Правило 8 Святых Апостолов

If a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or anyone from the sacred list, does not receive communion when making an offering: let him present the reason, and if he is blessed, let him be excused. If he does not, let him be excommunicated from church communion, as if he had caused harm to the people, and brought suspicion upon the one who made the offering, as if he had done it incorrectly. (Ankir. 1, 2; Petra Alex. 10). In the early times of the church, there was a general custom of everyone receiving communion when the liturgy was celebrated, especially since this custom, as an example to others, was to be followed by clergy 141 . This custom began to weaken somewhat, especially after the persecution of pagans against Christians began, and because of fear, many began to evade St. communion in order to avoid persecution at least for a short time. At the same time, many clergy, who should have set an example for others, began to evade St. communion for the same reason, and also because the clergy themselves began to suspect each other that one or the other of them, as a result of persecution, had betrayed the faith. The persecution began mainly against clergy, since it was assumed that it would be easier to eradicate Christianity by first weakening the clergy. Given the temptations to which the clergy were exposed during one or another persecution, it could easily have happened, as actually happened, that some clergy, in moments of fear, sacrificed to idols, performed incense before them, or gave sacred books and vessels to the persecutors; it is possible that some were only suspected of such apostasy. In relation to such clergy, the truly faithful sons of the church arose such an insurmountable suspicion that they avoided them like those infected with the plague. As a result of these reasons, entire church communities became completely isolated in relation to those bishops who, in their opinion, were unsteady in the faith in times of temptation, and immediately pointed out irregularities in the liturgy, both among such bishops and among the priests subordinate to them. A distant rumor or just a suspicion was enough for one clergyman to not want to accept the sacrament consecrated by another suspected clergyman. This is exactly what the rule says against. The rule allows that a particular clergyman may not receive communion during the liturgy if he indicates the reason why he does not want or cannot receive communion; and if this reason is valid, then the rule prescribes that it should be taken into account and then the clergyman is not guilty; but if the reason is not indicated by him, the rule prescribes that such a person should be excommunicated from church communion, since by this he causes harm to the people, who should always see the priest as an example for themselves, and since by this it arouses suspicion against the one who performs the Divine Liturgy. In this sense, Zonara, Aristin, Vlastar and others explain this rule 142. When explaining this rule, Balsamon tries to prove that only that clergy person who, while serving together with another, does not want to receive communion, is subject to excommunication. In the same sense, Balsamon answers the question of Mark, Patriarch of Alexandria: can a deacon, serving with a bishop or priest, not receive communion without explaining the reason? Answering him, Balsamon cites the text of this rule 144. That this interpretation of Balsamon is not justified is clearly evident from the very words of this rule. For evidence of this from the early times of the church, see Archimandrite. John, mentioned cit., I, 150, approx. 219. In the 4th century. Vasily Vel. in his 89th letter he speaks about communion: “it is good and very useful to partake of the body and blood of Christ every day; we receive communion four times a week: on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, as well as on other days when there is a memory of a saint.” Af. Synth., II, 11–13. Synth. Vlastara, K, 25 (Af. Synth., VI, 335). You might be interested in: