The teaching of St. right John of Kronstadt on the Divine Liturgy

Your Eminence, venerable Lord Exarch, Your Eminence, dear Lords, Your Eminence, Your Reverence, dear fathers, brothers and sisters, respected ladies and gentlemen, the entire high assembly! The Sacrament of the Eucharist was established by the Savior at His last Supper with His disciples when He uttered the words: “Take and eat, this is My Body...”, “... drink of Her, all of you, this is My Blood...”, “... do this in remembrance of Me...”. But long before this mysterious meal, the Savior revealed to the apostles the mystical meaning of the communion of His Body and Blood - the Lord Jesus Christ preached His sermon about the Bread of Life in the Capernaum synagogue. In this teaching of Christ, two main thoughts are important: 1) the Eucharist resurrects those who partake of it and 2) the Eucharist is the conciliar unity of all its participants, members of the mystical Body of Christ. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, interpreting the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, writes: “Since the life-giving Word of God dwelt in the flesh, It transformed Him (that is, the body) into its own quality, that is, life, and, completely uniting with it in an ineffable way of unity, made it life-giving, as It Itself is by nature. Therefore, the body of Christ gives life to those who become partakers of Him, since it drives out death when it appears among the dying and removes corruption, carrying within itself the Word, which completely destroys corruption.” And Saint John Chrysostom teaches: “In the Old Testament there was a promise of longevity and many years, but now they promise not just longevity, but life without end.” Thus. The Eucharist is our only essential connection with the dead. By partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we enter into the closest communion with their departed communicants. The Capernaum conversation also reveals the ecclesiastic meaning of the Eucharist. The Savior says: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him” (John 6:56). Everyone, partaking of the mysteries of the Lord, becomes a member of His mystical Body, that is, the Church. The Eucharist is the Body of Christ, and the Church, according to the Apostle Paul, is also the collective Body of Christ (Eph. 4:15–16). In other words, the nature of the Church is eucharistic. There is no Eucharist outside the Church, for there is no body outside the Body; and the Church cannot exist without the Eucharist. Therefore, it is impossible to be a member of the Church, but not partake of That which is the Body of Christ or the Church Itself. We can say that the Divine Liturgy is the sacrament par excellence, in a sense the only sacrament. The Fathers called it “the sacrament of sacraments.” It is a repetition of the great sacrament of piety - the incarnation and incarnation of the Logos. God appeared in the flesh, God became man. God-man, not God-angel. He came to save the human race, but also to honor human nature; having accepted the human body, raise it to the height of the heavenly Throne, above the angelic ranks. The nature of man, according to the divine plan for him, is so great, so wonderful, destined for so many things from eternity, that we can talk about the divine origin of man. Man is a created God, as St. Gregory the Theologian taught. “God incarnated and became man in order to honor the flesh, and specifically mortal flesh, so that arrogant spirits would not dare to consider and think about themselves that they could become deified due to their incorporeality and apparent immortality,” teaches St. Gregory Palamas. The most remarkable and comforting thing that the patristic thought about man developed was the doctrine of his deification. On the one hand, based on the words of the Apostle Peter (2 Pet. 1:4) that it is given to us to become “partakers of the Divine nature,” and on the other hand, developing the teaching of Neoplatonic philosophy that the soul “becomes, or rather, is God” and that the task of our life is “not so much to be sinless as to be deified,” patristic anthropology constantly taught about this “theosis,” deification, maximum approach to God. This is not only moral catharsis, this is not only justification from sins, this is not only an intellectual approach to God, this is a real, concrete deification of our nature. And this is possible only through the communion of this nature with the deified Body of Christ, thanks to the Eucharistic life. Living Eucharistically means not only going to mass, listening to this or that touching or beautiful chant, but receiving communion. Participate in today's Last Supper. To take communion not once a year or even less often, but as often as possible, many times a year, if possible constantly, in order to be in constant, inextricable connection with the mystical Body of Christ, with the Church, in order to join the Church and not leave, not fall out of this close connection with it. To receive communion with full consciousness and a bold desire for precisely this deification of our nature. To receive communion in order to become one flesh with Christ, as the holy fathers of antiquity taught, in order, according to the teaching of the Apostle Paul, to be adopted by God, to become sons of God in union with His Son, whose deified flesh we eat in Eucharistic communion. The Eucharist is a sacrifice. The sacrifice is “about everyone and for everything.” It is the fulfillment of what the Lord commanded to be done in His remembrance. It is a repetition of the Calvary sacrifice. As such, it is a memory and therefore it is higher and more perfect than all the Old Testament sacrifices, which were only a weak shadow, prototypes of the real Sacrifice of the Son of Man that was to appear. This sacrifice exceeds our understanding, just like everything in the religious and spiritual sphere cannot be squeezed into the framework of forced rational logic. It, like everything in theology, is full of antinomies and apophatic positions. It is timeless and in its timelessness embraces the past, present and future in one moment. In it we “remember” the creation of the world, and the redemption of mankind by the Son of God, and His Cross and resurrection, His ascension and the second and terrible coming that is yet to come. It is universal and covers the entire world and unites all the disparate parts of the universe in one sacrifice of the One Body. In it, the Sacrifice is both the High Priest, He is both the Offerer and the Offered. This is a sacrifice of our gratitude to God, our Eucharistic celebration for all the