Orthodox believe that fasting can be the 'foundation of all good'. The discipline of training the body can enable a believer to concentrate the mind totally on preparation for prayer and things spiritual. Even though today the call to fast is not always strictly followed, nevertheless many devout Orthodox Christians do undergo a time of genuine hardship and it has been said that:. Orthodox Christians in the twentieth century - laity as well as monks - fast with a severity for which there is no parallel in western Christendom Contributors from Opus Dei and a Greek Orthodox church discuss self-denial and corporal mortification with a Muslim chaplain.
The following seven principal Mysteries or sacraments are at the heart of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The first two are Baptism and Chrismation. Baptism of adults and infants is by immersion in water three times in the name of the Trinity and is both the initiation into the Church and a sign of forgiveness of sins.
Chrismation follows immediately after baptism and is by anointing with holy oil called Chrism. Chrismation is followed by Holy Communion. This means that in the Orthodox Church babies and children are fully communicant members of the Church. Chrism can only be consecrated by the Patriarch, or chief Bishop, of the local Church. Some of the old Chrism is mixed with the new, thus linking the newly baptised to their forbears in the faith. The Chrism is used to anoint different parts of the body with a sign of the cross.
The forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth and ears, the chest, the hands and the feet are all anointed. The priest says the words, "The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit" as he makes the sign of the cross at each point. The newly baptised Christian is now a layperson, a full member of the people of God the 'Royal Priesthood'. All Christians are called to be witnesses to the Truth. Chrismation is linked to Pentecost in that the same Holy Spirit which descended on the apostles descends on the newly baptised.
As in many Western churches the Eucharist is a service consisting, in the first part, of hymns, prayers, and readings from the New Testament, and in the second the solemn offering and consecration of leavened bread and wine mixed with water, followed by the reception of Holy Communion. The Orthodox believe that by the consecration the bread and wine are truly changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Communion is given in a spoon containing both the bread and the wine and is received standing.
A sermon is usually preached either after the reading of the Gospel or at the end of the service. At the end of the Liturgy blessed, but not consecrated, bread is distributed to the congregation, and non-Orthodox are often invited to share in this as a gesture of fellowship.
Both parts of the Liturgy contain a procession. At the Little Entrance, the Book of the Gospels is solemnly carried into the sanctuary and at the Great Entrance the bread and wine are carried to the altar for the Prayer of Consecration and Holy Communion. The prayer of consecration is always preceded by the proclamation of the Nicene Creed, frequently by the whole congregation.
The Orthodox Church lays particular emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist, and in the Prayer of Consecration calls on the Father to send down his Holy Spirit to effect the change of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Although the Church is a self-governing community the Church recognises the diaconate, the presbyterate or priesthood and the episcopate bishops. The Bishops in the Orthodox Church are considered to be the direct successors of the original Apostles and they are very much a unifying focus in the Church. Priests in the Orthodox Church are permitted to be married but may not marry after ordination. Bishops must always be celibate.
Orthodox priests normally do not shave their beards, in accordance with the Bible. All Orthodox Churches use the Mystery of Penance, or Confession, but in Greek speaking Churches only priests who have been blessed by the Bishop as 'Spiritual Fathers' are allowed to hear confession.
Children may be admitted to the sacrament of Confession as soon as they are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong. Through this sacrament sinners may receive forgiveness. They enter into confession with a priest often in an open area in the church not in a confessional as in the Roman Catholic tradition nor separated by a grille.
Both priest and penitent stand and a cross and book of the Gospels or an icon is placed in front of the penitent with the priest standing slightly apart.
This stresses that the priest is simply a witness and that forgiveness comes from God not the priest. The priest will then hear the confession and perhaps give advice. After confession the penitent kneels before the priest, who places his stole on the penitent's head saying a prayer of absolution. The Communion of Saints: Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that those who have died in Christ are alive today in heaven and that we can communicate with them through prayer.
They don't see this as worship of the saints; they believe that the saints can't act on their own power but only through interceding with Jesus on our behalf. Christ's Presence in the Eucharist: Orthodox Christians believe that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are literally transformed into the real body and blood of Christ.
Conversely, most Protestant denominations, if they celebrate the Eucharist at all, believe it to be only a symbolic reminder of the Last Supper. They also believe Mary was assumed bodily into heaven. Most Protestant denominations don't attribute a great deal of significance to Mary.
While Catholic beliefs are similar to those of Orthodox Christians, there is one important distinction. Catholics believe in the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which teaches that Mary herself was conceived without original sin. Without this belief in the Resurrection, the preaching and the faith of the Church is in vain, as Apostle Paul proclaims cf. The belief of the Church is that, on the third day, Jesus Christ rose again.
The Resurrection of Christ is considered by the Church to be the supreme declaration of faith. The Church believes that "He shall come again with glory to judge" the world and everyone on earth, to "render to every man according to his works" Romans of faith in Christ and His Gospel, his love expressed in good works, and in helping others, described as the "least," as explicit witnesses to the steadfastness of his faith in Him. In the Orthodox Church, the justification and salvation of man depends on the standard of "faith which worketh by love" Gal.
