Do all Oriental Orthodox Churches reserve the Eucharist?

[griego catolico]

I am curious to know which Oriental Orthodox Churches reserve the Eucharist.

I am under the impression that the Coptic Church does not reserve the Eucharist.  Why is that the case? Is the Eucharist not taken to those who are not able to attend liturgy due to illness?

What about the other Oriental Orthodox Churches(Armenian, Syrian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Malankara) and the Assyrian Chruch of the East?  Do they all reserve the Eucharist for the sick?

Your replies will be much appreciated.  
God bless you.

[Stavro]

Dear Grieco Catolico,

I am under the impression that the Coptic Church does not reserve the Eucharist

The Coptic Church reserves the Eucharist for the sick people who cannot come to the church for being disabled and for a very valid reason.  

Is the Eucharist not taken to those who are not able to attend liturgy due to illness?

It is taken to the ill.

What about the other Oriental Orthodox Churches(Armenian, Syrian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Malankara)

I am not sure, but I think they do.

For more general info on the Eucharist in the Coptic Orthodox Church, please visit the following websites:
http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/sacrament12.pdf
http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/sacrament11.pdf
http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/sacrament13.pdf

Peace,
Stavro

[Jonathan]

I'm pretty sure It can't be reserved in the Coptic Church, that the priest has to take Communion to the sick immediately after the Liturgy and not wait, but I'm certain that It must be consumed the same day and never kept over night.

[Stavro]

Jonathan: I'm pretty sure It can't be reserved in the Coptic Church, that the priest has to take Communion to the sick immediately after the Liturgy and not wait, but I'm certain that It must be consumed the same day and never kept over night.

Apparently there is a confusion on my part on what reserving the Eucharist means. I understand that those who are not present in the liturgy for illness can partake in the Holy Body and Holy Blood as the Priest reserves it for them.
He takes it immediately after the liturgy to the houses of the sick.
I didn;t know that in the RC church the Eucharist can stay overnight. Does it ?
Peace,
Stavro

[Jonathan]

Sorry, I'm not exactly sure how some words should be used, especially in the contexts of different traditions.

It is the RC practice to always have the Eucharist reserved in the Tabernacle, at all times, so at the end of each Mass the Body is reserved there until the next Mass.  There is never a time when the Body is not present in an RC Church, except I believe on Good Friday.

In the EO Church, or at least some EO Churches, there are no weeday Liturgies during Lent, instead Communion is reserved from Sunday, and given to the faithful at "Presanctified Liturgies" during the week until the next Sunday when there's another Liturgy.  I don't know much about this practice, so I appologize if I've misrepresented it.

In our Church Communion is never reserved and sitting there, the priest may take It immediately to the sick, but It's never left just sitting, and is never reserved over night.

[arimethea]

In the EO on Holy Thursday Liturgy the reserve mysteries (that being the body and the blood) are exchanged. What was not used the previous year is placed in the chalice and a new lamb is prepared in a similar manner as it is prepared for the presanctified Liturgy. This reserved Eucharist is kept in the tabernacle and what the priests and the deacons use to commune the sick (and sometimes used for communion at baptism too) during the year.

So when EO talk about reserved mysteries this is what they are refering to.

[Thomas Daniel (Reji)]

Dear List

This was an interesting question. I passed this question to my spiritual fathers and friends and I got following answers from two of them. Whish I wish to share with you all

In HIS Love
Thomas Daniel (Reji)

From Very. Rev. Kuriakose Corepiscopa Moolayil
 
Dear Reji,
The SOC has  provisions to reserve the Eucharist for emergencies and to take to the sick. It is a usual practice in the old churches in Malankara. I don't know about the tradtions in the middle east.
Kadavil Thirumeni (Metropolitan) mentions about this practice in his book, 'Eucharist Service' P.141 MASC edition.

Kuriakose Corepiscopa Moolayil
Director, Mor Adai Study Centre &
Vicar, St.George J.S.O.Church, Chicago.

From Dr. Thomas Joseph

Reji - The SOC in the Near East does have the tradition of keeping the Eucharist for emergencies. In fact many of their churches have a "Beth Qurbono" for this purpose in which the Eucharist is stored in a pyx. I am attaching a picture of the Beth Qurbono at St. Mark's, Hackensack, NJ.
Thomas Joseph, Ph.D.
Web Master, Syriac Orthodox Resources
[ http://sor.cua.edu/ ]
Tech. Editor, Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies
[http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/]

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