Articles for tag: compromise, Divine Liturgy, Protestants, The Heavenly Banquet

GIVING WITNESS TO THE TRUE CHURCH

Orthodox Christians all over the world have received the unchanging Christian Faith, passed down from the Holy Apostles to their successors, and continue to practice it today in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church – The Orthodox Church.
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Are ALL Welcome?

The most common sign in front of non-Orthodox churches across America reads, “ALL ARE WELCOME.” It is so pervasive, so… welcoming, even a number of Orthodox churches have adopted it. Is this right? Should we admit everyone to our services, particularly to the Mystery of the Divine Eucharist (Liturgy)? What is the teaching of the Church? What has been the practice of the Church?

To answer these questions let us turn our attention to two brief exclamations in the Divine Liturgy, the first one by the deacon, “The doors, the doors,” and the second one by the priest, “The Holy [Things] for the holy” and analyze their meaning. We will utilize for the most part our comments as found in our study on the Divine Liturgy.1 Then we will offer some additional comments and suggestions.

Deacon: The doors, [guard] the doors.

In wisdom let us be attentive.2

Originally, this call was placed after the dismissal of the Catechumens3 and others who were prevented from participating in the Holy Mysteries. The deacon’s insisting call was meant to warn the doorkeepers (lower clergymen appointed to the task of guarding the doors of the church) to shut the doors as soon as those who could not receive Holy Communion were discharged.

St. Justin the Martyr, writing in the middle of the second century, speaking about the reception of the catechumens, explains the reason for this compelling shout:

This food [we partake] we call “Eucharist,” and no one may share it unless he believes that our teaching is true, and has been cleansed in the bath of forgiveness for sin and rebirth, and lives as Christ taught.4

One of the most ancient instructions for the conduct of the Divine Liturgy that have come down to us, contained in the Apostolic Constitutions, states tersely:

Let the doors be watched lest any unbeliever, or one not yet initiated, come in… Let the porters stand at the entries of the men, and observe them. Let the deaconesses also stand at those of the women, like shipmen. For the same description and pattern was both in the tabernacle of the testimony and in the temple of God.5

Only after confessing the same faith can we offer the Holy Oblation and partake of the Holy Mysteries. The Orthodox Church is open to all, but the Holy Eucharist is not an “open house.” Restricting the reception of the Sacraments to Orthodox Christians has been the mark of the true Church since the beginning. The deacon’s cry, “The doors, the doors,” is a constant reminder.

Now we come to the second exclamation we hear in the Divine Liturgy, which has the same scope as the first, to make sure only initiated, faithful members of the Church, may approach the cup of salvation:

Priest: “The Holy [Things] for the holy [people].”

As the priest “elevates” the Holy Gifts he “invites” the faithful: “The Holy Things for the holy [people].” What an awesome and fearful invitation! Although we are here for this reason, and this reason alone, i.e. to partake of the Holy Mysteries, nevertheless when the moment comes we feel totally inadequate, unworthy and unprepared (can we ever be adequately prepared?) to step forth. The priest’s cry checks us, cuts us through, dissects us and proves us wanting…

Obviously, the Holy Gifts are not for everyone. The Church has always applied to the Holy Eucharist the words of the Lord,

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Mt. 7:6).6

“Holy,” here, means those who have dedicated themselves to God, those who have set themselves apart, those who have been consecrated to God, in the sense St. Paul applied it to himself (“set apart,” Rom. 1:1). In baptism we were consecrated to God, to His service, to His army. We could then render the meaning of this invitation by saying, “God’s things to God’s people.” We are His, we belong to Christ; we are Christ-ians…

Non-Christians and non-Orthodox were not allowed to even enter the Church,7 unless they were listed in the ranks of the Catechumens. As we have already mentioned, the Catechumens themselves, who had not yet received the “laver of regeneration, the forgiveness of sins and the garment of incorruption,”8 had to depart prior to the commencement of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, or Liturgy for the Faithful.9 Also members of the Church who had an impediment to receive the Holy Sacraments had to depart. Only those who would commune remained10 or, to put it differently, they remained in order to commune. Others could not stay.

Only those Orthodox Christians who have the correct faith, the correct baptism, and the correct life, as we saw above St. Justin the Martyr attesting, may approach, “with fear of God, faith, and love,”11 and without presumption and arrogance, because God is a “consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). Even as we humbly chant the “disclaimer,” “One is Holy, One is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen,” we prepare to receive, not in boldness, but in utter humility, in realization of our sinfulness and unworthiness.

