Communion of an infant among the Orthodox. The servant of God, the baby, takes communion ...

Good afternoon, our dear visitors!

Do children need to be given communion? And how often should this be done? What to do if a child opposes Communion: is naughty, breaks out and grits his teeth?

Archpriest Alexander Lebedev answers:

« D For me, the answer to this question is obvious: “Let the children go and do not prevent them from coming to Me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven”(Matthew 19:14). These are the words of Christ, you can't argue with Him. Therefore, it is necessary to give communion to children, to start doing this as early as possible and to repeat it as often as possible, as far as circumstances permit.

Usually, when women ask me about this, I answer that non-lazy mothers commune their kids once a week, and lazy ones - once every two weeks, then I suggest deciding on the category to which they want to classify themselves, and act accordingly.

In Communion, God Himself unites with man. Naturally, this does not pass without a trace: God affects both the soul and the body of a person, his character, his behavior.

Childhood is the time of personality formation. A wise observation is known: a person can be taught while he lies across the bench, and not along. Further, the time of upbringing is replaced by the time of reaping the fruits of this upbringing. And how important it is that at the most crucial time of his formation in life, a person (still small) should not be deprived of God's strengthening help.

If a person does not receive something in childhood, the consequences of this affect throughout life. I undertake to affirm the validity of this in relation to Holy Communion: if the human soul from infancy did not have the experience of communion with the shrine, this will have consequences in the future. Favorable or not - guess for yourself.

Sometimes they say: “Children cannot be communed, because a person approaching Communion (as well as any other Sacrament) must understand what is happening to him, what he is starting to do. Is it possible for a young child to understand what Communion is? I answer firmly and decisively: Yes! Capable! As it develops.

I remember an incident that struck me with my son. Children at the age of one or two years are explained who God is, pointing to the icons, and then they are touched when they answer the question: “Where is God?” - the child points to the image with his finger. My son did not escape this either, he also touched me and my wife in this common way: he babbled “Boh” and pointed to the icons.

Once we looked at photographs with him. Children love this, and it is useful for them to fix their attention on the details of the image. Here we open a photograph of a priest standing in the Royal Doors with a Chalice in his hands, the son points to the Chalice and says: "Boh."

I was amazed: we - parents - did not teach him this, so this is his personal discovery! This is his personal faith! I don’t think that my son is any special child, from childhood marked with the stamp of piety and theology, and he himself, with his whims, stubbornness and disobedience, supports my opinion. This means that such faith is available to any child. And after that, how can one say that children are not able to understand the Sacrament of Holy Communion?!

In addition, we will try to answer a counter question: “Are adults able to understand what is happening in the Sacrament of Communion?” Can any of us claim to understand how bread and wine become the Body and Blood of the Creator? And how do they become our body and blood in Communion?

That is why the Sacraments are called so, because they are inaccessible to the concept of man. And how do we differ from children in this respect, and how do they differ from us? Nothing. We are also able to understand something and believe only in some measure. So let's leave this conversation. Children can and should be given communion.

But! Parents need to make every effort to ensure that their children receive communion worthily. It is known that Communion can cause troubles and misfortunes if performed unworthily. Let me remind you of the words of the Apostle Paul: “Whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord ... whoever eats and drinks unworthily, he eats and drinks condemnation to himself, not discussing the Body of the Lord. That is why many of you are weak and sick and many die.”(1 Corinthians 11:27-30).

Of course, we do not want this for our children, so we must try to ensure that our children are prepared for Communion, again - to the extent of their development. It is necessary to tell children about what awaits them, it is necessary to directly call the Body and Blood of Christ the body and blood, without stuffing the little man’s head with nonsense about sweet water or “compote that your uncle will give you.”

Yes, the reality of the presence of Christ in the Holy Gifts cannot be explained to children, but it’s not necessary - they generally take all the words of adults on faith, they will perceive these, especially if the parents themselves firmly believe in what they are talking about.

