crucified and risen, in his personal presence. Every local Church, living in full the sacramental life, is the:

 

"... miracle of the new life in Christ lived in community and is built upon and around the Table of the Lord. Whenever and wherever the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, in the context of doctrinal unity and canonical norms, the local Church possesses the marks of the true Church of God: unity, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity. These marks cannot belong to any human gathering; they are the eschatological signs given to a community through the Spirit of God" (John Meyendorff).

 

The Eucharist unites the members of the Church, both Christ and to one another: "because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread: (1 Cor. 10:17). Sharing in the life of Christ and revivified by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Church becomes an epiphany of divine love.

 

Antidoron (which means in Greek "instead of the gift") is a small piece of the altar bread ( prosphoron) distributed to the faithful after the celebration of the Eucharist. Originally it was given to those who could not take communion, but it became a practice for it to be offered to all the faithful.

 

All are called to receive Antidoron (blessed bread)* after Church. In this way one leaves Church with Christ’s blessing as invoked through the embracing of the hand of the priest and partaken of through the eating of blessed bread.

Holy Communion: The Eucharist

 

“I am the bread of life. … I am the living bread which came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:48-51)

 

The Eucharist "is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, the flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father in His graciousness raised from the dead" (St. Ignatios of Antioch). In it we are offered Christ's deified flesh, to which we are joined, in order to partake of divine life without confusion or division. In the Eucharist, Christ acts to make us His own Body: "The Bread of Life Himself changes him who feeds on Him and transforms and assimilates him into Himself" (St. Nicholas Cabasilas).

 

Thus, eternity penetrates our finitude. Men, women and children are invited to share in the trinitarian life of God:

 

"... by this flesh [of Christ in the Eucharist] our community is raised to heaven; that is where this Bread truly dwells; and we enter into the Holy of Holies by the pure offering of the Body of Christ" (St. Gregory Palamas).

 

The life of the Trinity flows and dwells in us through "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God the Father and the Communion of the Holy Spirit" (2 Cor. 13:14). We become God-bearers.

 

The mystery of the Church as the Body of Christ is fully realized in the Divine Liturgy, for the Eucharist is Christ