| Reforms cause schism. Furthermore, everyone knows what happened in Russia after Patriarch Nikon's revisions: a schism occurred, known as the Old Believers, which has yet to be fully healed. This is a long story, and we will not recount all the woes caused by the Old Believer schism, but suffice it to say that instigating a schism is not something to be taken lightly. The Russian Church has been much more cautious about even justifiable reforms after that experience. Not all the saints agree with St. Theophan on this point. St. Theophan did make the statement about needing new translations—not into modern Russian, but into better Church Slavonic—however, most feel that much has changed since St. Theophan's time; it was not done, and now it is not viable to make a revision in the spirit he expressed. People's qualifications have too seriously declined. Furthermore, for this single statement by St. Theophan there are many statements by other Russians saints who came after him, which cogently renounce any need for rewriting. For example, St. Nicholas of Japan wrote, " I feel that the translation of the Gospels and service books should not be lowered to the level of the folk masses, but to the contrary, the faithful should rise to an understanding of the Gospels and service books. " Holy Hierarch Philaret (Amphiteatrov), Metropolitan of Kiev (+1857), wrote, " God deliver us, should a translation of the Bible end in the translation of service books…, the content of which in Church Slavonic is first of all both satisfying and instructive, and a source of grace-filled inspiration. " Patriarch Sergius recognized his own mistake. The polemic around the Synodal committee of 1907, headed by Metropolitan Sergius (Starogorodsky), the future Patriarch of Moscow, was particularly heated. An edition of the Lenten Triodion (along with the other texts mentioned above) was approved by the Holy Synod in 1909, and the Synod intended to make that the only edition of the Triodion published from then on. The revolution of 1917 is cited as the intervening factor that prevented this. |
| In conclusion of his speech, Metropolitan Apostolos said, ‘The radiant celebration held to commemorate the great Prince Vladimir is a remarkable occasion for all of us to remember the inviolable fraternal bonds tying the two Churches and to come in touch again with our common and precious Byzantine heritage and to see how we should work for the unity so dear to us so that we may show all the beautiful and salvific world of the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and approach the forthcoming Holy and Great Council in the sincerity of our hearts’. In his response, Patriarch Kirill said, ‘It is important for us today to hear the voice of the Church of Constantinople, from which our people received baptism through the great Prince Vladimir. Thank you for remembering Patriarch Photius who sent Ss Cyril and Methodius to northern lands in which the Ross lived to preach the truth of Christ. We are aware how important was his presence in Crimea and northern Black See cost for sowing the seeds of Christian faith’. Stressing the world historical significance of the Baptism of Rus’, Patriarch Kirill said that ‘it is important in the first place for all the Slavic nations who lived and live in the vast lands of historical Rus’. His Holiness presented the guests with jubilee medals “In Memory of the Millennium of the Demise of Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles’. DECR Communication Service Photos by Patriarchal Press Service Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. |
| 17. The strict expert analysis of theological literature and church calendars and the right of the Publishing Council to provide them with the seal of approval, ’Approved by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church’, is especially important. The Council reminds that the official calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church is the one published by the Publishing Council. All other church calendars have to be in accordance with the official one. 18. The Publishing Council should consider creating a more effective system of church periodicals circulation. 19. The Council believes it necessary to pay more attention to the local social service. The Department of Charity and Social Service is charged to improve the co-ordination of the projects, with a special stress on the establishment of almshouses, orphanages, boarding schools, charity canteens, as well as the organisation of medical help to orphanages, hospitals and hospices, to the elderly, the condemned, drug and alcohol addicts, immigrants, victims of natural disasters and terrorist acts. 20. Monasteries are advised to take active part in the educational and social programmes organised by the dioceses. The monastic charity service should be realised through opening almshouses for the elderly and the feeble, providing free medical help, assistance in buying the necessary medication. The monasteries which have subsidiary farms should provide as many placements as they can to the unemployed. 21. The Council points out the necessity of taking care of retired clergymen, as well as the clergymen’s widows and poor members of their families. Creating an all-church rest home appears expedient. 22. In the sphere of co-operating with the Armed Forces and the law-enforcement agencies, acquiring a new level in the partnership between the Church and the state is necessary. For this, new legislation is required, particularly the laws regulating the status of chaplains, which would be in keeping with the historical traditions and the world practice. It is recommended that the law and agreement basis be worked out in dioceses that would guarantee stable good relations of the Church and the military structures in cases when, for instance, the commanders or the attitude of military authorities is changed. |