The shouts on which we are commenting seem to be so much out of place today, standing as anachronistic relics of times past and long gone. They serve as a constant reminder of the ancient practice of the Church, from the very beginning, to guard with her life what is her most precious treasure, precisely because the Divine Eucharist is the life of her members, the food of immortality.

Before the holy Eucharist is offered, all the members confess their common belief in the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As St. Nicholas Cavasilas, an authentic commentator of the Divine Liturgy, writes:

Since brotherly love goes hand in hand with love of God, and love of God is not found without faith in the living and perfect God, the priest, as soon as he has reminded us of love, and urged us to love one another, begins the profession of faith.12

Partaking of the common cup presupposes common faith, common doctrine. You need to confess the same faith, the faith of the Church, before you can approach the cup of salvation. Christians are those who have and declare the same faith. One does not “confess” his or her faith, but declares to share a common faith in the Ecclesia, in unity with her other members. Unity of faith among Christians is essential.

Therefore no member of the Church should be offended when, prior to administering the holy sacraments, the pastor addresses the people with the words, “only baptized and/or chrismated Orthodox Christians, who have recently been to confession, may receive the holy sacraments.” This announcement has become necessary since the modern custom of keeping the doors of our churches open for everyone to walk in has infiltrated in the Church. Our own bishops in America, following their leader the Ecumenical Patriarch, invite all sorts of heretics to their services, providing places of honor for them, if not allowing them to stand in the holy altar itself!

In our commentary we had also added the words, “Today, when everyone is admitted to church, let the call ‘The doors, [guard] the doors’ serve us as a reminder to be on guard so that no worldly or sinful thoughts enter our mind.”13 Indeed, “In the house of David, the fearsome mysteries are accomplished; therein the fire will consume every base thought.”14 Under the circumstances, for Orthodox Christians to have such thoughts is good, but it does not go far enough in offering a solution to the problem addressed. Today there is an urgent need to reinstitute the ancient practice of the Church, in order to safeguard the supreme gift of our Lord, His very precious Body and Blood, offered as spiritual sustenance to the members of His Body, the Holy Church.

As I state in The Heavenly Banquet,15 we should welcome the Inquirers, those who visit our church and attend our services, and the Catechumens, those who have made a commitment to gain admittance into the Holy Church and are receiving formal instruction in the faith, and encourage them along the path that leads to their full acceptance of the truth that saves. Of course the “Litany for the Catechumens” should be reintroduced, at the end of which instead of “dismissing” them, they would be invited to join in the religious instruction offered.

So Catechumens and other visitors should all be directed to the hall or to a classroom, where a priest or an experienced catechist would carry on their instruction, and answer their questions. This time could coincide when the ending of the Liturgy for the Youth, so that any adults (parents and visitors attending it) would meet with the Catechumens and visitors. Where there is only one Liturgy the children should be directed to their classrooms, save on one Sunday a month, when they would receive Holy Communion, after the priest would address them in a special children’s homily. Why only once a month? It’s bold to say, but at their young age the instruction in the faith is more important than receiving the Divine Eucharist every week.

Comments, please.

  1. The Heavenly Banquet, Understanding the Divine Liturgy by Fr. Emmanuel Hatzidakis (Orthodox Witness, 2013), pp. 203-204.
  2. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
  3. See The Heavenly Banquet, “The Catechumens,” pp. 153-54.
  4. St. Justin the Martyr († ca. A.D. 165), Apology I, ch. 65.1, 66.1. See The Heavenly Banquet, p. 203.
  5. Ante-Nicene Fathers, “Constitution of the Holy Apostles”.
  6. Thus the Didache states, “Let no one eat or drink of this eucharistic thanksgiving [εὐχαριστίας], but they that have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord hath said: Give not that which is holy to the dogs.” (9, Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, p. 232.)
  7. Laodicea 5: “Concerning the necessity of not permitting heretics to come into the house of God, as long as they persist in their heresy.” (Rudder, p. 553)
  8. Prayer for the Catechumens, The Heavenly Banquet, p. 21.

  9. St. Hippolytus of Rome attests, “A Catechumen shall not sit at the Lord’s Supper.” (Apostolic Tradition, 15) St. Augustine too writes, “After the sermon the catechumens are dismissed and the faithful remain.” (Serm. 49, 8, PL 38:324) If the repeated shouts of the Deacon are no longer heard during the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, we do hear them during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: “Catechumens, depart! Catechumens, depart! Those who are Catechumens, depart! None of the Catechumens [remain].”

