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Eastern Orthodox Church

Orthodox Churches

Orthodox prayer rope ©

The Orthodox Church is one of the three main Christian groups (the others being Roman Catholic and Protestant). Effectually 200 million people follow the Orthodox tradition.

Information technology is made up of a number of cocky-governing Churches which are either 'autocephalous' (meaning having their ain head) or 'autonomous' (meaning self-governing).

The Orthodox Churches are united in religion and by a common approach to theology, tradition, and worship. They draw on elements of Greek, Middle-Eastern, Russian and Slav culture.

Each Church has its own geographical (rather than a national) title that usually reflects the cultural traditions of its believers.

The word 'Orthodox' takes its meaning from the Greek words orthos ('right') and doxa ('belief'). Hence the word Orthodox ways correct conventionalities or right thinking.

The Orthodox tradition adult from the Christianity of the Eastern Roman Empire and was shaped by the pressures, politics and peoples of that geographical expanse. Since the Eastern uppercase of the Roman Empire was Byzantium, this mode of Christianity is sometimes called 'Byzantine Christianity'.

The Orthodox Churches share with the other Christian Churches the conventionalities that God revealed himself in Jesus Christ, and a belief in the incarnation of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection. The Orthodox Church differs substantially from the other Churches in the way of life and worship, and in certain aspects of theology.

The Holy Spirit is seen as present in and equally the guide to the Church working through the whole body of the Church, as well as through priests and bishops.

Are Orthodox Churches the same every bit Eastern Orthodox Churches?

Non all Orthodox Churches are 'Eastern Orthodox'. The 'Oriental Orthodox Churches' have theological differences with the Eastern Orthodox and form a separate group, while a few Orthodox Churches are not 'in communion' with the others.

Not all Churches in the Eastern tradition are Orthodox - Eastern Churches that are non included in the Orthodox group include the Eastern Catholic Churches.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches

The nominal caput of the Eastern Orthodox Churches is the Patriarch of Constantinople. Yet, he is only commencement among equals and has no real authority over Churches other than his own.

In that location are fifteen 'autocephalous Churches', listed in order of precedence.

Churches i-9 are led past Patriarchs, while the others are led by Archbishops or Metropolitans:

1. Church building of Constantinople (aboriginal)
2. Church of Alexandria (ancient)
3. Church of Antioch (ancient)
4. Church building of Jerusalem (ancient)
5. Church of Russia (established in 1589)
6. Church of Serbia (1219)
7. Church building of Romania (1925)
8. Church of Bulgaria (927)
9. Church of Georgia (466)
10. Church building of Cyprus (434)
11. Church of Greece (1850)
12. Church of Poland (1924)
13. Church of Albania (1937)
14. Church building of Czech and Slovak lands (1951)
15. The Orthodox Church building in America (1970)

The Orthodox communion also includes a number of 'autonomous Churches':

• Church of Sinai
• Church building of Finland
• Church of Estonia*
• Church of Japan*
• Church of Cathay*
• Church of Ukraine*
• Archdiocese of Ohrid*

* indicates a Church building whose autonomy is recognised past only some of the other Churches

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History and schism

The Great Schism

The doctrine of the Christian Church was established over the centuries at Councils dating from every bit early as 325CE where the leaders from all the Christian communities were represented. The Eastern Church recognizes the authority of the Councils of Nicea 325 CE, Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431) Chalcedon (451) Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (680) and Nicaea II (787).

Although initially the Eastern and Western Christians shared the aforementioned organized religion, the two traditions began to divide after the seventh Ecumenical Quango in 787 CE and is commonly believed to have finally split over the conflict with Rome in the so called Not bad Schism in 1054.

In particular this happened over the papal claim to supreme authority and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The break became final with the failure of the Quango of Florence in the fifteenth century.

All the same, in the minds of near Orthodox, a decisive moment was the sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the (Western Christian) Fourth Crusade. The sacking of Constantinople by the Crusaders somewhen led to the loss of this Byzantine capital letter to the Muslim Ottomans in 1453. This has never been forgotten.

The divisions between the East and Western Churches happened gradually over the centuries every bit the Roman Empire fragmented.

Eventually, while the Eastern Churches maintained the principle that the Church building should keep to the local language of the community, Latin became the linguistic communication of the Western Church.