benefits He has shown to the human race and those not revealed, benefits known and unknown to us. The words “we thank the Lord” should contain all the tension of gratitude of the entire prayer meeting. At this moment, everyone should realize all their Eucharistic, that is, gratitude to God. The Divine Liturgy is also a great symbolic action. Writers of the Church (St. Maximus the Confessor, Areopagitists, Nicholas Cabasilas) have repeatedly called the liturgy not only a sacrament, but also occultism, mystagogy. It not only communes us with a life of grace, not only is it our sacrifice to God, it also teaches us theology and reveals to us the hidden. This is a kind of revelation, an apocalypse, not fully revealed, but revealed to the heart of the believer insofar as it itself is open to him. Revealed, say, in the words of the Areopagitists, “by analogy,” by correspondence, by our consonance. The actions and chants of the liturgy sanctify us, as Cabasilas teaches, in two ways. First of all, prayers themselves bring us closer to God, since prayer is a way of our unity with God, communion with Him of our mind, heart, soul, and will. But these same prayers, chants and sacred actions are also a symbolic reflection of another, heavenly reality, never fully revealed to us. In the Eucharistic celebration, the entire economy of our salvation, the entire providential economy, is represented. In the proskomedia we are already present at the pre-eternal, pre-temporal slaughter of the Lamb, at the birth of the Word of God in time in the Bethlehem manger; then His appearance to preach, His economic atonement, His suffering, His supper, His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven take place. The actions of the priest, chants from the choir, the priest’s clothes and liturgical utensils - all this symbolically represents something from the life of the Savior or His providence for us. The believer present at the liturgy intelligently participates in all this symbolic representation. Before his gaze, however, another revelation opens, namely, the heavenly liturgy, the eternal Eucharistic sacrifice, which began in the bowels of the Holy Trinity from eternity, and continues always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. That heavenly liturgy, where over the slain Lamb from eternity, the sacrifice of divine love, bowing silently, the Cherubim and Seraphim are terrified, covering their faces and in sacred awe singing, crying out, calling out and saying “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” And this earthly liturgy of ours, in which the most pure Body and the most honest Blood of Christ are truly and truly offered, is a reflection of that eternal heavenly liturgy, which is constantly performed there, outside of time and outside of place, on the Throne of Heavenly Glory. This should be contemplated by the believing gaze of a Christian, he should partake of this intelligently, and before this he should remain silent. This desire for one’s deification, that is, the participation of the divine nature, this desire to intensely participate in the offering of the eternal and unceasing Sacrifice of the Divine Lamb, this desire to contemplate not only the magnificent service of the clergy in a man-made and magnificent church, but also the angelic service around the Throne of God should embrace the thought and heart of the believer who goes to the liturgy. He must consciously take part in this terrible service, participate, if not always by communion from the Eucharistic Chalice, then intelligently, spiritually, prayerfully participate in the Eucharistic service. For this perception of the liturgy, one must, of course, first of all understand and realize it, one must participate in it intelligently. The Divine Liturgy, like any church sacrament, has its justification in the Holy Scriptures. The Sacrament of Body and Blood was established by the Lord Himself. According to His commandment, the apostles and their successors continued to perform the same mystery and passed it on to subsequent generations as a remembrance of the Lord, of His earthly life, atonement, Last Supper, suffering and death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. The Holy Church knows many celestial saints and shepherds who, while celebrating the Sacrament of the Eucharist, lived by it, and while living here on earth, they performed this Sacrament with reverence. Among these is the shepherd of the Church of God, the great worker in the field of Christ, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt. In 1999, it was 170 years since his birth, 90 years since his blessed death, and this year 2000 marks 10 years since his canonization. The Holy Church honors him as a faithful follower and executor of Christ's teaching, which, according to the Savior Himself, is the same yesterday, today and forever. “Wonderful, majestic, divine liturgy service on earth” 1 - these are the shortest words of admiration spoken by Father John of Kronstadt about the Divine Liturgy. There are many, many, significant, wonderful sayings about what the holy saint of God loved very much. If we look closely at the history of our Holy Church, then among the host of its greatest ascetics, teachers, and saints, we are unlikely to find such an enthusiastic performer, lover, admirer and praiser of the Divine Liturgy as the holy righteous John of Kronstadt was, except, of course, the great teacher and saint John Chrysostom. However, as Archbishop Benjamin notes, “it seems that this great teacher of the Church was hardly delighted with the liturgy, spoke about it, attracted to it with his own admiration and words more than the blessed Fr. John" 2. The Kronstadt shepherd celebrated the Divine Liturgy every day and recorded part of his daily experiences in his diary “My Life in Christ.” These statements are especially valuable because they are not far-fetched advice, not abstract thoughts, but experiences taken from one’s own experience, from one’s “life in Christ.” In the liturgy, Father John sees a consistent remembrance of the entire life of the Savior. “The liturgy is an abbreviation of the entire Gospel, a depiction of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, a repetition of His Calvary Sacrifice, the everlasting slaughter, His death for the sins of the world, the remembrance of His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven” 3. The entire “divine service of our Orthodox Church,” writes Father John, “has the goal of depicting... the entire course of the economy of our salvation from the beginning of the world to the end of the age... Thus, Vespers depicts