Letter 93: It is good and beneficial to communicate every day, and to partake of the holy body and blood of Christ. For He distinctly says, He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. John 6:54 And who doubts that to share frequently in life, is the same thing as to have manifold life.

**To Caesaria, on Taking Communion** It's good to take communion every day and receive the holy body and blood of Christ. He says it plainly: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (John 6:54). Who could doubt that sharing frequently in that life means having more of it? I personally take communion four times a week — Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday — and on other days when a saint is being commemorated. I should point out that if someone is forced by persecution to take communion with their own hands, without a priest or minister present, this isn't a serious offense. Long-established custom makes this clear. The monks living alone in the desert [monastics in the Egyptian and Syrian wilderness, far from any church], where there's no priest available, keep the consecrated bread at home and give themselves communion. In Alexandria and throughout Egypt, most laypeople do the same — they keep communion at home and receive it whenever they choose. Here's the reasoning: once the priest has completed the offering and distributed it, the person who receives it and later partakes of it on their own should trust that they are properly receiving it from the one who gave it. Even in church, when the priest hands you your portion, you take it with full authority over it and lift it to your own lips with your own hand. Whether you receive one portion at a time or several portions at once from the priest, it has the same validity.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To the Patrician Cæsaria, concerning Communion. It is good and beneficial to communicate every day, and to partake of the holy body and blood of Christ. For He distinctly says, He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. John 6:54 And who doubts that to share frequently in life, is the same thing as to have manifold life. I, indeed, communicate four times a week, on the Lord's day, on Wednesday, on Friday, and on the Sabbath, and on the other days if there is a commemoration of any Saint. It is needless to point out that for anyone in times of persecution to be compelled to take the communion in his own hand without the presence of a priest or minister is not a serious offense, as long custom sanctions this practice from the facts themselves. All the solitaries in the desert, where there is no priest, take the communion themselves, keeping communion at home. And at Alexandria and in Egypt, each one of the laity, for the most part, keeps the communion, at his own house, and participates in it when he likes. For when once the priest has completed the offering, and given it, the recipient, participating in it each time as entire, is bound to believe that he properly takes and receives it from the giver. And even in the church, when the priest gives the portion, the recipient takes it with complete power over it, and so lifts it to his lips with his own hand. It has the same validity whether one portion or several portions are received from the priest at the same time.

[Πρός: Πρὸς Καισαρίαν πατρικίαν, περὶ κοινωνίας] Καὶ τὸ κοινωνεῖν δὲ καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, καὶ μεταλαμβάνειν τοῦ ἁγίου σώματος καὶ αἵματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καλὸν καὶ ἐπωφελές, αὐτοῦ σαφῶς λέγοντος· ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα, καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα, ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον. τίς γὰρ ἀμφιβάλλει, ὅτι τὸ μετέχειν συνεχῶς τῆς ζωῆς οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἢ ζῇν πολλαχῶς; ἡμεῖς μέντοιγε τέταρτον καθʼ ἑκάστην ἑβδομάδα κοινωνοῦμεν, ἐν τῇ Κυριακῇ, ἐν τῇ τετράδι, καὶ ἐν τῇ παρασκευῇ, καὶ τῷ Σαββάτῳ, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις ἡμέραις ἐὰν ᾖ μνήμη ἁγίου τινός. Τὸ δὲ ἐν τοῖς τοῦ διωγμοῦ καιροῖς ἀναγκάζεσθαί τινα, μὴ παρόντος ἱερέως ἢ λειτουργοῦ, τὴν κοινωνίαν λαμβάνειν τῇ ἰδίᾳ χειρί, μηδαμῶς εἶναι βαρὺ περιττόν ἐστιν ἀποδεικνύναι, διὰ τὸ καὶ τὴν μακρὰν συνήθειαν τοῦτο δι’ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων πιστώσασθαι. πάντες γὰρ οἱ κατὰ τὰς ἐρήμους μονάζοντες, ἔνθα μὴ ἔστιν ἱερεύς, κοινωνίαν οἴκοι κατέχοντες ἀφʼ ἑαυτῶν μεταλαμβάνουσιν. ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ δὲ καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἕκαστος καὶ τῶν ἐν λαῷ τελούντων ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖστον ἔχει κοινωνίαν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὅτε βούλεται μεταλαμβάνει δι’ ἑαυτοῦ. ἅπαξ γὰρ τὴν θυσίαν τοῦ ἱερέως τελειώσαντος καὶ δεδωκότος, ὁ λαβὼν αὐτὴν ὡς ὅλην ὁμοῦ, καθʼ ἑκάστην μεταλαμβάνων, παρὰ τοῦ δεδωκότος εἰκότως μεταλαμβάνειν καὶ ὑποδέχεσθαι πιστεύειν ὀφείλει. καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐπιδίδωσι τὴν μερίδα καὶ κατέχει αὐτὴν ὁ ὑποδεχόμενος μετʼ ἐξουσίας ἁπάσης, καὶ οὕτω προσάγει τῷ στόματι τῇ ἰδίᾳ χειρί. ταὐτὸν τοίνυν ἐστὶ τῇ δυνάμει, εἴτε μίαν μερίδα δέξεταί τις παρὰ τοῦ ἱερέως, εἴτε πολλὰς μερίδας ὁμοῦ.