Bow Do You Know if He Is Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
Orthodox Churches
Orthodox prayer rope ©
The Orthodox Church is one of the three main Christian groups (the others being Roman Cosmic and Protestant). Around 200 million people follow the Orthodox tradition.
It is made upwardly of a number of self-governing Churches which are either 'autocephalous' (meaning having their own head) or 'autonomous' (meaning self-governing).
The Orthodox Churches are united in faith and by a mutual approach to theology, tradition, and worship. They draw on elements of Greek, Centre-Eastern, Russian and Slav culture.
Each Church building has its own geographical (rather than a national) title that normally reflects the cultural traditions of its believers.
The word 'Orthodox' takes its meaning from the Greek words orthos ('right') and doxa ('belief'). Hence the discussion Orthodox means correct conventionalities or correct thinking.
The Orthodox tradition developed from the Christianity of the Eastern Roman Empire and was shaped by the pressures, politics and peoples of that geographical area. Since the Eastern capital letter of the Roman Empire was Byzantium, this fashion of Christianity is sometimes called 'Byzantine Christianity'.
The Orthodox Churches share with the other Christian Churches the belief 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 sure aspects of theology.
The Holy Spirit is seen as present in and every bit the guide to the Church working through the whole body of the Church, every bit well every bit through priests and bishops.
Are Orthodox Churches the same as Eastern Orthodox Churches?
Not 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 non 'in communion' with the others.
Not all Churches in the Eastern tradition are Orthodox - Eastern Churches that are not included in the Orthodox group include the Eastern Cosmic Churches.
The Eastern Orthodox Churches
The nominal head of the Eastern Orthodox Churches is the Patriarch of Constantinople. Even so, he is simply first among equals and has no real authority over Churches other than his ain.
There are xv 'autocephalous Churches', listed in social club of precedence.
Churches one-9 are led by Patriarchs, while the others are led by Archbishops or Metropolitans:
- Church of Constantinople (ancient)
- Church building of Alexandria (ancient)
- Church of Antioch (ancient)
- Church of Jerusalem (ancient)
- Church of Russia (established in 1589)
- Church building of Serbia (1219)
- Church building of Romania (1925)
- Church of Republic of bulgaria (927)
- Church building of Georgia (466)
- Church of Republic of cyprus (434)
- Church of Greece (1850)
- Church of Poland (1924)
- Church of Albania (1937)
- Church of Czech and Slovak lands (1951)
- The Orthodox Church in America (1970)
The Orthodox communion also includes a number of 'autonomous Churches':
- Church building of Sinai
- Church of Republic of finland
- Church building of Estonia*
- Church of Japan*
- Church of Red china*
- Church building of Ukraine*
- Archdiocese of Ohrid*
* indicates a Church whose autonomy is recognised by just some of the other Churches
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History and schism
The Bully Schism
The doctrine of the Christian Church building was established over the centuries at Councils dating from as early equally 325CE where the leaders from all the Christian communities were represented. The Eastern Church building recognizes the potency 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 same faith, the ii traditions began to divide after the seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 CE and is normally believed to accept finally carve up over the conflict with Rome in the then called Smashing Schism in 1054.
In particular this happened over the papal claim to supreme authority and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The break became last with the failure of the Quango of Florence in the fifteenth century.
However, in the minds of most Orthodox, a decisive moment was the sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the (Western Christian) 4th Crusade. The sacking of Constantinople by the Crusaders somewhen led to the loss of this Byzantine uppercase to the Muslim Ottomans in 1453. This has never been forgotten.
The divisions between the East and Western Churches happened gradually over the centuries as the Roman Empire fragmented.
Eventually, while the Eastern Churches maintained the principle that the Church building should keep to the local linguistic communication of the customs, Latin became the language of the Western Church.
Until the schism the 5 dandy patriarchal sees were Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Afterward the intermission with Rome Orthodoxy became 'Eastern' and the dominant expression of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean, much of Asia Minor, 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 class 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) way.
The Orthodox Bible is well-nigh the same equally that found in Western Churches ©
The Bible of the Orthodox Church building is the same equally that of most Western Churches, except that its Quondam Testament is based not on the Hebrew, merely on the ancient Jewish translation into Greek called the Septuagint.
The wisdom of the Fathers of the Church is primal to the Orthodox way of life as today'south inheritors of the "truthful faith and Church" passed on in its purest form. By maintaining the purity of the inherited teachings of the Apostles, believers are made more aware of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit being nowadays both in history and at the present 24-hour interval.
