Aleksandr Dmitrievich Schmemann. (№ 433055)

Ideally, of course, the whole life of a Christian is and should be a preparation for Communion - just as it is and should be the spiritual fruit of the Communion. "We offer you our whole belly and hope, Vladyka Humanity ..." - we read in the liturgical prayer before Communion. Our whole life is judged and measured by our membership in the Church, and hence by our participation in the Body and Blood of Christ. Everything in her must be filled and transformed by the grace of this participation. The worst consequence of current practice is that it separates our very lives from preparing for Communion, making it even more mundane, more divorced from the faith that we profess. But Christ did not come to us so that we could devote a small part of our life to the fulfillment of "religious duties." It requires the whole person and his whole life. He left us in the Sacrament of the Sacrament of Himself, in order to sanctify and purify our entire existence, to unite with Him all facets of our life.