| In the Orthodox Church a married man may be ordained to the priesthood. His marriage, however, must be the first for both him and his wife, and he may not remarry and continue in his ministry if his wife should die. If a single man is ordained, he may not marry and retain his service. Deacons The deacons of the Church originally assisted the bishops in good deeds and works of charity. In recent centuries the diaconate has become almost exclusively a liturgical function in which the deacons assist at the celebration of the divine liturgy and other Church services. In more recent times, the diaconate has been extended to many as a permanent position for full or part-time service to the work of the Church. In the office of deacon, the men may now not only assist the priest and bishop in liturgical services, but will often head educational programs and youth groups, do hospital visitation and missionary work and conduct projects of social welfare. In these cases the deacons are not necessarily taken from the professional schools of theology, but are chosen directly from the local parish community. The Church’s rules about marriage are the same for the deacons as they are for the priests. In addition to the bishops, priests and deacons who comprise the central ordained ministries in the Church, the Orthodox tradition also has special blessings for the particular ministries of sub-deacons and readers. In the early church there were also special prayers and blessings for other Church ministries such as exorcists, doorkeepers, deaconesses, and lay-preachers; the latter still function in some churches today. Also in most churches today there are special ceremonies of blessing and installation of lay workers in the Church such as members of the parish council, catechists, choir singers and leaders of various organizations and projects. Funeral The funeral service in the Orthodox Church, although not considered as specifically sacramental, belongs among the special liturgical rites of the People of God. |
| The ordination of a presbyter directly follows the Eucharistic Great Entrance and thus again takes place before the Anaphora to show the presbyter’s central office as celebrant of the mysteries. During the ordination the candidate is taken from the deacons by presbyters and led around the altar three times as he kisses the four corners, and reverences the ordaining bishop. He kneels at the altar bending both knees and places his head upon the holy table as the bishop lays hands on his head, to recite the consecratory prayer. He is then invested before the people with the priest’s epitrachelion, zone (liturgical belt), and phelonion. He is also given the service book to guide his future ministry. The ordination of deacons, whose chief service is to read the Holy Gospel and assist at the divine liturgy and the distribution of the Holy Gifts, comes after the consecration of the gifts and prior to Holy Communion, to symbolize that his is the office of assistance (not consecration). As the choir sings the deacon is led three times around the altar, the four corners of which he kisses, reverencing the bishop. Following his ordination, which takes place with a different prayer of consecration while he kneels at the altar on one knee, he receives the liturgical fan (rhipidion) as a symbol of his office. Ordination to minor orders is performed by a bishop or monastic higumen who has received the blessing to do this, outside the sanctuary and at any communal worship service apart from the Eucharist. In the Orthodox Church all ordinations symbolically follow the consent given by the congregation and the clergy who say Axios when the candidate is presented by the bishop (“He is worthy to be ordained”). Because the nature of ordination is indelible, it can occur to the same rank only once and may never be repeated. SEE ALSO: Anagnostes (Reader); Deacon; Deaconess; Episcopacy; Epitrachelion; Phelonion; Priesthood; Rhipidion (Fan) REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS Langford-James, R. (ed.) (1975) A Dictionary of the Eastern Orthodox Church. New York: Burt Franklin. |
| On February 15, 2016, during his visit to the Republic of Paraguay’s capital Asuncion, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia visited the Russian plot at the central city Recoleta Cemetery, in which Russian émigrés, who joined the Paraguayan Army as volunteers and were killed in the Chaco War (1932-1935), were buried. The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church honored the memory of the dead compatriots and read at the cemetery the prayer for the repose of their souls. Participating in the prayer service were Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations (DECR), Metropolitan Anthony of Borispol and Brovary, chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Bishop Peter of Cleveland (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, ROCOR), Bishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Administrative Secretariat, Bishop John of Caracas and South America (ROCOR), Bishop George of Canberra (ROCOR), Bishop