Until the schism the five bang-up patriarchal sees were Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. After the break with Rome Orthodoxy became 'Eastern' and the ascendant expression of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean, much of Asia Pocket-sized, Russian and Balkans.

Life and worship

Life and worship

Eastern Christianity stresses a style of life and belief that is expressed particularly through worship. By maintaining the right form of worshipping God, passed on from the very beginnings of Christianity. Eastern Christians believe that they confess the truthful doctrine of God in the right (orthodox) style.

The Orthodox Bible is almost the aforementioned as that institute in Western Churches ©

The Bible of the Orthodox Church is the same as that of well-nigh Western Churches, except that its Old Testament is based not on the Hebrew, merely on the aboriginal Jewish translation into Greek chosen the Septuagint.

The wisdom of the Fathers of the Church is central to the Orthodox way of life as today's inheritors of the "true faith and Church building" passed on in its purest form. By maintaining the purity of the inherited teachings of the Apostles, believers are fabricated more than aware of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit beingness present both in history and at the present solar day.

A life of prayer

At the centre of worship and belief is the Eucharist surrounded by the Divine Offices or the Wheel of Prayer. These prayers are sung specially at Sunset and Dawn and at certain other times during the mean solar day and night.

Personal prayer plays an important function in the life of an Orthodox Christian. For many Orthodox Christians an important form of prayer is the Jesus Prayer. This is a sentence which is repeated many times; for example: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, accept mercy on me, a sinner." The aim of this repetition is to enable the person to concentrate solely on God.

The strict life of a monk or nun is seen as an important expression of organized religion.

Mountain Athos and Monasticism

Monastery on Mountain Athos ©

Monasticism is a central role of the Orthodox organized religion. Mount Athos in north-eastern Hellenic republic is described every bit the eye of Orthodox monasticism. Information technology is the just place in Greece completely defended to prayer and worship of God. For this reason, it is called the Holy Mountain.

Almost monasteries are coenobitic: living a communal life. The peninsula is divided into twenty cocky-governed territories. Each territory consists of a major monastery and some other monastic establishments that surround it (cloisters, cells, cottages, seats, hermitages).

For monk and nun alike, their spiritual life should follow the same way of living that all Christians attempt to attain by following God'due south commandants. While not being against union, information technology is generally accustomed that celibacy in the Church building allows for a closer understanding of the Christian life away from worldly things.

Fasting and prayer

Fasting and prayer play an important part of the Orthodox Christian life. Orthodox believe that fasting can be the 'foundation of all adept'. The discipline of training the body can enable a believer to concentrate the heed totally on preparation for prayer and things spiritual.

There are 4 main fasting periods:

• The Nifty Fast or the period of Lent
• The Fast of the Apostles: Eight days afterwards Pentecost until 28th June. The ends with the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
• The Dormition Fast which begins on 1st August and ends on the 14th August
• The Christmas Fast from 15 Nov to 24th December.

Also all Wednesdays and Fridays are expected to be days of fasting.

Fifty-fifty though today the call to fast is not always strictly followed, withal many devout Orthodox Christians exercise undergo a fourth dimension of genuine hardship and it has been said that:

Orthodox Christians in the twentieth century - laity besides equally monks - fast with a severity for which at that place is no parallel in western Christendom...

Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church

A discussion of self-deprival

Contributors from Opus Dei and a Greek Orthodox church hash out self-denial and corporal mortification with a Muslim chaplain.

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Sacraments

Sacred Mysteries (sacraments)

The post-obit seven principal Mysteries or sacraments are at the centre of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Baptism and Chrismation

The first two are Baptism and Chrismation. Baptism of adults and infants is by immersion in water three times in the name of the Trinity and is both the initiation into the Church and a sign of forgiveness of sins.

Chrismation follows immediately after baptism and is by anointing with holy oil called Chrism. Chrismation is followed past Holy Communion. This ways that in the Orthodox Church babies and children are fully communicant members of the Church.

Chrism can only be consecrated by the Patriarch, or chief Bishop, of the local Church building. Some of the old Chrism is mixed with the new, thus linking the newly baptised to their forbears in the organized religion.

The Chrism is used to bless dissimilar parts of the torso with a sign of the cross. The brow, eyes, nostrils, oral cavity and ears, the chest, the hands and the feet are all anointed. The priest says the words, "The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit" as he makes the sign of the cantankerous at each point.

The newly baptised Christian is at present a layperson, a full member of the people of God (the 'Royal Priesthood'). All Christians are called to be witnesses to the Truth.

Chrismation is linked to Pentecost in that the aforementioned Holy Spirit which descended on the apostles descends on the newly baptised.

The Eucharist

The Eucharist, commonly called the Divine Liturgy, fulfils the control of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper: "Practise this in remembrance of me".

Singing hymns ©

As in many Western churches the Eucharist is a service consisting, in the first part, of hymns, prayers, and readings from the New Testament, and in the 2nd the solemn offer and induction of leavened bread and wine mixed with h2o, followed past the reception of Holy Communion.

The Orthodox believe that by the consecration the bread and wine are truly changed into the Body and Claret of Christ. Communion is given in a spoon containing both the bread and the vino and is received continuing. A sermon is usually preached either after the reading of the Gospel or at the end of the service. At the end of the Liturgy blest, but not consecrated, bread is distributed to the congregation, and non-Orthodox are frequently invited to share in this as a gesture of fellowship.

Both parts of the Liturgy incorporate a procession. At the Piffling Entrance, the Book of the Gospels is solemnly carried into the sanctuary and at the Dandy Entrance the staff of life and wine are carried to the altar for the Prayer of Consecration and Holy Communion.

The prayer of consecration is always preceded by the proclamation of the Nicene Creed, frequently by the whole congregation.

The Orthodox Church lays particular emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist, and in the Prayer of Consecration calls on the Father to send downwardly his Holy Spirit to event the alter of the bread and wine into the Body and Claret of Christ.

There are four different liturgies used throughout the year:

• The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (used on Sundays and weekdays)
• The Liturgy of St Basil the Great (used 10 times a year)
• The Liturgy of St James, the Brother of the Lord (sometimes used on St James' Day)
• The Liturgy of the Presanctified (used on Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent and on the first iii days of Holy Calendar week)

Greek Orthodox priests ©

Orders

Although the Church building is a cocky-governing community the Church recognises the diaconate, the presbyterate or priesthood and the episcopate (bishops).

The Bishops in the Orthodox Church are considered to exist the directly successors of the original Apostles and they are very much a unifying focus in the Church. Priests in the Orthodox Church are permitted to be married but may not marry after ordination. Bishops must e'er exist celibate. Orthodox priests normally exercise not shave their beards, in accord with the Bible.

You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.

Leviticus 19:27

Penance

All Orthodox Churches use the Mystery of Penance, or Confession, merely in Greek speaking Churches only priests who have been blest by the Bishop every bit 'Spiritual Fathers' are allowed to hear confession. Children may be admitted to the sacrament of Confession as soon equally they are erstwhile enough to know the divergence betwixt correct and wrong.

Through this sacrament sinners may receive forgiveness. They enter into confession with a priest frequently in an open up area in the church (not in a confessional as in the Roman Catholic tradition nor separated by a grille).

Confession ©

Both priest and penitent stand and a cantankerous and book of the Gospels or an icon is placed in front end of the penitent with the priest standing slightly autonomously. This stresses that the priest is simply a witness and that forgiveness comes from God not the priest.

The priest will so hear the confession and possibly requite advice. After confession the penitent kneels before the priest, who places his stole on the penitent'south head proverb a prayer of absolution.

Anointing of the sick

In Greek-speaking Churches this is performed annually for the whole congregation during Holy Week on the eve of Holy Wednesday. Everyone is encouraged to come forward for anointing with the special oil whether they are physically ill or not. This is because it is generally held that all are in need of spiritual healing even if they are physically well.

Anointing of the ill tin can as well exist performed on individuals. People sometimes keep the blessed oil of the sick in their homes.

The Church anoints the sick with oil, following the teaching of St James in his Epistle (5:14-15), "Is anyone among y'all sick? He should summon the presbyters of the Church, and they should pray over him and anoint (him) with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of organized religion will save the sick person, and the Lord volition raise him up. If he has committed whatever sins he will be forgiven."

