Faq
Nigeria Holy Orthodox Church – Apostolic Succession
Frequently Asked Questions About The
Orthodox Faith.
1. When Did the Orthodox
Christian Church Begin?
Christ founded His Church
on Pentecost, 33 A.D., described in Acts, Chapter 2, when the Apostle Peter
first preached the Gospel of Jesus, and 3,000 people were baptized. The
Orthodox Church traces its leadership and practices back to the apostles and
their teachings. The head of the Orthodox Church is Jesus Christ alone
(Ephesians I :22-23). While the Church has leadership in its Bishops, there
is no single person who is an “earthly head” of the Church.
The Orthodox Church is
the most ancient Christian Church on earth; thus, it has 2,000 years of
unbroken continuity in its spiritual teaching and thought. This is not a
church founded on one person’s interpretation of Scripture, or founded
because of a division over doctrine or personalities. In Orthodoxy, truth is
not negotiable, so the Church does not uncritically accept every new
teaching, fad, or movement that comes up. The spiritual guidance of the
Church for individuals has been worked out over 20 centuries through men and
women spending their lives in dedication to living in the will of God, and
even dying for their faith. The Orthodox way of life has been tested and
proven, from the time of Christ and the Apostles, to be the cure for our
human failings and the path to true knowledge and union with God. Some
people often equate the terms “orthodox” and “truth” with a rigid and
unforgiving attitude. This is not the case in the Orthodox Church because
both “grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Thus,
here you will find simultaneously obedience and freedom, love and
accountability, and discipline and mercy. The Orthodox Church has walked the
tightrope, balancing these things (and more) for centuries.
All Orthodox Churches
share the identical faith and doctrine, a common tradition (passed down from
the teachings of the Apostles), and the same basic form of worship.
Individual Orthodox communities, especially those that are made up of
members from a particular country of origin, may use their own language for
parts of the services and may have some of their own ethnic customs.
2. Does the Orthodox
Church Place Tradition Above or Equal to Scripture?
The Orthodox Church sees
the Scriptures as inspired and authoritative Holy Tradition: the Word of
God. It is crucial to understand how the word “tradition” is used in the New
Testament, which condemns the tradition of men (see Mark 7:6-16, and
Colossians 2:8), but calls us to follow Apostolic or Holy Traditions (see 2
Thessalonians 2:15, and 2 Thessalonians 3:6).
There are five basic
sources of the Orthodox Tradition that have been passed on from one
generation of the faithful to the next, from Christ and the Apostles, even
to the present time: the Holy Scriptures; the Liturgy; the Councils of the
Church that put forth the creeds and canons; the lives of the Saints, to
include the teachings of the Church Fathers; and finally, the Church art.
It is the Church’s
understanding that all of these sources of Tradition hold together in unity.
One is never used in isolation from the others. It will not work for
example, for a person to say, “Well, I can find all that I need to know by
staying at home and reading the Bible by myself, and I don’t have to go to
Church.” Nor would it work for a person to say, “Well, all I have to do is
go to Church and look at the icons and I don’t have to know anything about
the Holy Scriptures.” In both cases, something is being taken outside the
context, outside the boundaries, in which it works. When you take something
outside of the boundaries in which it functions, it doesn’t work the way
it’s supposed to work.
The Orthodox Church is
not Bible only. The Orthodox Church is not liturgy only. The Orthodox Church
is not creed, council, and canons only. Rather, everything works together in
unity, and when all of these sources of Tradition are accepted as the common
fountain of the self-revelation of God, it is our faith that they will bring
us to the life to which God has invited His creation.
3. What Do Orthodox
Christians Believe About ‘Liturgy’?
Biblically and
historically true worship has consistently been liturgical. “Spontaneous”
worship is an innovation of the last century or so.
