Word X. Father John’s Service in St. Petersburg

Having solemnly celebrated the Divine Liturgy in his Ioannovsky monastery, Father John, with an inspired sermon, encouraged the sisters of the monastery and the numerous worshippers who thirsted to receive Communion of the holy Mysteries of Christ from the hands of the pastor held in sacred honor.

“«I am the bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world» (Jn 6:51).”

I have set before you, dear sisters, these words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said that He Himself is the bread that comes down from heaven—such a bread that whoever eats it will not die, but will live forever; such a bread as must be eaten in order to live, and to live eternally. Wondrous words, full of boundless love and goodness, showing the boundless might of Him who speaks them. What, then, is this bread? What exactly must be eaten? The bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world, says Christ. So then, by Christ’s own word: the heavenly food is His flesh, which must be eaten; the heavenly drink is His blood, which must be drunk. The Lord, as the Almighty Creator, was pleased Himself to fashion His own flesh and His own blood in the womb of the Virgin, to become a perfect man without ceasing to be God, and to this day is pleased, by the almighty action of the Holy Spirit, to change wheaten bread into His true body and wine into His true blood. What is there that the power of God cannot do? In what can the wisdom of God not open a fountain of salvation? And we feel this ourselves, for after receiving the Holy Mysteries we obtain strengthening, comfort, cleansing, sanctification, renewal, peace of soul, joy, largeness of heart, boldness.

And if the Lord is the true Bread, then we ought to desire this Bread not only once a year, but, as far as possible, every month, every week, even every day. Why so? Because it is our daily bread, for our soul, and just as we need our daily bread every day, so too we need the heavenly food—the Body and Blood of Christ—every single day. This is why we pray, in the Lord’s Prayer: «give us this day our daily bread.» Here, by bread, is meant not only ordinary wheaten or rye bread, but the Divine Food: the Body and Blood of Christ—this true daily Bread, that is, the bread that serves for true existence, for true life, so necessary to life that one cannot do without it, because besides the body, for whose sustenance daily bread is required, man has a soul, which is beyond comparison more precious and more important than the body: it too needs food, only a different food than the body’s. If we take ordinary bread every day, then who shall forbid us to partake of the Divine Bread?

As I say this, there comes to mind the custom, common to many, of fearing the Holy Mysteries, especially, for instance, in time of sickness, as though the Holy Communion served only as a viaticum for the life beyond the grave, and not for the healing of soul and body and for the remission of sins. Very many are caught in this error—people accustomed to living a fleshly life, the life of the rich, a life of amusements, of feeding their body rather than their soul, in a word, a vain life, people who rush after worldly gain and forget God, for whom it is fearful even to think of union with the Source of life, with Jesus Christ Himself. I myself have seen this fear in many, this estrangement of themselves from the life-giving and life-bearing fountain of salvation, and I marveled, because nothing and no one can bring greater benefit, better comfort, to one who suffers than the Holy Communion.

There are people who approach the reception of the Holy Mysteries only out of necessity and obligation, once a year. This too is not good, because they fulfill their Christian duty, as it were, under compulsion, out of necessity, forgetting that soon after Communion they fall again into sin, and thus, withdrawing from God, remain in death, for sins produce death.

Blessed are those who often, with sincere repentance and sincere self-examination, approach the Holy Communion! Such people can grow better day by day, can come to a true awareness of their own sinfulness, and can spend the remainder of this present life for the purpose for which it was given us by God’s mercy—for the cleansing and healing of ourselves, through repentance and faith, from all our sins.

This is why I have cited these words of the Savior: I am the Bread that came down from heaven. If the Lord calls Himself Bread, then we ought to feed on Him as often as possible, to nourish ourselves with this Divine Food unto immortal life.

I do not say that everyone who is merely present in church must commune—no, but rather those who are preparing themselves for it; then others too, careless and indifferent to the faith, to the Church, to the salvation of their souls, looking upon them, are filled with feelings of reverence for God and for His Holy Temple.

And thanks be to God that in this holy temple there are communicants among you, who often approach so great a holy thing, and find in it comfort for the soul and health for the body. It grieves the heart when, in many churches, at the deacon’s call, as he brings out the Holy Gifts to the people: «approach with the fear of God and with faith»—sometimes not one soul wishes to receive Them. For many this is an ordinary sight, but for me it is a distressing sight, because the Lord calls everyone to Himself; these words belong to all Christians: «take, eat My Body… drink, all of you, My blood»—yet nowadays many among us not only fail to commune, but even blaspheme against the Holy Mysteries… Such is Leo Tolstoy and all his followers—our so-called intelligentsia. See to what madness so many have come! How will they answer, when the Lord summons them to His dread judgment, or on the day of their death, to give an account of their words and deeds? What will they feel then, wretched as they are! O unfortunate ones!

Attend, then: what condescension, what fearsome self-emptying! The Only-Begotten Son of God laid down His Life for us upon the cross, after the heaviest and most tormenting sufferings that evil men could ever devise! His own Flesh and His own Blood He, in His mercy, for the sanctification of soul and body, for the closest union with God, offers to believers in the Holy Communion. It is our part, with humble faith and grateful love, to receive from Him such gifts of His goodness as is the mystery of His Most Pure Body and Blood. This is a wondrous, heavenly gift, cleansing us, healing us, saving us! And how all who scorn the gifts of God will be punished! But you are blessed, even though many reproach me for saying this—unwise people, like those who preach that whoever communes often will lose his mind. I have thought it necessary to say this, guarding the purity of Christ’s Gospel, so as to warn you against such persons, who have neither tasted nor understood the unsearchable riches of the grace of God contained in this greatest of Mysteries given to us. Amen.