Leonid of Argentina and South America, Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan (ROCOR), Bishop Anthony of Bogorodsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Office for Institutions Abroad, Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman, Archpriest Andrey Milkin, head of the Patriarchal Protocol Service, and the Rev. Maxim Boyarov, rector of the church of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land in Buenos Aires. Praying at the service were descendents of first wave Russian émigrés. As a sign of respect for the memory of the Russian soldiers, the Paraguayan Army Guards of Honour clad in the uniform of Chaco War times lined up at the cemetery. Prayers were lifted up for the repose of the souls of " the leaders and soldiers of our Motherland who gave their lives for this country and her people and for all Orthodox Christians buried in this land. " At the Society of Officers building, a meeting took place between His Holiness and compatriots and descendents of Russian émigrés. Participating in the meeting were Metropolitan Hilarion, Russian Ambassador N. Tavdumadze and Russia’s Honorary Consul I. Fleischer-Shevelev. |
| 4. 2 sets of vows (future and present tenses) An ‘archaeological’ reading of the Alternative Service Book 1980 of the Church of England Marriage Service reveals a fragment of the old betrothal vows of the first millennium. The bride and bridegroom are each asked two sequential questions. These are: to the bridegroom, ‘N, will you take N to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honour and protect her, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?’: and, to the bride, ‘N, will you take N to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honour and protect him, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?’ The answer is ‘I will’, and then in words of the present tense each of them performatively ‘takes’ the other with the words ‘I take you to be my wife’ or husband. It may be doubted whether many clergy and marrying couples are aware that the future tense of the question ‘Will you take...?’ and the future tense of the response ‘I will’ is a tangible relic of the first millennium, when the vows, orweds, or troths were exchanged by the betrothed in anticipation of their nuptial ceremony sometime in the future. The future and present tenses stain retain a ‘trace’ of the verba de futuro and verba de praesenti of another age. The Alternative Service Book closely follows the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which also requires responses first in the future, and then in the present tense. Where does that come from? It comes from the future tense question in the early Sarum manual, ‘Wilt thou have this woman to thy wife?’ (with variations in the question put to the woman), and the answer (of both), ‘I will’. It can hardly be doubted, says one historian, ‘that we see here a survival from a time when the promise of espousal was held to be sufficiently ratified, even after a considerable, by the nuptial ceremony following’. 4. THE LITURGICAL OPPORTUNITIES A.R. Harcus has described how he uses the first calling of the banns as an occasion for a ‘fuller Betrothal ceremony in which the couple formally announce their intent and their families and the congregation, as representative of society at large, also acknowledge their role and responsibilities (an appropriate liturgy is supplied). Kenneth Stevenson translates several such rites from Eastern sources. Once the betrothal rite is restored, the present marriage service would also be restored, de facto, to its previous position in the couple’s life-history, as a culmination of a process rather than a singular event licensing talk of ‘before’ and ‘after’ a marriage. The ‘solemnization of marriage’ as the Book of Common Prayer calls it, restores the supposition that a marriage already exists, and that it has now reached the point of no return, of unconditional promise which requires the blessing of God and continuing divine grace to sustain it |
| The Need For Growth and Transformation Some may argue it is easier to lose one’s attention within Orthodox services because they are so repetitive. It is believed contemporary services draw one’s attention better because they change from week to week and are therefore more stimulating. First, it should be noted that Orthodox services are not completely repetitive—the readings, the homilies, and a few of the hymns do change every week. Second, repetition is good for us: it is how we learn. Besides being an assembly by which we give God His due—praise and thanksgiving—Orthodox worship services are also classrooms of instruction about how to rightly believe and behave. Part of the reason why the worship of the Orthodox Church is so ritualistic is because a lot of information is being condensed within a ninety minute service. You can spend decades going to Divine Liturgies every Sunday and still not plumb all the rich, symbolic depths of meaning found in that ceremony. The Divine Liturgy is unchanging because its formula works to help us grow in knowledge and virtue to become Christ-like—which is the purpose of our lives (Colossians 1:28-29; 2 Peter 3:18). Even if our attentions occasionally wander (which they shouldn’t!), something of the service is still absorbed within our spirit to bless our souls. Repetition is transformational. After a while, the Divine Liturgy becomes more than an ordinance or an observance; it becomes something intimately a