Older children need to read aloud at least one prayer for Holy Communion, or together with them in their own words ask God to be vouchsafed Communion. It is necessary to make Communion dependent on the behavior of the child, so that he feels that Communion can be unworthy.

Finally, it is necessary to partake of the parents themselves, otherwise bewilderment and even distrust will arise between them and the children: how is it that they put me in the Chalice, but for some reason they themselves do not partake of communion. There should be no disunity in the family, which means that one should strive to receive communion with the whole family.

What to do if a child opposes Communion: acts up, breaks out, grits his teeth? Pray hard for him, try to visit church with him more often, so that the church environment becomes familiar and familiar to the baby, so that he can see how other children take communion, and finally, you yourself need to set an example for the children.

It is not necessary to forcibly give communion to children, holding them hand and foot, otherwise they will have a feeling of violence for a very long time, and in the future their opposition to Communion will only get worse, because it is natural for a person to resist violence.

The impressions received in childhood may be unconscious, but they are very stable, and we run the risk of establishing a certain negative stereotype of perception of everything church for the rest of our lives. Perhaps most often the resistance of children is due to a lack of understanding of what is happening. After all, any of us is wary of a collision with something unfamiliar and incomprehensible.

So is a child: if he was suddenly snatched out of a stroller, instantly destroying his usual cozy little world, dragged through a crowd of strange uncles and aunts, thrust into some bearded monster (due to the fact that most of the male population now go “naked”, many beards children perceive as an anomaly), what reaction will be natural? Rejection.

So there is no need to shift the blame on the child, to attribute to him almost demonic possession. You just need to prepare your children for Communion in advance, explaining to them the meaning of what is happening and setting a personal example, which, as you know, is the most effective means of education.

Archpriest Alexy Uminsky spoke about the general principles of preparing children for communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, about the behavior of children in the church and about the attitude of parents to the church life of their children.

— There are more and more children in our church every year: children of different ages. That is why some parents come with their children immediately to the service, others - in the middle of the service: some children go to classes, some do not go, that is, everything happens in different ways. And I would like to voice certain general principles so that everyone has an understanding of what the service is, what the Eucharist is.

The first thing I would like to draw your attention to is that I think it is very wrong when children receive communion without parents. It's becoming a not-so-good tradition to just bring children to communion. And what happens to the child? How does he comprehend this for himself emotionally, because the child cannot understand it differently? It turns out that the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ for a baby is a kind of almost magical act: parents think that if they often commune a child, then everything will be fine with him. It seems to me that this is the result of a deep misunderstanding by parents of what is happening in the temple. It is clear that children, growing up, will not understand the meaning of the Liturgy.

Do we understand when we bring our child to the Holy Chalice, why do we do it? Can one of the parents answer this question now?

– For the child to unite with Christ, for Christ to participate in his life.

You correctly said that both for a child and for an adult it is one and the same thing, it is a union with Christ, so that the life of Christ and the life of a child are common. And what follows? Let's develop this idea further.

We hand over the life of our child to God.

- Correctly. And then what? Do you understand that at this moment there is a huge risk that a parent takes in relation to his child? At this moment, we give our child into the hands of God, making him a participant in the gospel. But we do not give ourselves together with him into the hands of God. It is very important to realize this: if we do not come to communion together with the child, do not share it with him, there is some kind of inconsistency, inferiority in this. Maybe we think that when taking communion, the child will not get sick? Or will it feed on grace and grow up good a good man? Or will something happen to him by itself: unknown, mystical, which will make him a deeply religious person besides us? But this is an erroneous, insufficient, consciously unthought-out and flawed idea.

A child really does not understand anything, even when he is seven years old, even at ten years old he understands almost nothing about it. And to think that in itself something is happening in his mind, in his soul and heart apart from us - this is the greatest illusion.

It is much more convenient if children take communion separately, but children see how parents do not take communion, and do not see how parents take communion. This is a very serious thing: it means that what we imagine as a common life remains declarative and nothing more. We can then explain to the children as much as we like that the sacrament is true body and the Blood of Christ, although in general this is not clear to anyone ... And even more so for children ... They perceive everything completely differently, first of all, emotionally: their eyes and ears are working at this moment, it is important for them that they are paid attention. And at this important moment, parents are simply offering. They do not share the emotional joy of the child, and that joy does not go home with them. So they took communion together and with this joy they return home, together they experience this joy of common communion - all this is not there, and this is the most important thing. That's what the kids are taught about, and what the sacrament is, and what faith is - what it's like to share your life with Christ. Otherwise, it can be very difficult to convey this to children.

Therefore, the first thing I want to draw your attention to is Dear Parents, let's not have this, and parents will take communion with their children.

– What should I do if my husband is an unbeliever, works a lot, is at home only on weekends, and I have to devote time to him and cannot prepare for communion, so I commune on another day?

Of course, sometimes you have to compromise. The moment of preparation for children and parents is different, and the frequency of communion may be different, I agree. I understand that it is not always possible for parents and children to partake of communion together, but this should not be prevalent. I am against them taking communion together only as an exception.

The main thing is to strive for the family to commune together, for the sake of this it is possible to somehow weaken both fasting and external preparation for communion, but not internal reverence, the state of fear of God. The main thing is a common life, and here it should be common.

Our large families we allow you to arrive not at the beginning of the Liturgy, but not at the very last moment. You can arrive towards the end of the service, but still not to the actual communion. It is very important for us that the children with the whole family spend some time at the Liturgy in a calm state, so that there is no running around, so that everyone can see the beauty of the temple, listen to the hymn, so that for everyone this, even if it is a short time, becomes a time of prayerful reverent state. I beg you: do not resort to the Chalice at the last moment. Parents themselves must determine what part of the Liturgy is acceptable for their children.

It may seem strange, but I am against the fact that children must receive communion at every Liturgy. How does it sometimes happen? We arrived in a turmoil, everyone quarreled in the morning, reached the church by the end of the service, quickly took communion and left... I don’t understand this: no one was at the Liturgy, no one was preparing for it... Bustle, vanity.. But just to take communion... This is also seen me the greatest mistake: when everything is built as a mechanical action - there is a baby and he must be communed every week ... Why? What for? These questions are not asked. And if this happens as overcoming some terrible obstacles, this is not necessary. A child who receives communion in this way will scream and break out, because the parents arrived in an irritated, embittered state. In such a state, one should not come to the temple. That's how to take communion - no need. Let us not take communion every Sunday, but let it be a family, normal, calm trip to the temple.

If we ourselves are afraid to take communion in court or in condemnation, then why should a child be given communion in such a state?.. What are we doing?.. We think that he is sinless, and nothing will happen to him? This does not mean that the Lord will condemn the child, but we will bear responsibility for the fact that we brought the child in such a state, and he took the sacrament as an act of violence against himself. Is it necessary? No, it's harmful.

– And if the child always screams during communion?

– I don’t think that this is due to a spiritual problem, rather it is some kind of psychological situation… Maybe the child was ill, he was given medicine and he began to associate communion with taking something tasteless. Or maybe someone in the church frightened him ... So wait, you don’t need to take communion in such a state. Let him get rid of his problem.

Not all children from the age of seven need to go to confession, some are not yet ready for this: they slow down, they are afraid, it is still too early for them. It is also not necessary for all children at an early age to go to confession every Sunday. Some children are ready for this: they know what to say in confession, but there are children who cannot say anything about themselves. Why torture them? It is enough for them to confess, maybe once a month. It is necessary to proceed not only from the age of the child, but from his development, his psychological state. If the children do not go to confession, let them just come under the blessing, so that they have some kind of form showing that it is not so easy to come to the sacrament.

Everyone prepares for communion differently. and, of course, you need to prepare . In some way, the child must tune in to the fact that he will receive communion.

