The Offices of the Oriental church

Congregation for the Oriental Churches

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In addition to these public prayers, there are also private prayers prescribed for both monastics and laypersons; in some monasteries, however, these are read in church. These include Morning and Evening Prayers and prayers and, in Russia, canons to be prayed in preparation for receiving the Eucharist. The full cycle of services are usually served only in monasteries, cathedrals, and other Katholika sobors. In monasteries and parishes of the Russian tradition, the Third and Sixth Hours are read during the Prothesis Liturgy of Preparation ; otherwise, the Prothesis is served during matins, the final portion of which is omitted, the Liturgy of the Catechumens commencing straightway after the troparion following the Great Doxology.

The Midnight Office is seldom served in parishes churches except at the Paschal Vigil as the essential office wherein the burial shroud is removed from the tomb and carried to the altar. The sundry Canonical Hours are, in practice, grouped together into aggregates [note 6] so that there are three major times of prayer a day: Evening, Morning and Midday.

On the eves before Great Feasts and, in some traditions, on all Sundays, this grouping is used. However, the All-night vigil is usually abridged so as to not last literally "all-night" and may be as short as two hours; on the other hand, on Athos and in the very traditional monastic institutions, that service followed by the hours and Liturgy may last as long as 18 hours. When the feast is a weekday or, in the Russian tradition, on any day for Christmas, Theophany , Vespers with the Liturgy in most instances is served earlier in the day and so Great Compline functions much as Great vespers does on the vigils of other feast days.

Baptism transforms the old and sinful person into a new and pure one; the old life, the sins, any mistakes made are gone and a clean slate is given. Through Baptism a person is united to the Body of Christ by becoming a member of the Orthodox Church. During the service, water is blessed. The catechumen is fully immersed in the water three times, once in the name of each of the persons of the Holy Trinity. This is considered to be a death of the "old man" by participation in the crucifixion and burial of Christ, and a rebirth into new life in Christ by participation in his resurrection.

Children of Orthodox families are normally baptized shortly after birth. Converts to Orthodoxy are usually formally baptized into the Orthodox Church, though exceptions are sometimes made. Those who have left Orthodoxy and adopted a new religion, if they return to their Orthodox roots, are usually received back into the church through the mystery of Chrismation.

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Properly, the mystery of Baptism is administered by bishops and priests; however, in emergencies any Orthodox Christian can baptize. This is not considered to be a second baptism, nor is it imagined that the person is not already Orthodox, but rather it is a fulfillment of the proper form. The service of Baptism used in Orthodox churches has remained largely unchanged for over years.

This fact is witnessed to by St. Cyril of Jerusalem d. Chrismation granteds the gift of the Holy Spirit through anointing with Holy Chrism. A baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christian is a full member of the Church and may receive the Eucharist regardless of age. The sanctification of chrism may, in theory, be performed by any bishop at any time, but in longstanding practice is performed no more than once a year; by hierarchs most autocephalous while certain others obtain their chrism from another church. Anointing with it substitutes for the laying-on of hands described in the New Testament, the apostles having made the initial chrism, according to the prayer of consecration of chrism, laying their hands on it, to substitute for laying on of hands for sundry practices where only the apostles could perform said laying-on-of-hands.

Chrismation is repeated when receiving apostates back into the Orthodox Church. The Eucharist is at the center of Orthodox Christianity. In practice, it is the partaking of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the midst of the Divine Liturgy with the rest of the church. The bread and wine are believed to become the genuine Body and Blood of the Christ Jesus through the operation of the Holy Spirit.

Communion is given only to baptized Orthodox Christians who have prepared by fasting, prayer and confession and is administered with a spoon directly into the recipient's mouth from the chalice. Because of the Orthodox understanding of mankind's fallen nature in general those who wish to commune prepare themselves in a way that reflects mankind in paradise. First, they prepare by having their confession heard and the prayer of repentance read over them by a priest.

They are encouraged to increase their prayer rule, adding the prescribed prayers in preparation for communing. Finally, they will fast completely from food, drink, and sexual activity from the evening, interpreted in sundry locations as from arising from sleep, or midnight, or from sunset the previous evening. When one who has committed sins repents of them, wishing to reconcile themselves to God and renew the purity of their original baptisms , confess their sins to God before a spiritual guide who offers advice and direction to assist the individual in overcoming their sin, parish priests commonly function as spiritual guides, but such guides can be any person, male or female, who has been given a blessing to hear confessions.

Spiritual guides are chosen very carefully as this is a mandate that once chosen must be obeyed. Having confessed, the priest lays his hands on the penitent's head while reciting the prayer of absolution. Sin is a mistake made by the individual with the opportunity for spiritual growth and development.

An act of Penance epitemia , if the spiritual guide requires it, is never formulaic, but rather is directed toward the individual and their particular problem, as a means of establishing a deeper understanding of the mistake made, and how to effect its cure. Because full participatory membership is granted to infants, it is not unusual for even small children to confess; though the scope of their culpability is far less than an older child, still their opportunity for spiritual growth remains the same. From the Orthodox perspective, marriage is one of the holy mysteries or sacraments.