the goodness, wisdom and omnipotence of God in the creation of the world and man, the bliss of man, the fall of man, God’s promise of his redemption through the incarnation of the Son of God, preparation through prophecy and transformation for the reception of the Redeemer. The morning service depicts the miracles of God's economy in the Old Testament from Moses to the coming of the Redeemer and the miracles of the New Testament economy in the saints of God. Finally, the liturgy places the Lord of the New Testament in the whole world, depicting His love for mankind, truth, righteousness, fidelity to His promise, and finally, His entire life from the swaddling clothes to the grave. She is the sun in full radiance." His words and mood never diverged from his deeds and life. As he understood the liturgy, as he taught about it, so he performed it - and he performed it extraordinarily, living into every word of exclamations and prayers, devoting himself completely not only to the memories of the Lord, who at the liturgy is “both the Offerer and the Offerer, and the sacrifice and the bishop,” but also to living communion with God. From the first days of his priesthood, Father John strove to celebrate the Divine Liturgy as often as possible and achieved that in the last 35 years of his priesthood he performed it daily. This daily service and communion was for him an act of constant gratitude to God the Redeemer. “While performing the liturgy, Father John seemed to see that Cross, with the living suffering God, to whose pierced side the angel himself brings the cup from the throne, filling it with healing blood, he himself sees that Glorious Queen of heaven, Who reverently pronounces the words: “Fairly about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady of our Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary” 4. Speaking about the Divine Liturgy, Father John distinguished between two main aspects of it. This is a thanksgiving, laudatory sacrifice and a propitiatory, atonement sacrifice. But these concepts merge together in Father John. His liturgy is thanksgiving for redemption, a sacrifice of praise for the propitiatory sacrifice of atonement. “The sacrament of redemption is a most venerable, ever-memorable sacrament, a sacrament of infinite goodness, immeasurable condescension, innumerable wisdom, immense power. This is the kind of sacrament that is remembered at the liturgy! Moreover, it seems to be repeated every day, because the great, saving, heavenly and terrible sacrament of the most pure Body and Blood of the Lord is performed daily” 5 . Here he sees in the liturgy a repeated atoning sacrifice. But, at the same time, he looks at her as a grateful, laudatory sacrifice. “The greatness, holiness, life-giving, immeasurable vastness of Christ’s terrible sacrifice is already revealed... on the proskomedia, on which the substance of the sacrament of the Eucharist is prepared - bread and wine, or the Lamb of God, ever slain for the sins of the whole world and as a thanksgiving sacrifice for all the saints - in whose honor particles are taken from the prosphora and about them, that is, in gratitude to God for them, as having already been redeemed from the earth and perfected by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and rejoicing in the triumphant Heavenly Church. Wonderful sacrifice! Truly Divine sacrifice! Father John not only clearly understood, but felt, through the experience of his personal life, he experienced the greatest significance for his life and work of the great sacrament of the Eucharist. He said and wrote that he explained his vigor, his tireless energy, his activity positively beyond the capabilities of an ordinary person, which left no more than four hours a day for his sleep and rest, by the fact that every day, by the grace of God, he performs a great sacrament and partakes of the Holy Mysteries. All the preaching works and diaries of Father John, the reading of which takes everyone back to apostolic times, revealing the inner work of the soul and heart of this outstanding shepherd of our Church, his life in Christ clearly testifies to the meaning and greatness of the sacrament of the Eucharist, his deep faith in the reality of the presence of Jesus Christ in this sacrament and His boundless influence on the life of man and the whole world. For Father John, “the liturgy is everything in the world” 6, therefore, according to his teaching, the sacrament of the Eucharist is the alpha and omega not only of the salvation of an individual, “the well-being of the living, the remission of sins and repose with the saints, all who have passed away in faith, repentance and the hope of eternal life,” but also the prosperous existence of the whole world 7. Father John saw divine philosophy in the Eucharist. His teaching is, first of all, a deep, insightful Orthodox teaching on the Eucharist. In his every word, sermon, his famous diaries - everywhere, he reduces all Christianity to “one denominator” 8 - the Eucharist, and he considered the Eucharist “a touchstone for many Christians, on which the faith or unbelief of Christians is tested” 9. In his numerous literary works, Father John gives us many valuable instructions necessary for understanding and assimilating the sacrament of the Eucharist, reveals the subjective experiences of a Christian shepherd participating in the Eucharist, and points to the result of its influence. Being a great, living pillar connecting heaven with earth, revealing the dogma of the Eucharist, Father John first of all dwells on the Eucharist as a means of salvation for fallen man, deceived by the devil and who violated the commandment of God, he looks at the Eucharist as “healing like with like” 10. “The Lord is like a wise physician,” writes Father John, “healing like with like. He himself deigned to become like a man and instead of the forbidden fruit, which brought death to him and all his descendants, he gave it to him and commanded him (man) to eat His Most Pure Body, which suffered for us, and His Most Pure Blood for us, to redeem us from sins, curses and death, shed on the cross to reconcile us with God; and just as through eating the forbidden fruit the devil entered into man, so through eating the Most Pure Body and Blood of Christ, Christ God with the Father and the Holy Spirit enters into Man, cleansing human sins, sanctifying him and granting him real and most blessed deification and immortality” 11. According to the teachings of Father John, “the fulfillment of the Life-giving Mysteries is the unchangeable consent of the Life-giving Trinity from the creation of the world, predetermined, it