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Receiving Communion Properly: Common Mistakes and Step-by-Step Guidance

What the video says

The speaker says most Orthodox receive communion incorrectly, a habit carried from childhood, and admits making the same mistakes. Common errors include going up with lipstick on, crossing oneself right next to the chalice, pulling the head away too fast, rushing to kiss the icons, and dropping crumbs of blessed bread on the floor.

He cites Saint Paul's words that a man must examine himself before receiving, because communion is not a symbol but Christ himself. He then gives practical instructions: prepare with prayer, fasting and confession as your spiritual father directs, wipe off lipstick, and pray the thief's prayer on the way up. Cross yourself before reaching the chalice, hold the red cloth under your chin, say your baptismal name, open your mouth, and receive without pulling away quickly.

Afterward, wipe your lips with the cloth, do not rush to kiss the icons, eat every crumb of the antidoron, and go home quietly to thank God.

Key moments

  1. Most Orthodox receive communion the wrong way since childhood; common mistakes include lipstick, crossing next to the chalice, pulling away too fast, rushing to kiss icons, and dropping crumbs of blessed bread.
  2. Saint Paul says to examine yourself before receiving, because communion is not a symbol but Christ himself.
  3. Prepare beforehand with prayer, fasting and confession, exactly as your spiritual father tells you.
  4. Wipe off lipstick and pray on the way up: 'I will not give you a kiss like Judas, but like the thief, I confess you. Remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.'
  5. Make the sign of the cross before reaching the chalice, not next to it, so you do not knock it.
  6. Hold the red cloth under your chin, say your baptismal name, open your mouth, receive, and do not pull away fast.
  7. Wipe your lips with the cloth and do not rush to kiss the icons, since you just received the one every icon points to.
  8. Eat every crumb of the antidoron because it is blessed bread, then go home quietly and thank God.

The speaker says most Orthodox Christians receive communion incorrectly, a habit carried over from childhood, and admits he made the same mistakes himself. The errors he lists include approaching the chalice with lipstick on, crossing oneself right next to the chalice, pulling the head away too fast after receiving, rushing to kiss the icons afterward, and dropping crumbs of blessed bread on the floor.

He grounds the instruction in Saint Paul's words that a man must examine himself before receiving, because communion is not a symbol but Christ himself. The practical guidance begins before the chalice: prepare with prayer, fasting and confession as your spiritual father directs, wipe off lipstick, and pray the thief's prayer on the way up: 'I will not give you a kiss like Judas, but like the thief, I confess you.

Remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.' At the chalice, cross yourself before reaching it, not next to it, so you do not knock it. Hold the red cloth under your chin, say your baptismal name, open your mouth, and receive without pulling away quickly. Afterward, wipe your lips with the cloth and do not rush to kiss the icons, since you have just received the one every icon points to.

Eat every crumb of the antidoron because it is blessed bread, and go home quietly to thank God.

Main points

  • Common mistakes: lipstick at the chalice, crossing next to it, pulling away too fast, rushing to kiss icons, dropping crumbs of blessed bread.
  • Saint Paul says to examine yourself before receiving, because communion is not a symbol but Christ himself.
  • Prepare with prayer, fasting and confession as your spiritual father directs, and pray the thief's prayer on the way up.
  • Cross yourself before reaching the chalice, hold the red cloth under your chin, say your baptismal name, and receive without pulling away fast.
  • Wipe your lips with the cloth, eat every crumb of the antidoron, and go home quietly to thank God.
25 opinions in the discussion 21 participants, 11 replies to each other The opinion with the most support A priest told me not to touch the red cloth when I was actually receiving communion. Read the discussion
148 comments at the source Original on Instagram

Discussion · 25

Opinions are anonymous retellings of real comments from the original discussion. The same colour marks the same participant.

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  • opinion#948

    A priest told me not to touch the red cloth when I was actually receiving communion.

    • opinion#954

      This depends on the church, but really we should refrain from pulling it and so on because it could cause an accident... but if it's a small parish, hold the cloth for yourself...

    • opinion#955

      Also it has the blood of Christ on it, so it's sacred

    • opinion#956

      Do you have altar boys holding a cloth under your mouth?

    • opinion#957

      Hello! They're young men, wearing black.

    • opinion#958

      Same here, they hold the cloth under the chin of the person receiving communion.

    • opinion#959

      Do whatever your priest tells you, not what this comment section says. Traditions can vary, but obedience to our spiritual fathers doesn't.

  • opinion#949

    I'm grateful I was catechized well as a convert, even on the little things. For example, I see it all too often that when the priest censes toward you, some people make the sign of the cross. Wrong! You're supposed to bow at the waist and receive the blessing, not "cancel it out." A lot of cradle Orthodox were never taught these things, so I'm extra glad I learned why and where the traditions come from. Some cradle folks in our parish don't even have a patron saint because, I guess, their priest decades ago never gave them a baptismal name!

