) we owe ( sins) ours”, when we also leave “our debtor”.
Is it necessary to come to the All-Night Vigil on the eve of Communion?
A provocative question, I would say. If you want to set up a priest who admits to communion those who have not “defended” the vigil beforehand, ask him this question publicly.
Archpriest Igor Prekup
For some reason, I remembered an old Catholic anecdote. A Jesuit and a Franciscan are arguing about smoking. The Franciscan is categorically against it, the Jesuit is for it. Then the Franciscan puts forward this argument: “The criterion of good and evil is prayer. Is smoking compatible with prayer? - "Why not"? the Jesuit smiles.
"Good. Let's ask the Pope this question," the Franciscan suggests and calls the Servant of God's servants. After waiting for the connection, he asks: “Your Holiness, is it possible to smoke during prayer?” Having received a negative answer, accompanied by an indignant chain of interjections, he looked with satisfaction at the Jesuit, who, not at all embarrassed, asked for a phone and asked the Pope if it was possible to pray while smoking. To which he heard: “It is said in Scripture: pray without ceasing(1 Thess. 5; 17)."
Show me a priest who will tell you: “No, no, why? Stay at home. In general, only religious fanatics go to church every Sunday, don’t be like them, don’t…”
First, for that matter, the question is logically incorrectly posed, but this incorrectness is justified precisely by the fact that it reflects a flawed approach to communion as a individual act carried out in company with other people, by chance simultaneously come to the liturgy.
Secondly, it was also delivered twice incorrectly, again due to the fact that it is impossible to answer it without seducing some and depriving others. In fact, just dare to say that there is no need to go to the Vespers on the eve of the Liturgy. In addition to the fact that such an attitude is simply false and vicious in itself, there are many “zealots” who will write you down as church liberals, brand you as a “fifth column”, or even “Judaic” (it is not clear from which side, and it doesn’t matter; the main thing is to “expose” and “qualify”).
After that, you can hit yourself with your heel in the chest as much as you like, proving that you didn’t want to say that and you were misunderstood; consider that you have already seduced “these little ones” - go try on the millstone ...
But let's get back to inferiority, which, like any other inferiority, is not recognized, as a rule, by its carriers - to inferiority of the Eucharistic. After all, in fact, basically, because of what the statement about the uselessness of attending the vigil before communion can cause indignation? Due to the fact that this is an element of fasting, and before communion it is necessary to fast. The key word is "should". By whom and where it is supposed to - it does not matter. We're supposed to. What for? This, they say, is not our mind, our business is to fulfill. Everything. The circle is closed.
“It is necessary” ... Along with the three-day fast, the “subtraction” of the follow-up to Holy Communion is one of the elements of what gotta do, one of our duties, having fulfilled which it will be possible, while continuing to call ourselves unworthy, to console our conscience with the consciousness that we “worthily received communion”, thus transferring dignity from the formal fulfillment of the “placed” to the idea of the quality of our soul (i.e. we will continue to call ourselves “unworthy” because “it is supposed to be so”, but, thanks to what good fellows we are, we will do this, as if already winking at ourselves: because we know…).
Anyone who dares to question the obligation to “uphold” the Vespers on the eve of communion is considered by the “Orthodox people” as a troublemaker-renovationist precisely because he breaks the harmonious structure of this vicious imaginary-church consciousness that surrounds communion with a kind of strip of obstacles that need to work hard to overcome , and overcoming, to suffer in order to receive communion, as if as a reward for the “mournful work and thoughts of high aspiration” suffered.
Thus, it turns out that initially correct idea of importance participation communicant in liturgy of the daily circle profaned by the "zealots" themselves, as a result of which participation in public worship degenerates into “defending the service”, into “listening to it” (they say, for example, “listen to mass”).
It turns out that a person has come to a “public place” (which temple, if we understand it in the spirit of the church, is not), where a session of religious worship takes place.
