How the creation of the world and of angels reveals God’s order for our place and function in life – an order that is carefully preserved in the Church but lost in “Contemporary Christianity”.

St. Dionysius the Areopagite describes the order and hierarchy that exists in the world, the order by which God rules over His creation.  For the creation is orderly.  We read in the beginning of the book of Genesis that the world was shapeless and void, but God brought it into increasing order through the process of creation, working through His uncreated, ever-existing Word.  As St. Dionysius teaches, before God made the world, He created the Angels in three ranks of three orders each:  the Cherubim, Seraphim and Thrones; Authorities, Dominions, and Powers; and Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.  The chief angels – the Cherubim – stand directly before God, although even they cannot see Him in His true being, since He cannot be comprehended by any created being.  Each rank conveys God’s grace and instructions to the next rank, order by order, until they are brought down to our created world.  And similarly, our prayers ascend up to God through the ranks of angels, each rank purifying and transmitting the prayers it has received.

This is not to suggest that we have no contact with God; on the contrary, we ourselves fit into this blessed hierarchy, in which everything is done decently and in order [I Cor. 14:40].  For the rank below the Angels is mankind itself.  And as the Angels are divided into three ranks, so mankind is also divided into three ranks: the clergy (divided into bishops, priests, and deacons), the sacred people (monastics, divided into novices, professed, and schema-monks), and those being purified (divided into the initiates – the Baptized and believing Christian laity; the repentant – those preparing for Baptism or those who have fallen into serious sin after Baptism; and the possessed – those outside the Church of God).  Grace is mediated from God to the created world through these ordered hierarchies, showing us the beautiful and elegant structure which sustains the world.   Each of us has a place in the hierarchy, a place which God has given us.  Think how different this view is from that of modern science.  In St. Dionysius’s understanding of the universe God’s guiding hand is everywhere, mediated in an orderly and loving manner.  There is no blind chance at work; there are no mindless “natural laws”; there is no purposeless evolution.  Rather, there is meaning and purpose in every single act, because every one of our acts is either a proper participation in the process of passing on God’s grace through our order and returning our prayers to Him through the Celestial Hierarchy, or it breaks the link in the hierarchy and damages the whole creation.  For the point of the hierarchy is that each member must play his assigned role for it to work properly.  Some of God’s grace may fail to reach the repentant and the possessed, if the initiates do not transmit it.  And the prayers of the initiates and those below do not ascent upward as well if the monastics and the clergy are themselves careless and impure.  The significance of a hierarchy is precisely this: it only works properly if each rank performs its functions correctly.  Satan’s fall removed some members of the higher orders, and in a real sense weakened God’s creation.  Man’s fall disrupted the hierarchy even more, since there are now no human beings who truly meet their calling in the Divine Hierarchy.  If we look at the state of the world around us today, we cannot fail to see the disastrous results of the failure of Christians to fulfill their assigned functions.  And the horrors of our world are substantially our fault, because we do not even see our role in sustaining God’s creation, much less fulfill it…

The Divine Liturgy in the Church is the fullest expression on earth of God’s hierarchy.  At the Liturgy you can see the orders of the earthly hierarchy present before God’s throne.  The clergy stand at the front, immediately before the Throne of God, the Holy Table.  The initiates stand in the body of the temple, the nave.  The repentant stand outside the nave in the narthex.  And the possessed are completely outside the temple of God.  The Liturgy is offered with beauty and order, raising our prayers to the Celestial Hierarchy to convey to God’s throne, and in return bringing down God’s grace to us on earth.  At the Liturgy we join with the whole Divine Hierarchy in Heaven and on earth, and we truly see our place in God’s creation.   When the Liturgy is over, we must not lose sight of God’s order for the world. We must continue to send our prayers upward to His throne in everything we do; and we must look for His grace to continue to descend to us through our private prayers at every moment during the day.  This is our calling as Christians.  How different this is from what the world wants us to believe!  We are not little lumps of meaningless flesh that live for a few years, seeking maximum pleasure, then die and cease to exist.  Rather, we are God’s creatures [we even see the Divine order and hierarchy in body, soul, and spirit], made by Him for a specific purpose and assigned a place in the order of the universe.  Only you can fulfill the spot for which you were created.  And if you fail to fill it, you detract from and damage all of God’s creation.  How awesome our role!  How frightening to look at the world around us and realize that our failure to be what we were made to be is the root cause of many social and moral evils we see!  One day our eyes will be opened and we will see God’s creation as it is.  I pray that day may be now, where there is still time for each of you to begin to take your place in it.  But, if it is not now, it will be at the dread judgment seat of Christ, when it will be too late to do anything but gnash your teeth and cry out in rage, frustration, and grief.  Learn to see the world as it truly is.  And take your place in God’s order with obedience, love, and joy.

From a talk given by +Fr. Seraphim Johnson, my spiritual father of blessed memory.

