Holy Qurbana – Part 1

Faith Study Series – 2

Holy Qurbana – Part 1

 Introduction

Holy Communion was established by Jesus Christ in Capernaum, in the city of Jerusalem, at Mark’s residence.

Bible Portion: St. Mathew 26: 17 – 30, St. Mark 14: 12 – 26, St. Luke 22: 7 – 20, St. John 13: 21 – 30

 Origin and meaning of the word Qurbana

The word ‘Qurbana’ is from Syriac word ‘Qurbono’. Other Semitic languages like Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic etc., also uses the same word. The word, Qurban in Arabic, Qurbano in Syriac, Qurbana in Hebrew, literally means sacrifice or offering. Eastern Orthodox Churches use the word Holy Eucharist instead of Qurbana, which means thanksgiving. The word Eucharist is used because our Lord took the bread in His hands and gave thanks (Luke 22: 17, 19, 1 Cor 11: 24) to God and blessed and broke and gave to His disciples for the remission of sins, forgiveness of sins and for life eternal. Therefore, Qurbana is offering and thanksgiving.

 Queen of the Sacraments

Holy Qurbana is called Queen of the Sacraments. It is the most important sacrament.

 What is a sacrament?

The origin of the word Sacrament is from Latin word ‘Sacramentum’ which means ‘mystery’. We understand all sacraments as a mystery, which can be realized, but cannot be understood or comprehended, fully with our human intellects. A mystery is something which can be understood, but not fully. Holy Trinity is a mystery which human minds cannot understand fully. Creation is a mystery to the human minds. Because, it is unable to fully understand and comprehend mystery, we believe in the same with faith, and thus open the door of our understanding. For e.g., by faith, we understand incarnation, but cannot fully explain the mystery of how God became a human being. Sacrament is a mystery too. The Malayalam word for Sacrament is ‘Kudasha’ which has its origin from the Syriac word ‘Kadish’ or ‘Kudosho’ meaning to ‘sanctify’ or ‘make holy’. Every sacrament is sanctification.

Holy Qurbana is a mystery. Qurbana is a sacrament by which we receive sanctification. To receive sanctification, preparation is needed.

 Preparation for the Holy Qurbana

            St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians Chap 11, gives guidelines for the partakers in the Holy Qurbana.

 

“Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”(1 Cor 11: 27 – 32)

Qurbana is for our redemption and for eternal life. But for the unprepared, it can become a punishment and condemnation. For the prepared, it is a blessing.

 Preparations for the Holy Qurbana

1. Physical: Physical cleanliness is necessary to part take in the Holy Communion. Clean dress and clean body is necessary. All are expected to part take with an empty stomach also, except for those with health issues. Anatomically speaking, no food should be in the stomach while taking the Holy Communion, which is a symbolic expression to the belief that Jesus Christ comes to our body when it is completely empty. Christ has to come in to a clean and empty place, clean and empty from everything unwanted.

 2. Spiritual: The most important is the spiritual preparation. The preparation begins on Saturday evening at 6PM with the evening prayer. All kinds of unwanted things in our lives have to be stopped while preparing for the Holy Qurbana. All our anger, hatred, enmity, and all unwanted thoughts and anything and everything against Lord God have to be avoided during the time of preparation.

The time has to be spent in with God, with prayers and Bible meditations. These are to lead us to mental repentance which is a very important factor before part-taking in the Qurbana. It is the time to understand and analyze our short comings and sins and weaknesses. These sins realized have to be confessed. In cases when mind cannot be freed from certain sins and thoughts, one should go to a confession Father, and confess them and attain spiritual guidance. Thus, we can go to the Holy Qurbana with a freed and empty mind.

Preparation continues with reading and meditating on Psalms of repentance. Some of them are Psalms 51, 32 etc. It should be noted that all services in the Orthodox Church starts with Psalms 51 in which we cry out to our Lord God to “Have mercy on us” (v 1) and “cleanse me from my sin” (v 2). “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (Ps 32: 1). Continue our preparation through meditations. In meditations, we search in to our minds, talk to our intellects, and abolish the most heinous seeds of devils sown in it. Meditation should be continued by dedication and decision making. Decisions to avoid the unwanted things which we realize as a part of our lives have to be taken. Commitment has to be made to avoid the activities against our God. Through this commitment to Lord, our preparation is completed.

We should come to church with complete preparation and receive absolution. Through absolution, all the sins we have confessed are completely erased. Our God forgives all our sins, all that are confessed and those that are forgotten. Through Qurbana, we receive a new life, rededicated in Christ. The entire life of a person is rededicated. And therefore, Holy Qurbana is the Queen of the Sacraments.

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Faith Study Series: 2, by Rev. Fr. M. K. Kuriakose, at St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church, Philadelphia, PA, on Feb 16^th, 2008

Compiled by St. Thomas OCYM