As well as in many other Christian traditions, for example in the Roman Catholic Church , it serves to unite a woman and a man in eternal union and love before God, with the purpose of following Christ and His Gospel and raising up a faithful, holy family through their holy union. Jesus said that "when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven" Mk For the Orthodox Christian this passage should not be understood to imply that Christian marriage will not remain a reality in the Kingdom, but points to the fact that relations will not be "fleshy", but "spiritual".

The Church does recognize that there are rare occasions when it is better that couples do separate, but there is no official recognition of civil divorces.

For the Orthodox, to say that marriage is indissoluble means that it should not be broken, the violation of such a union, perceived as holy, being an offense resulting from either adultery or the prolonged absence of one of the partners. Thus, permitting remarriage is an act of compassion of the Church towards sinful man.

Should a married deacon or priest die, it is common for his wife to retire to a monastery once their children are out of the house. Widowed priests are not allowed to remarry no priest may be married after his ordination and also frequently end up in monasteries. The service of a first Marriage in the Orthodox Church has two distinct parts: There is no exchange of vows.

There is a set expectation of the obligations incumbent on a married couple, and whatever promises they may have privately to each other are their responsibility to keep. Since its founding, the Church spread to different places and its leaders in each region came to be known as episkopoi overseers, plural of episkopos , overseer—Gr. The other ordained roles are presbyter Gr. There are numerous administrative positions among the clergy that carry additional titles. Bishops are always monks.

Although someone who is not a monk may be elected to be a bishop, which frequently happens with widowed priests, he must receive a monastic tonsure before consecration to the episcopate. Deacons and priests, however, are typically married, and it is customary that only monks or married men be ordained. It is considered preferable for parish priests to be married as they often act as counsel to married couples and thus can draw on their own experience.

Unmarried priests usually are monks and live in monasteries, though when there is of a shortage of married priests, a monk-priest may be assigned to a parish. A deacon or priest would have to abandon his orders, i. Also, widowed wives of clergy, who are discouraged from remarrying, often become nuns when their children are grown.

Byzantine Rite

Only men can take holy orders, although deaconesses had both liturgical and pastoral functions within the church. In February, he appointed six nuns to be subdeacons within the church. Anointing with oil, often called "unction", is one of the mysteries administered by the Orthodox Church and it is not reserved only for the dying or terminally ill, but for all in need of spiritual or bodily healing, and with reception of this sacrament comes forgiveness of sins. In Greece, during the Ottoman occupation, when parish priests were not allowed to hear confessions, it became the custom to administer this mystery annually on Great Wednesday to all believers so that all could commune the following days through Pascha.

Anglican and Oriental–Orthodox Churches Sign Historic Agreement in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

In recent decades, this custom has spread to many other locations. Two main strata exist in the rite, those places that have inherited the traditions of the Russian Church which had been given only the monastic Sabbaite typicon which she uses to this day [note 13] in parishes and cathedrals as well as in monasteries, and everywhere else where some remnant of the cathedral rite remained in use; therefore, the rite as practiced in monasteries everywhere resembles the Russian recension, while non-Russian non-monastic customs differs significantly.

For example, in the Russian tradition, the " all-night vigil " is served in every church on Saturday nights and the eves of feast days although it may be abridged to be as short as two hours while elsewhere, it is usual to have matins on the morning of the feast; however, in the latter instance, vespers and matins are rather less abridged but the Divine Liturgy commences at the end of matins and the hours are not read, as was the case in the extinct cathedral rite of Constantinople.

Also, as the rite evolved in sundry places, different customs arose; an essay on some of these has been written by Archbishop Basil Krivoshein and is posted on the web. Into this fixed framework, numerous moveable parts of the service are inserted. These are taken from a variety of liturgical books:. Also some books for special occasions, such as the book for the great week- He Megale Ebdomas , the Dekapentaugoustarion for the August, or the Eklogadion including certain excerpts.

The Apostolike Diakonia of the Church of Greece and some Greek-orthodox bishops have also published certain old liturgies. Such as the Liturgy of St. The fixed portion of the liturgical year begins on September 1. There is also a moveable Paschal cycle which is fixed according to the date of Pascha Easter , by far the most important day of the entire year. The interplay of these two cycles, plus other lesser cycles influences the manner in which the services are celebrated on a day to day level throughout the entire year.

Traditionally, the Julian Calendar has been used to calculate feast days. Beginning in , several autocephalous churches adopted, for fixed dates, the Revised Julian Calendar which is aligned with the Gregorian calendar; the Paschal cycle, however, continued to be calculated according to the Julian Calendar. Today, some churches and portions of some other churches continue to follow the Julian Calendar while others follow the Revised Julian Eastern Orthodox or Gregorian usually the more Latinized Byzantine Catholic Calendar.

