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WORSHIP
AND PRAYER
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RESOURCES
Ivan Moody's Liturgical Resources Index
Fr. John Whiteford - Orthodox Liturgical Material
Anastasis -
Monastery of St. Andrew, Manchester
Click here for the 1998 Pascha Page of St. Aidan's site (archived)
SEE WORSHIP SECTION ON FOLLOWING SITE
ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY FOR ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS
BASIC FEATURES OF
ORTHODOX WORSHIP
Walk into any Orthodox Church and this is what you will see to the left and right of the Holy Doors into the Altar. This is Orthodox worship, the coming of Christ the True Light and our God into the World, as Man, for the Life of the World and for its Salvation. There is no separation in the Orthodox Church between prayer and belief, between worship and action, between communities and persons, between Church and home.
Furthermore, Orthodox insist that the worship of the Church must be continuous with its earliest forms, (including its roots in the Church of the Old Testament), whilst at the same time faithfully evolving in different cultures and times in a manner inclusive of its past. Such faithfulness and growth is not achieved by the whim of individuals, the deliberations of committees or the pressures of national or cultural considerations. This growth is organic and a fruit of the People of God at prayer, under the guidance and direction of their Bishops in Council.
Today there are elements of Orthodox worship which some have come to regard as "distinctive," (eg. icons, unaccompanied chanting, standing as the "default" posture for worship, liturgical worship, the Jesus Prayer). However, Orthodox Christians believe that these are distinctive only in so far as some Christians have abandoned what was once a common liturgical tradition. Orthodox have retained them because they believe them to be necessary elements of Christian worship. Indeed Orthodoxy means "right worship" or "true belief."
For example, the 7th Ecumenical Council, (787 AD), proclaimed the veneration due to icons as that love and worship which must pass to God who has come in the flesh, (Christ) or who has transfigured holy men and women, (the Mother of God and the saints). In England where the pre-Norman Saxon inheritance has been preserved the rood screen with painted images most clearly resembles the icon screen of Orthodox churches. Happily many non-Orthodox Christians are now rediscovering the rich spiritual heritage of icons which was once a common and universal tradition. The contemplative value of icons in Christian prayer and belief is now widely recognised.
Other aspects of Orthodox Christian worship may be explained as follows:-
(1) unaccompanied chanting - Worship, (at least), is human and angelic. The unadorned human voice is a pure offering to God, uncluttered by the subjectivity of sentimental, individualistic, rousing or even emotionally manipulative music or accompaniment. All elements of "performance", both musical and choral tend to put Man on the Throne, not God.
(2) standing as a default posture for worship - We stand because we are redeemed and live in the resurrection life. We stand because we are attentive, alert and fully participate in worship. We stand because it is easier to praise in this manner. (Of course Orthodox do kneel; indeed in Lent and at other times we may prostrate our bodies fully to the ground in submission to God. More usually we touch the ground with the right hand, a metania).
(3) liturgical worship - Sacred time is an essential element of Orthodox worship. As in the Old and New Testaments, the times of day are regulated by Christian prayer, (services called the Hours). The Divine Liturgy, (Eucharist, Mass or Holy Communion in other traditions), is the point of intersection and meeting between time and eternity. No less important is sacred space because human embodied life would be unthinkable without it. Orthodoxy does not maintain the ritual and physical dimension of its worship as a matter of style; rather she wishes to affirm that it is our embodied existence which is to be transfigured in the resurrection. The reduction of worship to words or inward feelings is entirely alien to Orthodoxy.
(4) the Jesus Prayer - "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." This prayer encapsulates the whole Christian gospel and makes it personal to the one who prays. Through guided constant repetition, (for the adept and spiritually mature), or occasional use by the beginner, the Jesus Prayer begins to permeate the Christian mind and heart. The transfiguring power of such a prayer resides neither in the "magical" power of an incantation nor in the vain repetition of a mantra, but in the repentance, trust and obedience toward God it evokes.
Finally, it may be observed that Orthodox worship is thoroughly Trinitarian and Paschal, (Easter based), in character. The Holy, Undivided and Blessed Trinity is invoked in three persons and glorified in the one essence of the Godhead continually. This is not just a matter of words but an experience of divine power, a realisation of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, a participation in the divinity of God by grace, which He has made possible by the adoption of our nature to Himself in the Incarnation. The overcoming of death is the vital entrance into the Kingdom for all, now and in the life to come. Orthodox Trinitarian worship is therefore inescapably Paschal and orientated towards the divine fulfilment of our created humanity. It is both totally realistic and full of hope.
