[[Image:Covered Vessels 2.jpg|right|thumb|200px]]'''Eucharist''' comes from the Greek, meaning ''giving thanks''. Other names for the Eucharist include: the '''''Holy Gifts''''', '''''Communion''''', and the '''''Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ'''''. [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christians]] believe that the Real Presence of God (not merely a sign) is present after the [[consecration]] of the Gifts.

The eucharist Eucharist is the center of life in the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox because the Church is primarily a eucharistic community. It The Eucharist is the completion of all of the Church's other sacraments. It is and the source and the goal of all of the Church's doctrines and institutions.

The majority of scholars of the Last Supper do not belive believe that it was a Passover meal, a position consistent with the account given by the [[Gospel of John|Gospel of Saint John]]. A minority believe that it was a seder or Passover meal, a position consistent with the Synoptic Gospels. However,as Enrico Mazza has argued, the minority view "remains a theological interpretation. The historical fact is that the Last Supper was not a Passover celebration and, consequently, that its liturgy was not that of the Jewish Passover" (''The Celebration of the Eucharist: The Origin of the Rite and the Development of Its Interpretation'' [Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1999] pp. 25-26).

Before the reception of Holy Communion generally, the following prayer is generally recited by all. It is each person's act of personal commitment to Christ, with their promise of faith in him Him and the Sacred Mysteries of his His Church.

The faithful receive Holy Communion on a spoon. They are given both the consecrated bread (NIKA), and the sanctified wine. The communion of the faithful is always from the gifts offered and sanctified at the given Divine Liturgy. All who are [[Preparation for Holy Communion|prepared]] members of the Church through the [[sacrament]]s of [[baptism]] and [[chrismation]], including small children and infants, may partake of Holy Communion.

#We offer '''Thine of Thine own'''. At the Eucharist, the sacrifice offered is Christ himself, and it is Christ himself who in the Church performs the act of offering: he He is both priest and victim.#'''We offer to Thee'''. The Eucharist is offered to [[God]] the [[Trinity]] — not just to the [[Father]] but also to the [[Holy Spirit]] and to [[Christ]] himselfHimself. So, what is the sacrifice of the Eucharist? By whom is it offered? and to whom is it offered? In each case the answer is Christ.

The Eucharist is both symbolic and mystical. Also, the eucharist Eucharist in the Orthodox Church is understood to be the genuine Body and Blood of Christ, precisely because bread and wine are the mysteries and symbols of God's true and genuine presence and his manifestation to us in Christ.

The mystery of the holy eucharist Holy Eucharist defies analysis and explanation in purely rational and logical terms. For the eucharistEucharist, as Christ himself, is a mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven which, as Jesus has told us, is "not of this world." The eucharistEucharist, because it belongs to God's Kingdom, is truly free from the earth-born "logic" of fallen humanity.

The Eucharist is normally reserved in a [[tabernacle]] on the [[altar table]], although there is no strict rule as to the place of reservation. There are no services of public devotion before the reserved sacrament, nor is there any equivalent to the Roman Catholic functions of Exposition and Benediction. The [[priest]] blesses the people with the sacrament during the course of the Liturgy, but never outside it.

The faithful at the liturgy are never given communion from the reserved gifts, ; they are kept exclusively for those unable to be attend liturgy for good reasons, usually sickness or infirmity. Holy Communion is always from the gifts, the bread and wine, actually offered at the eucharistic liturgy which they are celebratingis currently being celebrated. Only with the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts uses gifts sanctified at the previous Divine Liturgy.

The Liturgy of St. James, is served only in certain places, usually on the [[feast day ]] of St. [[Apostle James the Just|James]] the "Brother of the Lord" ([[October 23]]), first [[Bishop]] of [[Church of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]]. It is the oldest, and longest of the liturgies.

The Divine Liturgy of St. [[Basil the Great]], is used on the Sundays of [[Great Lent]], [[Holy Thursday]], the Eves of [[Pascha]], [[Christmas]], and [[Theophany]], and the Feast of St.[[ Basil the Great]] ([[January 1]]). St. Basil shortened and standardized all the variations of liturgies that developed from the time of St. James till until the acceptance of Christianity by the Roman Empire.

The most common is the Divine Liturgy of St. [[John Chrysostom]], the liturgy used on all Sundays except those which fall during the Great Lent, and all holy days on which a Eucharistic liturgy is served except for the eves of Pascha, Christmas and Theophany, Holy Thursday, and the [[feast day]] of St. Basil the Great.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is a [[Vespers|vesperal]] service during which elements that were previously consecrated are distributed to the faithful. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is appointed for use on Wednesdays and Fridays during [[Great Lent]] (and certain feastdays feast days when they fall on a weekday during Great Lent) because the full celebration of the Eucharistic liturgy is generally prohibited on the weekdays of Great Lent. This service received its present form from St. [[Gregory the Great]], Bishop of [[Church of Rome|Rome]] in the sixth century.