Word XI

On January 29, during the celebration of the Liturgy in the Ioannovsky women’s monastery that he had founded, Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev delivered approximately the following edifying instruction.

Take, eat, this is My Body (Mk 14:22).

This is a commandment of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, and commandments are given us that we may keep them. Strive, then, dear brothers and sisters, to keep this commandment of Christ, as you keep all His other commandments.

Without Communion of the Holy Mysteries a man cannot have true life within him, because from the first Adam all men are corrupted at the very root, have lost the blessed life, and cannot begin that life without the help of divine grace. The all-good and all-wise Creator of the world has not left men without His help; He was pleased to save them through the incarnation of His Only-Begotten Son, through His life on earth, His saving teaching, His countless miracles, sufferings, death, and resurrection; through the establishment of the Holy Church, in which He set pastors, to which He entrusted His teaching and the Mysteries, and through which He imparts to believers all the divine powers for a godly Christian life on earth and for eternal, blessed life in heaven. The holy Apostle Peter says: From His divine power (that is, of Jesus Christ) there has been granted to us everything needful for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by glory and goodness, by which there have been granted to us the great and precious promises, so that through them we might become partakers of the divine nature, having turned away from the corruption that prevails in the world through lust (2Pet 1:3-4).

The Lord makes us partakers of His own divine nature especially through the Mystery of Communion, in which believers are united with Christ, become with Him one spirit, one flesh; he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him (Jn 6:56). He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1Cor 6:17). See, then, how great a meaning this Mystery has for us! Take, eat, this is My Body… Drink of it, all of you… This is commanded to all. Do not forget, then, the commands of the Almighty Creator, who by a single word made the whole world and holds it in wondrous order, harmony, and beauty. Only men, blinded by proud folly and by worldly passions, have cast off that order, will not obey the Creator, and give themselves over to every lawlessness. See what happens now? We are all struck by a multitude of fearsome lawless acts, committed by madmen without any fear of judgment, earthly or heavenly. Whence comes this? From this—that men have lost faith in God, do not believe His word, do not obey the Holy Church, which is the pillar and ground of the truth (1Tim 3:15), do not make use of the Mysteries of grace for their own cleansing and salvation. This is why every evil holds sway in the world. But Christians, called to heavenly life, to union with Christ forever, ought themselves to hold sway over sin, to cut off the lusts of the flesh, and to care for the immortal soul, feeding it with the food proper to it, that they may become partakers of the divine nature.

Without Communion of the Holy Mysteries we would be dead in spirit, would be walking statues, though alive in body. Therefore it is utterly necessary for every one, at appointed times, to commune of the Holy Mysteries with repentance for sins, with faith, zeal, and warm gratitude to God, who is unceasingly good to us. Tell me, what more could ever be given us? What is the heavenly Father not ready to give you, if He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all (Rom 8:32), and this Son, to whom all authority is given in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18), what will He not give us, if He gives to the faithful, as food, His own most pure Body and Blood? Truly this alone surpasses everything else we receive from God taken together!

And you, having communed of the Holy Mysteries, of course feel within you a power of grace, experience an inward peace, a satisfaction of your whole being. I myself experience, after Communion, the great power of the grace of God. What peace, what light, what sweetness, what boldness, joy, and lightness of soul! The Lord drowns all my sins in His Blood, delivers me from every evil, sorrow, and sickness, and bestows every good thing: light and strength, rest, joy, and a perfect life. Glory to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His life-giving Mysteries!

And today we have celebrated the Holy Liturgy and have prepared the Divine Table for you. Approach with the fear of God and with faith, be united with Christ, and let Him reign over you. Amen.