Holy Communion With and Without Fasting

Greek source: Το Αντίδοτον του Θανάτου [The Antidote to Death], Second Edition, by Dimitrios Panagopoulos, Nektarios D. Panagopoulos Publications, Athens, 1957, pp. 66-70.

 

The custom, as it seems, of communing only during the Lenten periods and making fasting before Communion obligatory, was introduced into the Church by our moral decline, the forgetting of the ordinances of our Church, and sin. For the 9th Apostolic Canon and the 2nd of the Council of Antioch, under penalty of excommunication, command Communion for every faithful Christian whenever the Divine Liturgy is celebrated. Was it ever possible for there to be fasting each time, since the Liturgy was celebrated four times a week? Certainly not.

St. Jerome says that the Christians of Rome communed daily, and the question arises: Since they communed daily, did they also fast daily? Saint Basil the Great says that the Christians of his province, Cappadocia, communed four times a week, while the monks communed daily, having the Holy Bread with them. The question arises: Since they communed daily, did they also fast daily? Certainly not.

St. Chrysostom says that Holy Communion takes place three times a week, sometimes even four times—did they fast daily? Certainly not. Saint Timothy permits the demon-possessed to commune on Sundays, and those not possessed to commune daily. When, then, did they fast? And the Holy Fathers of Thessaloniki, Gregory Palamas and Symeon, say that Christians are obliged to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ on every Sunday and feast day. Yet feasts sometimes occur three or four times in a row within the week. Where, then, is the three-day or eight-day fast?

If, therefore, those who communed continually had to fast before Holy Communion, then they would never eat meat or fish throughout their entire life. Thus, no Canon forbids a Christian from receiving Holy Communion if he has not previously fasted during a time not established as a fast. The laws in the Orthodox Church are the words of Christ, the Canons of the Holy Apostles, and the decisions of the seven Ecumenical Councils and the eleven Local ones, which were ratified by the seven Ecumenical Councils, whose authority is indisputable. But let us ask the clergy: Do you fast, Fathers, on Saturday in order to commune on Sunday? Certainly not.

And why is this so? Because there is no Law that imposes fasting upon you. And we ask: Is there, however, a Law that says priests may commune without fasting, but laypeople must fast in order to commune? This too does not exist. Conclusion: If, therefore, it were a sin to eat non-fasting food before Holy Communion, then the clergy should be the first to observe this Law and abstain from eating. For if we suppose that clergy do not sin by eating meat before Holy Communion, but laypeople do sin by eating, then, by that logic, clergy would not be sinning even if they stole or committed fornication, simply because they are clergy, while laypeople would sin for the same actions! Does it take so much logic—which seems lacking—for us to understand that what is not a sin for clergy is also not a sin for laypeople? What law or what ecclesiastical Canon says that priests may eat and commune, but laypeople may not?

Fasting, therefore, before Holy Communion during a time not designated for fasting (for the established fasts of the Lenten periods, Wednesdays, and Fridays exist and must be strictly observed, except by those who are ill) is outside the canons of the Church and, consequently, is not the unadulterated teaching of Christ, the Apostles, and the Church, since no Law commands this.

Never did the divine Apostles, nor the Church, nor her Fathers intend to make the Christians of the cities and villages into ascetics of the mountains, but rather sober, vigilant, self-restrained, rational, keepers of the divine commandments, so that they may always approach continually—fasting during times of fasting, and eating during times not of fasting—and commune, partaking of the Bread of Life and of Immortality, for the remission of sins and life everlasting.

Thus, the relationship between Fasting and Holy Communion, based on the above, is set forth as follows: The Christian, whether he communes or, being under a rule, does not commune, is obliged to fast, so long as he is healthy and without harm to his health. Likewise, the Christian, whether he fasts or does not fast—because his health does not permit it—has the right and the obligation to commune, provided he is present at the Divine Liturgy, as long as he is repentant and has confessed to a priest.

 

Online: https://353agios.blogspot.com/2025/05/blog-post_80.html