The
contemporary world in its attempts to make everything simpler stumbles at the
steps of Orthodox churches. Everyday hassles suddenly appear insignificant as
soon as we set foot in a church. Even unbelievers gasp in amazement sometimes
when they enter our churches… In fact, this isn’t surprising because God’s
grace is always invisibly present in the place of worship.
Nonetheless,
people today have a powerful temptation to drop in to a church for a couple of
minutes, barely enough to light some candles. They say they are short of time.
Actually, by doing so they miss out on communication with God!
This is
what St Philaret of Moscow has to say about it:
1. The Church of the True God with its sacred
objects, rituals, and Sacraments is not a human invention but God’s own
institution.
2. The management of God’s churches and the
worship in them must not depend on human deliberation. It must be grounded in
the “rules and laws of priestly office” laid by the “apostles vested in the
Holy Spirit, strong in actions and in words.”
3. God’s Wisdom has deemed the establishment of
the holy temples not only a useful but also a necessary tool in the salvation
of men because God’s Wisdom never does anything excessive and not useful.
4. That is why every man who wants to be saved
must diligently attend God’s temples with attention; participate in prayers and
praises to the best of his abilities; observe and follow the word of God and
the doctrine of life; and sanctify himself with church sacraments, in
accordance with the rules and the laws laid out and passed on to us by the
God-inspired Apostles and wise Fathers.
The Importance of Church Worship
Saint
Theophan the Recluse provides us with the best arguments in favour of church worship:
“In the Old Testament, God through Moses decreed the rites of worship in all
detail. Likewise, in the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ decreed the
worship compatible with the New Testament spirit, and appointed the servants of
the word and the Sacraments to build the mysterious Body of His Church. And he
gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4: 11, 12). It was
thanks to this fact, as well as his own example, that He set the external rites
of worship (See John 7: 14; 1 Cor. 11: 23–25). The Apostles, acting according
to the Saviour’s will (See Acts 2:46), laid out the major parts of worship (See
1 Cor. 14; Colossians 3:16), and their successors, guided by the Spirit of God,
determined all worship rituals in all precision. The Holy Councils made these
rituals mandatory for all believers. The essential value of this worship is
that it is edifying and spiritually nurturing for the faithful and that it
contains spiritual meaning under its outer sights and actions. On the one hand,
it is not unlike a transparent curtain, through which the spirit of the true
faith and piety shines. On the other hand, it resembles the heaven itself with
the abundance of promised treasures, reminding us of the rituals of the Old
Testament Church, which were but a shadow of the future (Colossians 2:17).”
Our Obligations
Upon
admission to the Church of Christ, every believer is obliged to listen to Her
in all things and obey Her unquestionably. It is his fundamental duty to honour
and follow the whole rite of worship and fulfil its rubrics piously, as
intended and designated by the Church. The Lord said indiscriminately, If he
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a
publican (Matthew 18:17). The Church commandments are as important as the
Church herself, that is, they possess divine importance. “The Universal Church
has never said anything and does not say anything except the words of the
Spirit of God, Who is forever Her teacher.” (Fragment of the Encyclical of the
Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs on Orthodox Faith). It leads is not only to believe
in the Holy Gospel, adopted by the Church, according to the commandment of
Christ, “Believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15), but also to believe all other
writings and Council decrees. Therefore, every law or commandment is binding
for every Christian."
Optina Elders on How to Behave in Church
Enter
your church as the House of God and stay in your church as in the House of God,
acknowledging God’s presence and avoiding all kinds of dismissive attitudes and
immodesty.
They say
that the church is boring. It is boring for them only because they don’t
understand the worship! You’ve got to educate yourself!
The
Church is boring for them because they don’t care about it. That is why it
seems alien to them. If only they brought some flowers to the church or did
something for the adornment of the temple: it wouldn’t be boring then! Are you
bored by your own izba?
When the
devil blocks your ears and closes your eyes during the service, read the Jesus
Prayer. Listen to the Kathisma as long as you can; soon, you will find them
pleasant. They are beautiful and sweet, and they will drive away your
drowsiness and sadness…
You must
not talk in church. It’s a bad habit. You’ll have to suffer if you do.
The Church is the Earthly Heaven
Holy
Righteous John of Kronstadt once said, “The Church contains all our sweet hopes
and aspirations, our peace, our joy, along with our purification and
sanctification. All that is the most exalted, the most precious, the holiest,
and the wisest can be found only in the Church: The Church is the earthly
heaven.
The
Church engages the entire human being and teaches him in his entirety with the
worship: She engages his eyes, ears, smell, touch, taste, imagination,
feelings, reason, and will thanks to the beauty of the icons and the temple as
a whole; bells; singing; censing; kissing of the Gospel, the Cross, and holy
icons; prosphoras; singing and recitation of the Scriptures.
What will
happen to a man who falls from a ship into the sea and sees a rope or a boat
sent to his rescue but does not grab at the rope or the boat and even pushes
them away? He will perish in the abyss. Such are the Christians who have a rope
of the Holy Scripture and all Sacraments, including the greatest of them
all—the Sacrament of the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ—to rescue them from
eternal death. Whosoever rejects this rope, he will surely die—and rightfully
so, for his pride, insanity, lack of wisdom, disgusting passions, and
whims."
August 7, 2018
St.
Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION