Canon of Preparation for Holy Communion
Tone 2
This Canon is traditionally read the evening before receiving Holy Communion, together with the Prayers in Preparation, or on the morning of Communion itself.
Ode 1
Come, O People, let us sing a hymn to Christ God, Who divided the sea and guided the people Whom He led out of the bondage of Egypt, for He has glorified Himself.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. May Thy Holy Body and Precious Blood, O Lord, be my Bread of everlasting life, healing me of various afflictions.
Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Make me worthy to partake of Thy most pure Body and Divine Blood, O Christ, for I am unworthy and accursed, defiled by unseemly deeds.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. You are the good soil, blessed Bride of God, which bore the ear of grain, the Savior of the world, which sprang from your untilled field. Grant that I may be saved by eating it.
Ode 3
Having established me on the rock of faith, Thou hast strengthened me against my enemies. My spirit rejoices when I sing: There is none holy as our God, and none more righteous than Thou, O Lord.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Give me tears, O Christ, to cleanse the filth from my heart. Then, cleansed and with a good conscience, may I come with fear and faith to partake of Thy Divine Gifts, O Master.
Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. O Lover of mankind, may Thy most pure Body and Divine Blood be for the remission of my sins, the communion of the Holy Spirit, life everlasting, and estrangement from passions and sorrows.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Most holy Table of the Heavenly Bread which mercifully came down from on high, giving new life to the world; grant that I, who am unworthy, may now taste of Him in fear and live!
Ode 4
Thou didst not come as an emissary or an angel, Lord, but from a Virgin, taking flesh and saving the fulness of my humanity.
Because of human sins, Thou didst will to be slaughtered like a lamb, Most Merciful One Who wast incarnate for us.
Heal the wounds of my soul, Lord, and fully sanctify me. Grant, Master, that I, who am wretched, may partake of Thy Divine Mystical Supper.
Incline towards me, O Lady, the One Who came from your womb. Keep me, your servant, undefiled and spotless, that I may be sanctified by receiving the spiritual pearl.
Ode 5
You Who grants light and are Lord, Creator of the ages: guide me in the light of Your commandments; for we know none other as God but You.
As You foretold, O Christ, so let it be even now to me Your abject slave, and abide in me as You promised; for behold, I eat Your divine Body and drink Your Blood.
O Word of God, and God, may the live coal of Your Body be for the enlightenment of me who am darkened, and may Your Blood be for the cleansing of my defiled soul.
O Mary, Mother of God, august tabernacle of the sweet Fragrance: by your prayers, make me a chosen vessel, that I may partake of the holy Gifts of your Child.
Ode 6
Sunk in the depths of sin, I call on the unfathomable abyss of Thy compassion: Deliver me from destruction, O God!
Sanctify my mind, soul, heart, and body, O Savior! Grant, Master, that I may draw near, uncondemned, to the dread Mysteries.
By partaking of Thy Holy Mysteries, O Christ, may I be estranged from passions, joined to Thy Grace, and confirmed in life.
Through the prayers of Thy holy Mother, O God, the Holy Word of God, sanctify me wholly as I come to Thy divine Mysteries.
Lord, have mercy! (3 times) Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 2
Disdain me not to receive now, O Christ, the bread which is Your Body, and Your divine Blood, and to partake, O Master, of Your immaculate and dread Mysteries; and may these not be to me, the wretched one, for judgment, but for eternal and immortal life.
Ode 7
The most wise youths would not serve the golden idol, but walked into the flames themselves, scorning the pagan gods. They sang amid the flames and an Angel bedewed them with the words: The prayer of your lips has been heard.
May this communion of Thine immortal Mysteries, the fountain of good, O Christ, be my light, my life, and my dispassion. May it lead to progress and the increase of divine virtues, only Good One, that I may glorify Thee.
As I draw near to Thine immortal and divine Mysteries with love and trembling, may I be delivered from passions, enemies, want, and every sorrow. Grant that I may sing to Thee: blessed art Thou, Lord God of our fathers.
To you who are full of the Grace of God and bore Christ the Savior beyond understanding, I your servant pray—the impure praying to the Pure One: cleanse me, who now wish to draw near to the most pure Mysteries, from all defilement of flesh and spirit.
Ode 8
God came down upon the Hebrew youths in the fiery furnace and changed the flames into dew. Praise the acts of the Lord, and exalt Him throughout all ages!
O God, my Savior, allow me in my present despair to be a partaker of Thy heavenly, awesome, and holy Mysteries and of Thy divine and mystical supper, O Christ.
Having run to Thy kindness, O Good One, I cry out to Thee in fear: be in me and I in Thee, as Thou didst say, O Savior! Behold: emboldened by Thy mercy, I eat Thy Flesh and drink Thy Blood.
I tremble when I partake of fire, for fear that I might burn like wax or grass. O the awesome Mysteries! O the kind-heartedness of God! How can I, who am clay, commune of the Divine Body and Blood and become incorruptible?
Ode 9
Our God and Lord, the Son of the Eternal Father, revealed Himself to us. He was incarnate of a Virgin that He might enlighten those in darkness and gather those who were scattered. We therefore magnify the all-hymned Theotokos.
Taste and see that this is Christ, the Lord Who of old became like us for us and Who, having once offered Himself as an offering to His Father, is forever immolated, sanctifying communicants.
May I be sanctified in soul and body, Master! May I be enlightened! May I be saved! May I become Thy dwelling through communion of the Sacred Mysteries, having Thee living in me with the Father and the Spirit, O Most Merciful Benefactor!
May Thy Body and Most Pure Blood, my Savior, be to me as fire and light. May they set flame to my sinful matter, burning the thorns of passions and fully enlightening me to worship Thy Divinity.
God took flesh of your pure blood. Every race therefore hymns you, O Theotokos, and the intelligent multitudes glorify you, for through you we beheld the Ruler of all becoming substance in humanity.
| Prayers & Resources | Prayers in Preparation for Holy Communion →
Text from Prologue from Ochrid (app.ochrid.com), used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
© Portal Pascha. This is original content — please share by linking to this page rather than reposting the full text elsewhere.