[This view of God’s order as revealed in the creation and function of the Angels and in the order of the Church is lost in a “Christianity” that seeks to hold on to Adam and Eve’s autonomy of the individual – the original sin – and perceives Christianity as essentially just “God and me”, and the Church as whatever everybody wants it to be.]

Reflections on things that drove me to Orthodoxy, or as some might say, to madness. 

I have been an Orthodox Christian now for some 25 years. I still reflect on my earlier years as a Free Will Baptist and later as a Lutheran and recall many of the feelings and thoughts that sent me in search of the historical Church of Christ. It all began when I was a Free Will Baptist right after I graduated from college and was pastoring my first church outside of Detroit, Michigan. 

 I used to wonder why there were so many different denominations with so many different beliefs. It didn't make sense to me that everyone claimed to believe the same Bible and be led by the same Holy Spirit and yet had so many conflicting and contradictory views of the Christian Faith. It seemed to me that instead of the one Lord, one Faith and one Baptism of the Bible there were many Lords, many Faiths and many Baptisms. I just couldn't reconcile all of this with any sense of integrity or authenticity of faith. “They can’t all be right,” I reasoned, “since they contradict each other.” “And if they can’t all be right which one is the true Christian Faith in its fullness?” I knew it couldn’t be the ones that just started 50 years ago, or 100 years ago, or 1500 years ago. I finally concluded it had to be the one that could trace its unbroken history, doctrine, faith, worship and practice back to the first century. 

 I used to wonder by what authority our church leaders interpreted the Bible. What made one person's interpretation more believable or more authoritative than the next person who had a different interpretation? By what authority did every Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane say, “Thus sayeth the Lord”? The Bible was claimed by everyone as the final authority but with everyone free to say and do their own thing there really was no authority at all. The Bible was at the mercy of everyone’s interpretation. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes – a clear contradiction of the Bible itself, or at least to someone’s interpretation of the Bible. It seemed to me that everyone had become a little pope unto himself/herself.

 Everyone said, "Oh, we all agree on the major stuff" but I knew we didn't. We disagreed on many major doctrines and practices, things that had a direct bearing on our salvation. Besides, I wondered who determines what is major and what is not? And if the differences didn't really matter why did we separate into thousands of denomination and go our separate ways and hang out our different signs and preach our different doctrines?

 I used to wonder about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, as we called it. By what authority did we say there are no sacraments and these are just symbolic reminders? I couldn’t reconcile this with a number of Bible verses that seemed to attach saving significance to these events. As mere outward symbols they seemed so empty, useless, awkward and even silly. “Why bother?” I asked. It was as though we were children playing house or actors upon a stage. It was all just words with no reality. 

 Everything was based on the individual’s invisible thoughts and feelings. If you felt saved, you were saved. If you felt like you had the Holy Spirit, you had the Holy Spirit. If you felt assured of heaven you were assured. If you felt called to preach, you were called, etc. Everything was so nebulous and unknown beyond what one felt. If you felt like this preacher or that preacher was the right one, he was the right one. If you felt like such and such church had the truth, then it was so. It was all subjective and individualistic and privatistic. There was no real authority beyond the individual’s thoughts and feelings. And few seemed to be bothered by the fact that people’s thoughts and feelings can be very wrong and even demonic even while they are convinced they are from God. We knew the Bible verse about the heart “is desperately wicked and who can know it” but like so many other Bible verses it got lost in the individuals thoughts and feelings. It seemed to me that we had fallen into the same trap Adam and Eve fell into – the autonomy of the individual. 

I struggled with the same issues in regards to worship.  Worship was totally individualistic from the type or forms of worship to how worship was experienced.  People chose churches on the type of worship they liked.  If the preacher was a good speaker and entertainer, people flocked to that.   And everything was based on the feelings of the preacher as to what he preached and the theme for each Sunday.  I grew weary of making up my own forms of worship based on subjective feelings and competing with worldly forms of entertainment.  It seemed that the value and meaning of worship should not be based on the effectiveness of some speaker, the thrill of some entertaining music or the feelings of the worshipper.  I was convinced that the worship of Almighty God deserved more than my flimsy and inadequate words and more than worldly forms and themes.  

 I began to feel I must find the true Church and the true Faith for my salvation. I could no longer trust my feelings or a thousand different feelings and voices all claiming to speak for the same God, by the same Holy Spirit and from the same Bible.

PUTTING THE CROSS BEFORE THE INCARNATION

CHRIST IS BORN!  GLORIFY HIM!

There is a prevailing tendency today in contemporary Christianity to overlook the significance of the Incarnation.  This is because the teaching of the Church regarding Theosis as the essence of the Christian Faith and of Salvation has been lost.  

In contemporary Christianity there is hardly any emphasis on the Incarnation.  Everyone wants to quickly relate His birth to His cross and His death as though that's all that matters.  Everyone wants to jump immediately from Bethlehem to Calvary.  "He was born to die for our sins" is the prevailing understanding.  This is because salvation is perceived primarily as the forgiveness of sins, a sort of fire insurance, if you will.   

