|
|
| akathists |
| portrayals |
| pkg-yasenevo.narod.ru |
 |
 | There are common holidays in the Church, the most important of which is Easter. From the 4th century the holidays of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany, Circumcision of the Lord and the Presentation of the Lord, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross began to be celebrated everywhere, from the 5th century the holidays of the Annunciation and the Nativity of the Virgin were established, from the 6th century the Assumption and from the 8th century Presentation to the temple. The celebration of the memory of the apostles and martyrs (the day of their death) had been held since ancient times, in the 9th century a holiday was established in honour of all the saints. In the sequel, the Church added new holidays. At present, the main churchly holidays are: Nativity of Christ or Christmas (December 25/ January 7), Baptism of the Lord or Epiphany (January 6/19), Meeting of the Lord or Candlemas (February 2/15), Annunciation (March 25/ April 7), Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem (on Sunday before Holy Week), Easter (on the first Sunday after the full moon on the day of the vernal equinox), Ascension of the Lord (on the 40th day after Easter), Holy Trinity or Pentecost (Sunday seven weeks after Easter), Transfiguration of the Lord (August 6/19), Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15/28), Nativity of the Virgin (September 8/21), Exaltation of the Cross (September 14/27), Presentation of Mary into the temple (November 21/ December 4). The Great Holidays also include the Circumcision of the Lord (January 1/14), the Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24/ July 7), the Assembly of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 20/ July 12), the Beheading of John the Baptist (August 29/ September 11) , the Protecting veil of the Most Holy Theotokos (1/14 October). In addition to the above, feasts of revered icons of the Mother of God and all saints — the hierarchs, the martyrs, the righteous are celebrated. An important establishment of churchly life is regular fasting, ie. a special time when a believer makes special efforts to cleanse his soul and body (in addition to fasting before Communion or as penance). Fasting already existed in the Old Testament times, while Christians began to fast, following the example of Jesus Christ and the apostles. The Great Lent before Easter, lasting forty days, was established everywhere in the Church by the 6th century and was very strict (bread and dried fruits with water in the evenings, a ban on any entertainment). Heresies arose in which fasting was considered the main duty of a Christian, while others completely denied its significance. The Church, however, establishes moderate use of permitted foods, calls for increased prayers and charity. In addition to the Great Lent, in the Orthodox Church there are many-day Peter's (Apostolic), Assumption and Christmas (Philip's) fasts, fasts on Wednesday and Friday (in memory of the betrayal, suffering and death of Jesus Christ), as well as on separate memorable days. Many-day fasts end with the days of churchly feasts, serving as a preparation for their celebration. In the 8th century, iconostases began to be arranged in the East. The iconostasis is not a fence that separates one part of the church from another, it serves as a connection between the assembly of believers and the assembly of celestials whose images look at them. According to the thought of the Priest Paul Florensky, "the iconostasis is the boundary between the visible world and the invisible one... The iconostasis is the apparition of saints and angels... the apparition of heavenly hierarchs, and above all the Mother of God and Christ Himself in the flesh — witnesses announcing what is on the other side of the flesh." The iconostasis is usually lined with icons in several rows, among them there is also a festive row. In the first centuries, Christians dedicated the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day to prayer, and also prayed in the morning and evening. Since the 4th century, midnight was joint to these set hours, and in monasteries also the first hour and vespers were done. Then, the individual parts of the service began to be combined into three services, performed between midnight and morning, before noon and evening. The Eucharist began to be celebrated before noon, and not at night, as it was in the first centuries. This order was first established in the parish churches, and then moved also to monasteries. In the same way, the form of all-night services was established. The order of Divine worship was previously dependent on the head of the church, who independently decided what and when to read, what and when to sing. Since the 4th century, the so-called lectionariums began to appear which indicated sections of the Holy Scripture that were scheduled to be read one day or another. A reading of Scripture became to be followed by a sermon or teaching. Preaching was more developed in the East, and in the West since the 7th century its level had completely fallen, so those who prayed during the sermon were forcibly held by closing the doors of the church, as E. I. Smirnov testifies in his "History of the Christian Church." The current order of singing was established only from the 8th century, although various kinds of hymns were sung from the 4th century. St. John of Damascus used certain churchly tunes, eight voices and put them on the Sunday services composed by him, and soon they came into general use in the East. All those present at the service sang or alternately two choirs. In the West, the organ received distribution that, according to Fr. Sergius Bulgakov, "makes worldly" the worship, replacing the human voice and the word with "dumb and unreasonable sounds, even if musically beautiful," which leads not to "spiritual ascension," but to "aesthetic emotionality." In the Christian Church, the Liturgy was and remains the most important part of the service, at which the sacrament of the Eucharist and Communion takes place. For example, the ancient liturgy of the Apostle James, brother of the Lord, who was the head of the Church of Jerusalem, is known. Basing on it in the 4th century, St. Basil the Great composed his rite, and later St. John Chrysostom somewhat reduced it. In the 6th century St. Pope Gregory Dialogus composed the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on the basis of what he saw in Constantinople, this rite is performed during the Great Lent. Some Christian Churches, for example, the Roman Catholic one, have retained their specific rite of liturgy. It is worth noting the brilliance and splendor with which the worship began to be performed in the Christian Church in the post-Constantinople era. "In the Orthodox worship, the element of beauty, as the glory of God filling the temple, occupies its own independent place, along with prayer and edification," this "clever art," wrote Fr. Sergius Bulgakov, "in itself gives 'spiritual sweetness.'" Places of public worship in the capital became the most magnificent and beautiful buildings after the imperial palaces. There appeared many churches that were built by emperors, bishops and