The session is conducted by authorized persons (clerics). The rest are present each by itself (not even on the session, but as if only at its commission), without any claim to participate in it - so, by itself, everyone can individually pray about something, about their own; well, when the choir sings: “Lord, have mercy!” one can cross oneself with others (fortunately, although these two words are understandable), but the text of the litany pronounced by the clergyman is by no means always accessible to hearing. And to pray together with the choir, or at least with a reader, is downright an unaffordable luxury, considering how much attention we usually pay to the intelligibility of singing and reading.
How to be? So, there are a few important things to understand. Vigil is not a duty, for the performance of which a reward is given in the form of admission to communion. This is a complex divine service of the daily circle, enriching us with both grace and theological knowledge. Liturgy, unlike Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th hours - not one of daily circle services. It is built into one or another of its sections, depending on the instructions of the Charter, but in itself is not its integral part.
Thirdly, the liturgy, no matter which one (St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great, the pre-sanctified or the holy Apostle James, etc.), is nevertheless served precisely in the space of the daily circle, therefore a person is called to participate in the liturgy, plunging into the richness of meanings, contained in the preceding services.
All of the above applies to any divine service of the daily circle performed the night before, and not only to the all-night vigil, which in practice has long been no “all-night vigil”. Today, this is a type of especially solemn evening service, performed, according to the Charter, on important church holidays, incl. and on Sundays, for every Sunday is a little Easter. Not the day before holidays, please note that in holidays, because the liturgical day (and therefore the holiday itself, including the Sunday service) begins in the evening.
We started talking about the all-night vigil, because basically people take communion on Sundays, and on the eve of Sunday, on Saturday evening, an all-night vigil is performed.
So here's what's important: it should be more than just going to the temple, because it's supposed to go to church on holidays, or because this(regardless of whether it is a holiday, whether ordinary saints are commemorated) required on the eve of communion.
Participation(not “defending” and not “listening”, namely participation ) in the evening service - this is immersion in eternity by uniting with the Church - the Kingdom of God on earth - through a service dedicated to some significant event or saint, and immersion not from some intermediate stage or at the "one-tenth hour", but from the very beginning daily circle.
Calling on us to come to the temple not only on the day of communion, but already on the eve, the Church invites back to top liturgical cycle, within which we hope to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. It’s better to complete any deed, and therefore it’s good to devote not a few minutes on the day of communion to unity with God, and not even a couple of hours, not counting the time “killed” on the road, and not some more, but ... the whole God's day give away- the very day that "there was evening and there was morning ...", at least in the amount of one day, one liturgical cycle, one - but the whole.
It's not just good. This is wonderful. Does everyone always have the opportunity to be at work in the evening? Especially when the temple is not within walking distance? The question is rhetorical, suggestive of sadness and melancholy and despondency with despair. Now what happens? There is no opportunity to participate in the divine service since the evening, and do not even think about regular communion? Are we returning to the pre-revolutionary vicious practice of taking communion once a year, four at the most?
In response to this cry of the soul, I propose to recall the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matt. 20; 1-16). The owner goes out early in the morning to hire workers and negotiates with each of them for one denarius. During the day, he repeatedly went out and hired new workers, right up to the evening. However, if he promised the first a denarius each, he promises to give the rest only that he will “follow” them, but nothing concrete. As a result, everyone receives a denarius: both those who have worked for only an hour, and those who “endured the burden of the day and the heat” (Matt. 20; 12).
Let us also recall the words of St. John Chrysostom on Pascha, in which, referring to the feat of fasting, he says: “If anyone misses the ninth hour, let him come, not embarrassed, not afraid of anything. If anyone has arrived at the eleventh hour, let him not be embarrassed by being late: for the lord is generous and loves to bestow, and accepts the last as the first; and he who comes at the eleventh hour he lets go to rest, as he has worked from the first hour: he has mercy on the last, and pleases the first, and rewards the latter, and bestows on this, and accepts what has been done, and welcomes intentions, and honors deeds, and praises plans ”(translation Olga Sedakova).