But not so in the Orthodox Christian Church.  In the Church, the Incarnation stands on its own as a crucial and vital truth that reveals the renewal/redemption of creation and of mankind as the point of reunion between heaven and earth and the means by which fallen man can once again partake of the Divine Nature.  Redemption is in the Incarnation.  In Christ the God-Man, all of creation is renewed and once again has the potential of being used for our salvation and returned to God as a sweet smelling offering.  

The Incarnation reversed the fall of Adam just as the obedience of the Blessed Virgin Mary reversed the fall of Eve.  The forgiveness of our sins is one very important part of our redemption but only one part.  The forgiveness of sins is the prelude and continuing condition for Theosis.  The goal of the Christian Faith is not merely to be forgiven but to return to union with God and to paradise, a journey that begins here and now and is possible only via the Incarnation.  God was in Christ, not merely forgiving sins, but "reconciling the world unto Himself".  Or in the words of St. Peter to make us "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1: 4).  This, of course, is a participation in the Divine Nature by Grace, and that only in His Energies and not in His Essence.  These, too, are important distinctions that have been lost in contemporary Christianity which are crucial to avoiding false teachings and understandings about salvation.  

In the Church we linger with the Incarnation in a special way until the Feast of Theophany as we remember and celebrate His circumcision, Naming, flight to Egypt, the Slaughter of the Innocents, the visit of the Magi, His earthly Mother and Father and His earthly kinsmen, but mostly of how the God/Man reunites and restores the human with the divine.  

But it doesn't end there.  The Incarnation is celebrated throughout the year in the life and worship of the Church in our daily and weekly hymns and prayers, the fasts and Feasts, the reliving of His earthly life and that of His Blessed Mother, and first and foremost in the Communion of the Body and Blood of the Incarnate Saviour. 

The cross finds it meaning and power in the Incarnation.  Not the other way around. 

The Early Church Fathers on Apostolic Succession:

The Early Fathers believed that authentic teaching and authority came through apostolic succession and the Church of Christ would exist only within the walls of this succession.  To be sure, the succession required is not merely an historical succession but a succession of the same Life and Truth.  In other words, true Apostolic Succession is a two-sided coin and neither side can be omitted.  There must be an historical succession that can be traced directly back to the Apostles but also a succession of the same Teachings and Practices.  Thus, the Orthodox do no consider the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran succession to be true since they have departed from the succession of the Apostolic Teachings and have followed false teachings invented by the Pope, Luther and others.  And, of course, the Protestants/Evangelicals make no claim of and see no need for any Apostolic Succession.

Clement of Rome (first century), third bishop of Rome after the Apostle Peter, taught:

Our Apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned, and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry (Letter to the Corinthians 44:1 [A.D. 95]).

Ignatius of Antioch, first century, third bishop of Antioch and student of the Apostle John.  Some ancient traditions tell us that he was the child whom the Saviour set in the midst as an example of the child-like humility required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, taught:

You must all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as you would the Apostles. Reverence the deacons as you would the command of God. Let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop, or by one whom he appoints. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there… (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8:1 [A.D. 110]).

Irenaeus, second century bishop of Gaul taught:

It is possible, then, for everyone in every Church, who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the Apostles which has been made known throughout the whole world. And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the Apostles, and their successors to our own times: men who neither knew nor taught anything like these heretics rave about [Gnostics]. For if the Apostles had known hidden mysteries which they taught to the elite secretly and apart from the rest, they would have handed them down especially to those very ones to whom they were committing the self-same Churches. For surely they wished all those and their successors to be perfect and without reproach, to whom they handed on their authority (Against Heresies 3:3:1 [A.D. 180-199]).

It is necessary to obey those who are the presbyters in the Church, those who, as we have shown, have succession from the Apostles; those who have received, with the succession of the episcopate, the sure charism of truth according to the good pleasure of the Father. But the rest, who have no part in the primitive succession and assemble wheresoever they will, must be held in suspicion (ibid 4:26:2).

Tertullian of Carthage, first – second century, taught:

Moreover, if there be any [heresies] bold enough to plant themselves in the midst of the apostolic age, so that they might seem to have been handed down by the Apostles because they were from the time of the Apostles, we can say to them: let them show the origin of their Churches, let them unroll the order of their bishops, running down in succession from the beginning, so that their first bishop shall have for author and predecessor some one of the Apostles or of the apostolic men who continued steadfast with the Apostles. For this is the way in which the apostolic Churches transmit their lists: like the Church of the Smyrnaeans, which records that Polycarp was placed there by John; like the Church of the Romans where Clement was ordained by Peter. In just this same way the other Churches display those whom they have as sprouts from the apostolic seed, having been established in the episcopate by the Apostles. Let the heretics invent something like it. After their blasphemies, what could be unlawful for them? But even if they should contrive it, they will accomplish nothing; for their doctrine itself, when compared with that of the Apostles, will show by its own diversity and contrariety that it has for its author neither an Apostle nor an apostolic man. The Apostles would not have differed among themselves in teaching, nor would an apostolic man have taught contrary to the Apostles, unless those who were taught by the Apostles then preached otherwise.

