Homily on Great Thursday. Met. Korniliy (Titov)

On the Washing of Feet and Holy Communion

Again with the finger formation.

Dear brothers and sisters,

On the evening of Great Thursday, before the Jewish Passover celebrated on Saturday, Jesus Christ gathered His disciples in the upper room in Zion. The Lord washed His disciples' feet and said, "Do you know what I have done for you? I have given you an example, that you should do just as I have done."

The Son of God showed great humility by washing His disciples' feet at the Last Supper, teaching them, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:35). Christ showed His disciples how to fulfill His covenant: "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matthew 11:29). Christ continued His mission of humble self-sacrifice until the end of His earthly life: "He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death" (Philippians 2:8).

And again. Here we see the three-fingered pinch of Judas.

Humility and self-deprecation are the paths to salvation, for as the Gospel says, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14). That is, the more a person humbles himself, the greater dignity he acquires in the eyes of God and the gifts of His grace. The gentle prophet David instructs us: "I humbled myself, and the Lord saved me" (Psalm 116). The saints speak of humility as the foundation of all virtues. Thus, Saint Basil the Great writes, "To advance in virtue is to advance in humility."

Then at the Last Supper, Christ and the apostles proceeded to the evening meal, during which Christ told His disciples, "One of you will betray me" (John 13:21). They all began to ask, "Is it I, Lord?" (Matthew 26:22). When Judas Iscariot asked this, Christ responded to him, "You have said so" (Matthew 26:25), and, taking a piece of bread, dipped it in the dish with salt and gave it to Judas with the words, "What you are going to do, do quickly" (John 13:27). After this, Judas left, and the disciples thought that Christ had sent him to buy something for the festival.

Having performed the Jewish Passover, Christ took bread, blessed it, broke it, and giving it to the disciples, said, "Take, eat; this is My Body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins." He then took a cup of wine, blessed it, and gave it to the disciples with the words, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:26–28). He commanded, "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19). Thus, on Great Thursday, the sacrament of Communion was established, during which the apostles partook of Christ's Body and Blood in the form of bread and wine.

The divine significance of the Last Supper lies in the fact that, when the Lord offered His Most Pure Body and His Most Pure Blood to us as food and drink, the barrier created by man who, having sinned, fell away from God, was destroyed. After the Last Supper, there is no abyss between God and man, for in partaking, we unite with God both physically and spiritually. As Christ says in the Gospel, "Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him" (John 6:56). Saint Symeon the New Theologian, in his prayer before Holy Communion, speaks of this union: "Partaking of Thy pure and unblemished Mysteries, which vivify and deify everyone who eats and drinks with a pure heart… and having divinely partaken, for I am not alone but with Thee, my Christ, the three-sunned Light."

According to the Apostle Paul, through Communion, a Christian becomes a new man who proclaims to the world: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). Saint John Chrysostom says that in Communion we become "relatives" of Christ, His "consubstantial companions," entitled to the great honor of being His "brothers and friends," and Saint Ignatius of Antioch adds that in the sacrament of Communion, we become "Christ-bearers and god-bearers."

In the incomprehensible mystery of the Incarnation, the Lord entered the womb of the Most Holy Virgin. The Wisdom of God built itself a house (Proverbs 9:1), as stated in the canon of Great Thursday, meaning the Wisdom that created the world built itself a temple in the Most Pure Virgin. Therefore, after Holy Communion, while reading the thanksgiving prayers, we address not only Christ but also His Most Pure Mother, who received the Divine Flesh, for She became in the Nativity of Christ the first bodily Temple in which Divinity dwelt. Following the Most Pure Virgin, we Christians, in Holy Communion, take the Incarnate God within ourselves and thus become partakers of eternal life, the new Passover, which is Jesus Christ Himself.

By partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, we are likened by God's grace to the God-Man Jesus Christ, meaning our body and soul become a temple of the Divinity: "Divine flesh sanctifies me and feeds. The spirit sanctifies, the mind is strangely and wonderfully nourished," says the prayer before Holy Communion. But the prayer also states: "O man, be awe-struck: dost thou partake unworthily? For it is a fire, consuming the unworthy. And since he who partakes unworthily eats and drinks judgment unto himself, the unrepentant sinner partakes to the harm of his soul and body and to condemnation from God. Who, then, partakes unworthily? These are the Christians who break God's commandments without repentance, those who bear malice against their neighbors in their hearts.

Judas was the first unworthy communicant, described as wicked, darkened by avarice. After betraying Christ, Judas fell into despair and ended his life, thereby condemning himself to eternal torment. But the Apostle Peter, when he fell into sin by denying the Lord thrice, still did not lose hope of being forgiven by the Teacher, and Christ accepted his tearful repentance and later elevated him to high dignity, entrusting him with the keys to Paradise.

We must understand and remember that by receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord, we take on a great responsibility to glorify God's name with our entire lives, so that our union with the Divinity is to our joy and benefit and enlightenment, and not to our burden and torment, as happened to Judas. Approaching the chalice of Holy Communion, we must be in a state of sincere self-condemnation and understand our unworthiness of this great gift. As stated in the prayer before communion: "Knowing myself to be condemned and unworthy, which even to behold with mine eyes I am unworthy of Thy fearful Table," we approach the Sacrament, hoping for the depth of God's mercy, who sees our humility and desire to overcome sin, correct our life, and helps us in this. Hearing the exclamation before Communion: "The Holy things for the holy," we still approach, relying on God's generosity, so that Holy Communion may be to us enlightenment and salvation, and healing and preservation and purification, and sanctification of soul and body.

By partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ in this life, we hope that in the future eternal life we will be partakers of God even more fully and perfectly, as stated in the words of the Easter canon: "Grant us truly to partake of Thee in the unending day of Thy Kingdom." The bliss of Paradise consists in the soul abiding in God and God—in the soul, and this union with Him, according to Holy Scripture, is the source of unceasing joy, inexhaustible and inexpressible bliss.

Let us remember that preparation for Communion begins immediately after the previous Communion, since this encompasses our entire life, directed towards salvation, conducted in prayer and fasting, in good deeds and repentance. Having received the Holy Mysteries, let us carry them within ourselves worthily, with reverence and awe, just as the Most Holy Mother of God carried the Infant Christ in her womb. Brothers and sisters! Let us pray to the Lord that until the end of our lives we may worthily partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and in the hour of death not be deprived of the blessed gift of Holy Communion, and in the unending day of His Kingdom, that is, in eternal life, be worthy of His unspeakable and eternal blessings and the enjoyment of His infinite and blissful life.

In this may the Lord help us, to whom be glory, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages, amen!

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