“At Thy Mystical Supper, receive me today as a communicant, O Son of God, for I will not reveal Thy mystery to Thine enemies, nor will I give Thee a kiss like Judas. But like the thief I confess Thee: ‘Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.’”
On 17 April 2025, Holy Thursday, His Eminence Metropolitan John of Dubna presided at the Divine Liturgy at the cathedral, surrounded by the clergy of the parish.
Holy Thursday is above all the day on which Jesus instituted the Eucharist, a divine gift that would become the foundation of Christian life. At the Last Supper, the Lord broke bread and shared wine with his apostles, saying: “This is my body, this is my blood” (Matthew 26:26-28). This act, of immeasurable depth, brings the apostles into the fullness of the mystery of salvation. Through the Eucharist, Christ does not merely give his body and blood as a symbolic sign, but makes himself truly present under the species of bread and wine. St John Chrysostom observes that “the Eucharist is the bread of the soul” and that, through it, “we become partakers of the divine nature of Christ” (On the Eucharist).
The Eucharist is therefore much more than a mere remembrance; it is a living mystery of communion with Christ, the Son of God, and it grants us immortality.
We offer you this reflection by Fr Alexander (Siniakov), rector of the Russian seminary, on Holy Thursday.