Therefore, they will be challenged to meet this test even by those Churches which are of much later date – for they are being established daily – and whose founder is not from among the Apostles nor from among the apostolic men; for those which agree in the same faith are reckoned as apostolic on account of the blood ties in their doctrine. Then let all heresies prove how they regard themselves as apostolic, when they are challenged by our Churches to meet either test. But in fact they are not apostolic, nor can they prove themselves to be what they are not. Neither are they received in peace and communion by the Churches which are in any way apostolic, since on account of their diverse belief they are in no way apostolic (The Demurrer Against the Heretics 32:1 [A.D. 200]).

Firmilion of Caesarea, third century, taught:

But what is his error, and how great his blindness, who says that the remission of sins can be given in the synagogues of the heretics, and who does not remain on the foundation of the one Church which was founded upon the rock by Christ can be learned from this, which Christ said to Peter : "Whatever things you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed in heaven;" and by this, again in the gospel, when Christ breathed upon the Apostles alone, saying to all of them; "Receive the Holy Spirit: if you forgive any man his sins, they shall be forgiven; and if you retain any mans sins, they shall be retained." Therefore, the power of forgiving sins was given to the Apostles and to the Churches which these men, sent by Christ, established; and to the bishops who succeeded them by being ordained in their place (Letter to Cyprian 75:16 [A.D. 255-256]).

EXCERPTS FROM....

PATH TO SANITY
 Lessons From Ancient Holy Counselors On How to Have a Sound Mind

by Dee Pennock
  published by Light and Life

Chapter 2

     There are certain diseases - you might call them spiritual birth defects - with which we are all born.  They are a part of being mortal (subject to death).  They are not our original true nature, but have come upon us because of the fall of Adam and Eve from Paradise.  Jesus came to heal these birth defects of ours, to deliver us from them and the death that goes with them, and to restore in us the spiritual nature we were created to have.

     We have two natures, you see: (1) the nature we were created with, which is the nature to which Christ restores us; and (2) the nature we were born with, which is the nature of the fallen Adam and Eve, in need of healing and redemption by God.  Being in God's (Christ's) image is the human nature we were created to possess and can now regain through Jesus.

     So we were not created to have any spiritual defects that are not in Christ, who has none.  No spiritual birth defects we've inherited through the flesh as a result of the fall of Adam are natural.  According to Scripture, they are all unnatural.  We were created with one nature and are born into this life with a different nature, a fallen nature with the various spiritual birth defects that accompany it. 

      To be continued...

 Seekers: What To Expect When You Visit An Orthodox Church

This page is meant to answer many of the basic questions that are asked by first-time visitors to the Orthodox Church. Hopefully it will help you to understand some of the things you might see that are unfamiliar to you. A Short History The Orthodox Church traces Her origins to the time of Jesus Christ and His apostles. In fact, you could say that the Orthodox Church was born on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in the form of tongues of fire from Heaven. From that point, missionary activity carried Her teachings to many parts of the world, including Greece, Asia Minor, Russia, many parts of both Eastern and Western Europe, and the entire Middle East and North Africa. In addition, the Faith extended into India and eventually found its way to the shores of this continent as well. However, a tragic separation occurred between the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity around the year 1054, and the entire Western Church, under the leadership of the Pope of Rome, fell away from the rest of the Holy Orthodox Church. Since that separation, the two traditions have developed in quite different ways, and this is part of the reason for the unfamiliarity experienced by visitors to an Orthodox church. ENOUGH HISTORY!!! Worship For All The Senses The first thing that you may notice when you visit us is that Orthodox worship engages all the five senses. For us worship is not a passive event. The burning candles and oil lamps, the color, form and placement of the icons, the music of the choir, the fragrance of the incense, the taste of the Bread and Wine, all work to focus our entire being on the worship of the Living God. Why Are There So Many Candles? Since the Savior Himself taught that He is the Light of the World (John 8:12), our candles and lamps ultimately refer to His radiance. The Light of Christ illuminates all humanity—in fact it enlightens the whole world. Some of our light is provided by oil lamps. These recall the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids who kept their vigil for the bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13), and help us to remember that we also must keep our watch for His coming again. Some of our light is provided by wax candles. In Psalm 68 we read that the wicked (i.e. those who hate God) will disperse when they encounter Him in just the same way that wax melts near a fire. Our prayer is that any wickedness in us will vanish as the wax of a candle vanishes and is consumed by the flame. But more practically, wax candles are simply a convenient and age-old means of providing light by which to see. The faithful light candles as a sign of their fervent prayer to God. We light candles and lamps before icons; we carry them in processions; we place them at various locations throughout the church building—simply to give off illumination. The more candles lit, the greater the illumination and greater is the image of the Empty Tomb of the Lord which shone forth with a brilliance far greater than the light of day. May I Light A Candle Too? Of course! While we ask our parishioners to purchase them, as our guests, you may take one and light it in the sand in one of the stands in the back of the church. Why Do You Use Incense? Psalm 141, declares “Let my prayer arise in Your sight as incense; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.” Incense is thus linked to prayer. In the Revelation (8:1-5) we also see this connection in a Christian context. In addition, we show that we honor someone or something when we burn incense before it or them. You will notice that the Gospel Book upon the Altar Table (the verbal image of Christ), the Altar Table itself (a sign of the Throne of God), the icons (themselves representing the presence of the holy men and women and the events in the history of salvation), and finally all the faithful people who have assembled for worship are censed. (Remember that human beings are made in the image and according to the likeness of God), (Genesis 1:27) thus we are icons too. Why Are There So Many Icons Around? We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews (12:1-3) that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (literally, the martyrs) who watch after us and urge us on in our race toward Christ. We believe that the saints who have already run their race on earth indeed surround us—as in a stadium, the crowd surrounds the runners in the Olympics. In our homes, as well as in our churches, Orthodox Christians image this reality by the placement of icons. They are “Windows into Heaven” and are highly regarded by Orthodox believers. Why Do People Kiss Icons When They Enter And Depart From The Church? It is our belief that human beings have a deep God-given need to express what we feel inside when those feelings are pure and good. Orthodox Christians have great devotion and love for the individuals depicted in many of our icons. We have a great respect and veneration for the biblical and historical scenes depicted in our icons because those events are part of God’s plan of salvation for the life of the world. When an Orthodox Christian bows before and/or places a kiss upon an icon, the Gospel Book (or even another Christian) it is a sign of humility and devotion before God who acts through the individual (or Scriptures if that is the case) so that all His people may be brought back to Paradise. Many people do not understand this idea at first but little by little come to realize that it is the deepest kind of veneration, whereby the worshiper can actually experience heaven for a moment... Isn’t All That Idolatry? Are you worshipping your mother, father, husband, wife, son or daughter when you give that person a kiss? Of course not. It is our belief that the outward honor we pay to the material reality extends to the “prototype.” There is also a vast distinction between honor (i.e. veneration or respect), and worship. We worship God alone, and may have no others before Him (Exodus 20:3). The Orthodox Church has already dealt with the issue of those who could not make that distinction (i.e. the “iconoclasts”) in the 8th century, 7th Ecumenical Council. Why Is The Whole Service Sung A Capella? It is held that the human voice is at its best in song. The voice is the musical instrument created by God Himself. For Orthodox Christians then, the voice is the one instrument which is most fitting for the praise of God. Therefore all services are sung to reflect the heavenly music of the angels. The divine words of the services are much too precious to simply speak in normal, spoken form. Rather, they are couched in golden melodies fit for the worship of Almighty God. With the exception of the sermon, which is spoken, all parts of the services are sung.  Historically, it is the custom of most parishes that there be only the human voice to make a joyful noise to the Lord (Psalm 66) Why Do People Stand For The Whole Service? The Lord once declared that “Whenever two or more are gathered in My Name, I am in their midst.” (Matthew 18:20) Orthodox Christians could not conceive of simply sitting in the presence of the Lord especially while in worship. It is a sign of respect when the elderly, a judge or even the President of the United States enters a room that those assembled rise up. No less do we stand (or kneel in humility) before the King of Glory who comes invisibly upborn by unseen armies of angels. In the Orthodox tradition standing is the most appropriate attitude for prayer and worship because, for us worship is not a “spectator sport.” Those who are not able to stand for whatever reason are not, of course, expected to do so. You may use the chairs provided. Must I Stand All The While You should do what you feel comfortable doing. Many people get weary after a while and they sit down. Others feel more comfortable remaining on their feet so as not to appear conspicuous. Don’t worry. We only ask that you stand with us at least during the reading of the Gospel, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and at the time of Holy Communion. Liturgical Customs If you are coming from a western background, all of this action may seem very strange and make you feel uncomfortable at first. Before very long though, you will very naturally begin to participate. Why Do You Make The Sign Of The Cross? One of the things that you will see us do throughout the course of a service is to make the Sign of the Cross. The Sign of the Cross is an important expression of our faith. In fact, it has been said that as long as Orthodox Christians are taught to properly make the Sign of the Cross, the Orthodox Faith will remain safe, since this symbol encapsulates so much of our core theology. In the Orthodox Churches, the Sign of the Cross is made with the right hand. The thumb is joined with the first two fingers at the tip, symbolizing the Holy Trinity. The remaining two fingers are closed at the palm symbolizing the dual nature of Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Who entered time as the God-Man Jesus Christ. The Sign of the Cross begins with the right hand touching the forehead, the abdomen, the right shoulder, and finally the left shoulder. The Sign of the Cross is typically made at the mention of the Holy Trinity, when the priest blesses the congregation, at the beginning and end of the reading of the Holy Gospel, and as a response to the petitions in the litanies. Why Do People Bow? A bow of reverence is frequently made when entering and leaving the church, passing in front of the altar, and in front of the holy icons. At times during the course of the service, the priest will even bow to the congregation and they will bow back. This bow is a sign of respect and submission to God (and to God’s people), and sometimes a symbol of repentance and forgiveness. Why Is The Priest Separated From The Congregation? The area where the priest celebrates the majority of the services lies beyond the icon screen (or Iconostasis) and is the SANCTUARY. This is where the Altar Table is situated, as well as the Table of Oblation, where the Holy Gifts are prepared before the Liturgy begins. (Leavened bread and red grape wine are the elements used for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. During the Divine Liturgy, these elements are mysteriously changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit). The Sanctuary is the Holy of Holies and the Altar is the Throne of God. Only those having a function in the Sanctuary are permitted within. The curtain hanging on the Royal Doors in the center of the icon screen is the New Testament version of the curtain shielding the Holy of Holies in the Temple at Jerusalem. Through the Royal Doors passes Jesus Christ in the form of His Word, the Holy Gospel and the Holy Gifts (THE FIRST ENTRANCE DURING THE DIVINE LITURGY IS CALLED THE LITTLE ENTRANCE AND THE SECOND ENTRANCE IS CALLED THE GREAT ENTRANCE). There are also two other doors on the icon screen called Deacon’s Doors, through which everyone passes except the priest or bishop during special times of the service, when he may pass through the Royal Doors. The Nave This is the body of the church and is where the faithful worship. In traditional Orthodox Churches there are no pews and the feeling is one of true oneness and participation. Pews were brought in from contact with the Western Churches, especially here in America. The Vestibule This part of the church historically has had a very important function. It held those who were either learning about the Church in preparation for Baptism (catechumens) or those under penance who could not enter into the nave for some particular sin. In monasteries, these vestibules were enormous (and some still are) and the monks ate their meals there. There are usually a set of doors separating the vestibule from the nave and these can be closed during the part of the service after the priest or deacon proclaims “THE DOORS, THE DOORS…” There are many other parts of the temple which you might be thinking about, so please ask about them! Needless to say, the Orthodox pray with all of their senses in order to fully immerse themselves in the total worship of God. A Word About Belief We are the Church of the New Testament, founded by Christ who said that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. We believe in the Holy Trinity, One God manifested in Three Persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity, Who became a man for our salvation. Our services are primarily taken from the Holy Scriptures, but some of the hymns came into being during later centuries. We hold that sacred Tradition is just as vital as the Bible for the life of the Church, and that the Bible, in fact, cannot be properly understood or interpreted outside of that very Tradition. There is still much to say about the Mother of God, fasting, saints, the Feastdays of the Church, customs, etc… but if you like what you see and hear so far, there will be plenty of time to answer the lifetime of questions which only the Orthodox Church can answer in Her unique and mystical way. May God bless you in your search for the Truth.