Then you can read the prayer of John Chrysostom: "I believe, Lord, and I confess ..." and gradually add two prayers from the rule, the fourth and fifth, they are quite simple. And be sure to explain the meaning of these prayers. I think this little rule is enough. All other prayers from the following cannot apply to children in any way, they cannot apply them to themselves in any way. Maybe you can add some separate troparia from the canon, see for yourself, reprint them on a separate sheet, but troparia and canons are more difficult to understand than prayers.

It is believed that from the age of four, a child can no longer be fed before communion. But, again, children are different: if the service starts at ten o'clock, and communion around twelve, not all of them can stand it.

It is known that the speed of a squadron is determined by the slowest ship. The weakest link in the family should be the main one, the system of the whole family is measured by it: if the younger one is tired, everyone else should also rest. Churched families believe that children should be churched in such a way that it doesn’t seem small to them. I know a family where a child goes to church with pleasure, to liturgy and all-night vigil, attends Sunday school, but in an ordinary school he suddenly went into full dressing. The parental request is that the child must show himself to be a saint. And the child tries, wants to be good, he sees how important it is for parents, but he only has enough for this, for this Sunday, and then he can neither get together nor study. There is no need to make experimental sites for holiness out of children. An eight-year-old child cannot stand for three hours at the All-Night Vigil and two hours at the Liturgy, and then Sunday school. Children see how important this is for you, they will try, but they will not be able to study in a regular school, they have no rest. Therefore, arrange a weekend for your children, especially for younger students. Let them sleep off, go with them to the park, to the museum, go skiing... You see: the child is tired - let them rest, rest with them, even if the family is church-going.

If you are coming with children to the beginning of the Liturgy, then please keep an eye on your children. Do not pretend that these are not your children. And it turns out that the one that is on hand is looked after, and the rest ... And why is this for children? They begin to run around, make noise, go about their business, other parishioners begin to calm them down, and parents begin to resent: how is it that my child is being reprimanded?! This is very bad. Children in the temple at least for a while should pray. For this we bring them to the temple. If the children in the temple do not pray at all, then why all this?

During the service, parents sit on benches in the back of the church, and the children do not see the Liturgy, because it is shielded from them by the backs of the parishioners. Be kind: go ahead, borrow best places, this place is for kids.

Parents who come to the service with their children and dedicate their attention to the children from beginning to end do not pray during the Liturgy. If you want to be with the children in the church and pray, then you will pray, and everyone else will take care of your children, or you will take care of your children, and then your children will pray a little, and you must understand that you will not be able to do this. . And in general, when children grow up, a deep, serious prayer life cannot be obtained in principle. Then she returns, but for a while, while the children are small, she moves away, and prayer gives way to humility and patience, which, in fact, is equivalent to prayer. A patient humble attitude towards children and neighbors at this moment is tantamount to prayer. When you are attending to your children in the temple, do not be afraid - the Lord sees you, He knows what you are doing now. And you are busy with a very important thing - taking care that your children are now standing before God, so that he feels your care. At some point, you can leave the temple with them when one of them is tired, then return ... But it is they who are the object of your attention. If they lose your attention - it's a disaster, it's wrong. Therefore, you come to the temple and look after your children - this is the most important thing.

“Isn’t it important that children see that their parents are praying?”

- Do you think that when you pray, and the children run around the candlesticks, they see you?

After the liturgy, on the day of communion, no matter how the day turns out, children cannot be punished. Anything can happen: they get very tired, it’s stuffy in the temple, the parents get tired too, and the child turns out to be guilty ... No matter how badly the children behave, no matter how capricious, everything must end in peace. Parental patience, even if the child is wrong, must win.

Let this day at home be sure to have some kind of small holiday, something tasty, some kind of cake. Let Sunday be perceived as a holiday from early childhood, and not as a long, difficult journey for no reason.

And it would be nice, at least on the twelfth holidays, to come to the temple beautifully dressed. Parents: mom, dad, and child go to the temple as if for a holiday with all the attributes of a holiday. And then this holiday must be celebrated at home. Think it over for sure, let this day be marked by some ordinary childish joy, so that it fixes for him - this is a special day, this is not just a day of work, some kind of tension and fatigue, but a day that ends with a joyful, good event, the most simple.

