I have a pet saying that I like to tell to my
parishioners:
“The priest
prays for the people, and with the people, but not instead of the people”.
I usually admonish them with this saying when I am
announcing one of the very rare occasions when I will be gone on a weekend, to
teach them that they are responsible for prayer in the church; this is not
something that is the sole responsibility of the clergy. I am trying to
minimize any of the mice “playing” when the cat is away!
My little aphorism is not just an admonishment; it is
also shows the equality of the clergy and the people when we are addressing our
prayers to God.
With rare exceptions, the priest (and deacon and
bishop), with the people face toward the East[1] when they pray. “East” is, liturgically, in the
direction of the altar, whether it faces true East or not. In a traditional
church, “built from scratch” the altar always is to the East; in our modern
world, where there are many buildings that are modified to use in worship,
sometimes it is not possible for the altar to face true East. If there is
no altar present (such as when we have molebens in front of the cross on our land in McKinney, where God
willing, we will have a new temple built by late summer
2009), everybody still faces in the same direction.
Facing East is an ancient tradition, grounded in sure
knowledge about the Second Coming, first told us by the Lord, and then repeated
by an angel after the disciples had just seen the Lord ascend into heaven:
“For as the
lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the
coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27)
“…Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner[2] as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
We believe that our Lord ascended on the Mount of
Olives, and when He comes back, He will come on a cloud[3] from the East. Therefore, we face East when we
pray.
There are other important biblical references to the
East. The following is a NON-comprehensive list.
The wise men saw signs of the imminent birth of Christ
from the East:
“Now when
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold,
there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, (2) Saying,
Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the
east, and are come to worship him.” (Mat 2:1-2)
Ezekiel saw the “glory of the Lord” when facing East:
“And the
glory of the Lord came into the house, by the way of the gate looking
eastward:” (Eze 43:4 Brenton)
The Jews faced Eastward during their worship:
“And if the
prince should prepare as a thanksgiving a whole-burnt-peace-offering to the
Lord, and should open for himself the gate looking eastward, and offer his
whole-burnt-offering, and his peace-offerings, as he does on the sabbath-day;
then shall he go out, and shall shut the doors after he has gone out.” (Eze 46:12 Brenton
)
There are lots of references in the Fathers to prayer
facing East (see the end of this essay for an excerpt from St John of Damascus
concerning this.) It has been a uniform part of our tradition since BEFORE
Apostolic times.
When the people pray, they all pray together. We are
all God’s children.
Does it make any sense for the people to face God, and
the celebrant to turn his back to God during prayer? He cannot lead prayer when
facing the people; he becomes a focal point for prayer; the people are facing
him!
One can see how dangerous this practice of having the
celebrant face the people by observing the excesses that have occurred in the
sectarian churches (Full disclosure, please see the note[4] at the end of this essay). Just driving down the
road and looking at billboards shows that the “mega churches” do not share our
“mind”. Their billboards feature prominently the picture of the pastor, usually
with his pretty wife and 2 pretty children, a boy and a girl, all smiling
beatifically at the masses, or perhaps some other “beautiful person” gushing
about how they have finally found a church they can believe in. So much of,
(what shall we call it? “mainstream” or “sectarian” or “Protestant”) worship
has become about personality. At look at the “mega” and even small country
churches shows a wholly different way of worship than the ancient
Jewish/Orthodox way. The “altar’ area is a stage, flanked with large TV
screens, which show flattering close-ups of the pastor as he preaches, or the
music minister as he performs.
This way of “worship” is really a form of
entertainment. What can it teach the people? And what are all these ministers
doing smiling so much at their audience, as if they are entertainers or
salesmen? This type of worship is without significant substance, and often is
directed to a passive audience, rooted in their theater chairs. Ironically,
some of these churches which consider themselves to be “Apostolic” do not
realize that their way of worship is far removed from that of the Apostles! And
don’t even get me started about the theological content of the songs being sung
today! As the music minister smiles and performs, a stream of pablum, to catchy
melodies, with drum rolls and guitar riffs, is being fed to the seated
masses (to be fair, not all “Protestant” worship is like this, (some is quite
sober and dignified) but the TV stuff is very common in many local churches.)
Contrast this with true, traditional Orthodox worship.
The celebrant stands, usually in front of the altar, with a serious and sober
demeanor, and the people stand with him, all symbolically facing God, to the
East. The people much about piety from the way the celebrant and deacons serve.
All is done carefully, soberly, with thought and good order.
Even the Roman Catholics have begun to realize the excesses that can
happen when the priest faces the people when he liturgizes. The current Pope
(Benedict) is a strong advocate of ending this innovation and he celebrates the
liturgy facing, with the people, in the direction of the altar.
When the pastor teaches, he faces the people. This was
the Jewish way as well; Christian worship is inherently
Jewish. For everything, there is a time and a season, and
when the pastor teaches, he faces the people, so they can hear his
exhortations. It makes no sense (and is rude) to speak to people with our back
to them; in the same way, it makes no sense, and is rude, for us to pray to God
while turning our back to Him.
CONCERNING WORSHIP TOWARDS THE EAST
EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH
by St. John of Damascus, Book IV, chapter 12
It is not without reason or by chance that we worship
towards the East. But seeing that we are composed of a visible and an invisible
nature, that is to say, of a nature partly of spirit and partly of sense, we
render also a twofold worship to the Creator; just as we sing both with our
spirit and our bodily lips, and are baptized with both water and Spirit, and
are united with the Lord in a twofold manner, being sharers in the Mysteries
and in the grace of the Spirit.
Since, therefore, God1 is spiritual
light 2, and Christ is called in the Scriptures Sun of
Righteousness3 and Dayspring,4 the East is the
direction that must be assigned to His worship. For everything good must be
assigned to Him from Whom every good thing arises. Indeed the divine David also
says, Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth: 0 sing praises unto the Lord: to
Him that rideth upon the Heavens of heavens towards the East.5 Moreover
the Scripture also says, And God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there
He put the man whom He had formed6: and when he had transgressed His
command He expelled him and made him to dwell over against the delights of
Paradise, which clearly is the West.
So, then, we worship God seeking and striving after
our old fatherland.
Moreover the tent of Moses7 had its
veil and mercy seat8 towards the East.
Also the tribe of Judah as the most precious pitched
their camp on the East.9
Also in the celebrated temple of Solomon, the Gate of
the Lord was placed eastward.
Moreover Christ, when He hung on the Cross, had His
face turned towards the West, and so we worship, striving after Him.
And when He was received again into Heaven He was
borne towards the East, and thus His apostles worship Him, and thus He will
come again in the way in which they beheld Him going towards Heaven; 10 as
the Lord Himself said, As the lightning cometh out of the East and shineth even
unto the West, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be.11
So, then, in expectation of His coming we worship
towards the East. But this tradition of the apostles is unwritten. For much
that has been handed down to us by tradition is unwritten. 12
______________________
1 St. Basil, On the Holy Spirit, ch. 27.
2 I John 1:5.
3 Mal. 4:2.
4 Zach. 3:8, 6:12, Luke 1:78
5 Ps. 68:32, 33.
6 Gen. 2:8.
7 Levit. 16:14.
8 Ibid. 2.
9 Num. 2:3.
10 Acts. 1:11.
11 Matt. 24:27
12 St. Basil, On the Holy Spirit, ch. 27.
Source: http://www.orthodox.net/journal/2009-05-16.html
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