  10. In our study The Heavenly Banquet we noted how “both the Patriarch and the Emperor would leave the temple following the reading of the Gospel” (p. 341, Note 1186), because they would not commune.
  11. The Heavenly Banquet, p. 28.
  12. St. Nicholas Cavasilas, Commentary, p. 67. Quoted in The Heavenly Banquet, p. 199, Note 599.
  13. The Heavenly Banquet, p. 204.
  14. Or mind (nous). Anavathmoi, Second verse of Third Antiphon, Pl. 1st.
  15. p. 154.
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GIVING WITNESS TO THE TRUE CHURCH

Orthodox Christians all over the world have received the unchanging Christian Faith, passed down from the Holy Apostles to their successors, and continue to practice it today in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church – The Orthodox Church.
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Are you falling prey to false teachings? — 5th Sunday of Matthew

A sermon on the Epistle reading for the Fifth Sunday of Matthew1, written and delivered in 2001.

Saint Theophan the Recluse2 was a holy bishop who lived in 19th century Russia. From his desert hermitage he wrote thousands of letters on a variety of subjects, becoming a beacon of Orthodox spirituality. In one of his letters he counsels a spiritual child of his who was impressed by an evangelical preacher passing through her village. The Saint very perceptively sensed that this preacher was a dangerous influence, and tells her in direct and effective language that he was not following the faith of the Church and that she was in danger of falling prey to his false teachings. We’ll delve on a few of the comments made in his letter.

A wolf wants to shepherd

This itinerant preacher taught about Christ and salvation in Him with enthusiasm, but this did not impress the Saint. He detected that although he was quoting the scripture and had Christ constantly on his lips, in essence he was deceived and was deceiving others in the process, preceded by many before him who had taught a false Christ, about whom the Lord and His Apostles warned us. The Saint uncovered his false teachings and steered his spiritual child, as he does with us, to the eternal truth, guarded in the holy Orthodox Church.

One of the points addressed by the Saint is the one we heard today in the apostolic reading,

“If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

What do these words mean? You too may have been approached at one time or another, as I have, by someone, who asked you if you have invited Jesus in your heart, and then urged you, perhaps with insistence, to confess the Lord with your lips, in order to be saved by such a confession. The Saint explains why you shouldn’t go along with a self-appointed preacher:

Such a confession, when done in vain, is contrary to the will of God… When it is done in an environment that is hostile to the faith and when the one who makes such a confession is in danger of suffering persecution and tribulation because of it—when one confesses Christ under such circumstances, he shows that he is ready to suffer martyrdom for Him… This is the confession that the Lord speaks about! (pp. 33-34)

Some of these things, my dear Christians, are not so obvious. That’s why we have shepherds; that’s why we have a Church: in order to be guided and helped to arrive at the truth that saves, and not fall victim to deception, and miss the most important, the most valuable and precious possession we have: our soul, and its salvation. We hear a lot of things from various sources, and perhaps we get confused at times: Who tells the truth? Who should we believe? Who should we follow?

Perhaps a few of us naively accept the teachings of other shepherds, who claim to be true shepherds, but who are really wolves in sheep’s clothing. Perhaps we have been persuaded that our shepherd is a false shepherd, and we mistrust his words. How are we going to know who is the true shepherd and who the false? Thank God, this should not be a great problem for us. Why? Because we have the Church and its 2,000-year history to go by, and the unfailing guide of the Saints, and the teachers of our faith.

Apostle Paul: a true shepherd

The Apostle curses those who teach a gospel different than his (cf. Gal. 1:8.9). This, then, must be a serious matter, wouldn’t you say? Just how different was this gospel they were preaching? Not that different. They believed in Jesus Christ. They worshipped the same God. They participated in the same eucharistic assemblies. They looked to the salvation offered by Jesus Christ. So in what way did they depart from the true gospel? They wanted to continue practicing their rituals and ceremonies, as prescribed by the Mosaic law. What was wrong with that? Didn’t the Lord say that He did not come to abolish the law, but to perfect it?

The Apostle Paul wanted the Christians to rely only on their faith in Jesus Christ, not on some requirements of the law, in order to be saved. He went to great lengths to show them that this was not a small matter, but that it touched upon their salvation. In today’s passage from the Romans we heard him say,

“Brothers and Sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened.” (Rom. 10:1-2)

Was the Apostle unbrotherly? Was he lacking in love when he called their zeal unenlightened and when he showed his concern for them that if they remained in their error they risked their salvation? Indeed not! To the contrary, he was showing them his genuine concern and sincere love.