This sacrament,', remarks Sergius Bulgakov, 'has two faces: i turns towards healing, the other towards the liberation from illness past death.

Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church

Marriage

Marriage is historic through the rite of crowning, showing the importance of eternal union of the couple. Although marriage is seen equally a permanent commitment in life and in death, remarriage and divorce are permitted in sure circumstances.

Icons

Icons

Icon of the Virgin and child ©

Icons are of cracking importance to Orthodox Christians. These beautiful and elaborate paintings are described every bit "windows into the kingdom of God". They are used in worship both in the decoration of the church and for individual homes. The icon is seen as both a form of prayer and a means to prayer.

An icon is normally an elaborate, ii dimensional painting. They often have a aureate leafage background and are usually on wood. They depict Christ, his mother Mary, scenes from the Bible or the lives of the Saints.

The iconographer prepares for the painting of an icon with prayer and fasting. Past worshipping at the Icon the Orthodox Christian enters into a sacred place with God.

The icon is venerated and often candles and oil lamps are burnt before them. The worshipper kisses the icon, making the sign of the Cross and may kneel or prostrate earlier it.

In most Orthodox churches the Altar, or sanctuary, is separated from the main body of the church by a solid screen (known as the iconostasis), pierced past iii doors, the one in the centre being known as the Holy door. The screen is decorated with icons, of which the principal ones are those on either side of the Holy Door of Christ and the Mother of God.

Sir John Tavener ©

These are normally flanked by icons of St John the Baptist and of the Saint, or Feast, to which the church building is dedicated. In Russian churches the iconostasis normally forms a solid wall busy with four or five rows of icons according to an elaborate traditional system.

The composer Sir John Tavener is one of United kingdom's most famous followers of Orthodox Christianity and calls icons "the most sacred, the most transcendent fine art that exists". In this clip he talks about his interpretation of these works of fine art.

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Calendar and Christmas

The Orthodox agenda

After Earth State of war I various Orthodox Churches, beginning with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, began to abandon the Julian calendar or Old Agenda, and prefer a form of the Gregorian calendar or New Calendar. The Julian calendar is, at the present time, thirteen days backside the Gregorian Agenda.

Today, many Orthodox Churches (with the exception of Jerusalem, Russian federation, Serbia, and Mount Athos) use the New, Gregorian Calendar for fixed feasts and holy days but the Julian calendar for Easter and movable feasts. In this style all the Orthodox celebrate Easter together.

The Orthodox Church agenda begins on September 1st and ends on August 31st. Each day is sacred: each is a saint'due south day, and so at least one saint is venerated daily.

Orthodox Christmas

Candles ©

Christmas is celebrated past Orthodox Christians in Central and Eastern Europe and throughout the globe on the 7th of Jan in the Gregorian Calendar - 13 days after other Christians.

In the Due east, Christmas is preceded by a 40 mean solar day fast beginning on November 15th. This is a fourth dimension of reflection, self-restraint and inner healing in the sacrament of confession.

Usually, on Christmas Eve, observant Orthodox Christians fast till late evening, until the first star appears. When the star is seen, people lay the table set up for the Christmas supper.

On Christmas Day people take part in divine liturgy, later on which many walk in procession to seas, rivers and lakes. Everyone gathers around in the snowfall for outdoor ceremonies to bless the h2o. Sometimes rivers are frozen, so people brand holes in the ice to bless the water. Some have water habitation to bless their houses. Then a great banquet is held indoors where everyone joins in to eat, drink and enjoy themselves.

A Orthodox Russian custom is to serve Christmas cakes and to sing songs. The tradition is mixed with other infidel traditions of ancient Russia such that people may visit their neighbours in disguises, trip the light fantastic, sing and enquire for presents, like to trick-or-treating.

There are similarities, besides every bit differences, between the Eastern and Western celebration of Christmas. The Eastern Christmas has a very stiff family and social appeal just as information technology does in the Due west. It brings people of all generations together to gloat the nascence of Jesus Christ.

Dissimilar the W, where Christmas ranks supreme, in the E it is Easter, centred on the cross and the resurrection of Christ, which is the supreme festival of the twelvemonth. Eastern Orthodox Christmas also lacks the commercial side that is typical of the Due west.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/easternorthodox_1.shtml

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