The word "Eucharist" comes from the Greek meaning "thanksgiving," but perhaps is found closer to the meaning "grateful." And so, each time we celebrate the Divine Liturgy, each time we participate in the Eucharist, in the very Body and Blood of Christ, we do so with gratefulness, with thanksgiving.
Within the bounds of the Divine Liturgy, at the Anaphora (which again, from the Greek, means "repetition") we offer the following prayer from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom:
Priest: Let us give thanks unto the Lord.
People: It is meet and right to worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity One in Essence, and undivided.
After this, the main celebrant again offers, on behalf of all, the following prayer:
It is meet and right to hymn You, to bless You, to praise You, to give thanks to You, and to worship You in every place of Your dominion: for You are God ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever-existing and eternally the same, You and Your Only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. It was You that brought us forth from non-existence into being, and when we had fallen away You raised us up again, and did not cease to do all things until You had brought us up to heaven, and had endowed us with Your Kingdom which is to come. For all these things we give thanks to You, and to Your Only-begotten Son, and to Your Holy Spirit, for all things of which we know and of which we know not, whether manifest or unseen; and we thank You for this Liturgy which You have deigned to accept at our hands, though there stand by You thousands of archangels and hosts of angels, the Cherubim and the Seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, who soar aloft, borne on their pinions.
Our thanks is repeated. And that is also "meet and right," for God's benefits to us do not cease. All too often, His benefits go unnoticed. How many good things do I receive each and every day which I do not stop and attribute to God?! How many times might I take cursory notice, and not give thanks!?
Within the Liturgy of Saint Basil, we find perhaps an improved way of coming before the Lord in thanksgiving. He gives us this prayer:
O our God, the God of salvation, teach us to thank You worthily for the benefits which You have performed for us and still perform with us.
My ability to offer thanks to God is inadequate, and in asking for His divine instruction, I demonstrate my desire to "get it right". Giving thanks to God is not something done just in words. It is accomplished by deeds, by helping those in need, by praying for those who need prayer, by offering kind words to those who can benefit from them, by praying for those who abuse us.... By loving enemies and caring for "the least of His brethren." When we offer thanks to Him in this way, by action AND by word, we then may seek to continue Saint Basil's prayer.
Having accepted our offering, O our God, purify us from every defilement of flesh and spirit, and teach us how to perfect our sanctification in the fear of You, so that receiving a portion of Your holy things with a pure conscience we may be united with the Holy Body and Blood of Your Christ. Having received them worthily, may we have Christ dwelling in our hearts, and may we become the Temple of Your Holy Spirit.
When will our thanskgiving be complete? I dare say never. But while we remain in this life, our giving thanks to God needs to be seen not as an offering, but as a sustaining component of our being. We are strong in faith when we find God's gifts in everything He allows to come our way. Yes, this applies even to hardship. How is this possible? Consider how those you may have encountered (if you need inspriation, think through just this past year) who were stricken with terrible disease. Some recovered, and in their recovery we find that our being drawn to God in prayer was fundamental in His "gift" of the healing of the disease. Some did not recover, and in their grace-filled dealing with their illness, we found God's gift of strength, dignity, and perhaps an even greater immersion into our own prayerful connection with Him. These gifts were given to those who were stricken with the illness, but also to all who came through love to pray with and for them. And today, all of us are able to look back with profound thanksgiving for those "gifts"! And what of the "gifts" of drivers who cut us off in traffic - a gift for self-control and humility. Or the "gift" of a neighbor who is alone and just needs someone to talk with - a gift of sacrificing time which some see as lost, but we come to view as serving one in need. There are myriads of difficult things in our lives which, if we accept God's teaching us to thank Him, we come to view not as burdens, but as "gifts"!
Saint Basil's prayer ends with the ultimate goal of all of this issue of giving thanks.
Enable us, even to our last breath, to receive a portion of Your holy things worthily, as a support on the road to eternal life and an acceptable defense at the dread judgment seat of Your Christ. That we also, together with all the saints who through the ages have been well-pleasing to You, may become partakers of Your eternal good things, which You have prepared for those who love You, O Lord.
A blessed Thanksgiving to all! Let us give thanks unto the Lord!!
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