private individuals, which began with Constantine the Great. At the time of Justinian, the church of St. Sophia was erected in Constantinople. In all cities of the empire, more or less large and wealthy churches appear. The first temples were in the form of a basilica (an oblong building of a quadrangular shape, court sessions and trade usually took place in them). Since the 4th century, the shape of churches has become more diverse, the roof began to be built with arches in the form of a dome, which marked the beginning of the so-called Byzantine style. Near the temple there were erected baptistries, houses for the clergy, schools, charitable institutions. The Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople still amazes with its spiritualized beauty and majesty. Outside, it does not seem too big, but inside it opens the airiness of a giant, as if soaring dome, and the vastness of space. Marble columns, gold and multicolored mosaics on the walls, illuminated by the bright rays of the sun pouring from above, are partially preserved. The cathedral remained the highest achievement of Byzantine architecture. The internal structure of the church followed the model of the Jerusalem temple: the altar, the temple itself and the narthex (refectory). The uninitiated are not allowed to enter the altar, the believers stand in the temple, and the narthex is a place for the announced and repentant. Before the altar, a solea began to be arranged, an exaltation, so that those who pray could better see the celebration of the service. Since the 6th century, several altars began to be arranged in Western churches in the same church. In the 8th century, iconostases began to be arranged in the East, but in Western churches they are not present. The iconostasis is not a fence that separates one part of the church from another, it serves as a connection between the congregation of believers and the congregation of celestials whose images look at them. According to the words of priest Pavel Florensky, "the iconostasis is the boundary between the visible world and the invisible one... the appearance of heavenly saints, and above all the Mother of God and Christ Himself in the flesh, the witnesses who proclaim what is beyond the flesh." The iconostasis is usually lined with icons in several rows. In the bottom row to the right of the royal gates there is the icon of the Savior, on their left there is the icon of the Mother of God, and then the icons of the most revered saints are placed. In the Christian Church the name of an icon has a pictorial depiction of Jesus Christ, Our Lady and Saints, which has a sacred character and serves as an object of religious celebration as images that elevate the thoughts and feelings of worshipers to the depicted. In the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, they constitute the necessary affiliation of the temple and the home worship of a Christian. The origin of the icons dates back to the beginning of Christianity, although in the era of persecution, Christian icon painting had advantageously a symbolic character. Since the time of St. Constantine the Great, icons come into universal open use, and after the 7th Ecumenical Council iconography develops. Churches are richly decorated with mosaic and pictorial icons, less often carved (from wood, stone or bone) and cast metal sacred images. "The iconostasis is the saints themselves," wrote Protopriest Pavel Florensky in 1921. "And if all the worshipers in the church were sufficiently spiritualized, if the sight of all the worshipers was always seeing, then there would be no other iconostasis other than His witnesses standing before God Himself, with their own faces and in their own words proclaiming His terrible and glorious presence in the temple would not be... But the material iconostasis does not replace the iconostasis of living witnesses and is not placed instead of them, but only as an indication of them in order to focus the attention of the worshipers on them." Since the 4th century, people began to be openly convened for worship in the East with wooden beaters, in the West with little bells. The presently known bells appeared in western churches in the 7th century, and in the East from the second half of the 9th century. Then near the church there began to be installed belfries or bell towers. No, the matter is not in visible signs, not in patriotic exclamations and not in a kiss given to a disabled person, but in really looking at a person on this day, as at your best jewel, in hugging and hugging of him like of your most native brother, being so happy with him, as if with your best friend, with whom you have not seen for several years and who suddenly unexpectedly came to you. Even stronger! even more! because the bond that binds us to him is stronger than our earthly blood kinship, and we became related with him according to our beautiful heavenly Father, several times closer to us than our earthly father, and on this day we are in our true family, with Him in His own house. This day is that holy day on which all of humanity celebrates its holy, heavenly brotherhood, without excluding a single person from it. As if this day had got to the point, it seemed, in our century, when thoughts about the happiness of humanity became almost everyone's favourite thoughts; when it became the favourite dream of a young man to embrace all of humanity as brothers; when many only dream of how to transform all of humanity, how to raise the inner dignity of man; when almost half have already solemnly admitted that Christianity alone is capable of producing this; when it is begun to be asserted that it is necessary to introduce Christ's law more closely into both family and state life; when it even was begun to be talked about everything being common — both houses and land; when the exploits of compassion and helping the unfortunate became a conversation even in fashionable living rooms; when, at last, the land became crowded with all kind of philanthropic establishments, hospitable houses and shelters. How it would seem that this century should have joyfully celebrated this day, which is to the heart of all its generous and humane movements! But on this very day, as on a touchstone, you see how pale all his Christian aspirations are and how they are all in only dreams and thoughts, and not in deeds. N. V. Gogol. Spiritual prose "Didst not Thou think that he would finally reject and challenge Thy image and Thy truth if he was oppressed by such a terrible burden as freedom of choice?" In iconoclasm the human image of God was rejected; the attempt at this rejection in the Church was defeated. It remained to dispute this image, and in the subsequent history of the Church, attempts to such a dispute do not stop, that is, the reduction of the image of God to a facilitated understanding of it, the reduction of its truth from God-manhood to pagan man-godness. And is it not characteristic that in the history of the Church the most malicious persecutors of the image of Christ were not pagans, Jews or Mohammedans, but baptized Christians who did not accommodate the "terrible burden of freedom of choice?" According to Archpriest Alexander Schmemann |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 | |
 |
 |