[trad_anglican]

You'll all have to pray for me, I'll be still fasting long after you've celebrated Easter.

Yes, but you'll be starting later. During Lent, we have Sunday and Wednesday eucharist and Friday Benediction and Stations of the Cross. I find the Stations to be a very effective Lenten devotion. I must admit to having some concerns with Benediction. Do the Eastern churches have such a service? I tend towards the Anglican interpretation of real presence (though I don't go as far as Cranmer did). I believe that the purpose of the sacrament is communion, not adoration. I don't object to reserving the sacrament, but holding it up for everyone to see does bother me some.

[Invincibly Ignorant]

During Lent,

Just curious. Where's Lent in the scriptures?

[Wordsmith]

I'm not familiar with the Benediction service, but by your description it does not sound like anything for which the Orthodox have a parallel. Most weekday Lenten services are either vespers or modified Liturgies, as no host is consecrated except on Sunday and Wednesday evening full Liturgies.

[Wordsmith]

Re. consecration of the host. I'm fuzzy on the details, but this is what I know. We definitely believe in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Gifts. We don't define exactly at what point during the Liturgy this presence begins, but affirm that it definitely and only occurs during the Liturgy, the common work of the faithful. The Gifts can be kept in a special vessel, and these are used by the priest to provide communion to those in the hospital or bedridden. I believe that Gifts are set aside for this purpose after every Liturgy, but am not certain. There are definite rules for when Liturgies may be conducted, governed by the Church calendar. We do not allow multiple Liturgies to be performed on the same day, so we do not perform Saturday evening Liturgies or multiple Sunday Liturgies. Weekend communion is limited to Sunday mornings only (the early hours just after midnight on Easter.) During the Lenten season only, we perform on particular weekdays a service called the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. This is the only time that communion is taken in the Church at a time other than during a Liturgy at which the Gifts have been consecrated.

We do not reverence the Gifts specifically, although I do not see why we wouldn't. All Orthodox Churches maintain a full altar, partitioned from the main body of the Church, and there are very specific rules as to who may enter and why. The primary reason for this reverence of the altar is due to the belief that this is where the Holy Spirit descends upon the Holy Gifts. Orthodox may bow, or even do a full prostration, before the altar entrance at any point of the week or year, as a sign of reverence for Christ and the Gifts which are consecrated there. It is not taught that we are specifically reverencing the Gifts that may be present at any given time for use with the bedridden. Hope this helps. God Bless.