LITURGICAL PRAYER
from an address by Fr John-Mark at a Liturgy for Explorers
By the title ‘Liturgical Prayer’ in this address is meant Prayer during the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and I would like to mention some characteristics of it.
First - it is God-centred. It may seem odd to make this claim but many so-called prayers today, are, in fact man-centred. But the priest sets the tone for the whole service when he begins with the exclamation “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son and of the the Holy Spirit” Later on, in one of the prayers, he says: the people “have not bowed down to flesh and blood but unto Thee, the fearful God”.
Our prayers, then, throughout are God-centred and this is achieved by the operation of the Holy Spirit. The high-spot of the prayers is probably when the priest prays over the Gifts of Bread and Wine “changing them by the Power of the Holy Spirit” into the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The prayer - pray-ing - is both continuous and general and only occasionally particular. There is no re-run of the latest world crisis from today’s Guardian. The Church treats her faithful laity as adults and expects them to fill in the blanks themselves while she provides the supportive outline.
There are two exceptions to this. (1) during the litany at the Great Entrance when the priest does remember by name the needy.(These names are also mentioned on two other occasions during the Liturgy but in a low voice). And (2) during the Prayer of Consecration the priest again remembers several classes of people.
Our Lord’s Book of Prayers and Praises was the Book of Psalms, and there are plenty of examples culled from this in the Service. Psalms 104 and 146 are followed by the Beatitudes; then comes the Thrice-Holy Hymn and the Cherubic Hymn. The last two have becomes classics of hymnody comparable with the Psalms by our constant use of them. Each Sunday and feast has its own additions from the Psalms and all of them are well-tried prayers.
Mouth and mind are not the only part of us to pray: we can pray with our whole being and acted prayers here range from making the deliberate Sign of the Cross over our bodies, helping us to underline the words spoken, to the carrying into the Church items we are about to use. At the Little Entrance we carry in the Book for the readings, and at the Great Entrance, the Bread and Wine and both actions are accompanied by prayer. In one sense, the whole service is a series of actions joined by prayer.
Early on, the deacon says to the priest “It is time for the Lord to act. Bless, Father”. Notice the action word/the verb: “to act”. This is what the Greek word Liturgy means: an action on the part of everyone present. This means that there are no spectators. In the action of the Liturgy, everyone has a part.
Notice,secondly, that the deacon is not,as it were, telling the priest to get on his bicycle. He says “it is time for THE LORD to act”. All that is done, is done by the action of God through the operation of the Holy Spirit working with the hands,feet,mouths,minds of all the people present.
After that, the next point is obvious: the prayers of the Liturgy are all corporate. I’ve sometimes wondered what they would discuss at a meeting of the Deacons Union. Would they talk about the correct action to be taken if, at the start of a Litany, the Choir and the people went on strike and refused to respond? If that did happen, it would pointless for the deacon to continue, as a litany, like all the prayers in fact, is a combined operation of all present. It follows that the Orthodox Church knows nothing of “private masses” common in other branches of the Church because it is unthinkable to us that the priest would ever try to serve a Liturgy by himself. Liturgical prayer is a community exercise - “Let us bow our heads unto the Lord”.
The most frequently heard complaint of our Liturgical praying is that it is repetitive. Yes, it is -- by design: “Again and again, in peace, let us pray” In this way the Orthodox Church is simply following the command or Our Lord that we should be persistent in prayer and not half-hearted. Twice in St. Luke’s Gospel, Our Lord commends people who persist in asking: the friend on a journey : “yet because of his persistence” Jesus says the man “will rise and give him as many loaves as he needs”(Lk.11v.8). Later on St. Luke says “Then Jesus spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not loose heart” and goes on with the story of the un-just judge who came out with a quick judgement simply because the widow’s persistence was wearying him, and Jesus approved of this (Lk.18 vv1-8).
We need to be ready here because people are quick to remind us of Our Lord’s warning against “vain repetition”. Jesus puts the accent there on the word “vain” by which He means “hypocritical babblings”. He is urging us to “pray without ceasing” as St. Paul says (I Thess 5v17) and we do use many words -- but they must not be “vain”. They must come from a heart desiring to seek God Himself. Jesus positively instructs us to repeat the words of His own prayer and so,too, our worship with its familiar psalms, hymns and prayers bring praise to God “in spirit and in truth” which He Himself seeks (Jn 4v23). These liturgical acts then, do not violate Jesus’ command against vain repetition.
