D O T H I S . . .

Holy Communion, as "the source and goal of all of the church's doctrines and institutions", is the "centre of the Church's life, inasmuch as all things lead to it, while everything else flows from it. We do it because our Saviour, Jesus Christ our God, said "DO THIS in remembrance of me". As baptized children of God, within the particular environment of the Armenian Apostolic Church, we have all partaken of the Eucharist. Eucharist is from the Greek word eukhareestia which means thankfulness or gratitude. The Armenian word is 'Haghortootiun' which means 'communion'. Communion is the sacrament whereby we literally communicate with our Lord Jesus Christ by partaking of His very living and life-giving Body and Blood that become for us forgiveness and remission of sins.

The elements of bread and wine are, mystically and mysteriously, the true Body and Blood of our Lord at the "Epiclesis", the Veragochoomn, when "Arachee ko Der; Vorti Asdoodzo..." [Before Thee, oh Lord; Son of God...] is being sung.

The Eucharist, as otherwise known in western Christianity as the Lord's Supper or the Sacrament of the Altar, was not an invention of the church. It was, in fact, instituted by our Lord Himself when, according to the holy Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul [the Apostle], "Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying,

"TAKE, EAT; THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH IS GIVEN FOR YOU. DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.

After supper, He took the cup, and in the same manner; after He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying,

TAKE DRINK; THIS IS THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MY BLOOD, WHICH IS SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS. DO THIS, AS OFT AS YE DRINK IT, IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. (Mat. 26:27-28, Mk. 14:22-24, Lk. 22:19-20, I Corinthians 11:23-26)"

"Take eat..." and "Drink ye..." are referred to as the "Words of Institution"; that is to say, the words by which Christ instituted the His Supper. Our Lord, promising that we will "eat and drink at [His] table in [His] kingdom" commands; "this do in remembrance of Me". The Gospel of St. John, referring to Jesus as the "Bread of life", records Jesus speaking in the synagogue in Capernaum saying, "whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks of my blood remains in me and I in him" (John 6:35-48)

St. Ignatius, a second century bishop and Saint of the Armenian Church, referred to the Eucharist as the "medicine of immortality", that whoever eats and drinks of it has the forgivenss of sins and eternal life.

The sad but true fact that Armenians don't regularly partake of the holy Sacrament, is that over time we have come to believe that we are "not worthy" to receive the sacred Body and Blood of Christ. While it is true that St. Paul says; "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body", he teaches, in the preceding verse, "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup". As Armenians, from the day of our baptism and new life in Christ, we are taught to believe the very words of our Lord, repeated by the Apostles, saints and priests of our church, that with the sacrament of Penance (confession and absolution) and the faith, given to us by the seal of the Holy Spirit, we must become partakers of Christ that "according to Thine unfailing promise that 'whosoever eats my [Christ's] flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him'", so that "Thou hast made me, unworthy as I am, worthy to partake this day of thy divine and awful mystery, and of Thine undefiled Body and precious Blood".

It is fundamentally important that we take Christ, our Saviour, up on His invitation to truly come into "communion" with Him regularly and so that as we approach the Holy Chalice [Suh-gi] we might confess "megha Asdoodzo" [I have sinned against God], and believe in the forgiveness and promise of life that God offers us through the unique, holy and eternal sacrifice of His Only-Begotton Son, the "living Bread which came down from heaven; and the Bread which [He] gave for the life of the world".

Eucharist? Indeed; let us approach in "thanksgiving" whenever we "DO THIS...".