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 particularly at Dusk and Dawn and at certain other times during the day and nighttime.
Personal prayer plays an of import office in the life of an Orthodox Christian. For many Orthodox Christians an important class 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 religion.
Mountain Athos and Monasticism
Monastery on Mount Athos ©
Monasticism is a central part of the Orthodox faith. Mount Athos in northward-eastern Greece is described as the center of Orthodox monasticism. It is the simply place in Greece completely dedicated to prayer and worship of God. For this reason, information technology is called the Holy Mount.
Most 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 environs it (cloisters, cells, cottages, seats, hermitages).
For monk and nun alike, their spiritual life should follow the same way of living that all Christians try to reach by following God'south commandants. While not being confronting spousal relationship, it is generally accustomed that celibacy in the Church allows for a closer understanding of the Christian life away from worldly things.
Fasting and prayer
Fasting and prayer play an important role of the Orthodox Christian life. Orthodox believe that fasting can be the 'foundation of all good'. The field of study of training the body tin can enable a believer to concentrate the mind totally on preparation for prayer and things spiritual.
At that place are iv main fasting periods:
- The Great Fast or the flow of Lent
- The Fast of the Apostles: Eight days after Pentecost until 28th June. The ends with the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
- The Dormition Fast which begins on 1st Baronial and ends on the 14th August
- The Christmas Fast from 15 November to 24th December.
Also all Wednesdays and Fridays are expected to exist days of fasting.
Even though today the call to fast is not ever strictly followed, nevertheless many devout Orthodox Christians do undergo a time of genuine hardship and it has been said that:
Orthodox Christians in the twentieth century - laity also as monks - fast with a severity for which at that place is no parallel in western Christendom...
Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church
A discussion of cocky-denial
Contributors from Opus Dei and a Greek Orthodox church talk over self-denial and corporal mortification with a Muslim chaplain.
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Sacraments
Sacred Mysteries (sacraments)
The following 7 principal Mysteries or sacraments are at the center of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Baptism and Chrismation
The offset two are Baptism and Chrismation. Baptism of adults and infants is by immersion in water 3 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 by Holy Communion. This ways that in the Orthodox Church babies and children are fully communicant members of the Church.
Chrism tin can only be consecrated by the Patriarch, or chief Bishop, of the local Church. Some of the old Chrism is mixed with the new, thus linking the newly baptised to their forbears in the faith.
The Chrism is used to bless different parts of the trunk with a sign of the cross. The forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth and ears, the breast, the hands and the feet are all all-powerful. The priest says the words, "The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit" as he makes the sign of the cross at each signal.
The newly baptised Christian is now a layperson, a full fellow member of the people of God (the 'Majestic 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, usually called the Divine Liturgy, fulfils the control of Jesus Christ at the Final Supper: "Do this in remembrance of me".
Singing hymns ©
As in many Western churches the Eucharist is a service consisting, in the beginning part, of hymns, prayers, and readings from the New Testament, and in the second the solemn offer and consecration of leavened bread and wine mixed with water, followed by the reception of Holy Communion.
The Orthodox believe that by the consecration the staff of life and wine are truly changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Communion is given in a spoon containing both the bread and the wine and is received standing. 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 blessed, but not consecrated, bread is distributed to the congregation, and not-Orthodox are often invited to share in this every bit a gesture of fellowship.
Both parts of the Liturgy incorporate a procession. At the Little Entrance, the Book of the Gospels is solemnly carried into the sanctuary and at the Nifty 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 past the declaration of the Nicene Creed, frequently past the whole congregation.
The Orthodox Church lays detail emphasis on the part of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist, and in the Prayer of Induction calls on the Father to send down his Holy Spirit to effect the alter of the bread and vino into the Body and Blood of Christ.
There are iv different liturgies used throughout the twelvemonth:
- 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 starting time iii days of Holy Week)
Greek Orthodox priests ©
Orders
Although the Church is a self-governing community the Church recognises the diaconate, the presbyterate or priesthood and the episcopate (bishops).
The Bishops in the Orthodox Church building are considered to be the direct successors of the original Apostles and they are very much a unifying focus in the Church. Priests in the Orthodox Church building are permitted to be married merely may not ally after ordination. Bishops must ever be celibate. Orthodox priests normally do not shave their beards, in accordance with the Bible.