cannot not be” 12. Father John substantiates this necessity of the Eucharist, as “the unchanging consent of the Life-giving Trinity from the creation of the certain world,” with a number of arguments. The Eucharist is necessary, firstly, because “without Blood there is no purification and sanctification; The Lord poured out His Blood on the Cross for the cleansing and sanctification of the world,” and the sacrament of the Eucharist “is an image of the Most Pure Divine Blood of Christ of the New Testament, without which there can be no cleansing of sins” 13; secondly, because the Lord, “in order to reveal His sociability not only to the contemporary appearance of the God-man in the world, but to people of “all ages,” gave the all-good, all-wise, the joyful covenant of His Church, in His remembrance and in the closest communication with Him, until the end of the century to perform the all-saving and most necessary sacrament - the celebration of the sacrament of His Body and Blood and the communion of believers" 14, and, thirdly, because "without the sacrament of the Body and Blood, without the liturgy, the greatest work of love, wisdom, omnipotence of our Savior could be forgotten, could be lost the fruits of His sufferings" 15. Through the sacrament of the Eucharist, “Our Lord has grafted us to Himself, like a wild branch, to Himself, the Vine, feeding us with His Flesh and Blood, just as the branches of a grapevine feed on its juices” 16. From the very establishment of the sacrament of the Eucharist by Jesus Christ, “this universal sacrament has been celebrated loudly, loudly, loudly, throughout the world” 17 and “The Blood of Christ has not only been shed, but is being shed for us during the liturgy until the end of the world” 18. This blood of Christ “as an antidote to sin serves as a means of reconciliation with the Heavenly Father, a source of immortality, deification and strength against sin and death, a guarantee of immortality” 19. As a shepherd, Father John, speaking about the Eucharist, distinguishes between its two sides: the visible - the substance for the sacrament and the performer of the sacrament, and the invisible, mysterious side, which consists in the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord. The visible side of the sacrament consists of the substance for the sacrament itself - “wheat bread” 20 and “grape wine” 21. Father John explains that under the guise of bread and wine, the Lord gives Himself to us “for the same reason that He appeared as a man carnally, with a human soul, that is, because otherwise a person cannot unite with Him, except through His visible and tangible nature - the most pure Body and Blood, transformed in essence and truth itself from bread and wine. This is the greatest goodness and wisdom of God, acting by the power of the Divinity of our sweetest Lord” 22, Who “knows our weakness, the weakness of faith, and therefore deigned to use the most suitable substances for the sacrament of His Body and Blood” 23. According to the teachings of Father John, “The Lamb Himself in the form of a piece of bread is seen and offered, and the people redeemed by His Blood at the proskomedia are remembered in the image of pieces of bread taken from the prosphora, which shows the unity of human nature with the Divine, inextricably united in Jesus Christ and in us, His partakers” 24 . Speaking about the Eucharist, Father John draws attention to the fact that in the Orthodox Church Christians must receive communion under the guise of bread and wine—the Body and Blood of Christ. “Certainly the Blood of Christ under a special type of wine, as the Lord established, and not without Blood” 25, for “Blood in the sacrament of Communion is necessary for the clergy and laity” 26. Father John in his writings also touches on the moral qualities of the performer of the sacrament. The sacrament of the Eucharist is valid only when it is performed “by an Orthodox priest who has legal ordination and authority given by God” 27 . Father John teaches about the height of the priest, as a mediator between God and man; he is “an intercessor for the whole Church, for the whole world... The angels look at him (the celebrant of the Eucharist) with reverence and some jealousy, contemplating such condescension from God towards us.” The Kronstadt shepherd also reminds us of the holiness and purity of the priest. “How holy and blessed must be the persons who perform this heavenly sacrament and often partake of it, making such a multitude of people who partake blessed and joyful” 28 . More deeply, Father John reveals in his writings the second side of the mystery - the invisible one - the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Flesh and Blood of Christ, realizing, however, that “no one can fully comprehend all the greatness of the good deed given to us by the Lord in the sacrament of Communion... for this good deed is limitless and immense, like God himself” 29 . Following the teaching of the Orthodox Church, Father John teaches about the instantaneity of transubstantiation according to the word of Almighty God. “Just as He, with one wave of His, creates from the four elements whatever He wants, so from wheat bread and grape wine He creates His Flesh and Blood, His entire Body, into which all God and Man dwells and is taught to believers in the mystery of Communion” 30. We find a remarkable comparison in the writings of Father John on transubstantiation. “What sculptor, making a sculpture for others, is not able to make it for himself? Will not God create flesh for himself from bread and wine, which are so close to our flesh, being consumed in food and drink and transformed into our flesh and blood?” writes the spiritual writer 31. Father John points to the moment of transubstantiation. “Transformed by Your Holy Spirit,” - after these words and the blessing, crosswise with your hand, in the twinkling of an eye, the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but not before, for Divine omnipotence awaits the words of the priest cooperating with Him: “For God is an assistant” (1 Cor. 3:9)” 32. “In these terrible, great moments, the church becomes heaven, and the Angels of God are present at the performance of the greatest mystery of mercy and love for people, at the performance of the highest sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ - the transformation of bread and wine into the true Body and Blood of Christ” 33. Expounding his teaching on transubstantiation, Father John also says that the Son of God is not incarnated in bread and wine again, because He was once incarnate - and this is enough for all endless centuries - but is incarnated in the very Body that was previously incarnated 34 . In his writings, Father John compares the communicants with the contemporaries and followers of Christ, which speaks about how he experienced the sacrament of the Eucharist. “What happiness, what bliss it was to see the Heavenly King Himself! You envy these happy people who lived during Jesus Christ's stay on earth. Don't be jealous! He is still with us inseparably through His Divinity and His grace. Your Life-Giving Mysteries, Your Divine Body and Most Pure Blood; We are not at all offended in this regard compared to the contemporaries of Jesus Christ, we are not deprived of anything, we even received more than them, because they did not have the bliss of eating His life-giving Body and Blood, but we eat them” 35. Father John says that Christians who live after Christ and have not seen Him are happier than those who saw Him, followed Him and even touched Him. “We are happier than Martha and Mary (the sisters of Lazarus - I.Kh.), since we accept the Lord into our home, and some are closely united with Him spiritually and physically every day” 36, we are happier than the elder Simeon (Luke 2:29), for “the righteous elder, one might say, embraced the Life-Giver Jesus in his arms as a sign of how those who believe in Christ in the later days, all the days before at the end of the age they will lift Him up and carry Him not only in their arms, but in their very hearts” 37. We “meet the Lord every day during the liturgy, when at the end of it the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ appear in the open royal doors, and the choir sings: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, God the Lord and appears to us” 38. Thus, Father John testifies to the presence of the true body and true Blood of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. As we see, speaking about the Eucharist, he, like no one else, experienced moments of communion with God in this sacrament. Here's how he writes about it: “Performing daily the terrible and life-giving Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, for us and for the whole world, painfully sacrificed to God and His Father, I was amazed at the greatness of God’s goodness towards us,” and “seeing before me with the eyes of my heart God in the flesh” 39, I “sometimes alternately held in my hands the holy paten with the Lamb and the cup with the Most Pure Blood, like a harlot held his feet Lord Jesus Christ” 40, and “was filled with boldness to pray to Him for the whole world and the Holy Church” 41. Reflecting on the height, greatness and immensity of the Eucharist, Father John also speaks about its great significance for Christians, both in this life and in the next. “We really are already saints in this life, although not for long, when we worthily partake of the holy, most pure and life-giving Mysteries of Christ; then we undoubtedly become saints by the holiness of Christ, and our soul is made whiter than snow by the Blood of Christ” 42. Thanks to the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, “the kingdom of heaven is approaching, it has come down from the heights of heaven, for Christ is both in our mouths and in our hearts” 43, and we begin to sit on the throne of the Savior, in an endless act of holy Communion. “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in him” (John 6:56)” 44. Father John says that the Lord, through the Eucharist, gives us “the guarantee of immortality.” The sacrament of Communion is the sacrament of rebirth and immortality" 45. The Kronstadt shepherd, celebrating the sacrament of the Eucharist, felt and experienced this truth of immortality. “The truth of the immortality of the human soul is as clear and obvious to us Christians as the sun. We eat the Body and Blood of Christ and through this we still carry within us the obvious beginnings of our immortality, and when the soul of that person is separated from the body, then we will begin to live this eternal life, hidden in it and brought into it by the Life-giving Mysteries. A Christian carries such an undoubted guarantee of immortality in his soul” 46. Serving as a guarantee of immortality. The Eucharist, according to the teaching of Father John, gives believers and those who worthily receive the Holy Gifts the same power of healing that Christ had during his life. “I saw many sick people who were melting away like wax from illness, completely relaxed, I myself communed with them the Divine Mysteries and they miraculously quickly recovered” 47 . The fruits of the Eucharist, according to the teaching of Father John, extend not only to every person who receives communion worthily, but also to the whole world, destroying the kingdom of evil. “The works of the devil or the sins of people are constantly destroyed through the daily offering in Christian churches of a bloodless sacrifice—the Most Pure Body and Blood of Christ” 48. In his teaching on the Eucharist, Father John speaks “about the spiritual hunger and thirst” for Holy Communion by a Christian and about the need for careful preparation for worthy Communion of the Holy Mysteries. This is “a child’s simple-hearted faith that he receives, under the guise of bread and wine, the most pure Body and the most pure Blood of the Savior, perfect, unshakable trust in the mercy of the Savior, that He, like divine fire, will burn and cleanse with His Blood all the sins of the recipient, the great, ardent, angelic love of the participants in the Savior, a change of heart, a change for the better: attention to oneself and curbing sinful desires and aspirations" 49, "deep repentance, resolution of sins by spiritual authority and communion of the Body and Blood of Christ - certainly the Blood with a special type of wine, as the Lord established, and not without Blood - must receive resolution of sins from an Orthodox priest, and not from a papist or Lutheran - who do not give the Blood of Christ" 50. Father John also teaches how a Christian should behave after Communion: “Remember constantly. Who is in you and in Him you must be” 51. He also warns about the consequences of unworthy Communion and non-acceptance of the Mysteries of Christ in general: “...the unworthy, the unfaithful, the crafty, the faulty are scorched and put to shame by God,” 52 writes the Kronstadt shepherd. “Not receiving communion at all,” he continues, “is very destructive for the soul, for it begins to stink of passions” 53 . Thanks to the close communion of believers with Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist, they “feel a greater spiritual affinity with each other, as members of the one body of Christ, as the ouds of Christ, for there is “one bread” of the sacrament, “one body we are many: for we all partake of one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17)” 54. This sacrament “unites everyone into one union of brotherhood, unites heaven and earth—angels and men—into one union” 55 , so that “when the liturgy is celebrated, the entire Christian and Orthodox race is brought to a single denominator, that is, to a single Body of Christ (the Church is the Body of Christ) and to a single Head, Christ” 56 . Along with this, the Eucharist, according to the teaching of Father John, is the best proof of the omnipresence of God. “With undoubted faith, partaking of the life-giving Mysteries,” says Father John, “I tangibly learn the omnipresence of Christ... in every particle of the Body and in every drop of Blood, I accept the whole Christ and, thus, I see with the eyes of my heart that He is at the same time in all particles and drops, no matter how many there are, to infinity” 57. In his teaching on the Eucharist, Father John says that the sacrament of Communion is the good of true life and, “if the world did not have the Most Pure Body and Blood of the Lord, it would not have the main good, the good of true life (“do not have life in yourself,” John 6:53), would have only a ghost of life, would not have the gift of sanctification, in a word, the totality of all true, incorruptible goods” 58 . The Eucharist, according to the teachings of Father John, is that life-giving “leaven that the woman,” that is, the Church, “took and put in three measures of flour until everything was leavened” (Matthew 13:33). Yes, “this is the true leaven of spiritual, heavenly, holy life, placed in humanity, for the human soul is threefold, according to its three powers: mind, heart, will; truth, sacredness, love must permeate all these forces, in general the whole life of a person, thoughts, words and deeds” 59 . Thus, according to the teachings of Father John, “the abyss of mercy and generosity has opened and is opening in the daily offering on the altars of Orthodox Christian churches of the all-giving, all-propitating, all-purifying, all-renewing, all-enriching, life-giving, terrible, immeasurably great sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, offered according to the will of God and the covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ - for the salvation of the whole world. All the sins of the faithful, those who truly pray and partake of the life-giving Mysteries, are cleansed every time they receive communion, all spiritual ties are destroyed, sorrows are consumed - all petitions favorable to God are fulfilled, the petition of the entire Church - for all states and classes, for shepherds and flocks. The world stands, strengthens, does not waver for the sake of this sacrifice, cities stand and are not destroyed and remain in prosperity and prosperity, families are established, the machinations and dreams of heretics and schismatics are ineffective, general piety is established, if only the shepherds sincerely perform this greatest sacrament” 60. Summarizing everything that Father John said about the Eucharist, we can say that the righteous shepherd’s concept of it is inseparable from the concept of the Church. Thanks to the Eucharist, which unites believers into one Body of Christ, the Church becomes the Body of Christ, and without the Eucharist there would be no Church. “The world would not have the main good, the good of true life, it would have only the ghost of life, it would not have the gift of sanctification, in a word, the totality of all true, incorruptible goods” 61. The teaching of Father John shows the great significance of the Eucharist in the assimilation of the fruits of the redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Eucharist there is a real unity of man with God, through Christ “The Eucharist forms and supports the Church.” “The final unification of believers into a whole organism of holiness and love for each other about God (the Church) is carried out only in the Eucharist - a morally living remembrance with love of the central event of the work of Christ - the Cross and Crucified on Him - of the love of God; in reality - by assimilation of the fullness of the benefits of redemption and incarnation of the Son of God through union with Him, participation in the one Divine life and Divine nature" 62 . “Father John,” writes Archbishop Benjamin, “brightly emphasizes and emphasizes that in the sacrament of the Eucharist the grace-filled action inherent in it is not conditioned, in itself, by the faith of those who receive, because the bread and wine, after consecration, remain the Body and Blood of Christ, regardless of the faith of those receiving, but the subjective action of the external and objectively existing grace of the sacrament is completely conditioned by the faith and mood of the recipient; grace disappears, remains unnoticed and does not exist for those who approach it without faith, just as a sound or a word spoken by another does not exist for someone who is deaf or who closes their ears” 63 . This is the teaching of Father John about the sacrament of sacraments - the Holy Eucharist. Actually, this was not only a teaching: the great righteous man not only thought so, he felt so, he lived by this teaching. This is what a witness to Father John’s service of the Divine Liturgy writes about: “Fr. John experiences deep feelings in the minutes after the uttered words of the liturgical exclamation: “Transformed by Your Holy Spirit.” His great reverence for the Holy Mysteries is also revealed in the fact that many times, slowly, without even the sign of the cross, he bowed his head before them. Tears flowed abundantly from his eyes... What did this wonderful husband cry about? There are no tears without deep emotional emotion. There are no tears without a feeling of love and living thought. If someone could, so to speak, analyze the tear of Father John, then what rich content could be found in it! Father John’s mood is so high at these moments that it is involuntarily transmitted to others and significantly illuminates the mood of everyone present here at this time. I was told that some more than once saw angels above the throne at the moments of the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts. The celestial beings seemed to co-serve the earth-multiplier when he performed the sacrament... His face seemed to glow, as if emitting some kind of radiance. At the same time, I involuntarily recalled the halo depicted on icons near the heads of the holy saints. Persons