О том, что если кто медлит причащаться, то доставляет себе этим большой вред

Everything contrary to what was said above is what rare Communion brings to Christians, for the one who postpones Communion does not make any preparation, is not attentive, and does not have careful protection from evil thoughts. Delay in Communion causes him to fall into negligence, and the warmth of reverence and Divine love cools. The length of time allows him to go through life carelessly and carelessly, without fear in his soul, restraint in his feelings and caution in his movements, and also allows him complete freedom in food, and in words, and in inappropriate sights and hearings, so that he becomes like a horse, which, without a bridle, slides into every abyss of sin. And it is true that all this happens to those who postpone Communion, just as we ourselves experience in daily experience and practice. I am surprised by those Christians who are as worthy as possible, but are in no hurry to receive communion. How can they receive sanctification and joy from the Divine Mysteries, as Cabasilas said, whose words we quoted at the beginning? How can they extinguish the fire of passions if they do not partake of the Most Pure Mysteries, which expel all infirmity, pacify the wild war of the flesh and mortify passions, according to Saint Cyril? How can they purify their mind, enlighten their mind, fertilize all the powers of the soul, without partaking of the Body and Blood of our Lord, which is true purification, true beauty, true enlightenment and nobility of the soul, as the divine Chrysostom told us before? Or how is it possible for them to escape from the mental Pharaoh and from Egypt, the bitter sin that haunts them, when they are not sealed and marked by the Precious Blood of Christ, as Gregory the Theologian said? Or how will they kindle in their hearts Divine love, spiritual joy, Divine peace and the rest of the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit, without partaking of the Body and Blood of the beloved Son of the Father and consubstantial with the Holy Spirit, Who is our true joy and peace, according to the Apostle (See Eph. 2:14), and the source of all good things? I am perplexed and amazed how Christians of modern times can celebrate either Sundays or other holidays throughout the year and spiritually rejoice in true joy if they do not constantly partake of Divine Communion, which is the reason and occasion for every holiday and celebration. So, of course, those who do not receive communion constantly are deprived (oh woe!) of all these heavenly and Divine blessings, and on top of all this they are also transgressors of the commandments and Sovereign commandments of the Lord, as we said, and the Apostolic Rules, and the Council Canons, and [the instructions of] all the saints, whose testimonies we cited. And they fall under the penalty of excommunication, which is imposed by the divine apostles and the Council of Antioch, as we have before detailed. Such, moreover, give permission and place to the devil, by delaying Communion, to plunge them into various sins and many other temptations, as the divine Cyril of Alexandria says: “Those who remove themselves from the Church and Communion become enemies of God and friends of demons.” And the divine Chrysostom says: “Do not withdraw from Thy fellowship in the depths of Thy communication; I will be hunted by the mental wolf” 29. That is, because, Lord, I often approach the Sacrament and receive communion, because I am afraid that if I move away for a long time from Your Holy Communion, then, finding myself uncovered by grace, 30 I will be caught by the mental wolf, the devil, and he will kill me. The Monk Palladius tells about Abba Macarius of Egypt that after he healed that woman who, through the devil’s assistance, seemed like a horse to people, he gave her the following advice and said: “Woman, never be absent from the Communion of the Mysteries of Christ, but take communion often, for this devilish action happened to you because you did not take communion for five weeks, and because of this the devil found a place and annoyed you.” 31. In a similar way, the divine Chrysostom, on the day when he was ordained, having healed one demoniac, instructed him to often go to church and approach the Divine Mysteries with fasting and prayers, so that the demon would not tempt him in the future. This is how Simeon Metaphrastus writes about this in the life of St.: “A certain mad man, being possessed by an unclean demon, ran inside the church, foaming at the mouth, with his tongue hanging out, so that everyone saw this disgusting sight. And then everyone began to pray to this holy soul - the divine Chrysostom, so that he would pray for the healing of the suffering person. He told this man to approach, looked at him with love and, signifying him with his hand and calling on the Name of the Holy Trinity, commanded the evil demon to come out. And immediately, when this was said, the word became deed, and the person was instantly freed from a terrible demonic illness. After this, the Saint, picking him up, advised him to be diligent in visiting church and Communion