Among Eastern Orthodox, only the Orthodox Church of Finland has adopted the Western calculation of the date of Pascha see computus ; all other Orthodox Churches, and a number of Eastern Catholic Churches, celebrate Pascha according to the ancient rules. Various cycles of the liturgical year influence the manner in which the materials from the liturgical books above are inserted into the daily services:.

Divine Service (Eastern Orthodoxy)

Most of the texts come from the Octoechos , which has a large collections of hymns for each weekday for each of the eight tones; during great lent and, to a lesser degree, the pre-lenten season, the Lenten Triodion supplements this with hymns for each day of the week for each week of that season, as does the Pentecostarion during the pascal season.

Also, there are fixed texts for each day of the week are in the Horologion and Priest's Service Book e. Commemorations on the Fixed Cycle depend upon the day of the calendar year, and also, occasionally, specific days of the week that fall near specific calendar dates, e. The texts for this cycle are found in the Menaion. The texts for this cycle are found in the Lenten Triodion , the Pentecostarion , the Octoechos and also, because the daily Epistle and Gospel readings are determined by this cycle, the Gospel Book and Apostle Book.

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The cycle of the Octoechos continues through the following great lent, so the variable parts of the lenten services are determined by both the preceding year's and the current year's dates of Easter. The cycle of the eight Tones is found in the Octoechos and is dependent on the date of Easter and commences with the Sunday after eighth day of Easter , that week using the first tone , the next week using the second tone, and so, repeating through the week preceding the subsequent Palm Sunday.

The portions of each of the Gospels from the narration of the Resurrection through the end are divided into eleven readings which are read on successive Sundays at matins; there are hymns sung at Matins that correspond with that day's Matins Gospel. Georgian Byzantine-Rite Catholics are not recognized as a particular Church cf. It has also been employed, although less frequently, in the Anglican Communion , e.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator , Hagia Sophia. Paschal cycle 12 Great Feasts Other feasts: Feast of Orthodoxy Intercession of the Theotokos. The Catholic Encyclopedia describes the situation this way: Canonical rites, which are of equal dignity, enjoy the same rights, and are under the same obligations. Although the particular churches possess their own hierarchy, differ in liturgical and ecclesiastical discipline, and possess their own spiritual heritage, they are all entrusted to the pastoral government of the Roman pontiff, the divinely appointed successor of St.

Peter in the Primacy. The Catechism lists seven rites. These rites so listed: Latin, Byzantine, Alexandrian, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite, and Chaldean,2 are actually families of liturgical expression. These rites are the descendants of the liturgical practices that originated in centers of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria.

Each will be discussed in turn. The Pope has several titles. As the Bishop of Rome he is the head of the Latin or Roman rite. This is by far the largest rite in the Church. It was founded by St. Peter in Rome around 42 A. The current Eucharistic liturgy was handed down more or less intact from at least the 4th century. This was the liturgy used in Rome. There were other liturgies used in the West up to the Council of Trent After the Council of Trent only the Roman liturgy could be used. The only exceptions were liturgical practices that were more than years old. The Pope is also vicar of these other liturgical rites that date from before the Council of Trent.

Ambrose , the Bragan rite from Portugal, and the order liturgies of the Dominican, Carmelite, and Carthusian orders. The eastern rites which have a separate code of canon law, are completely equal in dignity with the rites of the West. All of these eastern ritual churches come under the jurisdiction of the Pope through the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, one of the offices of the Roman Curia. The rites are administered by either a Patriarch, a Major Archbishop, a Metropolitan, or have some other arrangement.

Patriarchs are elected by a synod of bishops of their rite, and then request ecclesiastical communion from the Pope. Major Archbishops are also elected by a synod of bishops of their rite, but then are approved by the Pope before they take office. Metropolitans are picked by the Pope from a list given by a synod of bishops. The largest of these eastern rites is the Byzantine. The Byzantine liturgy is based on liturgy developed by St. James for the Antiochaian church, but modified by St. Basil and St. This liturgy is similar if not identical to the liturgy used by the Orthodox churches.

After the schism between the churches in Rome and Constantinople in , many particular churches remained separated from Rome. Over the years some of these churches came back into union. These churches after they returned to the fold have generally been treated as separate rites based on their particular location, even though they have similar if not identical liturgy. The liturgy used by the church in Alexandria in Egypt is attributed to St. This church became known as the Coptic church because Copt is the Arabic and Greek word for Egyptian.

Before the Moslem invasion in the Copts fell into heresy due to their rejection of the Council of Chalcedon Through missionary work, some of these were brought back into union in recent years. Today there exists in Egypt the Coptic rite which is Orthodox and the Coptic rite that is loyal to the Bishop of Rome. The Ge'ez rite based in Ethiopia is closely associated with the Coptic rite.

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Missionaries from Alexandria spread the faith in Ethiopia in the 4th century. The native language Ge'ez was used instead of Greek in the liturgy. The church in Ethiopia also fell into heresy after the Council of Chalcedon but was brought back through missionary efforts in the past few centuries. This is a very recently defined rite since the Metropolitan See was only established in The liturgy of the Syriac rite is attributed to St.

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