My beloved spiritual children in Our Risen Lord, Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior Jesus Christ,
CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

THE MYSTERY (SACRAMENT) OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST ACCORDING TO THE HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCH

"The Holy Eucharist (literally "thanksgiving") is the Mystery (Sacrament) in which the bread and wine of offering are changed by the Holy Spirit into the True Body and True Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then the believers receive communion of them for a most intimate union with Christ and eternal life. This Mystery (Sacrament) is composed, thus of two separate moments: 1) the changing or transformation of the bread and wine into the very Body and Blood of the Lord, and (2) the Communion of these Holy Gifts. It is called "the Eucharist," "the Lord's Supper," the Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ." The Body and Blood of Christ in this Mystery are called the "Bread of heaven and the Cup of Life" or the "Cup of salvation"; they are called the "Holy Mysteries," "the Bloodless Sacrifice." The Eucharist Is the greatest Christian Mystery (Sacrament)..."

"...The words of the Savior at the Mystical Supper, "This is My Body, which is broken for you; this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Quoting from 1 Cor. 11:24 and Matthew 26:28) are completely clear and definite, and do not allow any other interpretation apart from the most direct one, namely, that to the Disciples were given the true Body and the True Blood of Christ. And this is completely in accordance with the promise given by the Savior in the 6th chapter of the Gospel of Saint John concerning His Body and Blood..."

The Changing of the Bread and Wine in the Mystery (Sacrament) of the Eucharist

"In the Mystery (Sacrament) of the Eucharist, at the time when the priest, invoking the Holy Spirit upon the offered Gifts, blesses them with the prayer to God the Father: "Make this bread the Precious Body of Thy Christ; and that which is in this cup, the Precious Blood of Thy Christ; changing them by Thy Holy Spirit"--the bread and wine actually are changed into the Body and Blood by the coming down of the Holy Spirit (the consecration of the Holy Gifts). After this moment, although our eyes see bread and wine on the Holy Table, in their very essence, invisibly for sensual eyes, this is the true Body and true Blood of the Lord Jesus, only under the "forms" of bread and wine..."

"...This Truth is expressed in the "Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs" in the following words: "We believe that in this Sacred rite our Lord Jesus Christ is present not symbolically (typikos), not figuratively (eikonikos), not by an abundance of Grace, as in the other Mysteries (Sacraments), not by a simple descent, as certain Fathers say about Baptism--but truly and actually, so that after the sanctification of the bread and wine, the bread is changed, transubstantiated, converted, transformed, into the actual true Body of the Lord, which was born in Bethlehem of the Ever-Virgin, was baptized in the Jordan , suffered, and was buried, resurrected, ascended, sits at the right hand of God the Father, and is to appear in the clouds of heaven; and the wine is changed and transubstantiated into the actual true Blood of the Lord, which at the time of His suffering on the Cross was shed for the life of the world. Yet again, we believe that after the sanctification of the bread and wine there remains no longer the bread and wine themselves, but the very Body and Blood of the Lord, under the appearance and form of bread and wine." (par. 17)"

Some Observations on the Manner in Which the Lord Jesus Christ Remains in the Holy Gifts

Although the bread and wine are transformed in the Mystery (Sacrament) into the Body and Blood of the Lord, He is present in this Mystery 'with all His being,' that is, with his soul and with His very Divinity, which is inseparably united to His humanity.
Although, further, the Body and Blood of the Lord are broken in the Mystery of Communion and distributed, still we believe that 'in every part'--even in the smallest particle--of the Holy Mysteries, those who receive Communion receive the entire Christ in His being, that is, in His soul and Divinity, as perfect God and perfect man. This faith the Holy Church expresses in the words of the priest at the breaking of the Holy Lamb: "Broken and divided is the Lamb of God, which is broken though not disunited, which is ever eaten, though never consumed, but sanctifieth those that partake thereof."
Although at one and the same time there are many Holy Liturgies in the universe, still there are not many Bodies of Christ, but one and the same Christ is present and is given in His body 'in all the churches of the faith.'
The bread of offering, which is prepared separately in all churches, after its sanctification and offering becomes "one and the same with the Body which is in the heavens."
After the transformation of the bread and wine in the Mystery of the Eucharist into the Body and Blood, they no longer return to their former nature, but remain 'the Body and Blood of the Lord forever," whether or not they are consumed by the faithful. Therefore the Orthodox Church from antiquity has had the custom of performing on certain days the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, believing that those Gifts, sanctified at a preceding Liturgy, remain the true Body and Blood of Christ...

6. Since to the God-Man Christ it is fitting to offer a single inseparable Divine worship, both according to His Divinity and His humanity, as a consequence of their inseparable union, therefore also to the Holy Mysteries of the Eucharist there should be given "the same honor and worship" which we are obliged to give to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. (Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology by Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky)

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Please note: Absolutely no one has the authority to marginalize or to dilute the Orthodox Faith and the Orthodox Christian understanding of the Holy Eucharist. Any deliberate attack on the Holy Eucharist commits the unforgivable blasphemy against God the Holy Spirit. Anyone who attempts to do so should be excommunicated from the Orthodox Church.

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

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With sincere agape in His Divine Resurrection,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George