Of all the days in the life of a Christian, the happiest is the day when we worthily, with complete attentiveness and preparation receive Holy Communion. At Confession, we washed away all our sins, we opened up our whole soul to the Lord and we received into the house of our soul the Holy, Heavenly Guest - Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who said, He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh by blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. It is extremely important on the day of Communion to be conscious of what we are doing and, while participating in the dread Mystery, to understand what a responsibility we are taking upon ourselves. To receive the Divine Guest carelessly, without due attention, means that we condemn ourselves. Let it not be so! Here is the minimum that it is essential to do in order to receive spiritual benefit:
1) Confess on the eve of the Liturgy, in order to give oneself and the confessor time for the correct performance of the confession. Those preparing for Communion should pray at the evening divine service on the eve of the day of Communion. At the analogion where the priests listen to the penitents, one may obtain the leaflet "A Brief Confession before the Confessor". Take a copy for yourself and keep it at home. Before Confession, read over the leaflet at home in order to recall the sins committed, or bring it to Confession.
2) Read the Prayer Rule before Holy Communion. In the Jordanville Prayer Book, one may find it on pages 332-378. The Rule consists of a number of psalms, canons and prayers before Communion. For the especially zealous, one may add to this Rule the Canon to Sweetest Jesus, the Canon and Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos and the Canon to the Guardian Angel. One may find these prayers in the same Jordanville Prayer Book.
3) On the day of Communion, it is imperative to come to church at the beginning of the Liturgy and on an empty stomach, that is, to refrain from food and drink, and also from smoking, from the preceding midnight. Those who arrive late to church may not approach the Holy Chalice.
4) We ask female parishioners to see to it that they do not commune with an uncovered head or while wearing lipstick.
5) The Church exhorts those approaching for Communion to fold their arms cross-wise on their breast and to draw near, confessing Christ with their mouths and having an ardent love and thankfulness toward Him in their heart. In 961, at the Sixth Ecumenical Council, a canon was promulgated: "If anyone wants to commune, let him fold his arms in the form of a cross and thus approach and receive the communion of grace" (Canon 101). Saint John of Damascus teaches: "Let us come to the Lord with flaming desire and, having folded our arms cross-wise, let us receive the body of Him Who was crucified on the Cross. Lowering our eyes and mouth and brow, let us commune of the Divine Coal, so that the fire of our love, kindled from this Coal, would burn up our sins and we, by the communion of the Divine Fire, would become inflamed and deified."
6) Let those who have received the body and blood of Christ, it says in the Church's service book, swallow with reverence and, after the wiping of their mouth, kiss the side of the chalice, as Christ's very side, from which flowed blood and water.
7) Read the Thanksgiving Prayers after Communion. These prayers are always read by us in Church, during the kissing of the Holy Cross. The communicants gather on the left side of the church and listen to the prayers together, and only at the conclusion of the prayers do they themselves come up to the Cross.
The Food of the Mystical Supper is the Heavenly Food of our restoration, of the New Covenant between God and mankind. Whoever partakes of this Food unworthily and without due preparation commits the opposite - destruction. Let this not be!