The Minions Who Stole Christmas

Many years ago the Devil called a special meeting of the leadership of his minions.  He chose some of the most devious minds from the ranks of the Dominions, Principalities and Powers regimens. 

“We have a serious problem on our hands,” he said.  “This Christian celebration of the Nativity of Christ is growing way too big and must be stopped.  The message of God’s love and saving power in the Incarnation is ruining our chances with a lot of people.  It’s leading a lot of people to believe that they don’t have to settle for the mess, misery and destruction we helped to create.  Too many are seeking reconciliation with God through the God-man and His redemption of human nature and the fallen world through His Incarnation.  It must be stopped!  So I have called you here today to brainstorm the best ways to put a stop to this annual celebration of the Incarnation of Christ.”

A number of ideas were set forth and debated, all focusing on how to destroy or stop the annual Feast of the Nativity of Christ.  Some of the ideas discussed were good and some not so good.  Some involved a lot of evil and violence against Christians, wrecking havoc through sickness, suffering and even death.  But one of the minions reminded everyone that such efforts in the past had tended to drive people to a greater love and desire for God and His redemption rather than away from Him.

When the ideas were getting thin and the minions were about to adjourn for a “smoke”, one of the lesser known but brighter minions proposed a new idea and a different approach. 

“Maybe” he said, “instead of trying to destroy the celebration of the Nativity we should think of how we could sabotage it and make it our own.”  The room grew eerily silent as the idea sunk in and almost instantly the Devil and his demons instinctively knew the minion had hit on something.  Yes, this was it!  It was ingenious!  “Tell us more,” prodded the Devil. 

