www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship The Other Sacramental Mysteries Byzantine (Melkite) Understanding of the Eucharist

Hi guys,

I was asked these questions today:-

i) Why do we receive both the Body and Blood of Christ at Holy Communion, instead of just receiving the Host, which is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ? What is the theological basis for that?

ii) Why do we use leavened bread? This question had something to do with offering blood sacrifices using leavened bread.

Please help. I was asked this question by a traddie. Thanks.

The ancient practice of the Church is to recieve both the Bread and the Wine. Jesus in the Gospel gave the Apostles both His Body- the Bread- and His Blood- The Fruit of the Vine in the Cup-not just the Bread. It is an ancient practice of both East and West.

We use Leavened bread as it symobolizes our Lord's Resurrection from the Dead and it is an ancient Apostolic practice. The link below gives a pretty good answer.

Orthodox Answers [orthodoxanswers.org]