Preparation for Communion
Preparation for Communion
It is well known that a layperson takes great care in preparing for Holy Communion, through repentance, reconciliation, and many spiritual practices. But what about you, dear father priest?
You are required to celebrate the Divine Liturgy on specific days and to be the first to receive Communion. But are you always spiritually ready for every Liturgy? Or do you approach the Divine Liturgy and Holy Communion regardless of your spiritual state? And can you not stop the Liturgy even when your faults are known to many? This is indeed a very serious matter!
The priest’s circumstances in serving the Divine Mysteries require constant readiness. For if he performs the prayers without spiritual preparation — merely out of necessity, especially if he is the only priest in his church or in the whole town — this could easily become a habit, with excuses made for himself.
And so comes the danger of becoming careless toward the sacraments, the prayers, and the service of the altar.
That is why the priest is chosen from among the best — the most virtuous and the most spiritually deep — so that he may always, and at all times, be ready to serve the Divine Mysteries.
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