Earlier in the same letter he expressed for them a love few of us can fathom, let alone follow and imitate. So concerned was he for the salvation of his people that he wished, if it were possible, to be cut off from Christ forever, if by such action his people would be saved (cf. Rom. 9:3). Moses too had offered to be blotted out of the book of life, if his people were not going to be in it as well (Ex. 32:32). St. Paul’s motives, therefore, were sincere and genuine. That’s why he labored so hard for their conversion—to no avail.

Sometimes we are tempted to measure our success by counting numbers—or others are tempted to measure our success by counting numbers. It is a temptation we must resist. St. Paul does not count his converts; he counts his hardships:

“Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked” (2 Cor. 11:24-25).

No. Ours is the sowing—the growing is the Lord’s. But sowing we must do, including over trodden paths, among thorns and over rocks, lest we be faulted for the lack of growth, instead of the soil.

Before the Apostle closes his letter to the Romans he appeals to them one last time to watch out for and avoid those who cause dissensions and oppose the true teachings that they had learned from him, cautioning them that these people may be smooth talkers but their tongues are full of deceit (cf. Rom. 16:17-18). Elsewhere he uses very strong language:

“The Spirit expressly says that in the last times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:1-2)

If we have genuine love for each other we must guard each other from deceitful and hypocritical tongues and from false teachers. We must appreciate the teacher who tells us the truth, although it may not be popular and may sound offensive.

Rational sheep need to question

If therefore someone comes to you and poisons your mind, telling you, “What your shepherd teaches you is contrary to the Orthodox faith,” all you have to do is to compare it to the teachings of the Saints and the Fathers of the Church. If, for example, your shepherd teaches,

  • “You must go to confession to receive forgiveness of your sins”; or,
  • “Obey and submit to your spiritual father”; or,
  • “You cannot partake of the offering in another church that does not share our beliefs”; or,
  • “Heresy cuts you off from God’s grace”; or,
  • “There is no baptism and there are no sacraments outside the Church”; or,
  • “You cannot disagree with the teachings of the Church, even slightly”; etc.,

you must test these teachings against the teachings of the Church—not according to some self-appointed teacher or a false shepherd, but according to the faith of the Church, to determine if the teachings are accurate.

The faith of the Church is not a matter of picking and choosing. That’s called heresy. We embrace the faith of the Church wholeheartedly, in its entirety, without reservations—and without criticism. “Beloved,” writes St. Jude,

“being very eager to write to you of our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints” (Jude 3).

St. Paul likewise warns us,

“Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).

May we all receive discernment from above and divine illumination and strength to follow the gospel of truth without vacillation, in order “to bring about the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26) to all people of good will. Amen.

photo by T.H.

  1. Epistle Reading: St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans 10:1-10

    BRETHREN, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified. Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.

  2. Saint Theophan was the son of a priest, who later wrote that the best way to bring up a child is to be involved in the life of the Church. He attended seminary and pursued theological studies, after which he was tonsured a monk and was later ordained a deacon and a priest.

    He taught philosophy, psychology and Latin at the Academy and eventually became dean. At 44 he was consecrated bishop. After 25 years, however, he retreated to a poor monastery cell in the desert, where he remained for the last twenty-eight years of his life. The following is from his farewell speech to his flock:

    Do not get me wrong that I part from you. The love I have for you would not let me go, were it not for an irresistible longing for a loftier life… I will always pray that the Lord grant you every good, keep you from all calamity, secure your salvation… You have learned the path and the means of salvation. I can only remind you of the advice of the Apostle Paul to Timothy: “Keep what you have received.” Guard against false teachers. Stay away from all those who do not agree with what the Church teaches, no matter what their position or titles may be… Correct faith attracts Divine Grace. With its help, the pure in soul can see God even in this life and can have a foretaste of the blessedness to come.

    A short biography of Saint Theophan can be found in the letter referenced above, Preaching Another Christ: An Orthodox View of Evangelicalism (Orthodox Witness, 2001)

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GIVING WITNESS TO THE TRUE CHURCH

Orthodox Christians all over the world have received the unchanging Christian Faith, passed down from the Holy Apostles to their successors, and continue to practice it today in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church – The Orthodox Church.
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My desire was to be received through Baptism

convert-baptism-orthodox-witness
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”
(Ps. 118:24)

This is a day of rejoicing for all of us, who came to know you and love you. On the very first day I met you, you described yourself as Orthodox at heart. With tears in your eyes you indicated you would have become formally Orthodox, but the time did not come until today, and we give glory to Christ our God for it.