Archpriest Alexy Uminsky

But children's preparation for communion is special, individual.

As you know, you need to prepare for Communion and Confession, but children's preparation and children's confession are very special, incomparable to an adult. The task of a Christian, including a young one, is to benefit from Confession and Communion, therefore it is important that the preparation for the sacrament and the confession itself be carried out effectively and not overloaded. If the priest is experienced, this issue can be discussed on an individual basis, if the priest requires reading all the canons, strict fast for a child, then the big question is whether it is useful ... At this stage, in my opinion, it is important individual approach if a child from infancy in the Temple is one thing, if from time to time it is another.

You need to talk and explain with the child, and not command and drag by force

It is important in advance, even before preparation, plain language explain to the child why he now needs to prepare for the sacrament. And in fact, every parent should have a conversation with his child in a timely manner, that after the age of 7, his childhood ended, that adulthood began and all the sins and bad deeds of God and his Angels are taken into account and recorded on him himself. And in order to be cleansed of sins, he must independently confess and take communion. What is supposed to repent at Confession, the child also needs and can be explained in advance, because you are well aware of all the bad deeds and inclinations of your child. It is not necessary for the parents themselves to write a note to the child or to force them to stand over the soul until he writes this note. Leave to the child his Confession as an individual one, and do not ask according to Confession what he confessed about, nor what the priest asked. If the child wants, then he will tell, if not, then no.

Alternatively, the preparation may be as follows, but it is important to discuss individually with the parish priest

On all issues related to fasting, I note that, in my opinion, it would be right to give up sweets for the first two days, give up meat on the second day, but leave the opportunity to eat fish and dairy, and on the third day give up fish and dairy. If the child is still small, then the third day we refuse fish, and leave dairy in the diet. By and large, this is all individually and is discussed with a specific confessor. Therefore, my reasoning this case More reason than recipe.

The spiritual preparation of the child is also important.

It is important, in addition to physical preparation, to prepare the child for the sacrament and spiritually, by reading prayers more often, reading the children's Bible, watching cartoons less, and for example, replacing them with watching the Law of God, it is in our gallery.

Everything is gradual, and prayers too

In all aspects related to prayer preparation, I will emphasize: the child needs to be accustomed to evening services, but if it is still difficult, you can first skip it, then come halfway, then stand completely. On the evening before Communion, just like adults, children do not need to watch cartoons, but need to read books about God and his Saints.

Next came the question of prayers. I am convinced that a child should be introduced into prayer gradually. At first, it seems to me, it is permissible to read three prayers from evening prayers, then after the “Canon to the Guardian Angel” read one prayer, after the “Canon to the Mother of God” read one prayer, after the “Canon to the Savior” read 1 prayer and then read 4 prayers from the “Canon to Holy Communion”. I think this will be enough, but it is important to read them clearly, with attention, praying from the heart, but without developing a formal attitude to the prayer work. Gradually, the number of prayers should be increased. publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate, where everything is prepared for children's prayer.

This material is collected from the patristic literature, which is freely available on the Internet, both separately (in excerpts) and in whole. e-books, the volumes of which are very large for the modern reader, who is accustomed, as a rule, to capture only the superficial essence. The author of this project systematized and selected the material as much as possible, highlighting the most important, focusing on his point of view.

The creator of this project does not claim the authorship of the presented materials and strongly recommends that interested readers purchase the full versions of the Holy Fathers in printed form. The sources used are indicated in the special section of our website "Recommended Literature and Sources", in addition, we have accompanied each book with a small review, useful for all concerned readers.

“Should a child fast before communion?”

- Again: if fasting is a burden for parents, then there is a problem with the child. And if this is the natural life of the family, then such questions do not even arise. The child eats what adults give him. Fasting is not a hunger strike. This is a change in your habits, lifestyle. The main thing in our life is not the number of prayers, not fasting - all this is just a means.