Liturgical worship,
written prayers (the Psalms), and feast days were the norm throughout the
history of Israel (see Exodus 23:14-19; 24:1, 2). The worship of heaven is
liturgical (Isaiah 6:1-9; Hebrews 8:1-3; Revelation 4). The believers of
Acts 13:2, about A.D. 49, were seen in a liturgical service to the Lord: “As
they ministered [Greek: Ieitourgouaton the root word for “liturgy”] to the
Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said . …“ Note, too, in this passage that
the Holy Spirit speaks to us during liturgical worship. Thus praise to God
must never become dead form, but rather living worship, “in spirit and
truth” (John 4:23, 24).
The key to Comprehending
liturgy in the New Testament is to understand the work of the High Priest,
our Lord Jesus Christ, who inaugurates the New Covenant. Christ is “a priest
forever” (Hebrews 7:17, 21). It is unthinkable that Christ would be a Priest
but not serve liturgically: “forever” suggests He serves Continually,
Without ceasing, in the heavenly tabernacle. Further, He is called not only
a priest but a liturgist: “a Minister (Greek: ‘liturgist’) of the sanctuary
and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected” (Hebrews 8:2). Christian
worship on earth, to be fully Christian, must mirror the worship of Christ
in heaven.
Moreover, Christ is
“Mediator of a better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6). What is that covenant? In the
words of the Lord, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood” (1 Corinthians
11:25). Just as the blood of bulls and goats in the Old Covenant prefigured
Christ’s sacrifice to come, so the Eucharist Feast brings to us the fullness
of His New Covenant offering, completed at the Cross and fulfilled in His
Resurrection This once-for-all offering of Himself (Hebrews 7:27) which He
as high Priest presents at the heavenly altar, is an offering in which we
participate through the Divine Liturgy in the Church. This is the worship of
the New Testament Church!
4. How Does the
Orthodox Church View the Sacraments?
Sacrament literally
means, a “mystery.” A sacrament is a way in which God imparts grace to His
people. Orthodox Christians frequently speak of seven sacraments, but God’s
gift of grace is not limited only to these seven – the entire life of the
Church is mystical and sacramental. The sacraments were instituted by Christ
Himself (John 1:16, 17). The seven mysteries, their scriptural origin, and a
brief description of each, follows.
Baptism
(Matthew 28:18-20; Romans
6:4; Galatians 3:27): (from Greek baptizo, “to be plunged”) The sacrament
whereby one is born again, buried with Christ, resurrected with Him and
united with Him. In baptism, one becomes a Christian and is joined to the
Church. In Christ’s baptism, water was set apart unto God as the means by
which the Holy Spirit would bring to us new life and entrance into the
heavenly Kingdom.
Chrismation /
Confirmation
(Acts 8:15-17; 1 John 2:27): The sacrament completing baptism, whereby one
receives the gift of the Holy Spirit through anointing with the Chrism, a
specially prepared oil which must be consecrated by a bishop. On several
occasions in Acts, a baptized Christian received the gift of the Holy Spirit
through the laying on of hands of the Apostle (see Acts 8:14-17; 19:6).
Chrismation is a continuation of that ancient practice in the Church.
The Holy Eucharist
(Matthew 26:26-28; John 6:30-58; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:23-31): Taken from
a Greek word meaning “thanksgiving,” Eucharist designates Holy Communion,
the central act of Christian worship. At the Last Supper, Christ gave
thanks, and embodied in the communion service is our own thanksgiving. The
word came into use very early, as exemplified by its use in the writings of
the apostles (“Now concerning the Eucharist… Didache 9:1) and the letters
of St. Ignatius of Antioch (Ign Phil. 4:1, about A.D. 107).
Confession
(John 20:22, 23; 1 John 1:8, 9): (1) The avowal or verbal witness of faith
in Christ, leading to salvation (Romans 9:10). (2) The sacrament of the
forgiveness of sins, whereby the repentant sinner confesses his sins to
Christ in the presence of the priest, who pronounces God’s absolution of
those.
Ordination
(Mark 3:14; Acts 1:15-26; 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; 4:14): The sacramental
act setting a man apart for the ministry of the Church by the laying on of
hands of a bishop. The original meaning of ordination includes both
‘election’ and ‘imposing of hands’.
Marriage / Matrimony
(Genesis
2:18-25; Ephesians 5:22-33): The Bible and human history begin and end with
weddings. Adam and Eve come together in marital union in Paradise, before
the Fall, revealing marriage as a part of God’s eternal purpose for humanity
in the midst of creation (Genesis 2:22-25). History closes with the marriage
of the Bride to the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9), earthly marriage being
fulfilled in the heavenly, showing the eternal nature of the sacrament –
being holy, blessed, and everlasting in the sight of God and His Church.
Within the bonds of marriage, husband and wife experience a union with one
another in love, and hopefully the fruit of children and one day the joy of
grandchildren. And within the bonds of marriage there is both a fullness of
equality between husband and wife, and a clarity of order with the husband
as the icon of Christ, and the wife as the icon of the Church.
Healing or Unction
(Luke 9:1-6; James 5:14, 15): Anointing of the sick with blessed oil, for
the healing of body and soul. The gift of healing is bestowed by the Holy
Spirit through the anointing, together with the prayers of the Unction
service.
5. How Does the Orthodox
Church View Communion (Holy Eucharist)?
Some teach that Communion
or the Lord’s Supper (which Orthodox call “the Eucharist”) is only a sign or
symbol. Most of Christendom, however, believes it is far more. The Orthodox
Church has always believed that we, in a mystery, receive the Body and Blood
of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
The benefit experienced
by the recipient is succinctly expressed in a prayer segment from an
anonymous author that is included in one of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy
Hymnals under the heading of, ‘Prayers of Thanksgiving Following Holy
Communion.’ The prayer segment says, ‘0 loving Master, who died and rose for
our sake, and granted to us these awesome and life-giving mysteries for the
well-being and sanctification or our souls and bodies, let these gifts be
for healing of my own soul and body, the averting of every evil, the
illumination of the eyes of my heart, the peace of my spiritual powers, a
faith unashamed, a love unfeigned, the fulfilling of wisdom, the observing
of Your commandments, the receiving of Your divine grace, and the
inheritance of Your kingdom’.
What do the Holy
Scriptures teach concerning Communion?
In John 6:53 we read,
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most Assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” The
Church receives this passage at face value – nothing added, nothing taken
away. In Communion we become partakers of the Body and Blood of Christ. Just
as the new birth (John 3) gives us life through water and the Holy Spirit,
so the Body and Blood of Christ sustain His life in us.
There is also the fact
(Hebrews 9:11, 12) that Christ our High Priest enters the heavenly Sanctuary
with His own Blood, and that it is in this heavenly Sanctuary that we
worship (Hebrews 10:19-25). There is only one Eucharist, the one in heaven,
and we join in that one feast.
We must neither add to
nor subtract from the Word of God. Therefore we confess with Holy Scripture
that the consecrated bread and wine is the Body and Blood of Christ. It is a
mystery: we do not pretend to know how or why. As always, we come to Christ
in childlike faith, receive His gifts, and offer Him praise that He has
called us to His heavenly banquet.
6. The Doors! The Doors!
In the early Church, the
deacons would cry this out, just prior to the reciting of the Nicene Creed
(our confession of Faith) by the parishioners in preparation for receiving
the Holy Eurcharist, for the doors to be secured by the doorkeepers to
ensure that only the faithful remained and that no non-baptized persons may
enter. This call is a vestige and reminder of the venerable practices of the
ancient Church.
7. Why Does the Orthodox
Church Emphasize the Role of Mary?
Let us turn to the New
Testament to learn what God says about Mary. A key passage is Luke 1 26-49
“The Archangel Gabriel calls the Virgin May “highly favored” with God and
the most “blessed” of all women (Luke 1:28). The Church can never do less.”
In Luke 1:42, 43, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, also calls Mary
“blessed,” and “the mother of my Lord.” Can we not make the same confession?
For centuries the Church with one voice has called Mary the mother of God.
If God was not in her womb, we are dead in our sins. By calling her “mother
of God” we do not mean, of course, that she is mother of the Holy trinity.
She is mother of the eternal Son of God in His humanity. Thus we call her
Theotokos or God-bearer. Not only does Elizabeth call her blessed, but Mary
herself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, predicts, “All generations will call
me blessed” (Luke 1:48). This biblical prophecy explains the Orthodox hymn,
“It is truly right to bless you, 0 Theotokos, the Mother of our God.” One
cannot believe the Bible and ignore Mary. Orthodox Christians bless her in
obedience to God, fulfilling these holy words. We do not worship Mary.
Worship is reserved only for God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We honor
or venerate her, as the Scriptures teach. It is important to secure Mary’s
identity as the mother of God in order to protect the identity of her holy
Son, “the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:32), God in the flesh. Jesus assumed
His human flesh from her! Mary’s role is essential in understanding that
Jesus is both fully God and fully man.
Saint John of Kronstadt
also speaks in similar terms of the exalted position of the Theotokos,
writing: “Our Lady, the Mother of God, is the most beautifully adorned
temple of the Holy Trinity. She is, after God, the treasury of all blessing,
of purity, holiness, of all true wisdom, the source of spiritual power and
constancy.”
Also, Elder Ephraim, a
disciple of Elder Joseph the Hesychast, writes: Let us fall down before the
heavenly Queen, the immaculate Theotokos, the Maiden quick-to-hear, that she
may help us, for “no one who runs to thee is turned away ashamed, but he
asks for a favor and receives the gift from thee, to the profit of his
request.” After God, only she is able to help us. Let us trust in her, and
we shall not be put to shame.
Saint John of Damascus
comments upon the victory she has obtained for us. “Through her, our
reconciliation with God has been consecrated, and peace and grace have been
bestowed;… she has won for us all good things.”
8. Do the Icons of
Orthodoxy Border on Idolatry?
In Orthodox Christianity,
icons are never worshipped, but they are honored or venerated. The second
Commandment says, “You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any
likeness or anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4, 5). The
warning here is (1) that we are not to image things which are limited to
heaven and therefore unseen, and (2) we never bow down to or worship
created, earthly things such as the golden calf. Does this condemn all
imagery in worship? The Bible speaks for itself, and the answer is NO.
Just five chapters after
the giving of the Ten Commandments, God, as recorded in Exodus 25, gives His
divine blueprint, if you will, for the tabernacle. Specifically in verses 19
and 20, he commands images of cherubim to be placed above the mercy seat.
Also, God promises to meet and speak with us through this imagery! (Exodus
25:22. It is not true imagery which is condemned in Scripture, but false
imagery.
In Exodus 26:1, Israel
was commanded in no uncertain terms to weave “artistic designs of cherubim”
into the tabernacle curtains. Are these images? Absolutely! In fact, they
could well be called Old Testament icons. And they are images which God
commanded to be made.
From the beginning, the
Church has made images of heavenly things brought to earth: Christ Himself,
the Cross (Galatians 6:14), and the saints of God (Hebrews 11; 12). Worship
is reserved for the Holy Trinity alone. But we honor the great men and women
of the Faith by remembering them in the Orthodox Church via visual aids,
called icons or “windows to heaven.”
9. Why Do Orthodox
Christians Honor the Saints?
Once someone is
officially canonized, the Church in her worship services no longer prays for
the well-being of his or her soul, but publicly asks for the saint’s
prayers. Icons are made of the saint, hymns are written honoring and
remembering good deeds done, and at least one day of the year is designate
as a feast-day for that saint, when his or her icons are displayed, and
hymns written to the saint are sung.