standing close to him said that such a dramatic change happens to him every time he approaches the holy mysteries, for in the Holy Mysteries he drew strength to carry out that work that exceeds all human strength" 64 . Thus, analyzing the teaching of the holy righteous John of Kronstadt about the Eucharist, drawing a conclusion in relation to our days, we can conclude the following. “The great mystery of piety”, the incarnation of the Son of God, “a mystery hidden for centuries and unknown to the angel”, is renewed in the liturgical life of Christians daily in the Eucharistic rite. The Eucharist was, is and will be the central nerve of Christian life. Everything that happens in the church and church life of Christians is concentrated around the liturgy, connected with it, and included in its composition. Indeed, already in the hoary antiquity of Christianity, the baptism of catichumens was performed during the liturgy, on days especially designated for this purpose, such as Easter, Christmas, Epiphany and some others. Writers of the 2nd and subsequent centuries speak about such “baptismal liturgies.” (Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher, Sylvia of Aquitanca and others). Marriage and anointing were also included in the liturgy; the wedding took place before the Eucharistic canon, probably during the Liturgy of the Catechumens, approximately around the time of reading the Apostle and the Gospel, and after that the newlyweds partook of the Holy Mysteries; the consecration of oil, which had undergone such a complex evolution of its rite, was also inserted into the framework of the liturgy: the consecration of the oil was performed during the proskomedia, and the anointing - after the prayer behind the pulpit. Myrrh is still consecrated during the liturgy, immediately after the consecration of the Gifts on Maundy Thursday. The priesthood is inseparable from the liturgy. In addition, everything that scholastic science for some reason does not call a sacrament, but that in the creation of the fathers and writers there was and is a sacrament, such as: the consecration of the church, the consecration of the antimension, the Epiphany consecration of water, tonsure into monasticism, is one way or another timed to coincide with the liturgy or even included in its composition. Even the funeral service for the deceased is usually preceded by a funeral liturgy. Only later, under the influence of the process of secularization of life and its de-churching, this organic connection was broken, and all the sacraments in the creation of a believing people turned into demands, and some of them began to be revered simply as rituals, and the Eucharist itself ceased to be spiritual daily bread. We find quite a bit of confirmation of what has been said from the holy fathers and writers of the Church. Thus, pseudo-Dionysius (“De eccl. hierarch.” 111.1) calls the Eucharist “the sacrament of sacraments” and believes that “each of the hierarchical sacred rites, as the final bfelzh men phub, does not finally accomplish our communion. “The corresponding scholium of St. Maximus the Confessor explains: “incomplete means that no sacrament is complete without the sacrament” 65. Saint Gregory Palamas in his “Confession of the Orthodox Faith” says: “... we love all church traditions, written and not written, and above all the mysterious and all-holy rites, communion and the prayer meeting in which other sacred rites are performed” 66. Simeon of Thessalonica teaches that “the completion of every sacred rite and the seal of every divine sacrament is sacred communion” 67. In addition, we must remember that the nature of the Church itself is eucharistic. The Church is the Body of Christ. The Eucharist is also the Body of Christ. Therefore, without the Eucharist there is no churchliness, there is no and cannot be churchization of life. Likewise, the Eucharist is unthinkable outside the Church. Outside the Church, one can only imagine the Zion Supper, symbolize it, but not perform the Eucharistic sacrifice. Outside the Church it is graceless. The Eucharist, like sacramental life in general, cannot exist without the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. The concept of the church cannot be limited to just the classical definition of the catechism: “the church is a community of believers united by a common faith...”, and so on. The Church cannot be reduced only to these canonical-administrative frameworks. Being on the parish lists and participating in parish meetings does not in itself mean living in the church. You can’t, let us remember Yu.F Samarin, just belong to the church or be registered in it, you have to live in it (that is, by it). We must actively, realistically, concretely participate in the life of the church, that is, in the life of the mystical Body of Christ. You must be a living part of this Body. One must be a participant, that is, a partaker of this Body. Saint Maximus the Confessor taught in his “Mystery”: “The Holy Church appears, as the image of the Prototype, performing in relation to us actions similar to the works of God. For, no matter how great, almost incalculable, the number of husbands, wives and children, separated from each other and very significantly different from each other in gender, appearance, generation, language, as well as in the way of occupation, abilities, knowledge, personal merits, external position, character and mood of the soul - no matter how great the number and no matter how varied the type of those reborn by her and through her recreated and renewed by the spirit. The Church equally communicates and bestows one image and name on everyone” 68. The Church is that Body whose head is Christ. With no less certainty, one of the best interpreters of our liturgy, Nicholas Kavasila (XIV century), teaches about us as members of the mysterious Body of Christ. For him, the Church is not symbolically designated in the sacrament of the Eucharist, but “as the members of the body are already contained in the heart, or in the root of a tree its branches, or in its grapevine.” “For here,” he says, “there is not only a common name or an analogy of similarity, but a real (pragmatic) identity.” “In reality, this sacrament is the Body and Blood of Christ, and for the Church they are true food and drink. The Church, which participates in them, does not transform them into a human body, as happens with ordinary food, but itself transforms itself into them, where the highest (divine) overcomes the created. Iron that touches fire itself becomes fire (heats up), and does not allow fire to turn into iron. And, just as red-hot