It is necessary not to prohibit, not to force, but that the child voluntarily accept such a way of life. If he was forced, he will break out from under the parental wing and still do it his own way, that's what's terrible. The Holy Fathers advise the child to be raised in such a way that when he grows up, when at the age of 7 he goes to confession for the first time, he himself feels like a Christian, so that he would take the yoke of Christ voluntarily.

It's impossible to force it. The beauty of such a life can only be shown. And when children are carried away by the spiritual life, they discover such wealth, which is incomparable with all the riches of the world. As in the Gospel: I found a pearl, went and sold everything for it. So is the spiritual life: if you find it, you will give up everything in order to live this life. It is necessary to help the child discover this wealth within himself, so that he does not think that this is all just external.

“If a child takes communion without confession, should he already somehow prepare for communion?”

- There are no special rules, but if it is possible that he does not eat before communion, it will be good. It is necessary to accustom the child so that from an early age he prepares for going to the temple, he was going to.

“When a child is preparing for his first confession, you need to tell him what sins he has, how to repent of them?”

We are used to drawing the attention of children to what they are doing badly. But after all, the main trouble is not that they do bad things, but that they do not try to do good things. The biggest sin is that a person does not do what he should do. They scold him, and the man realized that he was bad. But the sin is that he does not become good. The main sinfulness is inconsistency with the ideal, holiness.

What is repentance? This is a change of life towards the ideal, holiness. I have to correct myself. If I have only a vision of deviation, and not movement towards the ideal, this is the worst. You need to see the goal of the Christian life - pleasing God. How did I not please God, should I please, but did not please? He did not do this, he did not do this ... Our very sins are not in doing, but in not doing. Failed to fulfill his obligations as a child. Which? Obedience to parents, help, humility, one's duties as a student... When an adult comes and says that he has no special sins, this is evidence of his misunderstanding of the purpose of his life.

“Do parents have to somehow guide, suggest, or does the child decide for himself what to say to the priest?”

– Even before the age of seven, he must be prepared that the day will come when he will come for the first time to confession. This is a holiday! This is the first meeting of a child with a priest at confession. Parents give him a child from their hands. The priest must also be prepared for this. Pious parents warn me in advance.

I already know that the child has come for the first time and I need to talk to him. Here is another conversation - the conversation of the confessor, the spiritual nourishment of the child begins. Not just formally, the parents bring the child to church, but you need to bring it to the priest who will feed him later.

“Can I ask a child what the father said to him?”

- The secret of confession lies not only in the fact that the priest cannot talk about what he heard in confession, but the one who confessed must also keep it. Idle curiosity about the mystery of the spiritual life is sinful. Therefore, parents should teach themselves to humble themselves, not to ask such questions.

“And if the child himself wants to tell, because he is used to sharing everything with his parents?”

“Then shut up and listen. Then consult with a priest. But do not stir up this conversation, do not encourage. Still, a conversation on confessional topics should be only at confession. And the child must also be able to keep his inner world.

“Parents can tell the priest: the child, they say, does not do this or something else?”

- You can consult on issues that confuse parents.

Baptism is only the first step on the Christian journey. The most important sacrament Orthodox Church is a sacrament. How to give communion to children, and especially babies? What are the rules and regulations for this? How not to overdo it when introducing the baby to the Church and its sacraments? Read about it in today's story of the mother of an already baptized child.

My husband and I are Orthodox parents, and therefore our decision to baptize the baby was mutual. He is responsible for the spiritual upbringing of the child. God-parents. We understood this, so we gave Special attention choosing future godparents for your child. And now, our baby is an Orthodox Christian.

As it turned out, the most important part of the spiritual upbringing of a child is the sacrament. It is necessary not only for the child to be closer to God, but also for the Guardian Angel, in whose honor the baby was baptized, to protect and protect him from various troubles.

