TRP2117 - Sanctification of Life:
The Orthodox Mysteries (Sacraments)

Week 8

Next weekThursday 8 March, 6.30pm

Sheptytsky Institute, Windle House, 5 Elmsley Place, off St Joseph Street (St Michael’s College)

7.30pm-8.30pm — Book Launch: Brian Butcher’s Liturgical Theology after Schmemann: An Orthodox Reading of Paul

“While only rarely reflecting explicitly on liturgy, French philosopher Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) gave sustained attention to several themes pertinent to the interpretation of worship, including metaphor, narrative, subjectivity, and memory. Inspired by his well-known aphorism, ‘The symbol gives rise to thought,’ Liturgical Theology after Schmemann offers an original exploration of the symbolic world of the Byzantine Rite, culminating in a Ricoeurian analysis of its Theophany ‘Great Blessing of Water.’ The book examines two fundamental questions: 1) what are the implications of the philosopher’s oeuvre for liturgical theology at large? And 2)how does the adoption of a Ricoeurian hermeneutic shape the study of a particular rite? Taking the seminal legacy of Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann (1921-1983) as its point of departure, Butcher contributes to the renewal of contemporary Eastern Christian thought and ritual practice by engaging a spectrum of current theological and philosophical conversations.”

Tutorial

Monday 5 March, 2pm to 3pm

Zoom (same meeting ID as class)

Room TC24 (main Trinity building)

Week 8 outlineMarriage

Service of crowning Questions arising from Staniloae and Schmemann

Holy orders Historical development of the threefold order of ministry (bishops, presbyters, deacons) Detailed look at and through the services of ordination Minor orders (subdeacons, readers) Deprecated orders (deaconesses, chanters, etc) Contemporary issues and renewal

Monasticism as a sacrament (next week?)

The service of crowning

Holy OrdersNot the continuation of Old Testament priesthood

Schmemann, For the Life of the World, pp 19-20: Christianity is “the end of all religion…”

OT priesthood, like temple, tabernacle, ark, altar, sacrifice, etc all passes into Christ

Christ is the only priest of the new covenant

That priesthood is shared with His body, the church, hence ‘royal priesthood’ (1 Peter 2.9)

Baptism is our ‘ordination’ into that body and sharing of Christ’s priesthood

Holy OrdersMinistries in the early church — varied expressions of humble service inspired by the gifts of God

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. […] And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4.4-7, 11-12)

Holy Orders“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (I Corinthians 12.4-12)

Holy Orders“Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner,’ and ‘A stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall’; for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (I Peter 2.4-9)

Holy Ordersministry is important in the early church

but is there ordination in the New Testament?

setting apart of people for ministry:

1. disciples become apostles

2. deacons of Acts

3. commissioning of Paul and Barnabas

4. appointment of local church elders

this takes different forms

Disciples become apostlesMatthew 10.1-5: Jesus calls (kaleo) the Twelve to Himself and gives them power over disease and evil spirits (in verse 1 they are “disciples,” in verse 2 they are “apostles”)

Mark 3.14-19: Jesus “makes [poieo] twelve” and “names” them apostles, so that they may be with Him and go out to preach

Luke tells of Jesus’ calling or choosing (kaleo) twelve of His disciples after a night spent in prayer; He thus made them into apostles (Luke 6:13-16)

Jesus also appointed the Seventy (or seventy-two) to ministry: according to Luke 10.1-9, He “pointed them out” (anadeiknumi), gave them power, and sent them before Him to preach and to heal; their appointment is similar to that of the Twelve

After Jesus’s ascension, the eleven decided to replace Judas; following prayer they cast lots for Matthias; he was chosen (eklego), then “enrolled" or added to the eleven (Acts 1.21-26), and his task thus became the same as that originally entrusted to the Twelve by Jesus

Disciples become apostlesNo specific ceremony noted, but these passages show a transition: disciples become apostles; they form the inner circle of Christ's followers; they receive power to heal and preach, as they further Christ's mission

specifically, the apostles are sent with the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’.” (John 20.21-23)

Deacons in ActsActs 6.2-6 tells of the excessive work load for the Twelve and the ethnic disputes that led to the selection of seven wise and Spirit-filled men to “serve tables” and care for the widows, thus the Twelve would be free to dedicate their time to prayer and preaching

These men were chosen (eklegomai) by the church; the appointment ceremony included prayer and the laying on of hands

While their first task was to “serve (diakonein) tables,” two who figure in later events are noted for tasks other than the care of the physical needs of church members: Stephen was a great preacher, martyred for his Lord (Acts 7); Philip was an evangelist (Acts 8)

The ceremony marked the commissioning of seven men to a specific church appointment

Paul and BarnabasActs 13.1-3 narrates the appointment of Paul and Barnabas to ministry for the Gentiles: while the prophets and teachers in the church of Antioch were worshipping God and fasting, the Holy Spirit told them to “separate” (aphorizo) Barnabas and Saul for the work to which they had been called

Verse 3 says that they fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them

In his later years, Paul writes Timothy about his own appointment to service: he was “placed” (tithemi) as a preacher, apostle, and teacher of Gentiles in witness to Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2.7); he repeats the same assertion in 2 Timothy 1.11, noting that he was “put” (tithemi) or appointed as preacher, apostle, and teacher for the sake of the gospel

Appointment of Church EldersAs Paul concludes his first missionary journey, he and Barnabas revisit the places they had evangelised; among other activities destined to “strengthen” the “disciples,” they appoint (cheirotoneo) elders in the churches, after fasting and prayer (Acts 14.23)

The verb used for “appointing” is used only this once in the New Testament

In classical Greek, this word meant “stretch out the hand” to vote — it might also have connotation of laying on of hands, but in any case, the appointment of local church elders as part of church organisation seems to be clearly in view

In 1 Timothy 3, Paul delineates the spiritual qualifications for bishops and deacons; Paul reminds this young minister of the gift he received with the laying on of hands by the presbytery or elders (1 Tim. 4.14); he follows up in 1 Timothy 5.22 warning Timothy not to “lay hands” (cheir epitithemi) hastily on anyone as by doing this he might “share responsibility for the sins of others”

Paul left Titus in Crete to set the church in order: among others, the matters he was to “put in place” (kathistemi) was the function of elders in the different cities

Threefold order of ministryIn the New Testament — during the time of the apostles — the terminology for various ministries is somewhat fluid

By end of first century, there emerges a threefold order of ministry

ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos) meaning = overseer

English transliteration = bishop

the successors of the apostles, one installed in every church

interchangeable with presbyters in earliest period, presiding amidst council by end of first century, early second (eg in writings of St Ignatius of Antioch)

πρεσβύτερος (prebyteros) meaning = elder, senior

English transliteration = presbyter

Jewish synagogues were ruled by a ‘council of elders’ (presbyters), and early church followed suit

διάκονος (diakonos)

meaning = servant, minister

English transliteration = deacon

Why ‘priest’?Today, the Orthodox Church often refers to presbyters in English as priests

Etymological accident: Old English preost is shortened from the older Germanic form (represented by Old Saxon and Old High German) prestar, Old Frisian prestere, all from Vulgar Latin prester, from Late Latin presbyter

In a parallel phenomenon, from 5th/6th c. there is a reimportation of OT liturgical/ritual categories into the church, leading to a tendency to call bishops and presbyters by the Greek ἱερεύς (hiereus, Latin ‘sacerdos’)

Fun fact about ‘hierarchy’: the Greek term ἱεραρχία means ‘rule by priests’, and Dionysius (in the Celestial Hierarchy and Ecclesiastical Hierarchy) is credited with first use of it as an abstract noun

The one priesthood of ChristFrom the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1544 Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the “one mediator between God and men.” The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, “priest of God Most High,” as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the unique “high priest after the order of Melchizedek”; “holy, blameless, unstained,” “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified,” that is, by the unique sacrifice of the cross.

1545 The redemptive sacrifice of Christ is unique, accomplished once for all; yet it is made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Church. The same is true of the one priesthood of Christ; it is made present through the ministerial priesthood without diminishing the uniqueness of Christ’s priesthood: “Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers.”

The one priesthood of ChristFrom the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1546 Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church “a kingdom, priests for his God and Father.” The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly. The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ’s mission as priest, prophet, and king. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are “consecrated to be . . . a holy priesthood.”

1547 The ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests, and the common priesthood of all the faithful participate, “each in its own proper way, in the one priesthood of Christ.” While being “ordered one to another,” they differ essentially. In what sense? While the common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace—a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the Spirit,—the ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood. It is directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians. The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church. For this reason it is transmitted by its own sacrament, the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Why ‘priest’?Today, the Orthodox Church often refers to presbyters in English as ‘priests’

Etymological accident: Old English preost is shortened from the older Germanic form (represented by Old Saxon and Old High German) prestar, Old Frisian prestere, all from Vulgar Latin prester, from Late Latin presbyter

In a parallel phenomenon, from 5th/6th c. there is a reimportation of OT liturgical/ritual categories into the church, leading to a tendency to call bishops and presbyters by the Greek ἱερεύς (hiereus, Latin ‘sacerdos’)

OrdinationOrdination is the sacrament (or holy mystery) of holy Orders

The Greek words used for ordination are cheirotonia and cheirothesia, both of which mean “the laying on of hands”

Members of the major orders of the clergy—bishop, presbyter, and deacon—are ordained by cheirotonia during the Divine Liturgy by the bishop within the altar

Those who are placed into the minor orders (subdeacon, reader, and in some traditions, cantor) are done so by cheirothesia, which also means “laying on of hands,” but has come to be a technically distinct term from cheirotonia; the ordination for those entering the minor orders takes place within the nave of the church

Cheirotonia and cheirothesia formerly were used almost interchangeably, but came to acquire distinct meanings

Bishops are also referred to as being “consecrated” rather than "ordained," but such a distinction was not present in the early church: as “consecration” is a weaker term (one can consecrate some land or a piece of cloth) and its use in the Orthodox context perhaps reflects western (Anglican) usage, some contemporary Orthodox have tended to speak of “ordination” of bishops as the stronger term and more precise rendering

Services of ordination

deacon (p246)

presbyter (p253)

bishop (p270)

reader or cantor (p238)

subdeacon (p243)