The Everlasting Communion

About Bishop St. Theophane the Recluse

About "old" and "new" calendar

October 13 (26)

Col. 2:1-7; Lk. 9:12-18

The miraculous feeding of the multitude in the desert [Lk. 9:12-17] is a prototype of the Holy Communion wherein the Precious Body and Blood of the Lord are administered to the faithful. The Lord is sitting aside; the people are seated in ranks; the Apostles are ministering, receiving the bread and distributing it.

The same takes place today. All the faithful are arranged into groups — local Churches, where the Lord is invisibly present, distributing His own Body and Blood through the Apostle’s successors. Just as He once said to the holy Apostles, today He is saying to their successors: “Give ye them to eat". Now, as then, the faithful are constantly before the Lord in fasting, listening to His word and prayerful expectation of the healing from their sins and offenses, while getting ready to approach the Divine Sacraments.

Thus, having its origin at the time of Lord’s presence on earth, the mystery of Communion continues through this day and will continue in the age to come — because even then there will be a kind of Communion, as the Lord has promised: “To him that over cometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life... To him that over cometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna” [Rev. 2:7.17]. In Paradise there was a mysterious Communion for our forefathers — partaking of the fruits of the Tree of Life. And the Old Testament Church also had a prototype of Communion — partaking of the Passover lamb.

As we see, the mystery of Communion, having begun with the human race, remains and will remain with us unto the ages of ages, different in form, but the same in essence — intimate unity with our Lord, for “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men” [Jn.l:4]. Having been created in His image, we ought to be in everlasting communion with Him, “Who is the brightness of glory and the express image of His person” [Heb. 1:3].

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