From Antipin’s Potrebnik. Chapter 10
Many people are greatly mistaken concerning holy communion. They understand it this way: “Without visible communion it is in no way possible to be saved.” For this reason they turn for communion, instead of to pious priests, to various clergymen, and often they themselves greatly doubt such priests. Yet they justify themselves with this: “Even if the priests are bad, there is nowhere better to get it from, and without communion it is in no way possible.”
Such notions are nothing but error. For from heretical priests, or from those who have a heretical and graceless ordination, it is in no way permissible to commune. “Because with such priests the communion is not true, but false and soul-destroying!” (Great Catechism, fol. 22, 23). That is to say, it is not permissible to commune from Nikonian priests, or from Edinoverie priests, or from Belokrinitsa priests, or from beglopopov priests, because they all come from one and the same graceless heretical source.
Some of the Old Believers who have no priests possess a certain reserved lamb, as though it were true communion. Such a notion is also an error, because true visible communion can be performed only by true pious priests. And such priests have not existed for more than 200 years already, nor could they possibly have prepared a true lamb for so many years in advance.
By their own admission: “The reserved lamb that they have is not from the ancient pious times, but from fugitive Nikonian priests of 50 or 100 years ago, and this cannot be considered reliable. How could fugitive priests have reserved it for such a long time?”
But even if they did reserve it, their reserve cannot be a “true lamb,” but is false, because they received a heretical and graceless ordination. And no one could perform a graceless ordination upon them, because there was nowhere a pious bishop, and apart from a bishop no one can perform this. Therefore all the fugitive priests who act on their own, “without graceless ordination,” are condemned worse than the impious demons (Nomocanon, fol. 57 and in another edition, 715). And therefore all their actions and their communion are impious, an abomination, and the lamb is the antichrist’s lamb.
For all these reasons, everyone who desires to be saved must necessarily abandon such a reserved lamb as false, bring repentance to the Lord concerning this, and now seek visible communion nowhere, because everywhere the antichrist reigns. That is, everywhere impiety has taken possession. And in this time of the antichrist there must be no true communion anywhere, but only a false one. Concerning this the Lord foretold: “The abomination of desolation shall sit in the holy place,” and St. John Chrysostom: “The antichrist will destroy the true sacrifice everywhere and set up his own idol in the holy place” (Book of Cyril, fol. 31, 32, and the Annotated Apostle, fol. 549). And St. Hippolytus: “The holy churches will be like garden sheds, and the honorable body and blood of Christ will not appear in those days” (Great Council Book, fol. 133. Similarly also Ephraim the Syrian, Homily 105, fol. 304).
And although visible and true communion has everywhere ceased by God’s permission, it is still entirely possible to partake of that very same holy mystery invisibly and directly from Christ.
“For thou canst not only eat and drink the Master’s blood by secret communion, but also in another manner. For the flesh is eaten when someone comes to the one who made it” (Gospel Commentary of John, fol. 105, pericope 24). “Thus each person in his own house, by a special order according to virtue… slays the lamb and partakes of its flesh, and is filled with Jesus” (Great Council Book, fol. 687). “We have a great high priest… Jesus the Son of God, that we should hold fast the confession of him… Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Apostle, pericope 311).
According to this instruction, every true believer, through faith and good works, can receive directly from Christ everything that is necessary: that is, forgiveness of sins, and every sanctification, and communion. Only one must ask without doubting, but with faith and zeal, of the eternal high priest Christ.
Moreover, according to the teaching of St. John Chrysostom: “In the last times all pastors will be wolves.” Yet it is fully possible to be saved even without pastors, but only by fleeing with repentance straight to God.
“The pastors have become wolves, and the end of the age has come upon us… What then shall I do? How shall they be saved?… I will tell thee to whom thou shouldest flee… God is our refuge and strength, a helper in afflictions… Flee thou also to him, repenting and weeping… And I pledge myself for thee, and I trust that he will not cast away those who are being saved” (Margarita, Homily 13, fol. 576, 593, 594, 596).
From this instruction it is clear that in the last times all who desire to be saved must not seek any priests at all, nor any communion, nor any reserved lamb whatsoever, but must only flee directly to the Lord with repentance, with the assurance that all such persons will be saved.
From all that has been set forth, we have firm hope for salvation even in necessity, without priests and without visible communion. Only it is always necessary to flee to the Lord with faith in repentance, and with zeal to ask mercy from him.
This is especially necessary and indispensable in sickness and before death. All who come to their fellow believers who are sick — especially the superiors and superioresses — must remind the sick person that he should ask the Lord, with repentance, faith, and zeal, for forgiveness of sins and for being accounted worthy of holy communion.
At the same time, everyone must know what true repentance is, even if he is in sins or in heresy. It consists of the following:
- To consider oneself guilty before God in all transgressions and sins.
- To give a promise not to do this anymore in the future.
- One must bring forth fruits of repentance; that is, to pray, to ask God for forgiveness of sins with zeal, with sighing and with tears, to fast, to give alms, and to perform other good works as much as possible.
- All this must be done in great humility: to consider oneself worse than all others, to endure all reproaches and insults from people, and in no way to reproach anyone for anything, nor to offend anyone, nor to speak anything vain about others or about anyone.
“Such repentance leads to salvation.”
