What do we say in English?

[rusmeister]

I'm an American in Russia, and was chrismated just before coming here. Over the past couple of years I've learned the liturgy in old church Slavonic, and what believers say to each other in Russian.
In Russian all well-wishing is usually expressed by the formula: "I congratulate you with...(your birthday, Christmas)", where we just say "Happy..." This, uh, includes Communion and even Sunday (called "prazdnik", or holiday - each Sunday is so called).

Do you say "Happy Communion" or "Happy Sunday"? (I'd feel really stupid saying it, but some of my Russian friends have asked, and I have to tell them that I don't know.

[Oblio]

Our priest says Spraznikom on Sundays and other feasts :)

Some return the same, others Happy Feast Day, which sounds odd to me, and I only speak English.

[gzt]

I think "Merry Sunday" sounds better. I don't think I've ever heard general well-wishing for taking communion or for Sundays among us English-speakers, which, I think, is our loss.

[choirfiend]

We don't say things for normal Sundays. We might say a greeting like "God bless!," I suppose, but that is not only an Orthodox thing. For feast days, we say "The joy of the feast (to you)!" On Christmas, we say "Christ is born!" "Glorify Him!"

[Eusebios]

Well,at our parish the clergy, both ordained and minor, congradulate one another after re3cieving the gifts and say "Christ is in our midst" with the response, "He is and always shall be"

[Maximus]

You weren't chrismated in Manassas, Virginia, by any chance, were you?

[choirfiend]

Ah yes, that's what I'm used to hearing as you kiss the cross. At our current church, th epriest says "The blessing of the Lord be upon you" but I like "CHrist is in our midst" a lot better.

[rusmeister]

You weren't chrismated in Manassas, Virginia, by any chance, were you?

No, actually it was Menlo Park, CA.:sorry:
Yes they do say Christ is in our midst (Khristos sredi nas), but not on a regular basis. Sounds like a little blank area, if there's no standard saying.
The full form in Russian is not used so much. Usually it is expressed in the shortened form "S prichastiem!" (With communion!); the "I congratulate you" part being dropped. Same goes for Happy birthday, etc.
Anyway, thanks to all. It's nice to know, at least!

[Maximus]

No, actually it was Menlo Park, CA.:sorry:


Oh, sorry. Thought for a minute you were someone I know.

[theoforos]

In Finland, where I live, it is customary to kiss each other on the cheeks three times after the communion and say the following phrases (translated from Finnish): "For the healing of soul and body", "For the glory of God", "For the everlasting life". Has anyone encountered a similar custom anywhere else? The first and the last phrase obviously come from what the priest says when administering the communion to the communicants.