Tag: Holy Communion

On Closed Communion

· Fr. Michael Gillis 1 Leave a Comment on %s
The following is my response to one of my catechumens to the question of why the Orthodox Church practices a closed communion. Basically, Communion creates and defines our community, our being one with one another in Christ—i.e. eating of the one bread and of the one cup.  Historically, some people/groups separated themselves from the communion of the Church through heresies or immorality or aligning themselves with a heretical bishop.  Therefore, they are…

Receiving Christ and satan

· Fr. Michael Gillis 4 Leave a Comment on %s
I ran across a quote today from St. Cyril of Alexandria that really grabbed my attention.  I read it in a pamphlet at a Roman Catholic bookstore.  I did a quick google search to see if I could track down the exact source of the quotation—chapter and verse, so to speak.  I don’t like quoting sources that I have not tracked down myself and verified.  However, although this quote appears in many…