My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

SOME ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN BELIEFS AND THEIR BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

How does the Orthodox Christian Church view the Mysteria (ries) (Sacraments) specifically Holy Communion?

Some teach that Holy Communion or the Lord's Mystical ("Last") Supper (which Orthodox Christians call "the Eucharist") is only a sign or symbol. Most of Christendom, however, believes it is far more. The Orthodox Church has always believed that we, in a mystery, receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. What do Holy Scripture teach concerning Holy Communion?

Jesus said at the Mystical (Last) Supper: "This is My body" and "This cup is...My blood" (Luke 22:19-20). The Lord states clearly that His Gifts to us are more than just a sign or a mere memorial, and all of ancient Christendom took Him at His word.
The skeptic might say: "But Jesus also said, 'I am the door.' Certainly He did not mean He was a seven-foot wooden plank." No, and Christians have never interpreted His statement that way. But the Church does teach that He is our entrance into the Kingdom of God and that the bread and wine become, in a mystery, His Body and Blood.
In 1 Corinthians 11:29-30, we read of people who became sick and even died through receiving Holy Communion hypocritically. People are not affected in that manner by something that is merely "symbolic." In this Mystery (Sacrament) we commune with God Himself.
In 1 Corinthians 10, Saint Paul is comparing the manna and water in the wilderness with the True Bread and Drink of the New Covenant. In 1 Corinthians 10:4 he writes: "And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." The question is, was the Rock Christ? Under laboratory observation, the rock would still most likely be granite. But the Word/Logos of God says, "The Rock was Christ." We do not subject the Gifts to chemical analysis, but to the Word/Logos of God. It is Mystery (Mysterion), but never magic. Christ was present in the Rock; He is present in the Holy Gifts.
In John 6:53 we read, "Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." The Church receives this passage at face value--nothing added, nothing taken away. In Holy Communion we become partakers of the Body and Blood of Christ. Just as the new birth (John 3) gives us life through water and the Holy Spirit, so the Body and Blood of Christ sustain His life in us.
There is also the fact (Hebrews 11-12) that Christ Our High Priest enter the Heavenly Sanctuary with His own Blood, and that it is this heavenly Sanctuary that we worship (Hebrews 10:19-25). There is only one Eucharist, the one in heaven, and we join in that one feast.

We must neither add to nor subtract from the Word of God. Therefore we confess with Holy Scripture that the consecrate bread and wine is the Body and Blood of Christ. It is a mystery: we do not pretend to know how or why. As always, we come to Christ in childlike faith, receive His Gifts and offer Him praise that He has called us to His Heavenly Banquet.

Why does the Orthodox Church continually honor and bless Mary?

Let us turn to the New Testament to learn what God says about Mary. A key passage is Luke 1:26-49.

The Archangel Gabriel calls the Virgin Mary "highly favored" with God and the Most "blessed" of all women" (Luke 1:28). The Church can never do less.
In Luke 1:42-43, Elizabeth, the mother of Saint John the Baptist, also calls Mary "blessed", and "the mother of my Lord." Can we not make the same confession? For centuries the Church with one voice has called Mary the Mother of God. If was not in her womb, we are dead in our sins. By calling her "Mother of God" we do not mean, of course, that she is mother of the Holy Trinity. She is mother of the Eternal Son of God in His humanity. Thus we call her the Theotokos or God-bearer.
Not only does Elizabeth call her blessed, but Mary herself, inspired by the Holy Spirit predicts, "all generations will call me blessed" (Luke 1:48). This biblical prophecy explains the Orthodox hymn, "it is truly right to bless you, O Theotokos, the Mother of our God." One cannot believe the Bible and ignore Mary. Orthodox Christians bless her in obedience to God, fulfilling these holy words. We do not worship Mary. Worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We honor or venerate her, as is reserved only for God the Holy Scripture teach.
It is important to secure Mary's identity as the Mother of God in order to protect the identity of her Holy Son. "The Son of the Highest" (Luke 1:32); God in the flesh. Jesus assumed His human flesh from her! Mary's role is essential in understanding that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. (Source: Orthodox Study Bible)

(To be continued)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things! -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George