Yes, it would be better "from the first hour", i.e. to work hard from the very beginning of the liturgical day, but if, for example, this is impossible without a conflict or other senseless complications of life, then we will try not to lose sight of the fact that the Lord calls us to His Meal, as the owner from the parable called people to his vineyard, including and those whom I found quite by the evening, when there was no need for them at all.
He calls us to bestow; refusing ... it's not even disgusting - it's much worse. Therefore, it is better to come at least “at the one-tenth hour” than to refuse Him. Only now, what time does this “eleventh hour” begin, where is the limit, after which there is nothing left to “resort to take communion”: the beginning of confession, the hours, the exclamation “Blessed is the Kingdom! ..”, the Cherubic Hymn, the Eucharistic canon, the beginning of communion - when already “ everything, too late"? – Let's leave it to the discretion of each confessor.
Archpriest Alexander Ageikin, Rector of the Epiphany Cathedral in YelokhovoArchpriest Alexander Ageikin, Rector of the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo:
– Holy images, hymns and readings – the whole structure of worship in the temple cannot be reproduced simply by turning on the audio or video recording of the liturgy at home. Especially if we do this not because we are seriously ill and unable to reach the temple, but only because of our own negligence.
If a person does not participate in temple prayer, avoids the company of his fellows in Christ, he avoids fellowship with Christ. It is not given to us to comprehend how God's grace works. We should not compare, which is more important, to oppose unity in the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the grace that visits the soul during church prayer. Otherwise, we will begin to serve the letter, and not the spirit.
If we talk about preparing for communion, then in practice it usually turns out like this: if a person lives in the Church, prays, fulfills the prayer rule, then this is already enough to prepare for communion, and the confessor, who observes the spiritual life of the flock, blesses him. In this case, the acceptance of the Holy Mysteries of Christ becomes absolutely natural and logical: it is already an integral part of life. The priest himself should be a model of such a life in the Church for his parishioners.
But often we pray very irregularly, and we still don’t want to learn this. Then, of course, the rules of a three-day fast and intense prayer are necessary before receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
The main thing is that there should not be an ordinary attitude to the Eucharist, “addiction”, when reverence, that is, the memory of God, is lost. This is a dangerous spiritual state. Therefore, the most difficult thing is to constantly maintain attention to yourself, to your spiritual world, to every step of your life. After all, we all walk everywhere and everywhere before God.
Priest Alexander Starodubtsev, Cleric of the Church on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment at the EXPO CenterPriest Alexander Starodubtsev, Cleric of the Church of Seraphim of Sarov on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment:
– To be at the Liturgy, if for some reason you do not receive communion on that day, is not only not reprehensible, but important and spiritually beneficial. The fourth commandment tells us to dedicate the seventh day to God. Not thinking about God, lying on the sofa waiting or preparing dinner, we should spend this day. And already in the morning they should be in the temple of God. Even if we don't partake. Prayer in the church is important because temple prayer is a conciliar prayer: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). It turns out that every real meeting of Christians is accompanied by the personal presence of Jesus Christ. The Lord promises to give us or those to whom we ask something, if it is for good.
The temple is a place of special residence of the grace of God. Prayer at the service, where the Bloodless Sacrifice is offered, is an extremely important event for a person. Of course, it is commendable if a person takes communion regularly, once every two or three weeks. But we will say again and again that even if a person does not take communion, prayer at the liturgy is a special prayer, and its presence in life is very important. It is no coincidence that we know from the ancient rules that those who did not attend more than three Sunday liturgies received excommunication. In fact, he testified of himself that he was a Christian only occasionally.
The holy righteous John of Kronstadt says: "After listening to the Divine Liturgy, fall on your face and give thanks to the Lord, who has granted you such great happiness."