Despite your best intentions and personal conviction, and your desire to belong to the true Church founded by Christ, you did not become her member until this blessed day. It was your dissatisfaction with your former church that convinced you it simply was not part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, but an imitation of it, having broken away from the Roman church that had already broken communion with the Church, being first schismatic, then heretical.

Your desire to be received through baptism indicates your conviction that the baptism you had received in your former church was not the true baptism, because it was not administered by an appointed minister of the Church nor was it in the prescribed form used by the Church of triple baptism, i.e. triple immersion, and in a word it was not administered within the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church.

A baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity is the true baptism not because merely the names of our triune God are invoked, as if it were an incantation (it’s like saying anyone who can say this is my body and this is my blood magically transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord), but because the Church convenes in accordance with the instructions of the Lord and the authority given to the ministers of His Church to perform the divine mysteries. This authority rests with the Church, not with the individual minister.

Your baptism was not a rebaptism. If it were we would all violate the Tradition of the Church.

Some of our colleagues, by a curious presumption, are led to suppose that those who have been dipped among the heretics ought not to be baptized when they join us; because, they say, there is “one baptism.” [Eph. 4.5] Yes, but that one baptism is in the Catholic Church. And if there is one Church, there can be no baptism outside of it. There cannot be two baptisms: if heretics really baptize, then baptism belongs to them. And anyone who on his own authority concedes them this privilege admits, by yielding their claim (that the enemy and adversary of Christ should appear to possess the power of washing, purifying, sanctifying a man). Our assertion is that those who come to us from heresy are baptized by us, not re-baptized. They do not receive anything there; there is nothing there for them to receive. They come to us that they may receive here, where there is all grace and truth; for grace and truth are one.

Whose words are these? Not mine, but the Church’s, through the mouth of her spokesman, inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Cyprian of Carthage (Epistle 70.1, ca. A.D. 255).

“If one accepts a heretical baptism as valid in and of itself, he also accepts the priesthood of the clergyman who administers it, and ultimately the Eucharist that such a clergyman celebrates, too.”
—Fr. George Metallinos

The subject of how the Church receives those who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who have received a baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity is one that stirs the Church today and causes considerable friction among clergy and faithful. The confusion that exists concerning the baptism is due to the confusion that exists concerning the Church. Those who see the Church (at least in some form) even among the heretics, also see the baptism among them (in some form). Indeed, as Fr. George Metallinos has stated, “If one accepts a heretical baptism as valid in and of itself, he also accepts the priesthood of the clergyman who administers it, and ultimately the Eucharist that such a clergyman celebrates, too.” (Quoted by Orthodox Tradition, Vol. XIX, No. 4)

I want to congratulate you, for being moved by the Holy Spirit you came forth of your own free will asking to be received in the womb of the Holy Orthodox Church and thus become a member of the Body of Christ. You followed the Apostle Paul who emphasized that we need to maintain a strong and cohesive unity, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles” (Eph. 4:14).

We must, however, say that your pious, Christian life outside the Church is neither dismissed and belittled nor called irrelevant. To the contrary. It is because of the exemplary life you have lived, as witnessed by your family and by all of us who had the blessing of knowing you, that we rejoice at your decision. Today you sealed the Christian life you have always lived as a sincere follower of the Lord, and made efficacious your faith and charismata received.

In stepping forward to receive the sacrament of regeneration you confess that you renege the heresies embraced by your former Protestant denomination, i.e. filioque, sola scriptura, sola gratia, ecumenism, created grace, and any other teachings contrary to the faith transmitted to us.

Today is the day of your spiritual birth and regeneration. You enlisted in the army of Christ. With the confirmation you have received, you were also given the weapons to fight the good fight and be victorious over the forces of evil. Not only do you bear the insignia of Christ’s army, you have now received in you the Lord Himself, so that you may be totally incorporated into His life, so that from now on you live His life, or let Christ live in you. The cup of the Lord is the great prize, full—not with blessings—but of the Bestower Himself of all blessings.

Thank you for wanting to follow the akriveia of the canons and not the oeconomia of those who are weak, uncertain and confused in faith. Shame to our ecumenical (read ecumenistic) patriarch, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and all its hierarchs who have capitulated to the heresy of ecumenism. Kudos to the Serbian Church that faithfully adheres to the sacred canons of the Church, to the hierarch heading this diocese… and the priest of this church… for making your dream come true on this blessed day.

Axios!

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