The priest told us that the first time we need to come to communion two weeks after the baptism of the child. And it is absolutely unimportant that we, parents, ourselves rarely receive communion or do not commune at all. After all, a baby soul can know much more than adults. Children up to seven years of age receive communion without confession, and after that, like adults: they must first confess, and only then go to communion.

Another important point is that communion usually takes place on an empty stomach. Of course, babies are allowed to have breakfast. Only feed the baby should be at least half an hour before communion, so that he does not burp. After three years, one should already try not to feed the child, but strict frameworks as such do not exist until seven years. Batiushka said that children from the age of three can easily endure without food since the evening. The main thing is to introduce it gradually and as a kind of sacrament - than earlier child get used to it, then it will be easier for him. And a little later, you can teach children to fast, but not strictly. For example, give up games, cartoons, meat or something especially tasty.

To the question of how often a child should receive communion, everyone must answer for himself. Infants can be every day, older children - once a week. We try to give communion to the baby once every two weeks and on great holidays. Communion takes place at liturgies - it is better to find out in advance the time of the beginning and end of the service in the temple. First, children receive communion, then women and men.

With a baby, it is allowed to come directly to the sacrament. With older children, it is possible to arrive early, depending on how long the child is able to withstand. As a rule, children do not like being in church for a long time, I remember this from myself. It always seemed to me that it was very stuffy there, you had to stand still for a very long time. It should be understood that children have less patience, but on the contrary, more energy. Everything must be approached with understanding - if the baby cannot stand still for a long time, do not force him, instilling a dislike for this rite from childhood.

And now, the time has come for the sacrament of communion. The priest takes the Chalice out of the altar and reads a prayer, the words of which must be repeated and pray with all his heart for his child. Since we go to communion exclusively with the godfather or mother of the baby, at this time one of them is holding the baby. They don’t cross themselves in front of the Cup, older children fold their arms crosswise on their chests, and they hold very small ones on right hand. The father comes up to each child and says loudly: “The Servant of God takes communion…”, after which his name is called. Ours is still small, and therefore godparents call his name for him. When the child grows up, he will have to call himself by name. Then they give a little Cahors on a spoon, and small children - holy water. At the very end of the service, the baby is applied to the cross.

“Vasenka, be patient a little, baby! Now the father will come out and give you a compote, ”I heard words behind me that every time make me shudder involuntarily.

“Kompotik”, “zest”, “delicious” - that I just never heard, standing on Sunday at the Divine Liturgy and waiting for the removal of the Chalice.

Unfortunately, such "explanations" of the most important Sacrament of the Church are still found among some parishioners. At the same time, none of them thinks: “Won’t such words serve in the future as the very temptation that will push my child away from communion and from the Church? But won't a child develop at first a small, and then an incorrigible, irreverent attitude towards the Sacrament? But will the growing child then believe a more serious explanation of the essence of the Eucharist?

Reflecting on the question of how to explain to a child what the Body and Blood of Christ is, one should begin with the fact that the Sacrament of Holy Communion should be an integral part of the life of the child and parents, and the Liturgy should be discussed at different age stages, gradually “complicating” the explanation.

If adults take communion regularly, and a child from a very early age after his baptism takes communion with them, then he is unlikely to have the question: “Why is this necessary and what is it?”. For him, participation in will become a natural and integral part of life. But at the same time, it is not enough to bring a child to the temple, take communion and leave. Already going to the temple, it is useful to emphasize that you are going to God's house, that you will participate in the Sacrament of Holy Communion in order to unite with the Lord.

• Communion is a union with God - this is the most accessible explanation for children. They will understand and accept this truth with a childish heart through the prism of faith. The word itself helps us in this: Participle, becoming a part of something, joining to God…
• God is, the fullness of love and its source. As one theologian said, "Even our food is the love of God made edible." And the Lord loves us so much that He wants to join us to His love, so that we would be one organism with Him. To do this, He mysteriously unites with us in the Sacrament of Communion.
• It is possible to characterize the Holy Gifts with the words of the Savior about Himself - Heavenly Bread: “ I am the living bread that came down from heaven; Whoever eats this bread will live forever» .
• The concepts of "Body" and "Blood" are difficult for children to perceive, since in modern language rarely express sympathy. However, we can cite as an example the expressions “my blood”, “flesh of flesh”. Also, the child in the mother's abdomen for some time has a common circulatory system with her and is formed with the help of her body.
  Gradually, through familiarity with the Bible, the child will be able to apply the concepts he has learned to Christ.
• it is also correct and accessible for the child to name shrine.

Parents explain to their children what Communion is in different ways. But all of them are similar in one opinion - the child will be able to understand the Sacrament of the Body and Blood gradually and only on one condition that faith in the family is not just a worldview, but a way of life.

It seems to me that personal mysterious experience is of great importance here, and I cannot express it in words. It is very interesting how little children see and understand Communion. My little goddaughter, after the first Communion, to the question of her non-church grandmother: “Well, did you take communion? Did your father give you communion?" (she was afraid of bearded men) - answered: “No, not father, angel!” “Yes, it was a father!”, - and she: “No! ANGEL!"

So what did she see? I, trying to explain in words what Communion is, could hardly convey to her what she saw.

Anastasia Ovansova, mother of three

I don’t say “Body” and “Blood” to my children, because at an early age abstract concepts are formed in them abstractly and this is difficult for them. I say: "Connect with the Lord!"

Marina Bazanova, mother of two children

The question of a formal explanation of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is difficult for a child's mind.

An attempt to answer the question: “What is in the Chalice?” in the categories “Bread”, “Body”, “Wine”, “Blood” can cause an ambiguous reaction. This is because children take all the words literally and are not able to see the versatility of meanings in them.

Moreover, the explanation of the Sacrament in these categories, even for an adult, will not clarify the essence of what is happening.

This happens for the reason that spiritual life becomes explicable for a person in an exclusively empirical, experiential perception. In other words, only through regular communion with the Lord's Meal is it possible to reveal the inner content of the Sacrament of Sacraments.

Only through personal example, participating in the Divine Liturgy together with the child, giving him a role model and an active example of love, leading him along, can one expect that small man become a partaker of the Divine Mysteries.

Only then can one hope that in time, growing in years, he will organically perceive this Truth. The truth that the Lord is in the Chalice, mysteriously transforming a person and making him truly free.

Priest Alexander Anikin

Parents should instill in the child a personal relationship with God, so that the child understands that God is a Personality, that God is as close and dear to the child as the parent. This is instilled through reading the children's Bible, through prayer in the temple and at home with parents.

Then you can convey to the child what Communion is and why it is. In other cases, for the child, all explanations will remain just sound vibrations, as well as for adults.

Of course, it is relatively possible to go the other way and start attributing to the Sacrament magical properties(for example: “if you take communion, then you will be lucky in life”, “if you take communion, then God will be pleased, and if you make a wish or have a dream, God will surely fulfill it”). But, in my opinion, this is already a dead end.

Priest Alexander Ionitis

I don't know how to explain this to a two year old. The main thing is to do it gradually. At first, simply say that the one who takes communion touches God. And then with age, you can gradually introduce the child to Christ.

Deacon Anthony Satsuta

It seems to me that we can say this: "The Lord will enter your heart, and try to keep this dear Guest there - to live in such a way that He would be pleased."

Well, if further questions are: “How does this bread and wine become the Body and Blood of the Lord?” - I think you can answer this way: “We take food, and it is digested by us, becomes our body and blood (this is really true: we get the necessary substances and energy through food). So the Lord at the Last Supper tasted bread and wine - they became Him, entered His Body and Blood. Now, at the Liturgy, we become participants in that same Last Supper and mysteriously receive Christ Himself into ourselves. He, the living and resurrected, enters into us and lives in us.” And to clarify the mechanics or chemistry of this Sacrament is an impossible and unnecessary thing. That's what the Sacrament is for.

subdeacon Alexander Popov