“The idea,” continued the minion, “would be to let people celebrate, indeed to encourage people to celebrate while little by little over time we plant ideas and customs into the celebration that will change it so gradually from one generation to the next that eventually the true meaning and message will be lost.  People will continue to celebrate each year but it will be a celebration that we delight in rather than one that brings fear and dread to our beings.”   The idea was so simple, yet so profound that the air was full of excitement.  It was then suggested that they break into small groups to brainstorm ideas on how to accomplish this brilliant idea of sabotage.

When the brainstorming session had ended and the various ideas were collected a committee was appointed to put the ideas into a manual and provide a copy to all the demons for immediate execution.

The chapters of the manual formed alliteration: The Purity of the Feast, The Perversion of the Festivities and The Pretensions of a Few.  Aahh! This was it!  (The demons loved to use alliterations.  They sounded cute and ingenious. They could be easily used to manipulate the subject and make the text say what they wanted it to say and people loved the entertainment aspect of alliterations. Years later, many preachers would adopt alliterations as one of their favorite tools for preaching, often with the same results.) 

First, the demons had to understand the purity of the Feast before they could begin to understand how to pervert it.  They knew the Feast was a holy day in the Church that was kept holy and preserved in a number of ways.  The Feast was never celebrated before the Feast Day.  The Feast was preceded by a period of 40 days of prayer, self-denial, fasting, almsgiving and confession, all in preparation to receive and worship the Holy Nativity in Spirit and in Truth.  Only on the Feast Day would there be celebration and the celebration then continued for the twelve days after until the Feast of Theophany (the manifestation of Christ as God and God as Trinity in the Holy Baptism of the Saviour).  These celebrations centered in the worship services of the Church.  During this time the hymns proclaimed the joy and truth of the meaning of the Incarnation.  Thus, the purity of the Feast was maintained and the true meaning of the Feast was celebrated.  The Faithful received the Grace of God through the Divine Services to unite themselves to the God-man born of the Blessed Virgin Mary to become partakers of the Divine Nature.  The Faithful knew that without the Incarnation there is no Salvation.  The minions knew this had to change if they would ever have a chance to make the Feast their own.

The name itself was a problem and a good place to begin to whittle away.  “So long as the name contains a reference to the Holy Nativity of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ,” the minions reasoned, “there would be no hope of change.”  This title would always keep the celebration focused on Christ’s Incarnation.  “A new name is essential,” they concluded.

But the minions knew they could never get away with changing things in the Church suddenly or with replacing something holy with something obviously evil or demonic.  They knew it takes time, much time and patience over many years, and they knew the changes have to appear as something good at least at the beginning and on the surface.   Furthermore, they knew their best bet would be to conquer and divide.  If they could get groups to separate from the one Church and One Faith and form rival groups with divergent teachings, they could easily use this to their advantage.

Now the demons knew that it was next to impossible to get anything about the Church changed in the East.  The Fathers in the East were staunch and uncompromising in their defense of the One Apostolic Faith and Church and their rejection of any innovations.  So they turned their attention to Rome and the West where the winds of change and innovation were already well under way and gaining acceptance as a result of Rome’s separation from the Orthodox Faith of the East.  It was noted that the West was more and more calling the annual feast the Christ Mass instead of the Feast of the Nativity of Christ.  Now here they saw potential for real change.  Eventually, this could be abbreviated into Christmas and finally the word Christmas would gain widespread acceptance in the world and could be used without any reference or recognition of the Nativity of Christ.  This would be the first of many steps for the eventual and complete sabotage of the Feast of the Incarnation.  With this first step it was now only a matter of time until everything could be turned on its head and inside out.

The second section of the manual dealt with the second alliteration, The Perversion of the Festivities.  Up until now the focus of the festivities was on the Feast Day and after the Feast Day the primary focus was the worship and glorification of the Feast in the hymns and prayers of the Divine Services.

In this regard, the first thing that had to change was the focus on prayer and fasting leading up to the Feast.  The minions knew that once the Feast was renamed it was only a matter of time until the Feast would gain acceptance in the world and then it was only a matter of time until the world would celebrate Christmas as a worldly, self-indulgent and materialistic holiday.  Thus, over time, the fasting and prayers and the meaning of the Incarnation would be replaced by dinners, parties, drinking, commercialism and in general a celebration for the sake of celebration.  To be sure certain historical elements would be retained such as almsgiving, the emphasis on peace and good will and the remembrance of Saint Nicholas as a symbol of Christmas love and compassion.  But the demons knew it was only a matter of time until these “good” ideas would also be perverted into self-worship and self-indulgence – a humanistic worship of Man.  The demons knew all that was necessary for all of this to happen over time was for the celebration of Christmas to be separated from the celebration of the Holy Nativity in the one true Faith and Church.  

Slowly but surely the world and Christians who separated from the Church began to introduce festivities that would eventually succumb to a worldly celebration with no connection to the Nativity of Christ and the Incarnation.