Here is how Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov) writes about our issue: “My friends, remember the rule of the holy fathers: a person who has not been to the liturgy for three Sundays in a row; deprived of a Christian burial. Do not miss these meals of the Lord, consider lost that feast day on which you did not hear the Divine Liturgy. I will tell a parable: one peasant had a hundred pounds of bread and exchanged it for rags. Tell me, did he act wisely? No, it's not reasonable. How even more foolish is the one who exchanges the Bread of Heavenly life for the rags of earthly life! The Lord calls for the Last Supper, and he answers: "You need to go to the auction, the garden has not been cleaned, the strip has not been sown." He does not know, unhappy, that the grain that he throws into the ground during the liturgy will come out sick, stunted, will not bear fruit for him. My friends, let us pray with me: "Lord, we thank You for Your gift, we thank You for making us worthy to listen to the Divine Liturgy and partake of Your Most Pure Body and Your Life-giving Blood. We pray to You also for those who have departed from Your Holy Chalice They do not want to find consolation in the Mysteries of Your salvation. Thou enlighten and bring them to Thee, so that they too may be with us in Thy Church."
You can listen to hymns at home, but how can you hear a priest and a deacon, crying out and speaking, a priest explaining the Holy Scripture of the day? How to stand before the praying images, how to especially feel like a part of the earthly Church, the way we feel it in the temple? Returning to the Old Testament and the events of the emergence of the first temple - the Tabernacle - let's remember that God said to create it. And God also said to visit her. And we have to either listen to God or ourselves.
In order to receive communion often, you should take the blessing of a priest who knows you, preferably a confessor. As a rule, he knows how seriously the preparation usually goes, how a person's life is subordinated to spiritual striving. If the blessing is given, then it is clear that the preparation should be as serious as possible. The time between the sacraments should be spent in sobriety and focus on how I live. It is strange to take communion often, and to spend the time between receiving the sacraments in idle and non-spiritual pursuits.
Those who often take communion can talk about such a sinful phenomenon as getting used to the shrine. This is one of the most dangerous sins. This is partly why, on average, people take communion once every two or three weeks, some even once a month. Of course, the amount of fasting and the prayer rule must be agreed with the confessor. We know from the service book that for a priest, regardless of the frequency of his service, the rule is not proposed to be reduced, therefore, in terms of prayer, the canons and the Follow-up are seen as mandatory reading in any case for someone who decides to often approach the Chalice. The question of frequent communion is very, very individual, often the time when the Sacrament of Communion becomes more frequent is Great Lent. This happens for special grace-filled help to a person in fasting. For example, a person begins to receive communion weekly, and in the last week of Lent, also on Maundy Thursday and Easter.
Archpriest Alexander Abramov, rector of the church in Krapivniki
—Our ecclesiastical consciousness has already gone very far in its regression. It is clear that the tradition of church life was interrupted, that today we have to create it anew, people have been deprived of full-fledged spiritual discipline for decades, and our knowledge about this discipline is mainly from books, and not from our own living experience. But sometimes it is worth remembering that such discipline exists. The canons of the Church punished those who did not attend the liturgy three Sundays in a row.
This is evidenced by the 80th canon of Trullo Cathedral. It prescribes attending divine services on Sundays, leaving the question of participation in the Sacrament of the Eucharist to the discretion of everyone: who would be removed from his church for a long time, but staying in the city, on three Sundays in the course of three weeks, he will not come to the church meeting: then the clergyman will be expelled from the clergy, and the layman will be removed from communion.
In our parish, in practice, it so happened that members of the community, that is, those who regularly go to church, pray and fast, try to go to confession often. At least it happens once a week or once every two weeks. Many of them try to take communion more often. These people are already living the church life, they have the experience of prayer, so preparing to receive Communion is also a natural part of their life for them. Sometimes, for one important reason or another, a spiritual father can bless them to take communion, even if for some reason they have not subtracted the full prayer rule or weakened their fast in some way. The absolute minimum in this case is attendance at Holy Communion. But this, nevertheless, is an exception - it is advisable never to shorten the prayer rule.
