Of all liturgical rules pertaining to Lent, one is of crucial importance for its understanding, and being peculiar to Orthodoxy, is in many ways a key to its liturgical tradition. It is the rule which forbids the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on weekdays of Lent. The rubrics are clear: under no circumstances can the Divine Liturgy be celebrated in Lent Monday through Friday, with one exception—the Feast of the Annunciation, if it falls on one of these days. On Wednesdays and Fridays, however, a special evening service of Communion is prescribed; it is called the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
So radically has the meaning of this rule been forgotten that in many parishes, especially those which for a long time were exposed to Western and Latin influences, it is simply not obeyed and the purely Latin practice of the daily— private" or "memorial"—liturgies is continued throughout the whole Lent. But even where it is obeyed, no effort is made to go beyond a formal compliance with "rubrics" and to understand their spiritual significance, the deep "logic" of Lent. It is important, therefore, that we explain in a more detailed way the meaning of this rule which transcends the framework of Lent and enlightens the entire liturgical tradition of Orthodoxy.
In very general terms, we have here the expression and the application of one fundamental liturgical principle: the incompatibility of the Eucharist with fasting. To understand, however, the meaning of that principle, one must begin not with fasting but with the Eucharist. In the Orthodox tradition, deeply different in this from the eucharistic theology and practice of Western Catholicism, the Eucharist has always preserved its festal and joyful character. It is first of all the sacrament of Christ's coming and presence among His disciples, and therefore the celebration—in a very real sense—of His Resurrection. Indeed it is the coming and presence of Christ at the Eucharist that is for the Church the "proof" of His Resurrection. It is the joy and the burning of hearts experienced by the disciples when on the way to Emmaus Christ revealed Himself to them "in the breaking of bread" (Lk. 24:13-35) that is the eternal source of the Church’s "experiential and "exis tential" knowledge of the Resurrection. No one saw the actual Resurrection and yet the disciples believed in it, not because someone taught them so, but because they saw the Risen Lord when "the doors being shut" He appeared among them and partook of their meal.
The Eucharist is still the same coming and presence, the same joy and "burning of heart," the same transrational yet absolute knowledge that the Risen Lord makes Himself known "in the breaking of bread." And so great is this joy that for the early Church the Day of the Eucharist was not one of the days but the Lord’s Day—a day already beyond time, for in the Eucharist the Kingdom of God was already "breaking through." At the Last Supper, Christ Himself told His disciples that He bestowed upon them the Kingdom so that they might "eat and drink at His table in His Kingdom." Being the presence of the Risen Lord who ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father, the Eucharist is, therefore, the partaking of the Kingdom which is "joy and peace in the Holy Spirit." Communion is the "food of immortality," the "heavenly bread," and approaching the Holy Table is truly ascending to heaven. Eucharist is thus the feast of the Church or, better still, the Church as the feast, as rejoicing in Christ's presence, as anticipating the eternal joy of the Kingdom of God. Every time the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she is "at home"—in heaven; she is ascending where Christ has ascended in order to make us "eat and drink at His table in His Kingdom. ..." One understands then why the Eucharist is incompatible with fasting, for fasting (we shall see below) is the main expression of the Church as still in a state of pilgrimage, as being only on her way to the heavenly Kingdom. And "the sons of the Kingdom," Christ said, "cannot fast while the Bridegroom is with them" (Matt. 9:15).
But why then, one may ask, is Communion still distributed during fasting days at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts? Does it not contradict the principle enunciated above? To answer this question, we must now consider the second aspect of the Orthodox understanding of Communion, its meaning as the source and the sustaining power of our spiritual effort. If, as we have just seen, Holy Communion is the fulfillment of all our efforts, the goal toward which we strive, the ultimate joy of our Christian life, it is also and of necessity the source and beginning of our spiritual effort itself, the divine gift which makes it possible for us to know, to desire, and to strive for a "more perfect communion in the day without evening" of God's Kingdom. For the Kingdom, although it has come, although it comes in the Church, is yet to be fulfilled and consummated at the end of time when God will fill all things with Himself. We know it, and we partake of it in anticipation; we partake now of the Kingdom which is still to come. We foresee and foretaste its glory and blessedness but we are still on earth, and our entire earthly existence is thus a long and often painful journey toward the ultimate Lord's Day. On this journey we need help and support, strength and comfort, for the "Prince of this world" has not yet surrendered; on the contrary, knowing his defeat by Christ, he stages a last and violent battle against God to tear away from Him as many as possible. So difficult is this fight, so powerful the "gates of Hades," that Christ Himself tells us about the "narrow way" and the few that are capable of following it. And in this fight, our main help is precisely the Body and Blood of Christ, that "essential food" which keeps us spiritually alive and, in spite of all temptations and dangers, makes us Christ's followers. Thus, having partaken of Holy Communion, we pray:
... let these gifts be for me the healing of soul and body, the repelling of every adversary, the illumining of the eyes of my heart, the peace of my spiritual powers, a faith unashamed, a love unfeigned, the fulfilling of wisdom, the observing of Thy commandments, the receiving of Thy divine grace, and the attaining of Thy Kingdom ....
...consume me not, O my Creator, but instead enter into my members, my veins, my heart... may every evil thing, every carnal passion flee from me as from a fire as I become Thy tabernacle through communion. .. .
And if Lent and fasting mean the intensification of that fight, it is because—according to the Gospel—we then are face to face with evil and all its power. It is then, therefore, that we especial need the help and the power of that Divine Fire; hence, the special lenten Communion with the Presanctified Gifts, i.e., the Gifts consecrated at the Eucharist on the preceding Sunday and kept on the altar for distribution on Wednesday and Friday evenings.