of Divine Holy Things, and to be attentive to fasting and prayers. “For if you do this,” he said, “the enemy will never annoy you again, and you will not be caught in his net.” Do you hear, my brothers, what troubles those who do not partake often, but remove themselves from the Mysteries, suffer? Do you hear that they become possessed and turn into mindless animals, just as King Nebuchadnezzar was transformed into a bull in ancient times? And rightly they endure this, for they can become gods from people by grace thanks to unceasing Divine Communion, and they do not want to, but, moving away from Divine Communion, they lose the human form that they have, and turn into unreasonable animals, and surrender to the power of Satan, as the Psalmist says: “Behold, those who separate themselves from You will perish” (Ps. 73:27). That is, Lord, this is how completely Those who remove themselves from Your grace perish. Not to mention the fact that sudden death happens to those who are in no hurry to receive communion and finds them unprepared, for they are left without Divine Communion. What will happen to them, the unfortunate ones? Will they be able to freely pass the demon tax collectors in the air? What fear and horror the soul will experience, whereas with frequent Communion it could free itself from all this, as the divine Chrysostom said above. God have mercy on them! So, my brothers, since rare Communion causes us such great and inexplicable troubles, and frequent Communion gives us such high, so great, so heavenly and supernatural benefits both in this life and in the future, why are we so slow to receive Communion? Why don’t we prepare with due preparation to partake of the Divine Mysteries, if not every day, then at least every Saturday or Sunday and every holiday? We should with great joy often resort to the Sacred Table and partake of our Sweetest Jesus Christ, Who is our whole life, breath, our being and all our hope and salvation, so that we may always be united and inseparable with Him, both in this life and in the next. We, however, agree and greatly rejoice in delaying and removing ourselves from Him. If someone deprives us of a meal consisting of bodily food for even one day, then we are sad and worried, and this seems to us a great evil; if we are deprived of the spiritual and heavenly Meal of the Divine Mysteries for a day, or two, or whole months, then we do not consider this evil. O great folly committed by today's Christians, who do not see the difference between the physical and the spiritual! For they accept the first with all love, but do not desire the second at all. Many God-loving Christians invest a lot of money, endure great labors, endure many dangers both at sea and on land in order to go to Jerusalem to worship the life-giving Holy Sepulcher and other holy places. And then they rejoice when they are called pilgrims of these shrines. Many, hearing that in some distant place there are the holy relics of some saint, run with great readiness to worship them and receive grace and sanctification. But in order to partake of the Most Pure Mysteries and be worthy to receive not the life-giving Tomb, not holy places, not the relics of saints, but the King of all and the Holy of Holies, they either have little desire, or they do not care at all. To go to holy places one spends money, travels long roads on foot, and endures many dangers, while to receive communion requires neither spending money, nor long journeys on foot, nor enduring dangers. It is enough just to make a contrite confession, to truly perform penance and preparation, and you can immediately receive this and become co-corporeal and secret confidants with Christ. And, despite all this simplicity, again everyone is negligent in relation to this, everyone immediately retreats. Ah, my brothers, if we could at least once see with the mental eyes of our souls what high and great blessings we are depriving ourselves of by not constantly receiving communion, then, of course, we would make every effort to prepare and receive communion, if possible, every day. So, if until now we have shown great negligence in relation to Holy Communion, from now on, I ask you from the depths of a brotherly loving heart, let us wake up from the heavy sleep of laziness, and apply readiness and diligence. And if anyone who has spiritual power tries to hinder us in this godly work, let us not immediately cool the warmth of our resolve and let us not lose heart, no, but let us fall on our knees and kiss his feet like a harlot, and let us urgently knock on the door and ask for permission. And, of course, I do not believe that there is anyone so hard-hearted that, seeing our ardent readiness to begin Holy Communion, he would prevent us. Moreover, I am sure that no matter how severe he may be, no matter how afraid he may be to break the harmful custom that has been established in this matter, his heart will bow to give us permission to do what we desire. Prayer 2 for Holy Communion. Literally, “naked of grace.” – Approx. lane See Lavsaik Palladius, Bishop of Elenopolis. M., 1992, pp. 37–38. Chapter 18. About Macarius of Egypt. You might be interested in: