F. Athanasios of Limassol on frequent Communion
Father Athanasios is a Bishop in Cyprus. He was born in 1959 in Limassol, Cyprus. He studied Theology in the University of Thessaloniki.
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Transcript : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hFnmNSg8DMHj9CND95EuD9qSUCoo6imAexywz3Ba3Fk/edit?usp=sharing
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Video Transcript
Next Sunday's Apostolic reading is from Apostle Paul's letter to the Hebrews
9th chapter, verses 11-14
We read the following:
"But Christ, having come a High Priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands (that is to say, not of this building),
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the Holy Place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us.
For if sprinkling the unclean with the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh,
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
And again in modern greek:
" Christ, my brothers, came as high priest of the good things that are to come.
The tabernacle He entered is greater and more perfect
It's not made by human hand
meaning, it's not part of this creation
Christ entered the Most Holy Place once and for all,
to offer, not the blood of goats and calves, but His own Blood
thus obtaining eternal salvation for us
Because the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled,
purifying them only externally.
Just think how much more will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God,
cleanse our consciences from works that lead to death
so that we can serve the living God?"
It's a difficult text in the original old greek language
It's from Paul's letter to the Hebrews
and the Apostle talks about Christ's Blood, about Christ's sacrifice
because he prepares us for the Holy Week
when we'll bow down before the passions of Christ, His Cross, His crucifixion, His burial and His resurrection
And, of course, we'll commune of the Body and Blood of our Lord
those of us who will rightly prepare ourselves for this extraordinary event, the Holy Communion
Here Apostle Paul mentions all these rules of the Mosaic Law
which demanded the sacrifice of animals, of goats and calves, for the cleansing of people
These animals were offered for sacrifice upon God's altar by the Jews
And through the blood of these animals offered to God, they believed they would be cleansed from their sins
Of course, all this was taking place before God became Man, before the incarnation of God the Logos
before the New Testament, when things were obscure and they followed some formalities
And all these prefigured the sacrifice of Christ
who cleansed Man and the whole world from sin by His holy blood
And so this great opportunity, this great blessing was left to us
to commune of the Holy blood and Holy body of our Lord and be united with Him
And exactly because the Holy Week and the Resurrection
is the greatest of all celebrations in our life in the Church
and we all try to prepare ourselves, each one of us as best as we possibly can,
to commune of our Lord's Holy Mysteries
This is why I'll mention a few simple and practical things
on what this means to us and how we should prepare ourselves for this event
First, let me say....
that all the mysteries (sacraments)
and all that takes place in the Church,