The hymns, the icons, the
feast-days are all important aspects of the veneration of the saint,
indicating profound respect and love for the person, but in no way do these
things mean that the person is being worshipped. Worship, of course, is due
only to God. And indeed, all the veneration expressed to a saint is entirely
based upon that person’s closeness to Christ. Every saint has become holy
only through the mercy and grace of God; it is He who is glorified when we
honor His holy ones. You cannot say you honor your King and disrespect his
chiefs and prince nor the kings mother. Worship is to God, all venerations
to the saints are also to God who has honour the saints first.
10. What Do Orthodox
Christians Believe About Faith and Works?
How can one get from the
one kingdom to the other? By the unity of grace, faith, and works. Not that
these are equal, for grace is uncreated and infinite, our faith is limited
and can grow, and good works flow out of authentic faith. Works cannot earn
us this great treasure – it is a pure gift – but those who receive this gift
do good. We are not saved by good works, but for good works.
This is seen in Holy
Scriptures in Ephesians 2:8-10, ‘For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest
anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’
St. Maximos the
Confessor, writing in the seventh century, states clearly the view of the
Church concerning dead works: Many human activities, good in themselves, are
not good because of the motive for which they are done. For example,
fasting, vigils, prayer, psalmody [the singing of hymns], acts of charity
and hospitality are by nature good. But when performed for the sake of
self-esteem [vainglory, self-glorification] they are not good. In everything
we do, God searches out our purpose to see whether we do it for Him or for
some other motive.. .quite clearly He bestows blessings only when something
is done for the right purpose. For God’s judgment looks not at the actions,
but at the purpose behind them.
The faith that saves is a
complete faith: not just the mind believing and the tongue confessing, but
the whole man trusting in the living God. ‘Faith alone’, static faith, does
not save. We must nurture our faith in God and our love for Him through our
works.
This is understood in
James 2:14-20, 26, ‘What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has
faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is
naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in
peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are
needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it
does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I
have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my
faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the
demons believe and tremble! But do you want to know, 0 foolish man, that
faith without works is dead? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so
faith without works is dead also.’
Thus, the Christian
actively cultivates a habit of doing good works for the glory of God, and as
a way of life.
11. How Does the Orthodox Church Explain the Continued Virginity of Mary After Giving Birth to Jesus
Christ?
Concerning the birth of
Jesus Christ, the Prophet lsaias spoke thus, “Before she that travailed
brought forth, before the travail-pain came on, she escaped it and brought
forth a male” [Isaiah 66:7]. Saint John of Damascus adds to this saying that
“After the normal nine-month gestational period, Christ was born at the
beginning of the tenth, in accordance with the law of gestation. It was a
birth that surpassed the established order of birthgiving, as it was without
pain; for, where pleasure had not preceded, pain did not follow. And just as
at His conception He had kept her who conceived Him virgin, so also at His
birth did He maintain her virginity intact, because He alone passed through
her and kept her shut.”
Saint Ambrose in his
Synodal Letter 44 writes: “Why is it hard to believe that Mary gave birth in
a way contrary to the law of natural birth and remained a virgin, when
contrary to the law of nature the sea looked at Him and fled, and the waters
of the Jordan returned to their source [Psalms 113:31? Is it past belief
that a virgin gave birth when we read that a rock issued water [Exodus
17:6], and the waves of the sea were made solid as a wall [Exodus 14:22]? Is
it past belief that a Man came from a virgin when a rock bubbled forth a
flowing stream [Exodus 20:11], iron floated on water [4 Kings 6:61, a Man
walked upon the waters [Matthew 14:26]?”
Saint Ambrose also writes
in another letter that “A virgin carried Him Whom this world cannot contain
or support. And when He was born of Mary’s womb, He yet preserved the
enclosure of her modesty, and the inviolate seal of her virginity.”
Concerning the mystery of
the incarnation, St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote the following: “When God became
known to us in the flesh, He neither received the passions of human nature,
nor did the Virgin Mary suffer pain, or was the Holy Spirit diminished in
any way, nor was the power of the Most High set aside in any manner, and all
this was because all was accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Thus the power of
the Most High was not abased, and the child was born with no damage
whatsoever to the mother’s virginity.”
