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Kalimera pater. I saw this post on another group and left my comment which is below. A lot of people do not have faith. What are you views on this pater?
Several people I know nagatchoun the way the Greek Orthodox Church gives Holy Communion , should we use disposable spoons? Or perhaps give the spoon a rinse between each person? Or maybe use a clean spoon for each person? Or should we continue as we are? Keep it as it is.
Even though I nagacho big time, when it comes to the holy communion I never nagacho. The holy communion is blessed and is very sacred and if you believe you can catch something after taking it then you should not take it at all. You should have faith in God. The holy communion is so sacred that whatever is left after a church service the priests have to finish it off as it's not allowed to be poured down a sink or spilt. The holy communion is a healer if you are a believer. It is amagtia to negachas after someone else taking the holy communion.
Answer to Question 508 From the beginning the church administers the Holy Gifts separately, people would first receive the body of Christ in the palm of their hands and then they were given the Blood from the chalice. At times people abused this and would take the Body home with them to commune on another day or for some other reason. To put a stop to this abuse of the Holy Gifts the Church decided to add the Body into the chalice and administered both together with the use of a spoon.
For centuries this was and is the accepted form for receiving Holy Communion in the Orthodox Church and the question of whether it was unhygienic never arose. It is only now in our age and specifically with the Aids virus that people have questioned if they could become contaminated with the virus. Theologically, the Orthodox Church cannot accept that the Sacrament would be a source of illness, since it teaches that it is a “medicine of immortality.” But also, not one single case of the transmission of any illness has been reported as coming from participation in the Sacrament. There is also scientific evidence that saliva inhibits the transmission of all kinds of microbes, including the AIDS virus. This scientific evidence is rather old and dated to 1988. Let’s just hope it is still valid.
Nevertheless we should not fear to have Holy Communion. It is the very Body and Blood of our Lord which cannot be contaminated. It should also be reassuring that we priests are called to give communion to the terminally ill including those who suffer from AIDS, thus we are exposed to this virus on the frontline so to speak, yet no Orthodox Priest has caught AIDS or any other illness in this way. I also nagacho big time and will not drink from the same cup even with my wife or children or share food from their plate, but when it comes to the Communion chalice I have no problems.
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