The Church firmly opposed the opinion that the Holy Spirit was created by the Son, and it pronounced the correct belief in the Nicene Creed at the Second Ecumenical Synod. The Orthodox Church does not use the phrase filioque , "and of the Son. It is evident from the Scripture that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father only; this was the belief from the very beginning of the One Undivided Church. When the church in the West inserted the " filioque " phrase into the Creed, this innovation precipitated the Great Schism of the Undivided Church.
The " filioque " phrase is an error. It is not found in the Scripture. It was not believed by the Undivided Church for eight centuries, including the church in the West.
It introduces a strange teaching of a double procession of the Holy Spirit and refers to two origins of the Spirit's existence, thus denying the unity of the Godhead. Almighty God created man after His own image and likeness cf.
Genesis , and bestowed upon him endowments to fulfill his destiny. God instructed the first created human beings, Adam and Eve, in what they ought not to do. They failed to obey God's commandment and fell into sin, through arrogance and disobedience which deprived them of God's Grace. With them, "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" Romans The Orthodox Church believes that the corruption of the God-like image of man was not complete, that man's will became blurred, but did not disappear.
Man's desire for salvation implies that man feels his inner emptiness and turns to God for forgiveness and redemption. The Orthodox Church invokes God's Grace for the sanctification of its members. For this reason, the Church uses sacred ceremonies instituted by Christ or His Apostles. The sacred ceremony of Baptism with that of Chrismation and the ceremony of the Holy Eucharist with that of Confession are the sacred Mysteria sacraments which every Christian should receive as an active communicant of divine Grace.
There are three other sacraments: ordination, marriage, and unction. They are granted to man, but are not obligatory, if not so desired. Jesus Christ commissioned His Apostles to "go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" Matthew The Church of Christ from the beginning baptized its members by a priest immersing them thrice in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Immersion baptism was the practice of the early Church. Only one baptism is allowed. Therefore, by dispensation, the Orthodox Church accepts as valid those baptisms performed in other Christian churches which baptize their members in the name of the Holy Trinity. By Baptism, the Church holds that all optional and original sins are cleansed by the Grace of God. The Chrismation of a newly baptized person is the confirmation of his faith which is "the seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The sacred ceremony of repentance and confession has been practiced from the very beginning by the Church. The Christian confesses his faith and sin, especially before partaking of Holy Communion, as a spiritual preparation for communion with God.
The very first word of Christ recorded in the Scriptures was "Repent," This is the only voluntary decision required of the Christian, asking a "change of mind" from evil and negligence to the active faith in God through communion with Him.
Absolution of sins is a divine act, for only God can forgive sins. In the Orthodox Church, the priest merely reads prayers, using verbs in the passive voice, invoking the remission of sins by God.
The Church states that after "one baptism for the remission of sins," the confession of sins through the Sacrament of Repentance is considered God's highest gift to man cf. Matthew ; John This ceremony of the Holy Eucharist is both His sacrifice for the salvation of man and a sacred mysterion. The Holy Eucharist is the seal of the proclamation of the communion with God. It is the only Sacrament offered by the Church in which the elements of bread and wine not only carry the Grace of God, as a mysterion , but are "changed" into and "are" the very Body and the very Blood of Christ, being a propitiatory sacrifice.
The institution of the Holy Eucharist is recorded in Matthew , Mark , Luke , and in First Corinthians Jesus, during that night of the Mystic Supper, took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said:. And he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
This awesome sacrifice has been entrusted to the Church to be re-enacted and given to the faithful for the nourishment of their faith and the forgiveness of their sins in remembrance of the Lord. The Orthodox Church maintains the practice of the early Church of giving both the Body and the Blood of Christ to all communicants, both clergymen and laymen.
Spiritual preparation is necessary for the recipient "to prove himself"; otherwise, he "eateth For the officiation of the Holy Eucharist, the Orthodox Church has four liturgies. That of St. Chrysostom is the most used. Prayer is considered the soul of the faith not because faith cannot express itself, but because it depends on prayer in order to express faith with vividness.
In this respect, faith and prayer are so correlated that it is difficult to distinguish between the two. Prayer, for a sincere and devoted member of the Church, has the power to modify him for a sound spiritual life.
Prayer is considered in the Orthodox Church the highest privilege a Christian has, that of communicating with God, praising and supplicating Him. Prayer is the center of the religious life of a devoted Christian. The Scriptures should be read prayerfully. Good works should be done with fervent prayers to Almighty God. The Lord of the Church left to us a divine model in the Lord's Prayer. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights.
Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Mary Fairchild. Christianity Expert. Mary Fairchild is a full-time Christian minister, writer, and editor of two Christian anthologies, including "Stories of Cavalry. Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter.
Updated January 14, Cite this Article Format.
0コメント