iron does not appear to our eyes as iron, but as fire, since the properties of iron seem to be absorbed by fire; in the same way, if it were possible to see Christ’s church, since it is united with Him and participates in His flesh, we would see nothing other than the Body of the Lord.” Referring further to 1 Cor. 12:27, that we are “the Body of Christ, and individually members,” this must be understood not hyperbolically, not in a figurative sense, as we talk about members of the family, but quite concretely and realistically. “For this means that believers already now live, thanks to this Blood of Christ, a life in Christ, truly dependent on the Head of this Body, Christ, and are clothed with this Flesh of Christ. In this way, the Church appears in the sacrament of Eucharistic communion" 69. Our worldview must be Eucharistic, and we must live in a Eucharistic mood. The Church brings thanks to the Lord in the liturgy “for all the blessings that have been upon us, manifested and unmanifested,” “for everyone and for everything.” The officiating priest makes a sacrifice “for his sins and for human ignorance,” or, in the words of the prayer of St. Ambrose of Milan, he “brings to the Lord the sorrows of people, the sighs of captives, the suffering of the poor, the needs of travelers, the sorrows of the weak, the infirmities of old, the sobs of infants, the vows of virgins, the prayers of widows and orphans, tenderness...” The priest, and with him the entire prayer meeting and every believer, must concentrate his entire prayer life in the Eucharist. All sorrow and all joy are brought to the Eucharistic Chalice; they must dissolve in Her. The Eucharist should embrace and sanctify the entire life of a Christian, his creativity, his deeds and impulses. Therefore, liturgy and Eucharistic life are not and cannot be limited to the submission of notes on health and repose. Eucharistic life is not simply standing in church and being present at the rites taking place in the church. Eucharistic life is not listening to church hymns. The layman is not present, but actively, prayerfully experiences the ongoing liturgical, Calvary drama, and receives communion. For the Christian church consciousness, worship is a living and vital philosophy of Orthodoxy, and not just a ritual. Or, using the words of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, it must be said: “our teaching is in agreement with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist, in turn, confirms the teaching.” Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Complete works, vol.1. – St. Petersburg, 1893. – P.94 Archbishop Benjamin. Heaven on earth. – M., 1978. – P.9 Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – St. Petersburg, 1894. – P.8. Quote by E. Poselyanin. Kronstadt shepherd. – St. Petersburg, 1911 – P.14. Archbishop Benjamin. Quote Op. – P.23. Sergiev I.I.. archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – P.63. Sergiev Ioann Ilyich, archpriest. Christian philosophy. – P.145. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – P.78. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. The path to God. v.4. – St. Petersburg, 1905. – P.259–260. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts of a Christian. – P.174–175. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Christian philosophy. – P.150 Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church. – P.64. I.I. Sergiev, archpriest. Complete collected works – P.53. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church. – P.153. A wreath for the fresh grave of Fr. John. – St. Petersburg, 1908. – P.55. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. The path to God. – St. Petersburg, 1905. – P.257. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Contemplative asceticism. – St. Petersburg, 1909. – P.9. Living ear. – St. Petersburg. 1910. – P. 114. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – P.74. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts of a Christian. – P.183. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. The truth about God, the world and man. – St. Petersburg, 1900. – P.72. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Christian philosophy. – P.150. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. The truth about God, the world and man. – P.72. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. The path to God. – P.84. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – P.77. Contemplative asceticism. – P.9. Sergiev I.I.. archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – P.183. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. The path to God. – P.177. A wreath for the fresh grave of Fr. John of Kronstadt. – P.53. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts of a Christian. – P.176. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Complete collected works 2nd ed. – St. Petersburg, 1894. – P.89. A wreath for the fresh grave of Fr. John of Kronstadt. – P.11–15. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Full collection Op. v.1. – ed.2. St. Petersburg.. 1893. – P.349. Ibid., vol. 1. – ed. 1. – Kronstadt, 1902. – P.147. Right there. – St. Petersburg, 1906. – P.113. Sergiev I.K., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – P.98. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Complete collected works v.3. – St. Petersburg, 1894. – P.114. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – P.100 Right there. – ed. 1. – Kronstadt, 1902. – P.148. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – P.75. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. The truth about God, the world and man. – P.18. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Complete collected works v.2. – ed.2. – St. Petersburg. 1894. – P.69–72. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. The path to God. – P.83. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. A full year's worth of teachings. – St. Petersburg, 1902. – P.459. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Poly.collected works – P.74. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church. – P.129. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Complete collected works – P.74. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts of a Christian. – P.179. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Thoughts about the Church and Orthodox worship. – P.136. Sergiev I.I., archpriest. Christian philosophy. – P.145. Veniamin (Fedchenkov), archbishop. - Heaven on Earth. – St. Elias publishing house, 1978. – P.60. M.P.Gr. t.150, col.766D. – 767A. M.P.Gr. t.91, col.665С – 668В. M.P.Gr. t.150, col.452С – 453А.