    • opinion#960

      We were also taught to never turn our backs to the altar, so when the priest is censing or during the Great Entrance, you turn so your back is to the procession but never to the altar

    • opinion#961

      Could you explain that again please? I didn't quite understand your comment

    • opinion#962

      I know to face the cross and the chalice when it comes through for the Great Entrance, but nobody told me about keeping our backs away from the altar. Maybe I'm the one misinformed! For example at Vespers, when the deacon or priest goes into the narthex to cense it, people usually turn their bodies toward them while doing it, which would mean our backs technically face the altar. I'll ask my priest about this!

    • opinion#963

      Yes, I just do a half turn instead of turning all the way toward the narthex. That way I'm still facing the altar.

    • opinion#964

      Great info! I'll do this from now on!

  • opinion#946

    At my parish they give instructions before communion in case there are visitors or to help inquirers understand. They cover basically everything you mentioned except the name thing. And we all recite the pre-communion prayer together beforehand. I haven't been baptized yet, but I still go up to receive a blessing. Eagerly waiting for the day I can join my brothers and sisters in communion.

  • opinion#951

    Depending on the tradition, some churches don't let the faithful touch the napkin; the deacon or whoever is helping the priest keeps it under the person's chin and wipes the lips; some churches also have the faithful kiss the chalice (NOT the priest's hand). There's no "right" or "wrong", as long as one is sincere and approaches with obedience and humility. And remember the prayers after communion, they're so beautiful. Remember that you didn't just receive Christ, you're one with everyone who just received Christ. Such a transformative mystery. Glory to God.

  • opinion#953

    I was baptised as an infant and I didn't even know we were supposed to confess before receiving Communion! I only found out a year ago.

  • opinion#941

    I've been inquiring at a parish for about a month and the new priest there just started doing this extra attention to communion. It's beautiful to see that kind of reverence, and the parish obeys him so strictly even though he's young, after they had the same priest for decades.

  • opinion#940

    What I love about the ROCOR church is that the deacon and an acolyte hold the cloth and blot our lips for us. Our hands stay crossed over our chest the whole time we're taking our portion of the body and blood.

  • opinion#942

    I've seen others say and read from people that you should NOT cross yourself before or after. In our parish we have cradle orthodox members who I watch and try to imitate, and they don't do it either. So I stopped. I'm not saying this to be combative at all, I honestly want to understand, since this is the center of our worship.

  • opinion#943

    Some of this depends on local tradition. In some churches, like the Russian tradition, you have to cross your arms, and if you hold the cloth the priest will tell you to cross your arms instead. Also, I find kissing the bottom of the chalice not very practical, the flesh and blood of Christ is still in your mouth, and you might drop it or even drop the whole chalice by mistake. Thanks for the video.

  • opinion#944

    Well not quite, the "mactro" (red cloth) isn't there to wipe our mouth, it's there to prevent any accidental spillage of the holy communion. If you read St. Cyril of Jerusalem's logistics on properly receiving holy communion, you tilt your head all the way back, mouth wide, to make sure the "lavida" (spoon) goes all the way in, then you close your mouth, hold the communion with your tongue and swallow it directly. We DON'T chew!! All of this according to the saint, not just my suggestion.

  • opinion#945

    I learned it as a child, but the old priests aren't around anymore to keep the old traditions going. None of the churches hold confessions or expect people to go before communion. Everyone goes up weekly but plenty of them have never even been to confession once!

  • opinion#947

    My mum told my brother and me this same thing when we were kids, and now we've taught our own children how to do it. We've always had a tissue or handkerchief to place the bread on so crumbs don't fall to the ground, so we're very careful that nothing falls.

  • opinion#950

    This is interesting. At least for us Ruthenian Catholics, we put a Eucharistic cloth under our face or the altar servers hold it up, we lean over it, open our mouth, and the priest or deacon drops a piece of the Eucharist soaked in the precious blood into our mouth. If it's ever dropped it falls onto the cloth, and it goes into our mouth as one big piece, so I don't see how lipstick would be an issue. Also we all say the prayer together as a church before receiving the Eucharist, the one you mentioned but much longer.

  • opinion#952

    My parish priest in Romania reminds us at almost every mass how to take Holy Communion, not to say anything out loud while or after receiving, and to avoid anything that might make us (or them) spill the Communion, since that's of course a very grave sin. It's a shame really, it only takes a little discipline. We're talking about the actual Body and Blood of Christ that we sinners aren't worthy of, but in His love and grace He still makes sure we receive it, 2000 years after the Last Supper, as He commanded. It's an extremely important event in the life of every practicing Orthodox Christian and we shouldn't treat it superficially. It's also mandatory, from age 7, to go to confession before every Communion.