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Questions & Answers

Holy Communion

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › The Sacraments › Holy Communion

The question

I have a number of questions that I would like your Grace to answer in the order I present them.
  1. After partaking of Holy Communion;does the Body and Blood of our Lord get excreted out of our bodies just like any other food?


  2. If that's the case, is it not illogical that our Lord's body would become excreted as human waste?


  3. If it isn't excreted but absorbed, what is this process called? Does it ever happen with normal food? Is there a scientific word for this process where food is absorbed or is this a special case with our Lord's body?


  4. Finally if it is absorbed and never exits the body, then where does it all go?


  5. Does His Body and Blood remain in us forever? If so, when we bleed do we bleed part of the Lord's blood?(i.e. any time of the year including if someone hasn't taken Holy Communion for say 3 months or more)?

The answer

Any food we eat undergo mechanical and chemical processes as part of the digestion mechanism. After that the soluble digested products are absorbed into the body's cells and are then assimilated and used as a source of energy in the body. Finally the undigested material is egested. The amount of waste excreted by the body is a very small percentage compared to our daily food intake. Therefore not everything we eat is excreted; but is used by the body to build new cells or to provide energy. The Body and Blood we partake of in Communion are so minute in quantity and are taken after a long fast (at least nine hours) so they are totally digested and absorbed into the epithelial cells of the ileum, from whence they diffuse into the blood capillaries and are used totally by the body.

There is no specific or unique process by which Holy Communion is absorbed in the body.

You should think of Holy Communion in a more spiritual and mystical rather than materialistic way. When we say in the Mystery of Marriage that "they are no longer two but one flesh" (Mt 19:6) does this mean that they get stuck together like twins? Or if one spouse gets sick or dies that the other will automatically get sick or die? Although we partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord as a tangible material, their effect in our body is primarily and mystically spiritual.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 831 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.