Found the article quite interesting. However the whole question of Communion could come down to one simple equation … . How you see and receive the Sacraments. Is it something out of habit, or taken with a true heart realising that these are only Symbols (Do this in remembrance of Me) and does not turn into actual Body & Blood as the Catholic Church teaches.

A true heart meaning, coming to receive the Sacraments after repenting of your sins, and inviting and accepting the Lord into your Heart and completely giving of yourself to Him

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Thank you for the article. Unfortunately, the information regarding the Orthodox Church was incorrect. The EucharistIS the Body and Blood of Christ for Christ said, "for my Body is food indeed (truly) and my Blood is drink indeed". The reference to "symbols" isforthe elements that are brought forth to become the Body and Blood before the consecration.

The hot water is reminiscent of the water that poured from Christ's side with the blood while the heat is necessary to convey the fervor of faithin the Holy Spirit.

After receiving Communion, some receive blessed bread but NOT communion again while some also drinkwine but not the Blood again.This is because Orthodox fast completely before receiving and eating a bit sustains them until the conclusion of the service and/or their next meal.

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I grew up in an old ethnic Roman Catholic family and experienced the "body and blood" of that Communion. I am now a Southern Baptist pastor and I experience the "crackers and juice." The difference for me is that as a Catholic young person, Jesus lived in a box on the altar but now He lives at the center of my being. I'll take the "crackers and juice" with the personal Savior over the "mystery" and tradition, thank you.

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Christians all, we need to adopt a more ecumenical approach. If communion teaches us anything it is that regardless of form we are all united in baptism and as one body--the body of Christ. How we get to communion is not as important as what we share in communion--our closeness to one another and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

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I sometimes feel that evangelical churches are starving themselves spiritually using only the barest liturgical elements in their worship services and reducing the mystery of the sacrament of communion to a mere "ordinance" and baptism to a mere symbol rather than an actual spiritual experience uniting you to Christ and the church. I particularly like the Orthodox Churches stance, designating things that are really beyond our comprehension, a mystery and leaving it at that.

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Thanks for your efforts to explain such a diverse topic in a short space. Regarding the distribution of the gifts (in Orthodox practice) it wasn't real clear. A reader could be led to believe that when "after Communion, sometimes members of the congregation are allowed to take some of the bread and wine, a practice that would be forbidden in Catholic churches and frowned upon in most Protestant churches as well." they might be led to think that this was the sacred Body and Blood being received. Such, of course is not the case, as the bread (and wine) so offered are called 'antidoron' - 'in place of the gifts.'

This practice allowed participants who were not able to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord to receive this bread, cut from onethe Eucharistic loaf but not consecrated, which is a sign of the hope that all will share in the joy of the heavenly banquet. Originally offered for penitents and others unable to receive communion, it is also offered to those with whom we do not (yet!) share the Sacred Gifts, with that hope of the union of us all in the sacramental mystery of divine economy.

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To resolve arguments about how to have communion I think people should look at the documents of the Early Church Fathers. They are the ones who gave us our basic Christian doctrine by defending the faith against heretics.

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My Protestant congregation has found a way to satisfy me on that issue. Sometimes we receive communion by intinction, in which we dip bread into the one cup as a symbol of our unity in Christ. More often we receive communion by distribution of bread, which we tear from a common loaf, and distribution of cups. We partake of the bread individually, as a symbol of our individual relationship with Christ. However, we all hold the cup and partake of that at the same time, to remind us of our common connection to each other and to Christ.

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To answer what Elesha may be missing, I would say "a great deal!" Where is the mystery that St. Paul spoke of? Where is the fasting that has accompanied the reception of the Eucharist since the ante-Nicene days of the Church? Where is the acknowledgement of John 6 where Christ speaks SO clearly about eating and drinking His Body and Blood? The Protestant churches, in opposition to Roman Catholicism, have ignored the Orthodox also and thrown the baby out with the bath water. It's time to recognize the practice of the early Church and to begin teaching your subscribers what Apostolic Christianity has to offer.

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In the last couple of years, our annual District Assembly has included communion into its opening service. This is good, but what troubles me is, it is done in the middle of the service, so it seems rushed so we can get on to the preaching and other stuff. Communion only works as a conclusion to the message, but in our holiness tradition, the altar callhas superceded everything. The irony is, the original altar in mainline churches was for coming forward to take communion. Now we have relegated communion to once in a while, baptism rarely, and the altar call the climax of everything.

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When Eastern Orthodox use the word "symbol" concerning the Eucharist, it is more than the common understanding of symbol among Protestants: something that signifies or merely memorializes. The word for symbolin Greek (symbolo) literally means to "throw together" contrasted with the word for devil (diabolo) which literally means "throw apart."The contrast between these two words is instructive in and of itself!

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When we Orthodox talk about the Eucharist as "symbol" we mean thatChrist, in the Sacrament, both creates and constitutes unity.He becomesagathering point (synaxis) for the faithful which is dynamicin that the elements we receive in Communion are for us the true Body and Blood of Christ "re-presented" at each Eucharistic assembly. Christ unites Himself to us in the offering of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist and we unite ourselves to Him in the reception. Christ, by grace, becomes enfleshed in us to carry out His work with Him in the world as members of His Body, the Church.

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This meeting together around Christ in the Eucharist isoften referred to by Orthodox Christians as conciliarism,and among the Slavic Orthodox as sobornost or catholicity. The word catholic in Greek is the combination of two words that together mean, "To cause or bring about the whole." For us the greatseven Ecumenical Councils of the Church reflect this "conciliar" identity fully in defining the Faith,while the local parish enacts it and experiences it fully in the Eucharistic assembly gathered around Christ in our midst.

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