Two last points. Underlying all prayers and all actions of the Liturgy is one necessity: PEACE. St. Paul insists that harmony with God, ourselves and other people is made possible through Christ who unites human beings to God and each other. Jesus commanded us “first be reconciled (i.e. at peace) with your brother - and then come and offer your gift” at the altar(Mt5v24). Peace is the underlying condition of all prayer.
Second: we have heard a lot about the prayers of priest and deacon; choir master and reader. What are the liturgical prayers of the faithful laity? They are three, all short:-
1. Lord have mercy -- over and over again: the perfect prayer of forgiveness and asking; 2. Alleluia -- repeated often = praise the Lord for all His mercies; and 3. Amen = a perfect prayer in itself: so be it Lord as You have decreed -
but we note that liturgical prayer includes, for everybody present, the ‘prayer of the heart’ which is helping to make audible prayers deeply seated in our consciousness. So the people’s ‘shorts’ are not just an expression of assent, but are an outward and audible sign that we are interiorly pray-ing along with the said prayers.
Finally we must ask why the Church orders our liturgical prayer in these ways?
The answer is easy. We are all engaged on a pilgrimage -- back home to God. Our way may be hard and long. The Church seeks to equip her faithful members with the means of staying close to God -- staying on course for heaven -- every day/every hour of that pilgrimage. This can only happen when the prayers and praises have sunk deep into the hearts -- into the consciousness -- by constant use and repetition, again and again.
And, just as the action of the Holy Spirit changes the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord, so the operation of the same Holy Spirit is, over a lifetime, changing us into whatever God wants us to be i.e. people blessed in the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Alleluia.
THE SACRAMENTS IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
by Fr. Gregory
It is possible to be innocently misled into thinking that Orthodox sacramental theology is an eastern variant of a basically catholic tradition. This error is often made in respect of Church teaching more generally. In the realm of Orthodox sacramental theology commentators often proceed from a western perspective and western assumptions. So, I am often asked:- "You believe in transubstantiation, dont you?" whereas Aristotelian philosophy, upon which this understanding of the Eucharist is based, has never been used by the Orthodox. We do of course believe in the Presence of Christ in the Holy Mysteries notwithstanding. Other examples come to mind. Anguished historical debates in the west about the fate of the unbaptised have no relevance for us. Confession before a priest, (not to a priest), has never simply been about "lists" and judgements as to particular infringements of the moral law. Of course, in the last century particularly, much has changed in this regard in the non-Orthodox world and it is both gratifying to the Orthodox and ecumenically encouraging that so much progress has been made in transcending historically determined impasses and in bringing previously sundered traditions back into a greater apostolic alignment. In other areas, differences have widened.
With the mention of apostolicity we must recognise here something important to us Orthodox. Worship no less than belief and proclamation need to retain a fundamental continuity within Tradition. It is just not possible for the Orthodox to change our worship simply because fleeting contemporary social trends favour this, that or the other. The form and content of worship is, for us, no less than the spirit a matter for faithfulness … even if we recognise with all Christians that the heart and the community is the primary engagement medium with God as Spirit. In this we claim to inherit the liturgical tradition of the synagogue and the Temple and not without warrant. It would equally misleading though to conclude that NOTHING ever changes in Orthodox worship. This would be far from the truth. New ritual and a certain adaptation of content and liturgical celebration to cultural context is an ongoing project in the Orthodox Church.
I think that it is important for us to be mindful of this worship context of the sacraments in Orthodoxy as the communal and doxological (praise) context is ever present. For example, the service of healing or Holy Unction is a ministry of Seven Gospels and Prayers in the public worship of the Church. Again, although individual auricular confession before a priest is "in secret," the penitential theology of repentance has retained in our tradition the ancient sense of being reconciled not only to God but also to the covenant community, the Church. With these foundations of understanding in place, we may now proceed to a more detailed examination of the sacraments in the Orthodox Church.