There is a common misconception: some people who are preparing for Communion, while strictly observing the food side of the fast, for some reason consider it possible to skip the evening service and come only to the liturgy. This is just unacceptable. The main theological content of the events commemorated during the divine service is precisely set forth in the variable hymns of the All-Night Vigil. It is bad if a person strives for the Chalice, wants to take communion, but at the same time does not want to participate in divine services more meaningfully and understand their meaning.
From experience I can say that in recent times the number of those who approach the Sacrament of Communion has been growing. In our parish, usually at least half of those who were at the Liturgy receive communion, if we are talking about Sunday.
In any case, just as if you made a commitment to pray in the morning and in the evening, even if the prayer “does not work”, you do not give up everything, but you still read the rule and, despite forcing yourself, receive spiritual benefit. So is prayer at the liturgy: even if for some reason you do not receive communion on this day, this is not a reason to excommunicate yourself from communion with God. By your coming to the liturgy, you testify to your fidelity to Christ, that you belong to his flock, that you confess Him. The Savior said: “Therefore, anyone who confesses Me before people, I will confess him also before My Father in Heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).
Archpriest Gleb Grozovsky, Confessor of FC Zenit
– The answer is very simple and unequivocal, voiced quite a long time ago by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself: "Take, eat..." (Mark 14:22). He didn't say once a year or once a week, but "Drink all of you from her..." (Mk. 14:24). And so it was every time the disciples of our Savior gathered together to break bread (Acts 2:42). Everytime. And they met at least once a week, and sometimes every day. In the monasteries of the 4th-5th centuries, the monks, even when fleeing in the desert, gathered once a week for a common liturgy, during which everyone was sure to unite with God in the Sacrament of Communion.
Periods of Eucharistic decline and rise have been observed at various times throughout history. In the 19th century, it sometimes reached the point of absurdity when officers sent lists of soldiers who received communion once a year to the Diocesan Administration.
How often should you take communion? This question is discussed both in Optina Pustyn and in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, but an unequivocal answer can only be found in the New Testament or Sacred Tradition.
So that there are no disputes and disagreements, it will be useful for all Orthodox to read the works of the Monk Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer and the Monk Macarius of Corinth "The Most Helpful Book on the Unceasing Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ." Whoever cannot find time for this, let him be familiar with the saying of the holy Apostle Paul: "... Every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you testify to the death of the Lord. Do this until He comes" ( 1 Corinthians 11:26). Well, so that there is no doubt left at all, I recall the words from the 9th Apostolic Canon: "All the faithful who enter the church and listen to the writings, but do not remain in prayer and Holy Communion to the end, as if they produce disorderly conduct 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.
Of course, "a man must examine himself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup," (1 Cor. 11:28), but look for the reason in "godly" excuses such as "I am not worthy" or "I am not ready" , not very soul-saving!
This is the practice in our parish. I call and exhort in different ways: if you come to the liturgy, then don’t be like a person who was invited to a birthday party, they cooked, tried, set the table, and he refuses to eat ... Is there really no desire to share the Meal of Love? Christ did everything for us, we only have to accept His Gift with gratitude, and instead of looking for opportunities, we are looking for the reason for our non-participation in the Savior. For whom did Christ die and for whom did He rise again? Who is the service for? For the sake of the righteous or sinners? The priest before Communion says: "Holy to the holy." To whom? Saints? Who are they? And the choir answers: "One is Holy, One is Lord Jesus Christ...". Then to whom are the words "Holy to the holies" addressed? To us, to everyone who came to the liturgy! "Holy" in Hebrew means "chosen", and not at all sinless. Yes, these words are addressed to us sinners, but to the elect! And then the necessary condition for uniting with the Lord is called: "Come with the fear of God, faith and love"! And at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the words are heard: "Let us approach by faith and love, that we may be partakers of eternal life." The Liturgy is served for the faithful (the baptized), so that at the end of it all partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord.
Archpriest Andrei Sommer, Department of Youth Affairs of the Russian Church Abroad
—Unfortunately, the practice of parish life in the Church Abroad took shape after the first wave of emigration. And it was such that parishioners rarely took communion. Now this is changing, and it is considered normal for us to take communion on all the twelfth holidays or when conscience prompts - maybe even almost every Sunday.
At the same time, everything: both parishioners of the old school, who, as a rule, take communion only during Great Lent, and young people, during the days of Passion Week, definitely try to approach the Sacraments of Confession and Communion.
But even among our Orthodox Christians abroad, who are not very churched, the thought does not arise that you do not need to be at the liturgy if you do not take communion. The temple is a vessel of grace, each time if the liturgy is performed, then grace is added to this vessel. The temple itself is anointed with chrism during consecration. This is already the beginning of the accumulation of grace "in the vessel." By attending the liturgy, we touch this grace. But then the pastor needs to explain to the parishioners that not only do you need to touch Divine grace, but you need to accept it, and completely change your mind and your life. And this is impossible without the Sacraments of Confession and Communion.
We try in our sermons to emphasize the importance of more frequent Communion. And the preparation for receiving the Holy Mysteries is confession. To do this, I have compiled a small pamphlet about confession: we give it to everyone who comes to our church, including those who are waiting for their turn to confess. At the very least, while they are standing in line, they will have the opportunity to consider how serious the Sacraments they are about to begin.
Morozov.jpgHegumen Nektariy (Morozov), rector of the Satisfy My Sorrows church in Saratov, editor-in-chief of the journal Orthodoxy and Modernity:
Unfortunately, for quite objective reasons, the vast majority of contemporary Christians cannot take communion as often as Christians in the first centuries of the existence of the Church. Not because "it is impossible" or "forbidden". No, it’s just frequent communion, several times in one week (and I remember St. Basil the Great wrote that in his times in Cappadocia it was common for the laity to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ four times a week) requires both a certain structure of all life, and more strictness to oneself, and more attentiveness, seriousness. And not everyone is ready for this...
As for attending the Divine Liturgy on those days when a person was not going to take communion, then, of course, there is nothing reprehensible in this - it is enough to refer to the example of monastic cloisters, in which the Liturgy is served daily and the brethren attend all services daily. Although they do not join every day. Experience itself testifies that the more often a person is in the church, when the Eucharist is celebrated, the better: the action of the grace of God is like the action of the sun, under the rays of which a person warms up, comes to life. And during the liturgy, the soul warms up and comes to life.
You need to decide: what does it mean to "commune often"? There are very different points of view on this. Personally, the opinion of Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) is closest to me, who advised taking communion on average once every two weeks. Therefore, "to take communion often," it seems to me, means to take communion more often than with such frequency. Man is a creature that quickly gets used to both good and bad - to everything, and even to the great and terrible. And getting used to the shrine, as you know, is not a safe thing. Therefore, if a person wants to take communion more often, then he needs the blessing of a confessor who will confirm that it will be useful for him personally, and not harmful. Such a person needs more intense prayer work, more sobriety of life.
The well-known Athos ascetic Hieroschemamonk Ephrem of Katunaksky advised, for example, to read the akathist to the Mother of God on the eve of communion and turn to Her throughout the day, asking that She vouchsafe us to commune without condemnation. I think this is a wonderful piece of advice. But the time of fasting before communion can probably be reduced if a person takes communion, say, weekly and fasts on Wednesday and Friday. But this, too, is at the discretion of the confessor.
Eremeev.jpgHegumen Peter (Eremeev), abbot of the stauropegial male Vysoko-Petrovsky monastery in Moscow, rector of the Russian Orthodox University:
The question of communion at each liturgy cannot be considered in the plane of church discipline. Rather, it is a question of a person's inner readiness to partake of the Body and Blood of the Lord. And it is decided in the heart of a person and in confession.
When I was a layman, a student of theological schools, I did not think about it. After all, in the seminary and academy we took communion, although not at every liturgy, but quite often. The very rhythm of the life of the theological school and the prayerful atmosphere in the Lavra favored this.
Then, when I already became a priest, it often happened that in a series of daily activities, especially when traveling and traveling, you come to worship not at the very beginning, you pray at the altar, and at the end you eat antidoron with holy water - and this is yours. participation in the liturgy. And, already having the experience of communion at every liturgy served, I began to feel that the spiritual thirst in my prayerful liturgical presence remains not completely satisfied. After all, prayerful appeals to God at the liturgy prepare us precisely for the reception of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Therefore, taking communion at the liturgy is as natural as starting a meal, for the sake of which you sat down at the dinner table.
But, of course, it cannot be said that without the obligatory communion, the participation of a Christian in the liturgy is an unnecessary or undesirable prayer experience. Each of us knows that there are such moments of contrition of heart for sins when we do not fully feel ready to receive the Body and Blood. This, for example, includes cases of penance, when the soul needs more repentance. After all, according to the Apostle Paul, “Let a man examine himself, and thus let him eat from this bread and drink from this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily, he eats and drinks self-judgment, not considering the Body of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:28-29).
prepared by Antonina Maga,
Correspondent of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchy
Is it necessary to attend the evening service? After all, you can confess right during the liturgy. Or should the presence at the All-Night Vigil be as obligatory for the faithful as the presence at the Liturgy?
Our sacrifice to God
Archpriest Igor Fomin, rector of the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky at MGIMO (Moscow):
The liturgical day is the totality of all divine services of the daily circle, the crown of which is the liturgy.
Why is it so difficult to pray at the All-Night Vigil and so easy at the Liturgy? Because the all-night vigil is our sacrifice to God, when we sacrifice our time, some external circumstances to Him. And the liturgy is God's sacrifice to us. And it is often much easier to take it. But strangely enough, the degree of acceptance of this sacrifice from God depends on how much we are ready to sacrifice to Him.
The All-Night Vigil is formally an obligatory service before Communion.
The whole structure of worship reminds us of the events of the divine world order, it should make us better, set us up for the sacrifice that Christ prepares for us at Holy Communion.
But there are various circumstances under which a person cannot get to the vigil: a grumpy wife, a jealous husband, urgent work, and so on. And these are the reasons that can justify a person. But if he is not present at the all-night vigil because he is watching the football championship or his favorite series (note that I am not talking about guests here - after all, this is a little different), then the person is probably sinning internally. And not before the church charter, not even before God. He's just stealing from himself.
In general, it is impossible to rob a Church, a temple, even if you take out all the icons and some material values from there. The spiritual world is not a bank or a shop. You will not harm the Church with your unworthy behavior. But for you, the internal consequences of this are disastrous.
Everyone should think for himself. If he has the opportunity to attend the all-night vigil, then he must do so. If this is not possible, then it is worth considering: how can I worthily spend this evening before communion in order to prepare for the reception of Christ's holy Mysteries. Maybe you should not watch TV, but should focus on spiritual reflection?
If a person wants to take communion every Sunday and worries if he will also be in church every Saturday and will be left without days off, without rest, the question arises - why should he take communion every Sunday?
The Lord says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). If your treasure is in the cinema, at the TV, at the stadium - postpone the sacrament until better times: for a week, for a month, for a year.
Motivation that drives a person is very important here. If you are used to taking communion every Sunday, and this does not change you spiritually, does not transform you, then why do you need it?
Maybe then take a measure of frequency, which is in the church charter: communion - once every three weeks. The time for preparing for communion in the charter is defined as follows: a week - you prepare, fast on dry food, read prayers. Then you take communion, internally keep what you have received for a week, rest for a week and prepare again. There is an option when everyone discusses the form of preparation for communion with their confessor.
If a person sets himself a certain schedule for communion, that's good. Only then should he treat this sacrament accordingly.
Not only debt...
Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko, rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior in the former Sorrowful Monastery (Moscow):
First of all, it is necessary to say about the beauty of the all-night vigil, its content, its spiritual and actual saturation: the service reveals the history of the holiday, and its meaning and meaning.
But since, as a rule, people do not understand what is read and sung in church, they simply do not perceive much.
It is surprising that the Russian Orthodox Church has preserved in its entirety a very complex, thoughtful service. For example, in Greece there is no such thing in the parishes. They adapted to modern life, and this is justified in its own way. There is no evening service, Vespers is not served, the morning begins with Matins.
We serve both Vespers and Matins in the evening. This is a kind of convention, but it is well thought out, and those who made the decision about just such a course of worship understood the charter better than we did and decided that it would be more correct to remain faithful to the tradition.
Greece made a different decision. Matins is served there, as a rule, according to one type. We have an all-night vigil - solemn, bright, colorful, during which many hymns are sung. In Greece - more monotonous, but quickly. The entire service, including the liturgy, takes about two hours. But this is precisely in parish churches.
In the monasteries, and even more so on Mount Athos, the charter is preserved in all severity. The All-Night Vigil goes on throughout the night.
We do not, and this is also a kind of convention, a kind of reduction. But those who developed it, made the decision to reduce it based on certain circumstances, they still wanted to preserve the beauty of Orthodox worship for the laity.
But here a difficulty arises - we live in the 21st century: busy, long distances, people get tired, the environment is terrible, health, or rather, ill health, corresponds to it. Although I think that the peasants, who worked tirelessly from morning to evening in the summer, were physically tired more than ours. But still, they had enough strength to finish the working day earlier on Saturday, wash in the bathhouse and go to the church for the vigil, and in the morning for the liturgy.
It may be that in some ways it is more difficult for us than for our recent ancestors, physically we are much weaker. But, nevertheless, we urge not to hide behind our weaknesses, but to find strength and go to the all-night vigil, especially those who want to take communion. So that they can confess on the eve of the liturgy, without taking up the time of the Sunday service.
But if people have small children who have no one to leave with, or there are some other objective reasons, you won’t tell them: “If you weren’t at the all-night vigil, then you won’t take communion.” Although someone can say so: if a person showed precisely sloppiness, laziness, relaxation ...
It is important to strive to ensure that our parishioners love the worship of our Church and consider it not only a duty, but also a joy to be present in the temple.
Without "social protection"
Archpriest Alexy Uminsky, Rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Khokhly (Moscow):
There is a certain circle of divine services, and the all-night vigil is a necessary part of the Sunday service. But there are life circumstances of a certain level when a person is not able to go to the vigil. But he can go to the Liturgy and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
It is quite a common practice of services in our Russian Orthodox churches abroad that the majority of parishioners living in different cities come only for Sunday services. Therefore, in most cases, only Sunday liturgy exists in churches.
This is also due to the fact that if the priest serves not only the liturgy, but also adds, say, matins to it, then the service will be performed for about four hours. This is not only hard to understand, but also related to transport schedules, parking fees…
But the fact that only the liturgy is served is not an obstacle for the parishioners who come to take communion to receive the holy Mysteries of Christ.
But if a person has the opportunity to attend the All-Night Vigil, and simply out of laziness, out of negligence, does not want to go, then this can become an obstacle to communion.
Yes, it turns out that the temple "occupies" both weekends of an ordinary person working five days a week. But only those living in the 20th and 21st centuries are used to such things as two days off. Previously, people did not have such "social protection". They worked for six days, and devoted the seventh to the Lord God.
The question is not whether it is possible to lie on the couch instead of the vigil. Here the answer is clear. Another thing is that people can have quite justified family concerns. In the end, it is at this time that the ordered furniture from the store should be brought. Or - they invited a person dear to the whole family to the anniversary. If we have spent this jubilee godly, why should it be an obstacle to communion?
But this doesn't happen every Saturday. But simply deciding that the all-night vigil is an optional thing, and I will not go to it, is wrong.