12. What Does the
Orthodox Church Teach Regarding the ‘Brothers and Sisters’ of Jesus?
There was at that time,
the aged Joseph of Nazareth, then eighty years old, of the tribe of Judah
and of the royal house of David. After forty years of marriage, he was a
recent widower of about one year. His first wife, a pious and God-fearing
woman, Salome, had borne him seven children: James, Jude, Simon and Joses;
and three daughters. The names of the daughters are Salome (she being the
future mother of the Apostles James and John the Theologian), Esther, and a
third girl whose name has been recorded with several appellations.
Supporting the apocryphal
account, as did other Eastern Fathers, St. Epiphanios of Cyprus (c.315-403)
gave the opinion that Joseph had been formerly married and had children,
both Sons and daughters. Saint Cyril of Alexandria (+444) considered the
“brothers of the Lord” to be children of an earlier marriage of the elder
Joseph. in the West, St. Hilary of Poitiers (c.315-367) defended the opinion
of Joseph being formerly married.
The footnote for Matthew
12:46-50 states: Jesus’ relatives have not yet understood His identity and
mission. He points to a spiritual family based on obedience to “the will of
My Father” (verse 50). In Jewish usage “brother” may also signify a
stepbrother or other relative. Abram called his nephew Lot “brother”
(Genesis 14:14); Boaz spoke of his relative Elimelech as his “brother” (Ruth
4:3); and Joab called Amasa, his first cousin (2 Samuel 17:25), “brother”
just before he killed him (2 Samuel 20:9). Orthodox Christians believe that
Jesus had relatives, not blood brothers. Indeed, at the Cross, Jesus commits
His mother to the care of His disciple John, which would have been a crime
against tradition had she had another child to care for her.
13. What Does the
Orthodox Church Believe About Hell and Purgatory?
Purgatory, a Roman
Catholic practice, defines an “intermediate state” between heaven and hell
in which some souls must spend time before entering heaven. Even after a
sinful action is forgiven, there still remains a “temporal punishment” due
to that sin which must be expiated. The idea of purgatory is based on an
obviously legalistic notion that the soul must “pay what it owes” before
being admitted to the full joys of heaven.
Orthodoxy believes in a
state of existence between the time of death and the dawning of the Last
Day, but it is a place of rest quite different from the purgatory doctrine.
There is an intermediate state of the soul between death and the final day
of judgment, during which souls benefit from the prayers of the faithful.
The Orthodox Church gives no mechanistic explanation of how these prayers
benefit the departed. It simply affirms the ancient Christian teaching that
such prayers are efficacious in preparing the souls of the departed for the
final judgment.
Orthodoxy avoids
understanding salvation in legalistic terms. Because Christ made a complete
sacrifice for our sins, once we are forgiven, we are forgiven. There is no
need to provide expiation for some “residual” debt which remains after one
is forgiven. Thus, Orthodoxy rejects the whole idea of temporal punishment
due to sin.
Orthodoxy teaches there
is no experiencing the “full joy” of heaven (which a soul supposedly would
experience, according to the Roman Catholic understanding, once it has
undergone sufficient purgation) until the Last Day.
The “intermediate state”,
in the Orthodox view, is therefore not a state between heaven and hell in
which some souls must spend time before entering heaven. It is, rather, a
state of repose where all souls rest in anticipation of the Last Day (see I
Thessalonians 4:13-17). In that repose they have a fore-taste of their
eternal reward or punishment, which will be fixed on the Last Day.
14. What do Orthodox
Christians Believe About Deification?
Deification is the
ancient theological word used to describe the process by which a Christian
becomes more like God. St. Peter speaks of this process when he writes, “As
His divine power had given to us all things that pertain to life and
godliness.., you may be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3, 4).
