Just another question regarding Communion. We have bread and wine after Communion in the Russian Orthodox Church. Are you supposed to drink the wine first, or eat the bread first?
Whatever the answer is, what then is the reason for taking the bread before the wine, or wine before the bread (if that makes sense)? Please excuse my ignorance.
You are talking about the "zapivka," Katherine. I've followed what most others have done, and that is to have a sip of the warm wine mixed with a little water from the "zeon" cup first. This is, I presume, to ensure that we swallow the Eucharist completely. Then the first thing we eat following the reception of Holy Communion is the blessed bread. In the Greek practice there is no zeon cup, but communicants take a piece of the blessed bread to eat immediately after receiving Communion. Does this help?
Hypo-Ortho