The Christmas tree was one of these early introductions.  Some say Martin Luther was the “inventor” of the Christmas tree.  The idea was that the evergreen tree was a reminder of eternal life in Christ.  And then came the lights, - candles at first and then eventually electric lights.  These were reminders of Christ the Light of the World.

But over time, separated from the Church, the Christmas tree and the lights became more prominent with less meaning or connection to the Incarnation.  Eventually, the world would celebrate Christmas in a pagan way using the Christmas tree and lights.  Soon the world would add snowmen, sleigh bells, mistletoe and all the rest.  These would become nothing more than cheerful decorations to help create a certain “spirit” which was essentially a self-created warm, cozy and fuzzy feeling that makes everyone think they have the “spirit of Christmas”.   The minions danced with glee when they envisioned such developments. 

The same thing happened with Saint Nicholas.  St. Nicholas was venerated in the Church as a godly bishop from Myra of Lycia (today’s Turkey) who defended the true Faith and true Church at the First Ecumenical Council against the Arian heresy.  In the Church he is venerated for his love not only for the truth of the Incarnation but also for the poor and suffering.  In no time at all the world stole St. Nicholas from the Church and created a Christmas idol called Santa Claus.  In this, the minions rejoiced.   Here was a figure, a new incarnation that would eventually replace Christ in the celebration of Christmas.  All the attributes of God would be assigned to an imaginary and make believe figure.  Parents would teach their children to believe in a fairy tale as a reality right along side of the story of the birth of Jesus.  The minions surmised that the story of Jesus would become a fairy tale in the minds of people just like Santa Claus.  Parents would teach their children to believe in Santa Claus just like they were to believe in Jesus.  They would teach them to pray to Santa, trust in Santa and hope in Santa.  After all, Santa Claus (not Jesus) would be the source of all good gifts at Christmas.  He would possess all the attributes of God: holy – he is like a saint; loving and compassionate; omnipresent – he is present at all times in all malls and all parades in all the world; omniscient/all knowing- he knows when you are asleep or awake and if you have been naughty or nice and he knows what you want even if you don’t get a chance to talk to him - he sees and discerns your heart and mind; omnipotent/all powerful – he is able to make reindeer fly and with a small sleigh deliver millions of toys around the world in a single night.  Yes, Santa Claus was the best idea of all for sabotaging the message of the Incarnation.  Santa is God incarnate and the true God-man is no longer needed.

Another ingenious idea of the minions was to create a big emphasis on family and children at Christmas.  This seemed a good and natural part of Christmas.  But the minions intended that eventually, Christmas would focus almost entirely on the children and seeing their wide eyes on Christmas morning, and about families getting together with some eggnog or cocktails and lots of food and feeling all warm and fuzzy inside while listening to Hear Comes Santa Claus.  And the spirit of Christmas will really be there if it’s a white Christmas.

With these changes in place the “peace on earth, good will to men” of Christmas would no longer be understood as a part of the Kingdom of God resulting from the Incarnation and experience in His Church but rather a worldly and humanistic utopian dream that the “spirit” of Christmas creates for a few days each year only to be forgotten the day after when everyone is relieved that its finally over. 

As the minions reviewed the manual they were amazed at their own ingenious ideas.  The goal would be to make people think they are celebrating Christmas when in fact they are celebrating themselves and their own self-indulgence.   “What a plan,” they surmised, “these things will make Christmas our own! Only in the true Church will the Nativity of Christ still be observed rightfully and they are so few it hardly matters.”

“But there is still one problem,” said a fiery eyed minion.  “What about all the other professing Christians of Rome, Protestantism and Evangelicalism who will continue to insist on ‘keeping Christ in Christmas’?”

“Not to worry,” exclaimed the brains behind the plan.  “This is all covered in the third section of the manual, The Pretensions of the Few.  “So long as they cease to call it the Feast of the Holy Nativity of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and so long as they cease to observe the prayer and fasting leading up to the Feast but instead join the world in its celebration of parties, snowmen, lights, sleigh bells, Santa Claus and self-indulgence their efforts at keeping Christ in Christmas will amount to very little.  And so long as they reduce it all to the children and families getting together, and the make believe ‘spirit of Christmas and peace on earth, good will to men’ all their talk about keeping Christ in Christmas will be meaningless.  They will even cancel their church services on Christmas day because it’s ‘all about the family’ rather than all about the worship of God and the Incarnation.  And whatever kinds of celebrations they do attempt in their churches will be mostly some forms of worldly entertainment that will celebrate the performers and entertain the audience with little or no connection to the true meaning of the Incarnation.”

“To be sure,” one of the minions concluded, “someone will one day expose our plan and some of those Christians will read it and think ‘how true’ and they will ‘Like’ it on Facebook but then they will continue as usual to celebrate the pagan Christmas of the world as usual.  It’s just too hard and to unpopular to do it any other way.”

A Review of the Minion’s Manual

by joseph bragg