part of out lives—like the beating of our hearts (and no one complains when hearts keep the same life-giving rhythm!). The contemporary worship services of non-Orthodox churches can be very entertaining. The electronically amplified instruments, the emotional praise choruses, the dramatic preaching, the multimedia presentations, can all make for an enjoyable service. However, watching TV, going to a movie, or being at a music concert can also be pleasurable. Yet how much do we actually remember from these events? How much of it helps us to grow towards maturity in the Faith (Hebrew 5:12-6:1)? We must ask ourselves whether worship was meant by God to be entertaining. Shouldn’t worship be something different than what the world produces? Shouldn’t worship be something that reverences God rather than regales the congregation? |
| On March 23, the commemoration day of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Tyron, prayers for the victims of the terrorist attack were offered up during Divine Liturgy at the litany for the dead celebrated at the Metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia, Bulgaria. On March 24, the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, Patriarchal Exarch of Southeast Asia celebrated the Liturgy at St. Vladimir’s church in Bekasi, Indonesia. During the service, the archpastor said special prayers for the recovery of the injured and for the repose of the innocents killed in terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk. Fervent supplications were offered up in all the churches in the Diocese of Singapore that includes Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. At the end of the service, the office of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was celebrated. On March 23, Metropolitan Nestor of Chersonesus and Western Europe, Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe and administrator of the Spanish-Portuguese diocese, celebrated the litany for the dead at the Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene in Madrid, Spain, in commemoration of all the innocents killed in monstrous terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall. On the same day, the Divine Liturgy and memorial service were celebrated at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris, France, after which clergy and parishioners offered special prayers for the repose of all those tragically killed in terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow and for the recovery of the injured. Also, Metropolitan Nestor gave his blessing to the archpastors and clergy of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Western Europe to celebrate memorial services for the victims of the terrorist attack in all churches and parishes of the Exarchate on March 23 or 24. “Compassion, mercy, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has suffered for us and is suffering with us, and our common prayer is the answer to this truly satanic and needless cruelty and inhuman barbarism,” Metropolitan Nestor said. |
| Ministry of Laity in Daily Life In one congregation, the visiting preacher’s sermon was on “ministry of the laity being primarily in the world work, jobs, community, family, as well as the church.” A layman, Mike, commented afterwards, “That doesn’t go for my work. I rent houses, and I guess that’s one job everyone labels ‘bad guys’. Seems like I spend my time fighting with tenants. So I was never able to take much church with me on the job.” Jean M. Haldane 05 September 2011 The hidden ministry of the people needs to be brought into the light. In practice, the church rewards institutional activities and gives little attention to men’s and women’s daily ministry in their workplaces, in their homes and during times of recreation. Church-related ministries are known, recognized, supported, encouraged. Yet there are many works of ministry in the world that, if known, would spark many more. Already the laity serve in a world of power, but if what they are doing is unknown or assumed or not given attention, how can laity be aware that the church values the servanthood? Many laity have a deep sense of service, of being servant. One good reason stems from their devotional lives centered in the corporate worship of the church. That ritual of giving and receiving is at the heart of the Eucharist. A second good reason has to do with people’s perception about the life of Jesus. Many understand Jesus as servant. And they have appropriated this image for their own lives. When laity are asked to describe experiences of giving service, they can do so, usually with humility and modesty. But their sense of “real” ministry continues to be for in and for the church. Yet laity have great opportunity to carry out their Christian commitment “in the world”—for that is where they spend most of their time. Monday to Friday, weekends, too, for many, men and women are working in the fields of industry, agriculture, education, politics, retailing, “helping” professions, etc. at all levels of responsibility. These men and women are also maintaining relationships, responsibility to spouses, parents, children, friends, and many groups in the community and society as a whole. They are members of numerous organizations, social service groups, environmental groups, political associations, peace efforts, associations and task forces of all kinds, as well as sports and health clubs …. Are they ministering “in the world?” |
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