First the word "sacraments." We dont use it. The etymology of "sacramentum" of course is an oath or a legally binding pledge. Perhaps it would be misleading to characterise the wests sacramental theology thereby as "contractual, covenantal," but there is some truth in the notion that the sacraments stand in a formal relationship to God and the Church rather than a mystical one. Orthodoxy uses the word:- "mysteries" rather than "sacraments." This is in the Pauline sense of something once hidden in God and now revealed, not knowledge for the gnostic or esoteric experience for the initiate but a Living Person, even Christ himself for believer and unbeliever alike. Immediately this places sterile debates about the so called "Real Presence" (how could a presence be anything but "real") in a completely different light. It is Christ who is received in the Mysteries with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
We also need radically to widen our understanding of what constitutes a "mystery" if we are truly to appreciate the Orthodox position. Under influence from the west in the 18th century, uncharacteristically, certain Orthodox sources started to speak of seven Orthodox Mysteries. (Baptism, Chrismation, Confession, Marriage, Unction, Holy Orders). It would be more accurate to say that these mysteries are definitive and primary instances of a much wider set of sacramentals in which many aspects of the material world are seen as grace bearing and a vehicle of the Holy Spirit. This is certainly the case, for example, with the hugely important "Great Blessing of the Waters" which takes place at Theophany (Epiphany) in the context of the celebration of the baptism of Christ or the sharing of cracked wheat and dried fruits (kolyva) in our memorial services, signifying the seed that falls to the ground in Christs death and is raised in his resurrection. This wider sense of sacramentals ties in with the Orthodox emphasis on the cosmological significance of the Incarnation and the fecund operation of the Holy Spirit. Redemption for the Orthodox is re-creation.
I should perhaps add in conclusion a note about Holy Communion in the ecumenical context. Whereas in many of the other churches, Holy Communion may be received outside any particular denominations membership, in Orthodoxy this is impossible except in exceptional cases. For us, being in communion with the Orthodox Church, that is, membership is a pre-requisite of full Eucharistic participation, which presupposes such membership. We do not share Holy Communion because it is a nice thing to do with our friends; we do this because we are Orthodox Christians, duly prepared according to the Churchs teaching on fasting and confession. This should not scandalise other Christians, albeit that it sometimes does, because our understanding and practice of the Liturgy is very different.
Sacramentalism is, therefore, as much a dogmatic and pastoral concern as it is an aspect of worship. Of course, all the elements of personal faith, the Apostolic Tradition and the eschatological transformation of creation are embedded in our sacramental practice. Simply put the holy mysteries are Gods provision for our need. He doesnt need them. We need them.
A GUIDE TO HOLY WEEK AND PASCHA
The Services of Holy Week are many and a rich source of salvation in our lives through the power and operation of the Holy Spirit. Through them we become more closely conformed to Christ through whom we receive the death destroying life of Pascha from the Father.
The Bridegroom Matins of Great and Holy Week is served on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings. We are prepared in these services to meet the Bridegroom, Christ, whom we shall later greet at Pascha. We are taught thereby to be alert continually for the coming of our Saviour.
On Great and Holy Wednesday evening we serve the Unction Service of Healing. Hearing the 7 gospels and imploring the healing grace of Christ we are anointed and made whole.
On Great and Holy and Thursday at the Liturgy we celebrate our Lord’s Institution of the Eucharist followed in the evening by Matins with the 12 Passion Gospels. In this service the holy and life giving cross is installed in the nave.
On Great and Holy Friday at Vespers we take down the image of our Lord from the Cross and place it in a white shroud in the altar. Shortly afterward the burial epitaphion is solemnly processed into the nave where the icon of the crucified Christ is venerated with great devotion. At Matins later in the same evening we sing the solemn funeral dirge for our Lord and process with his icon in the epitaphion around the Church. The people walk under the eiptaphion as they come into Church to signify that through the cross they have passed from death to life. They then venerate the gospel book and receive a flower from the epitaphion. The epitaphion is venerated at the end of the service.
On Great and Holy Saturday at the Divine Liturgy we begin to anticipate the resurrection victory of Christ our God and particularly see this as a fulfilment of the great promise of redemption in the Law and the Prophets. During the Song of the Three Holy Children the Temple and the Vestments are all changed from purple to white/gold to signify this change. Baptisms or Chrismations usually take place during this service. To be a Christian is to be immersed in the death destroying life of Christ manifest to us at Pascha. There is no other way to come to God and receive fullness of life from Him!