Deification means we are
to become more like God through His grace or divine energies. In creation,
humans were made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26) according
to human nature.
When the Son of God assumed
our humanity in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, the process of our
being renewed in God’s image and likeness was begun. Thus, those who are
joined to Christ through faith in Holy Baptism begin a re-creation process,
being renewed in God’s image and likeness. We become, as St. Peter writes,
“partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).
By application, the divine
energies interpenetrate the human nature of Christ. Being joined to Christ,
our humanity is interpenetrated with the energies of God through Christ’s
glorified flesh. Nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ, we partake of
the grace of God – His strength, His righteousness, His love – and are
enabled to serve Him and glorify Him. Thus we, being human, are being
deified.
Q. What is an indult? George Kaloutsis (Los
Angeles CA)
A. An “Indult” is an official statement issued from a
Church authority granting something to be done that is not usually allowed.
It is a privilege or permission to stray from the normal policies of a
jurisdiction, e.g., giving a parish permission to use a different liturgical
rite other than the one(s) already permitted.
Q. What is a chorbishop?
Maryann Gallo (Chicago IL)
A. Chorbishops are priests who have been blessed with
this title allowing them to bless new churches, ordain into minor orders,
oversee a certain portion of a diocese or the Archdiocese, but not having
the right to ordain to major orders. Chorbishops may be chosen from among
the married or celibate clergy, although married ones never become bishops
unless their spouse should pass on.
Q. Who is St Gregorios of Parumala?
Jeff Nolan (South Bend IN)
A. St Gregorios is the first saint to be glorified in the
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Orthodox Church. Parumala, a small town in
Pathanamthitta district in Kerala India is where the Tomb of St Gregorios is
located. His feast day is November 2nd although some commemorate
his feast on November 1st and 2nd. The tomb holding
his remains draws thousands upon thousands of people annually who come from
all over India and many other countries. The government in India has
recognized the site as the International Pilgrim Center. The tomb is also
visited daily by thousands of pilgrims from all over who come to pray at the
tomb of this great saint. Miracles and many other wonders have been
witnessed at his tomb. He was a holy man who fought for social reform and
served humanity without ceasing and doing all he could.
Q. Please explain what Syriac-Greek
Antiochene Rite of the Liturgy is. Tony Colombo (St Louis MO)
A. In our Archdiocese there is allowed bi-rituality,
i.e., the use of both the Byzantine and Occidental rites. Because of the
liturgical history of our Archdiocese, we have as our primary liturgy that
of St Gregory, also known as, St Peter. It is a Byzantinized Western Rite
having elements of both Byzantine and West contained in one liturgy, as do
some other jurisdictions using this liturgy. We do not refer to it as a
“Western Rite” but simply as the Syriac-Greek Antiochene Liturgy of the
Mass.
Q. What is the difference between
Antiochian and Antiochene? Omar Esquilin (Canfield OH)
A. Antiochian is more commonly used in the title of the
Church and in reference to its followers, e.g., True Antiochian Orthodox Church. It identifies where we trace our roots to
although being an American Church. Antiochene is used to describe the rites
of the Church, e.g., Antiochene Rite or Syriac-Greek Antiochene Liturgy. It
is also used when making reference to our Synod of Bishops, i.e.,
Syriac-Greek Antiochene Synod. It is also used to describe the theology of a
jurisdiction, i.e., Antiochene Theology. In essence they mean the same,
i.e., from or of Antioch. The word “Antiochene” is used more like an
adjective.
Q. Can a deposed bishop still
function as one? Nick Castallanos (Portage IN)
A. No! There are some deposed clergy who will find
schismatic or unrecognized (obscure) groups that will take such clergy in
without a second thought, but the deposition remains in force from the
issuing Church until it is lifted, when the cause is reconciled. Ordinations
performed by a deposed bishop are without grace and validity, and those
ordained by such a person would be ordained again in any canonical Church,
and deposed clergy cannot effect the Epiclesis for a valid Liturgy.