You shall non 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, but in Greek speaking Churches but priests who have been blest past the Bishop every bit 'Spiritual Fathers' are allowed to hear confession. Children may be admitted to the sacrament of Confession as shortly as they are old enough to know the difference betwixt right and wrong.
Through this sacrament sinners may receive forgiveness. They enter into confession with a priest oftentimes in an open area in the church (non in a confessional equally in the Roman Cosmic 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 of the penitent with the priest standing slightly apart. This stresses that the priest is but a witness and that forgiveness comes from God non the priest.
The priest will so hear the confession and perhaps give advice. After confession the penitent kneels earlier the priest, who places his stole on the penitent's head proverb a prayer of absolution.
Anointing of the ill
In Greek-speaking Churches this is performed annually for the whole congregation during Holy Week on the eve of Holy Wed. Anybody is encouraged to come forwards for anointing with the special oil whether they are physically ill or not. This is considering it is generally held that all are in need of spiritual healing even if they are physically well.
Anointing of the ill tin can also exist performed on individuals. People sometimes proceed the blest 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 amid you ill? He should summon the presbyters of the Church, and they should pray over him and bless (him) with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of religion will salve the sick person, and the Lord will raise him upwards. If he has committed any sins he will exist forgiven."
This sacrament,', remarks Sergius Bulgakov, 'has two faces: one turns towards healing, the other towards the liberation from illness by death.
Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church
Spousal relationship
Wedlock is celebrated through the rite of crowning, showing the importance of eternal matrimony of the couple. Although wedlock is seen as a permanent commitment in life and in expiry, remarriage and divorce are permitted in certain circumstances.
Icons
Icons
Icon of the Virgin and child ©
Icons are of keen importance to Orthodox Christians. These cute and elaborate paintings are described as "windows into the kingdom of God". They are used in worship both in the decoration of the church and for private homes. The icon is seen as both a form of prayer and a ways to prayer.
An icon is commonly an elaborate, two dimensional painting. They often have a gilded leafage background and are unremarkably 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. By 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 before it.
In nearly Orthodox churches the Altar, or sanctuary, is separated from the primary body of the church past a solid screen (known as the iconostasis), pierced past 3 doors, the i in the middle being known as the Holy door. The screen is decorated with icons, of which the primary 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 is defended. In Russian churches the iconostasis normally forms a solid wall decorated with four or five rows of icons co-ordinate to an elaborate traditional arrangement.
The composer Sir John Tavener is one of Britain'southward most famous followers of Orthodox Christianity and calls icons "the virtually sacred, the most transcendent fine art that exists". In this clip he talks near his interpretation of these works of fine art.
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Calendar and Christmas
The Orthodox calendar
After World War I various Orthodox Churches, beginning with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, began to carelessness the Julian calendar or Old Agenda, and adopt a course of the Gregorian calendar or New Calendar. The Julian agenda is, at the present time, thirteen days behind the Gregorian Agenda.
Today, many Orthodox Churches (with the exception of Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, and Mountain Athos) use the New, Gregorian Calendar for stock-still feasts and holy days simply the Julian agenda for Easter and movable feasts. In this way all the Orthodox celebrate Easter together.
The Orthodox Church building agenda begins on September 1st and ends on August 31st. Each solar day is sacred: each is a saint's day, then 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 January in the Gregorian Calendar - 13 days after other Christians.
In the East, Christmas is preceded past a 40 day fast start on November 15th. This is a time of reflection, cocky-restraint and inner healing in the sacrament of confession.
Usually, on Christmas Eve, observant Orthodox Christians fast till late evening, until the outset star appears. When the star is seen, people lay the table fix for the Christmas supper.
On Christmas Day people accept part in divine liturgy, after which many walk in procession to seas, rivers and lakes. Anybody gathers around in the snow for outdoor ceremonies to bless the water. Sometimes rivers are frozen, so people make holes in the ice to bless the water. Some take water home to bless their houses. Then a great feast 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 Russian federation such that people may visit their neighbours in disguises, dance, sing and ask for presents, similar to trick-or-treating.
At that place are similarities, besides as differences, between the Eastern and Western celebration of Christmas. The Eastern Christmas has a very strong family unit and social entreatment just every bit information technology does in the W. It brings people of all generations together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Unlike the Westward, where Christmas ranks supreme, in the Eastward information technology is Easter, centred on the cross and the resurrection of Christ, which is the supreme festival of the year. Eastern Orthodox Christmas also lacks the commercial side that is typical of the Westward.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/easternorthodox_1.shtml
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