At the Paschal Vigil later in the evening we read the Acts of the Apostles in its entirety for here, at Pascha, is the beginning of the new Israel of God, the Church. Afterwards we serve the Midnight Office or Nocturnes which prepare our hearts and minds to enter into the paschal joy of the Easter Matins. During Nocturnes the epitaphion is brought into the Altar where it remains until the end of Pascha. At Paschal Matins the following morning we hymn the resurrection of Christ our only source of life, redemption and hope. Matins concludes with the famous Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom. As we are not serving a dawn Eucharist this year, (for practical reasons of transport to church), the Divine Liturgy will be served at the usual time (10.15 am) on the Sunday morning.
On Sunday morning the Resurrection of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ is our joy and our whole life as Orthodox Christians. Without Pascha there is no Christianity, no gospel, no hope. In the joy of the resurrection all shall be brought to life!
THE JESUS PRAYER - AN INTRODUCTION
"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." This is the Jesus Prayer, but if truth be known, any short prayer in summation of the gospel can serve as well. We know this from the witness of the Desert Fathers and Mothers who counselled their spiritual children to use these short saving prayers as aids to their transformation by the grace of God. Nonetheless this particular form has been hallowed by use and experience and it is the form used by most Christians today.
There is nothing vainly repetitious in the use of this prayer nor does it approximate to some sort of Christian "mantra." Any believer who prays it must do so consciously, focusing on each word and the whole meaning. It has the power to save because of what it represents in the prayer and faith of the Church ....
Jesus is our Lord
... our King and God and he alone is the One we serve.
He is Christ ... the anointed One, the one
promised to save us, the bearer of the Spirit from the Father.
He it is who has been sent from the Father, His Son,
to save the world and confirm our status as children of God, newly born of
the Spirit.
Christ our God is generously merciful toward
all those who come to him in repentance and faith.
To receive this grace we must know inwardly with the conviction of the
Spirit that we are sinners and that our
salvation comes from acknowledging that in the firm hope of our final
salvation as we endure to the end.
The regular use of this prayer under the direction of a wise and godly experienced spiritual father or mother can help us to grown in the knowledge and love of God. It can keep us mindful of the one thing needful for our salvation. With regular use we may find that the prayer supports us rather than simply us sustaining the prayer. In this state we may find an ineffable sweetness welling up in our soul. We should not seek this sweetness as such consolations are not always of divine origin. We should, rather, praise God that the prayer is proving to a blessing in our Christian lives.
Some Christians, (usually but not always in the monastic state), have taught that the prayer should be used with regulated breathing and physical exercises. This is by no means necessary and even positively harmful for someone who is not ready to receive it. Nor is it necessary to practice inordinately long repetitions of the prayer. The Lord looks for the quality of the prayer and its fruit in our lives; not an "athletic" spiritual contest. In the wrong hands or with a misguided or ill informed intention this can be become a deadly exercise of pride or a crippling formalism.
Putting these dangers aside with discernment granted by good counsel and humility, the Jesus Prayer can be a wonderful spiritual aid for the man or woman of faith. Its proven worth in the Orthodox Church for nearly two millennia (going back to the parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee) in forming thousands of saints and spiritual guides is witness enough. Why not start (gently) saying the Prayer today?
Fr. Gregory
(as published in "Orthodox Outlook")
Some people may think that an altar is an altar, (or holy table a holy table), no matter what church houses it. They would be mistaken if they applied that reasoning to the altar of an Orthodox Church. The distinctive features of an Orthodox altar are not repeated anywhere else and have their own essential significance. In this article I shall refer to the "Holy Table" as the place for the Holy Mysteries. Strictly speaking, "altar" in Orthodox terminology refers to the whole of the "sanctuary" in its western reference.
The Holy Table itself should, ideally, be a perfect cube and one cubic metre is often a useful guide as to size. By this is indicated the perfection and wholeness of God’s dispensation to us in Christ. Inside the Holy Table a small reliquary is secreted with the relic of a saint given by the bishop to the church. At each of the four corners are embedded small icons of the four holy Apostles and Evangelists. All this is sealed with a super-covering which forms the upper surface of the Holy Table. When a church is consecrated by the bishop the Holy Table is washed and anointed with chrism and vested in a fair white linen covering and then the altar vestment. This procedure indicates that the Holy Table is the place of Christ, the anointed King and Saviour of the world. Only the appointed ministers of the altar, the Bishop, his priests and deacons may stand about the front and sides of the Holy Table and no one else may touch it. Servers may go about their business behind it and make the sign of the cross as they pass the throne and high place of the altar … an elevated section with the Holy Cross and the seven-branched menorah in front of it with the processional fans.
The whole arrangement of an Orthodox altar and Holy Table reflects the worship about the heavenly altar indicated in the Apocalypse (Revelation) of St. John in the New Testament. Sometimes, non-Orthodox folk express a little surprise that the Orthodox Church does not recite this book in any of her public services. This may refer to the fact that the Apocalypse was accepted into the Scriptural canon rather late and did not initially have a currency in all the churches. However, we may also reflect that since Orthodox worship is wholly informed by this book you may see and hear what you might otherwise read. Whether it is the prayer of the saints poured out as incense before the throne of God or the Lamb on the throne, the Orthodox Liturgy is the very worship of heaven on earth.
A closer attention to the Holy Table itself reveals the following items:-
The Holy Table cover
The Book of the Gospels
Antimins/Antimension, (a small cloth signed by the bishop and containing relics of a saint without which the priest is not able to serve the Liturgy).
The Blessing Cross and a small standing Cross
Tabernacle for reservation of Holy Communion for the Sick
Container for the Holy Chrism, (holy oil for Holy Baptism and Chrismation)
Menorah seven-branch candlestick (sometimes installed at the back of the Holy Table with other candles)
Kalima cloth for use in administering Holy Communion
The priest’s service books, sometimes placed on a side stand to keep the altar clear of "clutter."
The vessels of the Eucharist
No Holy Table should be cluttered with anything other than these items which strictly refer to the holy oblation of the Eucharist and the preaching of the Word of God. Orthodox take great care that all items used in worship are fitting and used appropriately. Any "sloppiness" in approaching these holy things is frowned upon and matched by the care and reverence for the prayers of the Liturgy in their recitation and chanting. This is the place where the earth itself, indeed the Cosmos, is to be transformed by the resurrection of Christ. We may offer God only our best.
The vessels of the Eucharist are first to be found on the nearby Table of Oblation (prothesis / proskomedie table) where the Holy Gifts are prepared at the beginning of the Liturgy. These and other items are as follows:-
Icon of the Nativity
The Prosphora (Holy Bread) and the Wine
Spear to cut the Prosphora
Spoon for administering Holy Communion
Zeon jug for the hot water
The Holy Chalice
Star to cover the Lamb (portion of the bread to be used for Holy Communion)
Diskos for the breads and particles for the prayers
The priest and deacon follow an order of service in the preparation of the Holy Gifts that clearly reflects the prayer of the Church for the whole world and in the communion of saints. Every time bread and wine is brought by the People of God to the temple, this offering is transfigured in the Kingdom for the redemption of all who worthily partake and those for whom they pray according to their intention and God’s good will. The language used for the preparation of the Holy Gifts clearly reflects the redemptive significance of the liturgical ascent through the power of Easter into the heavenly realm … star, spear, Lamb; there are so many references to the Passion and Pascha of Christ here. It is Easter then that enables our offering to be made to God.
The Prosphora (bread) is cut up into different pieces representing the following different commemorations in prayer:-
The Lamb – Our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus Christ
The Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
The Angels and Saints
The Living
The Reposed
The Lamb, the Body of Christ when consecrated, is divided up into four pieces during the Liturgy. On each piece is a sealed piece of writing in abbreviated form. It reads: "Jesus Christ conquers all." The consecrated Lamb is placed in the Chalice of consecrated wine that also contains hot water as a symbol of the life-giving character of the Holy Gifts of the Body and Blood of Christ. The faithful receive Holy Communion from a spoon. This is partly for the ease of administration of the Holy Mysteries to babies and partly for the practical convenience of ensuring that the people can receive reverently.
Finally in the altar we may find a table for the servers. From here their sacred duty in the assistance of divine worship is performed. The incense, the censer, the charcoal, the candles are cared for with as much as love as any other aspect of Orthodox worship.
The keynote of worship in and before the altar in an Orthodox Church is love. It is offered with great love both for the Lord and for His People. All have their part to play. This work of the whole People of God is a participation in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. The altar is the place where Christ is and where He is, so also is the Father. It is in the altar that we all receive divine power through repentance and faith to become more fully human; that is, in the likeness of God in whose image we have been so wonderfully made.
Fr. Gregory
